Review of Crash Override

Before I get into my review I have to check my biases at the door: As a feminist, a scholar, and a gamer, I condemn what happened during GamerGate. If that offends you, then you can stop reading now and leave my blog.

I picked up “Crash Override: How GamerGate (Nearly) Ruined My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate” by Zoe Quinn for academic reasons, as well as to satisfy a little bit of my curiosity. It is hard to not pick up a memoir like this when it promises to outline such a tragedy as what happened during GamerGate.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I think I had some Schadenfreude watching the terrible events unfold, gripping the book and unsure how Quinn would react to each devastating blow. While I honestly wish none of it happened to her, and feel that she was unjustly persecuted, I am still mortal and still intrigued by the story and the drama.

However, eventually, I grew bored of the conclusions she drew and the resolution to her account. While I do applaud Quinn for her work with her non-profit organization and do feel that some of her points are valid, the skeptic in me feels that a lot of her suggestions are logical, but lacks evidence. While she is on the frontlines on cybersecurity and knows firsthand better than anyone the effects of online hate, the academic in me wishes there were more citations and more references.

For the gripping story, the moving message, and the optimistic view of the media (instead of the popular fear-mongering too common in tech authors), I give “Crash Override” four out of five hearts.

Review of “Significant Zero”

First off, I just wanted to say thanks for reading this. My summer has been full of ups and downs, and I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. I hope to have a few more blog posts in the works, especially since I’m presenting my PSO paper at NCA in November (big news!).

I recently moved to Eugene, Oregon, to continue my education. And to break in my new library card there, I checked out a handful of books on video games. The first one I read was “Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art and Soul in Video Games.” As a memoir of sorts, this book outlines Walt Williams’s entry and career in video games, and all the ups and downs that includes. While I have heard that the industry is really rough, this book describes in detail the life-sucking drain it can have on its creatives.

Perhaps the greatest part of this book is its story on how Williams grew as a writer, and what it meant to him to write in the games industry. However, other than that, this memoir really just touches on his history with AAA games, and how hard it is to work in the industry. I did like the behind-the-scenes for titles like Bioshock, the main message about the soul of video games and what the creative process is like seemed a little trite. Or redundant I guess.

As a fun, but not very filling or demanding read, I give “Significant Zero” three out of five hearts.