VideoBrains April: The Swapper Epilogue

It’s that time again, for the final page in the book of VideoBrains April: The Swapper to be read, the Epilogue. This is where you can either relive the event or pretend you were there, complete with videos and some of the best tweets about the event. What more could you want?

We had our resident speaker Rob Morgan open up with this third talk in a series where he puts names to tropes and clichés in games we know but can’t quite describe. One of the focuses was Chekhov’s Sidequest, the item, area, or person you know is coming up later one in the game because of their introduction in act one.

"In games, if we see a gun on the wall in Act I, we're going to want to fire it ourselves" #VideoBrains

— Nicole Williams (@EliElicole) April 26, 2016

Olivia Wood, editor at Failbetter Games, took to the stage to talk about sex in games. Good sex, bad sex, and a little bit inbetween. At Failbetter Games, every scene aims to be as inclusive as possible, regardless of gender identity, orientation, or genitals. That was a challenge, as was asking her mother about the grammar of a sex scene.

I wanna do the sex scene with the haddock-scented tentacle/eyeball creature. That is my jam. #sunlesssea #videobrains

— Tom Battey (@tombattey) April 26, 2016

To debunk the relatable everyman (alternate talk title: “Yes, I’m Talking About Representation Again, Fight Me!”, Helen Gould came up to the stage, discussing how so many of the protagonists in the game we love are white men. In fact, not just a lot of them: almost all of them.

Did you know that James Parker really “gets it” with regards to the Call of Duty franchise? At least, that’s what commenter on The Guardian once said. His talk wasn’t entirely about that, though, and instead moved on to talk about the communities that build up around games, and how creators can, should, and shouldn’t talk to their fans.

"Boaty McBoatface and the false promise of democracy" by J. K. Rowling. #videobrains

— JAD (@JasonAlanDewey) April 26, 2016

Are you an action dude? A hulking mass of muscle that survives off chewing cigars and grunting? Are you a brotagonist? Chances are, you’re not. That means it’s hard to relate to the many brotagonists that fill many games. Thryn Henderson walked us through the ways we can relate to these characters, primarily through just punching things.

"Make bad decisions make sense. Punch everything." I can get behind this. @VideoBrains

— Olivia Wood (@babelfishwars) April 26, 2016

To finish off VideoBrains April, Sean Cleaver spoke about getting older. Specifically, getting older and losing touch with the gaming he once knew. People grow up, and the way we play games changes. That’s both a good and a bad thing, but I’d say it’s good because if we stayed the same we’d all end up like Steve Buscemi in 30 Rock.

That wraps up VideoBrains April: The Swapper! We’ve got good news though. VideoBrains May: Prototype tickets are now available. We’re trying out a new location this month, so if Stratford is a better location for you, come along!

On top of that, our next all-day extravaganza is going to be in June, and tickets will go on sale on Monday! Our all day events typically sell out pretty fast, so get in quickly.

In case you want to support VideoBrains further and on into the future, we have a Patreon that you should check out.

We’ll be seeing you at VideoBrains May very soon!