Cerise Magazine

This month at Cerise, our theme is “Fight Like a Girl,” and we’re focusing on women and fighting games of all kinds with articles and reviews, including a new series by Anastasia Salter which will examine older computer games in an attempt to create a gaming canon. We also have a reflective Gamer Story from Carla Lee, and a couple of great interviews for you this month.

We hope you enjoy the issue, and don’t forget to check out our submissions page to see how you can contribute to future issues of Cerise!

We’ve got a fun lineup of articles for you this month here at Cerise, ranging from Carla Lee’s reflection on her experiences at Worldwide D&D Game Day to Mara Poulsen’s examination of the potential impact of Microsoft’s XNA Creators Club. Editors Robyn Fleming and Andrea Rubenstein share stories and ideas about gaming with family members, and in this month’s Gaming in the Media, Latoya discusses the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics.

Next month’s theme is “Fight Like a Girl” – do you have something to say about that? Stop by our submissions page to find out how.

Our theme this month at Cerise, “Heroines and Villainesses,” is the sort of broad topic that the editors love best. We’re always interested in a wide range of articles, and this month we’ve got it! Melissa Velte sent us an article examining a particular villainess, and Brendan Davis contributed a how-to about using “guest star” villains to spice up a tabletop game. Robin Sevakis created a fantastic piece of art for the cover, Robyn Fleming wrote about attending WisCon 32, and Andrea Rubenstein discussed her personal impressions of heroism. Sara Girard also speaks briefly about what she finds appealing about heroines in one of our interviews. There’s a lot of great stuff in this issue - check it out!

And if you’d like your own work to appear in a future issue of Cerise, stop by our submissions page to find out how.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since Cerise was first launched. What began as a project by essentially three people has blossomed into a full-fledged magazine. Without all of you who have contributed your articles and stories, we never would have made it to where we are today.

Remember that getting noticed in gaming is something that can begin with publishing a single article in a gaming magazine. So if you have an interest in the industry, consider hopping over to our submissions page and submitting your article, review, or gamer story.

When we originally conceived of this issue, we wanted to have a queer-themed Cerise with articles analyzing the intersection between the LGBT community and gaming. Unfortunately the content we received didn’t quite reflect our original intent, so we’ve decided to change things up a bit and, inspired by the recent Wii hit Super Smash Bros. Brawl, call this Cerise a “Free-for-All,” with content that covers a variety of topics.

In the spirit of our original theme, we do have an interview with Tracy Whitelaw of Lesbian Gamers.com, as well as a story from Maria Velazquez, who discusses the impact of heteronormative attitudes on her gaming. We also have a piece from Stephanie Pegg that analyzes romance in a LARP from all angles, and a breakdown of the upcoming 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons from Ben Larsen, in addition to the usual features you’ve come to expect from Cerise.

We’re always looking for new content, so if you’ve got an idea you’d like to share, or if you’re bummed that “Gaming with Dorothy” didn’t work out and you want to make sure that a queer-themed Cerise happens, check out our submissions page and start planning your contribution!

We wanted to know what sorts of games and topics interest older gamers for this issue of Cerise, and we received some interesting responses in the form of Gamer Stories and reviews. We’re also bringing you some articles focusing on game planning and preparation this month, as well as an interview with miniatures artist Victoria Lamb – and a Craft Check detailing a way to make miniatures that are way less impressive than the Victoria Miniatures line. And on the Back Page, you’ll find a link to the latest edition of the LOLGAMERS Contest!

As always, we’re looking for new contributors for future issues. Be sure and stop by our submissions page during your visit this month!

Whether as passive prizes to be won, powerful allies or player characters, princesses have long been popular in both table top and video games. Why the enduring fascination with princesses? We examine the princess trope in this issue of Cerise, and take apart some of the stereotypes that have been used to depict women as damsels in distress in gaming.

Drew Mackie joins us from his blog with a piece on the history of Princess Peach that analyzes her contribution as a princess in gaming. Melissa Velte applauds Square Enix’s positive portrayal of Ashe in Final Fantasy XII and Natalie Hill makes an argument for femininity in games as the herald of diversity and inclusiveness. Over in Craft Check, Rachel shows us how to construct our own princess tiaras from wire and beads. And, as always, we’ve got some fun content on The Back Page, including a chance to win a prize just for showing off your cool gaming threads!

If you like what we have to say about princesses, make sure to check out the submissions page to see our upcoming issue themes and start thinking about how you want to make your voice heard in Cerise!

The turning of the year is, for many of us, a time to anticipate changes in our lives and strive to improve ourselves. But can we anticipate improvements in games and in the broader gaming community? And what can we learn from looking back and examining what has been done before? Our contributors are grappling with these questions, among others, in many of our articles and features this month. In Gamer vs. Gamer, Victor Barreiro Jr. and Anika Cunningham discuss the casual vs. hardcore gaming divide, both where it’s been and where it’s going. Meanwhile, Richard Pilbeam looks back at some of the past products of the RPG Maker community, and Samara Steele delivers something novel in the form of a free-verse poem.

When you’ve read these and our other articles and features, be sure to enjoy a little amusement on The Back Page, where we’re announcing the winners of last month’s LOLGAMERS contest.

And after that, maybe you’d like to start this new year by looking over our submission guidelines and planning an article of your own

Whether you’re a gaming professional, or your connection to the gaming industry is strictly from the consumer side, you’ll find lots of interesting pieces about gaming as an industry in this month’s issue of Cerise. Our content includes a quick, informal dialogue about gut reactions to a certain kind of product from potential consumers, an information-packed article about so-called casual games, an examination of the ways in which authoritative texts shape fan behaviors and more.

And, of course, there are the un-themed features and reviews you’ve come to expect in every issue of Cerise, as well as a particularly robust edition of The Back Page (which announces, among other things, a new LOLGAMERS contest – be sure to check it out!).

Enjoy the issue, and stop by our submissions page to see what future months will bring, and plan any contributions that you might like to make.

We’re kicking off a new feature this month, in our sexuality-in-gaming-themed seventh issue: Gamer vs. Gamer, a debate between two gamers with different positions on a topic in gaming. Our first Gamer vs. Gamer concerns sexy female character designs and objectification in video games.

In addition to that, we’ve got a line-up of excellent articles and features on different topics relating to sex in gaming, and three Gamer Stories representing a perfect mix of humor and serious reflection.

There’s also the much-anticipated continuation of Samara Steele’s Gender & Live-Action Roleplay series, some great reviews and an interview with Shelly Mazzanoble, author of Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress. And, of course, there are always the bits and bobs on The Back Page to help keep you entertained.

Enjoy the issue! And be sure to check out our submissions page before you leave, to see what some of the themes for future issues will be.