Betsy Brey

Don’t Leave/I’m Ready

A Farewell Editorial in Three Parts

betsy brey, Chris Lawrence, Rob Parker

As you may or may not know, the editorial team at FPS is run by grad students. That means our team changes from year to year. This year, three longtime editors are stepping down from the publication: betsy brey, Chris Lawerence, and Rob Parker. What will FPS look like next year? Well, we already know, but you’ll just have to wait and find out. But, before our August publishing break, they commandeered the weekly post one last time. Here’s what they have to say. Continue Reading →

(Re)Coding Survivance: Sovereign Video Games Special Issue

First Person Podcast Episode 37

Michelle Lee Brown, Beth LaPensée, Maru Nihoniho, Meagan Byrne, and betsy brey 1 Comment

Welcome to a special edition of First Person Scholar. Today, we’re introducing a special issue on Indigenous and Sovereign Games, called “(Re)coding Survivance,” edited by Michelle Lee Brown. Our podcast this month features a conversation between four amazing Indigenous game designers, developers, and scholars. Michelle Lee Brown, Beth LaPensée, Maru Nihoniho, and Meagan Byrne discuss game design, Indigenous futurisms, survivance, and so much more. Continue Reading →

The Queer Games we Play

Review of Video Games Have Always Been Queer

betsy brey

Ruberg argues that “[q]ueerness and video games share a common ethos: the longing to imagine alternative ways of being and to make space within structures of power for resistance through play” (1). When I explained the argument to a professor, he said, “Oh, I didn’t know that could be queer.” When explained as Ruberg does, any game can be queer, and that’s exactly the point. Queerness is an embodiment of playfulness, one that allows us “to resist structures of power, or partake in alternative forms of pleasure, or inhabit embodied and affective experiences of difference” (15). But this kind of intervention and explanation is deeply needed at this point in game studies scholarship, as we can see more acceptance of queer game studies in multiple venues–the publication of this book being one of them. Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast: Episode 34

Can You Pet the Dog?

Lia Black, Betsy Brey, Sarah Stang, Nicholas Hobin, and Sabrina Sgandurra

This month on the First Person Podcast, you join Lia Black, Betsy Brey, Sarah Stang, Nicholas Hobin, and Sabrina Sgandurra to discuss their favourite pets in gaming history. We are going to be looking at the autonomy that has been allowed to animals in gaming ranging from the Final Fantasy Series to Pokémon. Through these games we will address themes like friendship, consent, and the proper pronunciation of the word Chocobo. So, tune in for a furreal experience. Continue Reading →

Play During Quarantine

Betsy Brey, Patrick Dolan, Chris Lawrence, Sarah Stang

Since the FPS crew are all working at home too right now, we have decided to collect some of our thoughts here on how play factors into our routines along different axes right now. Feel free to join in the discussion either in comments or on our social media channels, and stay safe. Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 30

Game of the Year

First Person Scholar

Welcome back to First Person Podcasts. It’s been some time and we are grateful to those of you who are coming back to us after a little hiatus. We’re back and raring to go with a totally original, out of… Continue Reading →

First Person Podcast Episode 29

Reflections on Surviving Subterfuge

Betsy Brey, Chris Lawrence, Jeremy Antley, Elise Vist, Will Fast, Rob Parker, and Jason Lajoie

Will FPS ever be the same?

Probably, but the experience nonetheless caused the participants to consider the porous nature of the magic circle. How can we navigate the rhetoric of games that reward betrayal, dishonesty and colonial domination, all of which run contrary to our own principles? To what extent do we perform ourselves in the games that we play? How can we be ethical actors while still engaging in a spirit of play? Continue Reading →