Yesterday on Journalista, Dirk Deppey pointed to several commentaries regarding a current controversy about the treatment of women in gaming and finished by asking, "Apparently, there’s an entertainment industry even less receptive to women than comics. Who knew?"

Well, actually, I knew. In fact, it's one of the reasons I don't chime in about misogyny in the comic book world more often. It's a shitty reason, I know, but there it is. Whenever I get down about attitudes towards women in comics, I know I can always say to myself, "At least it's not as bad as gaming." The culture of gaming reminds me of the title of one of Ernest Hemingway's short story collections: Men Without Women.

I don't want to sound like I'm whining. I'm not easily dissuaded from what are often thought of as men's entertainments. I am also grateful for the many excellent gaming blogs run by individuals who hold more advanced views on women and gender than those found in the mainstream gaming media; several are listed on my blogroll.

New gaming communities are being created online that promise to be more open to women. I'm ecstatic over the recently launched Lesbian Gamers and the newly expanded GayGamer. One of the best things about the internet is that if what's out there isn't working for you, it's not too hard to roll your own.

I'm making up for the time since my last post with a catch-up post, summarizing my experience over the last few weeks. I decided the easiest way to do this was to divide the major events in my life into two categories: those keeping me sane and those driving me towards the brink. Here are my highs and lows of the past month:

Keeping me sane

• The Force is with me. The sister and I went out one night together and bought matching Sony PSP Star Wars Bundles. We had both held out on the system until now; she wanted it for Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, and I wanted it for Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. We both love Star Wars, and Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, the game that came with the bundle, proved to be more fun than I expected.


• Karma junkie. Under the Bush administration, I've become impatient with reading the news. I want my news straight up these days, that's why I depend on Max and Stacy's daily Karmabanque podcast. They don't futz around with the intricacies of party politics. They just give me what I want to know, raw: who made how much money killing, oppressing and impoverishing who. Their Gulag Wealth Fund provides a shorthand method of tracking what's really going on.


• Screamin' like a banshee. Joe sent me the CD of Siouxsie Sioux's new solo album, Mantaray, for my birthday. It's pretty gorgeous. Years ago, I remember hearing Siouxsie and the Banshee's song "Desert Kisses" when Kaleidoscope first came out and thinking to myself, "This is kind of lesbian." That's also been my reaction to almost every song on Mantaray. In this case, however, Siouxsie's said a few things in the press to confirm that interpretation.


• Girly stuff. I really, really like the Cute Little Red-Headed Girlfriend's Elmo panties. The hot pink ones, with "Love Me" written in bubble letters above the picture of Elmo on the crotch. I know, I know. TMI.


• Aspirational television. I have been totally hooked on the show Damages. Week after week I've watched in awe as Glenn Close opened my mind to immense new vistas of bitchiness. Through the character Patty Hewes, Close has brought me to understand levels of bitchiness I never even knew existed. I ask myself: can I possibly aspire to such intensely bitched out behavior in my lifetime? Am I up to the challenge? Thank you, Glenn Close. You have raised the bar for me.

• Where there's fire there's smoke. The air in Los Angeles after the Southern California fires has been an abomination--a miserable, foul toxic brew. There is just no way to explain to you how bad the air feels, tastes, smells. The best word I can come up with to describe it to you is: chewy.


• I was robbed. Anyone who has had a girlfriend knows there's a brief window of time after your girlfriend has swiped some an item in your wardrobe when it's possible to get that item back. If you act forcefully within this time period, taking back the item in question, one can retrain the girlfriend, much as one would an errant puppy: "No. Put that down. Put it down. No! That's not for you!"
  However, if one misses this brief window, one has no option but to give the item up. And so I say now: "Goodbye, faithful bedroom slippers! Fare thee well."


• Another one bites the dust. Johnny Bacardi is leaving the blogosphere after five years of publishing The Johnny Bacardi Show. But all is not lost, as he can still be found on livejournal and at his Elton John blog.


• La nausee. While shopping in the Container Store with the Cute Little Red-Headed Girlfriend, I suffered an existential meltdown as I was confronted with the full extent of my own lack of organization. I shuddered as the world was revealed as just so many things in need of being boxed.


