Glass House Games

"We thought it could only happen back in mainland China, but in the past five years this horrible stuff has actually happened in Hong Kong." – Ma Jian (via interpreter).

Jordan, Sam, Alex P and special guest Ma Jian talk about the 2019 Hong Kong protests and what the gaming community can do to help.

In October 2019, a professional Hearthstone player from Hong Kong known as Blitzchung won a match at the Hearthstone Grandmasters in Taipei, and used a post-match interview to speak in support of the Hong Kong protests. The next day, Hearthstone publisher Blizzard, which is part owned by a Chinese company called Tencent, announced that they had suspended Blitzchung for 12 months, wouldn’t give him his prize money, and would no longer work with the two casters involved in the interview, citing violation of a competition rule that forbids competitors from “engaging in any act that, in Blizzard’s sole discretion, brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard’s image”.

Blizzard eventually restored the prize money and lessened the ban to six months, but the event has raised questions for video game companies and players. In this episode, we ask Ma Jian to help us contextualise the protests, consider the roles of the UK and the US, examine Blizzard’s actions, and ask what video game players can do.

Our conversation with Ma Jian was facilitated by a Mandarin/English interpreter, so listeners may find this episode requires more concentration than usual. Ma Jian was born in China and is from a different generation than the students leading the protests in Hong Kong, but as someone who has faced punishment for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, his perspective is valuable. As the interpreter (who is from Hong Kong) told us that even he finds it hard to keep up with what is happening at the protests, we urge people to get the latest news from sources in Hong Kong where possible.

Links:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/08/blitzchung-hearthstone-blizzard-banned-hong-kong-protests

https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/23179289?

https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/101819%20Wyden%20Letter%20to%20Activision%20Blizzard%20RE%20Hong%20Kong.pdf

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50091931

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-10-26-gaming-beyond-the-great-firewall-of-china

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3a5dx/blizzard-like-any-corporation-cant-be-trusted-to-care-about-anything-past-profits

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1115314/china-dream/9781784708696.html

This week’s snack was: Hong Kong egg tarts! You can buy your own at Bun House on Lisle Street, London.  

Join the conversation at https://glasshouse.games 

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“HONK!” – Everyone

Maggie, Sam, and Alex CG reflect on Untitled Goose Game, the game where you play as a horrible goose by House House. We talk about how the game has become a pop culture phenomenon, its appeal to non-gamers, and the developer’s inclusion in the credits of how the game was made in the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.  

This episode contains spoilers.  

Links:  

https://twitter.com/sarahhiraki/statu... 

https://twitter.com/MediocreDave/stat... 

https://twitter.com/emaudible/status/... 

https://uk.ign.com/articles/2019/10/2... 

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/article... 

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/article... 

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xw... 

Reflections are scored individually on a scale from love to hate, and then a group Glass House Games verdict is determined using our magical algorithm.  

Join the conversation at https://glasshouse.games 

Send your thoughts to [email protected]

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"Yes, I dated my students!" - Shay

Shay, Maggie, Alex CG and Alex P reflect on Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the brand new instalment in the long running Fire Emblem series from developers Intelligent Systems. Three Houses is a narrative driven, tactical RPG that explores themes of casteism, fascism and feudalism.  Join us as we delve into the intricacies of high school monastery living and the ethics of dating your students.  

This episode contains spoilers.  

Links: 

"Gismonda" by Alphonse Mucha: https://www.reproduction-gallery.com/... 

"The Hunters in the Snow" by Pieter Bruegel The Elder: https://d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.net/... 

"Primavera" by Sandro Botticelli: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi... 

Reflections are scored individually on a scale from love to hate, and then a group Glass House Games verdict is determined using our magical algorithm.

Join the conversation at https://glasshouse.games 

Send your thoughts to [email protected] 

Follow @GHGshow on Twitter and Instagram

“I was evangelised into Half-Life.” – Alex CG

Jordan, Sam, Alex P, and Alex CG talk about the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx, a VR-exclusive prequel set between Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Jordan and Alex P have never really played Half-Life but quite like VR. Sam doesn’t like VR but has played the Half-Life games. Alex CG has a lot of thoughts about the impact of the Half-Life series on the rest of video games, and might be the only one who’s… cautiously excited?

This episode contains some spoilers for the Half-Life series.

Links:

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/nov/22/valve-reveals-vr-exclusive-game-half-life-alyx

https://www.roadtovr.com/half-life-alyx-trailer-views-mainstream-gaming-spotlight/

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-11-29-cd-projekt-dismisses-investor-fears-over-cyberpunk-and-half-life-alyx-release-clash

https://twitter.com/tha_rami/status/1200335736907677696

https://store.steampowered.com/valveindex

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/22/20977938/half-life-alyx-vr-reactions-opinions-verge-staff

https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/alyx-needs-arms/

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-11-22-valve-explains-why-half-life-alyx-is-a-vr-exclusive

This week’s snack was: truffles from Dark Sugars! You can buy your own at Dark Sugars on Brick Lane.

Join the conversation at https://glasshouse.games

Send your thoughts to [email protected]

Follow @GHGshow on Twitter and Instagram

“These words make no sense” – Jordan  

Sam, Shay and Jordan reflect on Control, the supernatural shooter from Remedy Entertainment.  We discuss brutalist architecture, lore and just what does Lynchian mean anyway?  

This episode contains spoilers.  

Links: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TULeD... 

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20... 

Reflections are scored individually on a scale from love to hate, and then a group Glass House Games verdict is determined using our magical algorithm. 

Join the conversation at https://glasshouse.games 

Send your thoughts to [email protected] 

Follow @GHGshow on Twitter and Instagram

“We get dirty, so the world stays clean...what a load of-” – Alex CG  

Sam, CG and Alex reflect on Call of Duty Modern Warfare, the latest bombastic shooter from Infinity Ward and Activision. They talk about how it compares to previous CoDs, some lacklustre set pieces and the real world conflicts it evokes.  

This episode contains spoilers.  

Links:  

https://theconversation.com/kurds-tar... 

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20... 

https://www.justiceinitiative.org/pub... 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentis... 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2... 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk... 

https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resourc... 

Reflections are scored individually on a scale from love to hate, and then a group Glass House Games verdict is determined using our magical algorithm.

Join the conversation at https://glasshouse.games  

Send your thoughts to [email protected] 

Follow @GHGshow on Twitter and Instagram

“Pokémon joined the gig economy. It’s happened.” – Sam.

For our very first episode, it’s a full house! Jordan, Shay, Sam, Maggie, Alex P, and Alex CG talk about their favourite video games that feel like work. Who likes to be told what to do and who wants to be their own boss? Who will work for the promise of a new wardrobe and who vacuums up every gold coin they see? And why DO we come home from our jobs and spend our leisure time on virtual chores?

Links:

Ian Bogost’s article for the Atlantic “Don’t Play the Goose Game

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/10/dont-play-the-goose-game/600472/

Patricia Hernandez’s tweet about “the pull toward boring shit in video games

https://twitter.com/xpatriciah/status/1194317483374567424?s=12

Dick Hogg’s article for Gamasutra about making Wilmot’s Warehouse

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/352585/Game_Design_Deep_Dive_The_creative_camaraderie_behind_Wilmots_Warehouse.php

This week’s snack was: stained-glass window cookies! To make your own, cut shapes out of biscuit dough, cut holes in the middle of your shapes, and fill those windows with crushed boiled sweets before baking.

Join the conversation at https://glasshouse.games

Send your thoughts to [email protected]

Follow @GHGshow on Twitter and Instagram