To celebrate the release of Issue 4 of the VGA Reader, we will be featuring one article from the new volume with every zine for the foreseeable future. Click through to see the second article, currently hosted by Amherst College Press and available open source on fulcrum.org.

“This essay seeks to trace the historical articulation of Blackness in the FGC against the meritocratic principles of and the demand for hype spectacles. In this, I hope to contribute to understandings of articulations of racial identity and how they are altered in the spaces surrounding fighting games. It is important to understand exactly how Black Americans may engage with fighting games; how gamers and, to a certain extent, games understand racial identity; and how race factors into constructing a competitive space based on a meritocracy.”

Issue XXII: January 2023Uche AnomnachiJanuary 26, 2023VGA Reader, Uche Anomnachi

V Rising: the Sunlight Mechanic and Empathy

The recent hit game V Rising offers plenty of unique and exciting mechanics. After all, as a vampire, you take on the various different strengths and weaknesses inspired by folklore of your mythological kin. Of course that includes the ability to suck blood, the potential to shapeshift, and an aversion to garlic. So what is there to speak of, then? Mechanics are mechanics, after all, and each game has its own gimmick.

Issue XXII: January 2023A. KoJanuary 24, 2023A. KoComment

Thank You, Bit Bash! + 2022 Recap

The recent hit game V Rising offers plenty of unique and exciting mechanics. After all, as a vampire, you take on the various different strengths and weaknesses inspired by folklore of your mythological kin. Of course that includes the ability to suck blood, the potential to shapeshift, and an aversion to garlic. So what is there to speak of, then? Mechanics are mechanics, after all, and each game has its own gimmick.