• Don't tell mama. I missed Lucy Lawless's show in Chicago, a fact of which I am not proud. But I poured over the pictures and commentary from the event, and I contributed this lovely wallpaper derived from the show, which I encourage you to download. I will be there both nights of Lucy's Roxy shows in January. Email me if you want to meetup.

Following a tipoff from GayGamer, I sped over to the LEGO Batman website and downloaded a delicious Catwoman wallpaper for my desktop. There are many other wallpapers to choose from, all tie-ins to Batman LEGO products. I can't believe I didn't know there was a LEGO Arkham Asylum for sale. And look at that cool purple motorcycle Catwoman is riding in The Batman Dragster: Catwoman Pursuit!

Maybe if I pick up one of these toys it will help me feel better about not getting the Nigo-designed Batman hoodie, which at $439 appears out of my reach. There's also a LEGO Batman video game coming down the pike, but that's not coming out until next year.

Joystiq posted recently about a Dutch digital media artist, Arno Coenen, who has created several public mosaics based on video game art. Joystiq has up a gallery of images that includes an awesome mosaicwork of Lara Croft made from tiles, as well as a clever scene of Pac Man ghosts scurrying along the sides of a corridor.

Virtual Fairytale 2.0 is a large-scale mosaic created for the exterior of a school in Utrecht. The photo shown here is of a bricklayer following a color map for the mosaic during construction. Take a look at this series of photographs to see the scope of the project, including some great shots taken from above.

Thanks to a tip from GayGamer.net, I went and applied to be a beta tester for the upcoming online PC game, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. I filled out the application thoroughly, but I have my doubts as to whether middle-aged women are really part of their target demographic. Still, WildCimmerianBulldyke is ready to serve should she be called. I would love to be able to finally live out my transgender fantasies of being built like a Frigidaire and cleaving the skull of anyone who gets in my way. (I'll bet you probably thought it was only male comics fans who had infantile power fantasies.)

I read on Joystiq the other day that the results of a survey on "gaymer's" habits are in. I mentioned the survey previously on this blog and I also participated in it. The most interesting finding to me was reading that 91.1% of the respond ants to the survey were male. I would love to see a survey that focused only on gay, bi or trans women--maybe next time.

I don't know if they identify as "gaymers" but I really love the gay male gaming couple on The Sarah Silverman Program. Console gaming is a big part of their lifestyle, and if you're into gaming, you'll probably enjoy all the video game references and how their game activity gets worked into the plot each week.

The web zine 10 Zen Monkeys has published a transcription of "Girls Are Geeks Too," an audio interview conducted by RU Sirius with one writer and the editors of the book She's Such A Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology and Other Nerdy Stuff. I listened to the interview as a podcast on the Neofiles Show, but I know some people aren't into podcasts so if you're interested in the topic you can read the interview instead.

In one part of the interview, contributor Quinn Norton reads from the book her description of live-action role-playing a vampire character from the game Vampire in the midst of the city. While she is creeping around in character, she is seen by some children:

I, in all my weirdness, appeared out of nowhere and walked quickly by them. The parents never noticed me, but the kids did. They looked at where I’d come from, and then at me. They crouched in close to their parents and clutched one another. I looked over at them, opened my eyes wide, and gave them a slightly snarled smile.

Continuing with my prior Xena in games post, I created this mockup of a Xena DS game. I also tried to use the online celebrity Mii generator to make a Lucy Lawless or Xena Mii but it doesn't work too well for women. On the bright side, the DS slogan "Touching is good" seems eminently suited to Xena. Amazon Warriors come out to play!

And also my Wiisword and Wiistaff. Shortly before the 2007 Xena convention, there was a discussion on one of the forums about Xena and gaming. Someone suggested that it would be a great idea to set up a LAN at the convention for attendees to play a Xena video game. That would be great, if only there was a multiplayer game for one of the current generation of networked consoles or the computer.

