Blogpost 10

     Reading through the Russmon & Blackmon piece once again makes me wish there were more academics and research into video games. Especially like the piece details of black feminist detailing their exerpiences as part of video game history. I think it is so important and beneficial to have documentation of people’s experiences and work in the field as it helps highlight sexism and racism in video games. I also loved how Russmon & Blackmon talk about Arcades, “Arcades as multipurpose spaces that directly supported the social, cultural, and civic life of Black folks evinces just some of the ways in which a Black feminist consciousness had direct, albeit largely unrecognized, bearing on the formative years of the industry” (Russmon & Blackmon 97). I think this is a really important topic that I wish there was more information on. Not only was it easier to get into the business of arcades, they helped people start up other businesses and navigate around gatekeepers. I find this fascinating looking at the history of arcades as they were forminative locations for many people then adding in this layer of using the space for other uses like hosting reggae bands is just phenomenal space to discover and explore in. Later in the article Russmon & Blackmon point out that, “both in work and in play—are often excluded from the historical record, so too are we missing an archive of stories about Black women academics at work and play in video game history” (Russmon & Blackmon 100). I find this just a shame as knowing the roots and record of video game history is just so important with how often video games will reference, relate, and build the megatext that is video games. Knowing people’s stories, and experiences playing and developing video games helps decipher that megatext and how video games have influenced the genre and people as whole.

Russworm, Treaandrea M., and Samantha Blackmon. “Replaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought.” Feminist Media Histories, vol. 6, no. 1, 2020, pp. 93–118, doi:10.1525/fmh.2020.6.1.93.