Byrd’s Nest: WWII Games

In 1999, when EA released Medal of Honor, the World War II shooter entered a so-called “golden era”. Improved by the subsequent MoH games and perfected by the Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Brothers in Arms franchises, World War II became the dominant setting of shooters.

Byrd’s Nest: Is it time for a game about 9/11?

Originally published in September 2011.

Art has always been used to not only portray tragedies, but also to help people to understand the nature of tragedy, the emotions associated with it

Byrd’s Nest: Rockstar & Music

This post was originally published on the old Library of Game website in the summer of 2011.

Music is the shorthand of emotion. – Leo Tolstoy

In the visual and preforming arts, music has

Sexism and Misogyny Damage the Reputation of Video Games as an Artform

This week the disturbing tale of Anita Sarkeesian wrote another sickening chapter. Sarkesian is the feminist activist whose Kickstarter page sought funds for a video she was making exploring the

A Message from Library of Games

Library of Games, in response to the vile, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic response of certain segments of the gaming community to Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fund to create videos deconstructing sexist tropes in video games, has decided to donate $50 in order to show our support for her cause and our condemnation of the sickening response she has faced in the pursuit of her goal.

How to Fix the VGAs

Last night many gamers partook in the annual tradition of hate-watching Spike TV’s Video Game Awards (VGAs) because… well… we’re not really sure but we did. We were aided twitter snark from our friends and industry writers (most of us also dished out a fair bit of snark) and we woke up the next morning to the angry responses by said industry writers. These rants are useful, giving us an assessment of what makes watching the VGAs akin to gouging one’s eyes out. However, being the writer and video game fan I am, I have decided to take a different, more constructive approach to the typical day-after collective hate-orgy that follows the VGAs. I’m going to give some advice to the VGAs and whoever runs them so that watching the VGAs can become less similar to watching a train plow through a school bus.

Byrd’s Nest #9: How Sports and iTouch Games Saved My Gaming Life

When school started this year realized something. My daily habit of killing aliens, Nazi’s and other generic polygon inhabited foes would be disrupted by a minor annoyance called homework. Alas my horrendous foes would be playing second banana to triangle theorem proofs and the crafting of a literary analysis. And as the school year has progressed into October I realized something. I have not an alien and/or Nazi since August. I have simply been too tired/busy to continue that art for the time being. What have I been doing with that time? Playing Madden and Doodle Jump.