I mean, damn, can you imagine how cool it would be to hear your fellow members of Clan Alti hail you over an Xbox 360 Live headset? "It's on, bitches!" Plus, if the game was open enough, we could kill Joxer over and over and over again.

I bought the Xena: Warrior Princess game for the original PlayStation. I can also remember watching a demo for a Xena game--I think for the Nintendo 64--at one of the cons several years ago. At the time, my fellow female convention goers didn't seem that into it, but times have changed.

Women, including lesbians, are embracing video games more. On the L Word, we've seen scenes of Shane and Alice playing video games together. In the illustration shown here from the Outsiders current issue (#44), a lesbian superhero couple can be seen enjoying some quality time with their PS2.

Now it's time for video games to catch up. The games industry has a craptacular history when it comes to addressing the female market. One of the biggest signs of indifference, in my view, is the unwillingness to make a female player character option standard for most games. How hard would it be, for example, for EA to make all-women versions of their sports titles?

Raising my sights a little higher, I'd like to see a Billie Jean King tennis game. And cross-platform, multiplayer Xena games in time for next year's con.

Over the last week or so, I've been closely documenting an individual who, despite good intentions, appears to be headed down a dangerous road. I'm now releasing these notes so that you may grasp the tiny, seemingly inconsequential steps that nonethless lead one directly into fiery temptation.

October 23: The Subject appears strong, even casually dismissive, in the face of the coming Novemebr console debuts. On this evidence, we can predict that the Subject will not be purchasing a new console come the end of November.

October 27: The Subject has shown sporadic interest in the new consoles and has spent time surfing for new console information on game sites. However, the Subject was overheard saying to several peers that new consoles aren't worth the premium price.

October 29: The Subject came home from the grocery store with a copy of the magazine Nintendo Power and proceeded to read its 23-page Wii launch guide.

November 3: The Subject was observed writing an e-mail to her Sister, requesting help and support regarding an impending purchase decision. In the end, the e-mail was never sent.

November 6: The Subject carefully examined online data regarding expected console inventory levels, taking notes in the process. A certain listlessness was observed in the Subject that we attribute to feelings of helplessness.

November 9: The Subject spent several hours at 1up.com reading previews of the Nintendo Wii launch titles. Later she was observed eyeing her checking account balance and then sat in silence for several minutes with a far off look in her eye.

November 13: The Subject's behavior is furtive, uneasy. We hesitate to guess what actions may come next.

I'm in that brief window of the year between my October birthday and Christmas where I actually get to enjoy first-run games. I'm too cheap to pay for them myself, but I always ask my family for them as gifts. Because this time period coincides with some of the best game releases, I get to choose from a great crop.

For my birthday, the sister got me a copy of Dragon Quest Heroes Rocket Slime for the Nintendo DS, which she knew I wanted. Since opening the game, I've fallen into a slimehole where it's hard to think of anything else. The premise of the story is that you are a tiny adorable ball of slime named Rocket whose home town of Boingburg has been wrecked. All the other slime inhabitants have been kidnapped, and it is up to Rocket to save them.

Rocket's main move is to stretch himself out and then rocket himself forward very quickly. It's like he's both the slingshot and the shot, pulling himself back, then snapping forward. The controls make this maneuver very easy, like flicking a rubber band with your finger, only with more control. This is one of Rocket's main fighting moves.

The first slime that Rocket rescues in Mother Glooperior, who plays an important instructional role in the game. Mother Glooperior cheers Rocket on throughout the game, offering blessings from the Goddess and other prayerful sayings. All the Catholic elements are given a loopy and irreverent expression. At the end of each gaming session, Rocket saves his place in the game by visiting Mother Glooperior in church. As shown in this screenshot from GameSpot, the slimes celebrate this moment with song, accompanied by organ music and the parting words of Mother Glooperior: "Bless you, my slime."

The latest newsletter from Aeclectic Tarot contained several interesting decks, including an homage to video game art called 8-bit Tarot. I've shown a sample here of the "Wheel of Fortune" card. This is an unfinished deck, part of a work-in-progress scheduled to be exhibited in November 2007.

