Interview @ Couleurs Locales TV Show

by

IMG_8504

Last week, I had the chance to visit the studio of the tv show “Couleurs Locales” (UnisTV/TV5) in Toronto. I participated to an episode about video games as the guest of the week. We discussed many topics related to video games, such as the player’s profile, the most popular game genres, gender representations in games, the place of women in the game industry, serious and expressive games, cheating in online video games, etc. You have until March 6 to watch it online!

Release of my machinima parody FREE SPEACH!

machinima
2015. FREE SPEACH. A Second Life Machinima Parody. MIT Game Lab. 15 minutes.

FREE SPEACH – A Second Life Machinima Parody is a 15-minute length animated film, created with the collaboration of MIT Game Lab and a group of MIT undergraduate students, that mocks gender stereotypes such as the damsel in distress, the sexy female combatant, the muscular macho man and the superficial bimbo from video games such as Zelda, Super Mario, Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto and Second Life. The movie revolves around the story of Princess Peach who leaves the Mushroom Kingdom because she is tired of conforming to the passive role that she was programmed for. During her quest, she meets other video game characters that help her to change her destiny. Borrowing from Judith Butler’s (1990) theory on gender performativity and performance, the film illustrates the idea that gender and sex categories are socially constructed and can therefore be reworked. The film is intended to raise awareness on gender stereotypes, to conduct a reception study on the critical potential of parodies and to engage the viewers in a collective action. It is now available on YouTube.