Writing

October 16, 2010

Among the many forms of writing she does, Mattie is mostly known for game criticism, particularly around the topics of diversity issues and narrative. Her work draws from current events, academia, and personal experience, blending it together to engage audiences with new ideas and ways of thinking. Mattie’s writing is frequently featured on Critical Distance, and now is a regular contributor that curates noteworthy writing about video games. Besides essays and articles, Mattie also writes fiction, spanning prose to in-game writing to monologues. Samples of her fiction is available on request.

Writing Portfolio

Alternate Ending
04/13/13 – Triptychs*
09/15/11 – Ludonarrative Resonance
09/08/11 – An Apology for RPGs*
08/18/11 – Creation vs Destruction in Bastion’s Narrative

The Border House
02/11/13 – Decolonize Me*
11/19/12 – You Want To Make a Boyfriend – You Just Don’t Know it Yet*
11/12/12 – Postpartum: Mainichi – How Personal Experience Became a Game*
08/21/12 – Pay Up – You are What You’re Worth*
04/13/12 – The Type of Woman I Want Others to See: Why I Wore Heels to PAX East*
02/27/12 – Valuing the Feminine – Why I Love Vanille*
02/15/12 – Doing it Right – Playstation: The Official Magazine Handles Transphobic Hate Speech
12/30/11 – An Escape of One’s Own*
11/15/11 – An Open Letter to Kotaku’s Joel Johnson*
10/25/11 – The Fantasy Cyborg: Reading Passing Narratives in Dragon Age*
08/30/11 – It’s Time to Talk About it: Atlus, Naoto, and Transphobia
08/25/11 – Diversity Watch: Bastion

Nightmare Mode
01/17/13 – Would You Kindly*
12/20/12 – Pursuing My True Self*
11/15/12 – No Exit: How Games Change People*
03/26/12 – Fans, Capitalism, and Mass Effect 3′s Ending. Oh My.
02/20/12 – Love Interest: Sakazaki Yuuya, the Parody
02/05/12 – Love Interest: Second Date – Ikezawa Hanako, a Trans* Narrative*
01/22/12 – Love Interest: Ikezawa Hanako, the Otaku Exotic
01/08/12 – Love Interest: Werner Herzog, the Power Fantasy
12/25/11 – Love Interest: Tsukaba Muneshige, the Meta-Samuari
12/18/11 – Love Interest: Arianna Bell-Essai, the Teacher’s Vixen
12/11/11 – Love Interest: Derek Nevine, the Anti-Gamer

Moving Pixels at PopMatters
04/10/12 – Must I Say Goodbye?: Leaving Behind jRPGs
03/27/12 – Dear Esther, We’re Moving Past Story
03/14/12 – One Day That Wall Is Gonna Fall: Game Design For Everyone
02/28/12 – Women, the Ensemble, and Narrative Authority in the Final Fantasy Series
02/27/12 – Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review
02/14/12 – How Could He?: Exploring Social Issues Through Dragon Age II
01/31/12 – Narrative is a Game Mechanic*
01/20/12 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
01/17/12 – Mass Appeal vs. Accessibility in Video Games*
01/03/12 – Those Games Left Off of the “Game of the Year” Lists
12/13/11 – Storyline? In Skyrim? No Thanks!*
12/07/11 – Girl With a Heart of Review
11/29/11 – On Men’s Sexualization in Video Games* **
11/15/11 – Speaking in Accents and the American Ethnocentrism in Video Games* **
11/01/11 – Why You Should Give Dragon Age II a Second Chance

Real Talk: Video Games
10/17/12 – Take us seriously, but please, none of that highbrow shit*
07/25/12 – Confessions of a Fake Geek Girl
07/17/12 – Something tells me you’re offended that I’m offended*
06/22/12 – The State of Diversity Criticism and “do your fuckin’ research”*
06/18/12 – Stand up for yourself – Concerned victim blaming
06/16/12 – What about the men!? re: Tropes vs Women

Various
02/19/13 – Paste Magazine – mPlayer Issue 81 – Islands in the Stream
10/30/12 – Gamercamp Magazine – The Artistic Comeback of Games
08/06/12 – Ctrl+Alt+Defeat – Issue Eight – Queer Explorers in an Intimate Frontier (pgs. 26-29)
04/24/12 – Paste Magazine – mPlayer Issue 42 – Who’s the Bad Guy?*
03/01/12 – Ctrl+Alt+Defeat – Issue Five – I’ll Never Be the Queen of Ferelden (pgs. 12-13)
11/28/11 – Kotaku – Why I Don’t Feel Welcome at Kotaku*
11/10/11 – Game Critics – Okabu Review

* – Featured in Critical Distance‘s “This Week in Videogame Blogging”
** – Featured on Gamasutra