Link Tank: Dissecting The Last of Us 2 Gender Identity Controversy
The Last of Us 2 controversy, the major issue with Outlander, Discord explained, plus more in today's Link Tank!
The Last of Us 2 is the latest gaming franchise to be embroiled in the ongoing discourse amongst gamers about representation in video games.
“There’s a small but loud minority of people out there who want to tell you that video games belong to them and not you. Ladygamer? Person of color? Not straight? Nonconforming? They will persistently interpret your opinions about games and desire to enjoy them as forcing an agenda.”
Outlander has a major issue with rape in its storylines, one that we as the audience ignored for too long.
“As EP/showrunner Matthew B. Roberts put it, ‘When a modern audience views Outlander through a modern lens, then yes, you can have problems with it. But if you actually place yourself in the period… and we’re not saying that rape was okay in that period either… but how the characters view it is how we’re showing it. We’re not showing it how we view it, and that makes a difference.’ This is a lazy excuse.”
The Office episode “Dinner Party” was supposed to end in a murder before it was (thankfully) changed.
“Wait, what?! Apparently, The Office‘s iconic ‘Dinner Party’ episode almost went down in a much different way than what made the final cut. As terribly awkward as the episode is, things nearly turned tragic when Jan Levinson was originally supposed to end the night with a murder.”
The PumPiX blaster is Spider-Man’s web slinger repurposed to shoot hand sanitizer.
“As impressive as Spider-Man’s abilities are, there’s not much that a superhero who shoots webs from his wrists can do to combat covid-19. But what if you upgraded Spidey’s web-slingers with virus-killing hand sanitizer instead? That’s the idea behind the wrist-worn PumPiX blaster.”
If you’re one of those people who’s heard of Discord but never used it, here’s the communication platform explained.
“Video games and the internet go together like Doritos and Mountain Dew. With the internet, you don’t need to seek the bustling crowds of an arcade or wrangle friends together for gaming on the couch. They can enjoy cooperating with or competing against other people all over the world. Granted, online multiplayer isn’t always a pleasant experience, especially when it comes to communication.”
Certain countries are handling the coronavirus better than others. What can we learn from them?
“Southeast Asian countries have been the star performers during the coronavirus pandemic. Countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand have managed to contain their outbreaks almost entirely. Almost all Western nations, by contrast, have humiliated themselves. None have bungled things worse than the United States (with the possible exception of the U.K.), but France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy all had terrible outbreaks. Even Germany, which managed to keep mortality numbers low through a combination of advance preparation and aggressive response measures, did not do nearly as well as South Korea.”
Written by