I also liked the Manga Deck, although I don't feel I'm enough of a fan of mainstream manga to be able to render an intelligent opinion on the translation of manga from comics to cards. However, Aeclectic Tarot does have several reviews of the deck on the site which shed light on different aspects of the deck's interpretation of Tarot. I thought it was particularly intriguing that the deck reversed traditionally gendered roles on the cards, so that female figures become males ones and vice versa.

I would so play Arden, the MMOG reported on in Joystiq a few days ago. It's supposed to be based on the world of Shakespeare's plays, although it looks like the core world is going to stem from the history plays, with the War of the Roses being the central event.

I can see how the War of the Roses would be a good catalyst for game play, but my first thought when I heard the concept behind Arden was to consider which character I would play as. Unfortunately, my first set of choices would be from the comedies (Rosalind) or the tragedies (Iago), not the history plays. But I guess it's about the world, not the specific characters.

On the Anglo side of my family history, I have ancestors who participated in both sides of the War of the Roses, so I guess I can't draw on that background to choose a side in the game. It's certainly strange to imagine participating in a virtual recreation of an event that my family members might have had a hand in hundreds of years ago.

It's also interesting to think how much time I spent in junior high school deliberately not paying attention to my teacher explaining the War of the Roses during European History class, yet now I'd willing hand over my spare time to play a game based on those same events.

While reading Make Blog. I came across this handmade GameCube reliquary that I so wish I had for my own home. Gamers and A/V enthusiasts are always trying to find attractive and efficient ways of integrating game consoles into their home theater systems, and this is the most lovely and apt solution I've seen.

Perhaps you haven't heard of Saint Nintendo, so I'm reprinting his life story here:

Born Marius Nintendus, Saint Nintendo was born approximately 284 A.D. to a noble Roman family. He is often depicted as a child, although his martyrdom is said to have occurred after he reached full manhood.

One day, Marius Nintendus was chosen to attend the Roman games as part of a festival in honor of the Emporer. But Marius Nintendus chose to bypass the games in order to indulge in the simple pleasures he so loved, such as collecting stray coins along the streets of Rome and, of course, hunting wild mushrooms.

Marius Nintendus was later called upon by the Prefect to account for his whereabouts during the games. The famous question posed to Nintendus translates roughly to, "Why were you not at the play station at the appointed hour?" Unsatisfied with Nintendus's response, the Prefect ordered that he be publicly tortured and put to death. Marius Nintendus last, inspiring words were said to have been, "But I shall always have the higher score."

Marius Nintendus is the patron saint of truffle pigs.

I like the way blogs allow people to express different sides of themselves. Some blogs express what seems like a full personality, while others hone in on one area of interest, showing us just the enthusiast aspect of the author.

Recently, I read through the entirety of Wataru Maruyama's blog, Costume GET! devoted to "the finer points of videogame character costumes." It's a wonderful example of an enthusiast blog. One of the things I like about it is that it has rules. As anyone who has ever had an obsession knows, it is often necessary to establish rules ("I will allow myself to drive by her house only three times on my way home") as a way of establishing boundaries for one's interests. Costume GET!'s philosophy and rules are prominently posted in the blog's sidebar.

Maruyama places an emphasis on female costume, but there is definitely attention given to male costume as well. In his costume reviews, Maruyama points out inconsistencies in costumes and is particularly attentive to practical issues. For example, he'll mention if a character is wearing armor or an outfit that would make certain in-game activities, like crawling through a cavern, difficult or impossible.

Some of my favorite entries are Maruyama's descriptions of him playing games. I have to hand it to a guy who is willing to play the same scene over 40 times just to unlock every possible costume combination for a given character. Before reading his blog, I didn't even realize so many games come with unlockable costumes.

Although I don't consider myself obsessed with game costumes, I feel like the site provides me with plenty of interesting game information I want that I don't find elsewhere. For instance, because of his interest in costume detail, Maruyama provides a unique perspective on console game graphics. His dedication to a single topic also makes Maruyama an excellent scout for game information I might not have found otherwise. Without Costume GET!, I never would have found the awesome Japanese-only Rumble Roses XX website.