Days-long movies_

Lately, I’ve found that high budget videogames (for which I pay about €60), namely RPGs, are starting to become uninteresting to me. I now spend time playing Angry Birds, Cut the Rope or even a kind of Who Wants to be a Millionaire on my phone, instead of finishing open playthroughs in my PC.

And recently, I believe I found the reason why.

Living room boxeur_

My parents always hated when my brother and I played videogames, we’d spend countless hours sitting in front of a computer, screaming at its screen. 

For a long time, videogames have been associated with a sedentary lifestyle: a nerd wallowing in a dark basement, munching chips, gulping energy drinks, using the screen as his only light source, and hissing like a vampire whenever sunlight hit him (not like you Sparkles) . 

Still not a serial killer_

Do videogames make people violent? 

This has been a question that many have made throughout the history of videogames, having various contradicting answers given by several specialists and investigators. 

Do I believe videogames make people violent? Nope.

Play of Life_

Games have been part of my life since ever. They were present in my childhood and teens, and are still present in my young adult life. I've learned a lot of what I know today by playing games, either by things they taught me themselves, or lessons I've learned on my own through my victories and defeats. 

Sometimes, I even think my life is a game, comprised of boss fights and winning and losing; only no extra lives.

Asshat Creed_

Still on the topic of female misrepresentation, I’d like to state my opinion on one of the most ridiculous things I've read about in the gaming world. 

A few months ago, I read about the reason why the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed 3 couldn't be a woman, and frankly, I think the reason is a load of crap.

Done with Barbie dolls_

First of all, sorry for the late post, procrastination life got in the way.

As I have previously stated, I love to play videogames for that sense of power and control on my decisions and paths that I don’t get to have many times in real life. And that’s why I love to pick female avatars: to feel that I, as a woman, can be hailed as the heroine and admired by all is self-empowering and elevates my self-esteem.

But, more often than not, I feel frustrated and insulted by the games I play, not from clear sexist remarks in-game, but from subtle messages that it transmits.

Review>>>Katawa Shoujo_

Katawa Shoujo (transl.: Disability Girls) is a Visual Novel/Eroge game released (full version) in January 2012, developed by Four Leaf Studios. Age Rating: 15+ (Act 1)/18+ (Full). OS: Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Katawa Shoujo is a disaster… averted.

Never have I played something with such recipe to become one of the most sinful, disgusting and overall indicative of the weirdness of the human mind: originating from a post on 4chan, Katawa Shoujo (lit.: Crippled Girls) is a game in which you play the role of Hisao, a highschooler, and pursue a relationship with one of the choice of five girls. Teenaged. Disabled. Girls. And it somehow pulls off a surprisingly insightful and respectful view regarding disabilities.

Review>>>Mass Effect 3_

[WARNING: this review may contain spoilers]

Mass Effect 3 (ME3) is an Action RPG realesed in March 2012 by developer BioWare, published by EA. ESRB rating: Mature. Platforms: XBox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Reviewed: PC.

Ahhh, Mass Effect 3... Or maybe it should be Massive Disappointment 3?

About a month after I finished playing through the final part of the story of Commander Olivia "Liv" Shepard of the Normandy, I still can’t shake that feeling of disappointment. Not that ME3 is a bad game, mind you, on its own it’s a great game, but as the closing chapter of a trilogy? Let’s just say: proceed with caution and don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.

Living in a different dimension_

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could choose to live in a different reality where life was just peachy to us, where studying for exams was actually fun, and eating chocolate wouldn’t make us fat?

That is what Virtual Reality (VR) could give us: a different life in a different place!

What’s the drawback? Well, first and foremost, real life sucks, I’d give anything to live in that place where eating sweets wouldn’t have any negative consequences, but that would mean I’d prefer to live in a reality that isn’t my own; second, how could you guarantee that when you got bored of this new reality and wanted to return to your real life, you’d return to your reality and not another reality that looked just like your reality?

Confusing, right?

Really unrealistic_

Digital games range from nonsensical premises to lifelike simulations, much to the entertainment of everyone, and although the people who play them know they’re not real, not really, there is something that is able to hook gamers.

So what is it? A reality check.