The problem with the twitter feed not posting links should be fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience!

After another long hiatus the Fall 2009 issue is out! This issue doesn’t have a specific theme, and unfortunately, will be the last issue for a while.

We’re looking for at least one person to administer the currently dormant Limit Breakers blog.

Applicants need to be able to:

• Seek out blogs with content that fit the blog mission
• Contact bloggers about cross-posting content and/or guest blogging
• Posting all appropriate submissions and cross-posts

While writing articles for the blog is of course possible, it is in no way a requirement. In other words, no previous writing experience is necessary! Familiarity with WordPress helps, but is not a requirement for the position as any necessary training will be provided.

Anyone interested should reply in this forum thread or apply via our contact form.

The following news item is a translation of 育休からの復帰時に降格と減俸　女性社員がコナミを提訴 by Andrea Rubenstein.

Female employee of Konami sues for receiving a paycut and demotion after returning from maternity leave

2009.6.16 17:59

It is illegal in Japan to demote and/or cut the wages of a staff member returning from maternity leave. However, on the 16th Yoko Sekiguchi (36), an employee of game company Konami Digital Entertainment (Tokyo), began a lawsuit against the company. She is seeking ¥33,000,000 ($344,000 USD) in compensation for the loss of her position, loss of wages, and other damages.

According to the complaint, Sekiguchi’s job entailed negotiating the overseas licensing of foreign team names and players for use in a soccer game. In July of last year she took time off for her pregnancy, and then began maternity leave in October, which lasted until April of this year. Upon her return, the company told her that she was to receive a demotion and a change in station, citing concerns that health and childcare burdens would interfere with her work if she went back to her original job. Her new salary was about ¥200,000 ($2,000 USD) less per month than her previous salary.

Regarding the company’s decision, Sekiguchi stated, “This is a case of discrimination aimed at female employees returning from maternity leave,” claiming that this was a violation of the Labor Standards Act as well as going against the equality rights outlined in the constitution. She further stated that, “I decided to go ahead with this lawsuit because of the other women out there who are facing the same treatment.”

Konami’s statement on the matter reads, “We have not yet received the complaint and so we have no comment.”

-Sankei Shinbun

• Equality Now responds

  Equality Now recieved an unprecedented amount of hate mail, including death and bomb threats, because it called for the withdrawal of RapeLay, a rape simulator game produced in Japan.

• Now It’s Officially Official

  “CNET Japan reports what was already known to those in the know: Japan’s Ethics Organization of Computer Software has banned the production and sale of sexually violent computer games.”

• Where Ixo RPs Being Black
  “How must it feel for someone that’s actually black, to know they enjoy the game, but just have to ignore all the dipshits tryign to look tough for their e-thug pals (ironic that they’re acting like tough ghetto youth, the same thing they’re demonizing)? “
• I think I’m going to cry

  Electronic Gaming Monthly goes under; subscribers get it replaced by Maxim magazine. Classy.

• Still Not Wanted: Girl Geeks

  Some recent examples of how women are marginalized in geek culture.

At PSFK Conference NYC, Celestine Arnold gave an eye-opening talk on the “Ghost in the Machine: Digital Multiculture.” Celestine discussed the role of race and culture in video games – and the gaming industry’s failure to address (and successfully market towards) it. While minorities make up a disproportionately large percentage of the gaming community, most games cater to an assumed mainstream (white, male) player. Many of the same inequities, stereotypes, and social/class relations that exist in the real world, Celestine demonstrated, carry over into the gameworlds as well. And as fantastical and hyperreal as games can be, the very real effects of racism are pervasive within games and the gaming community as a whole.

[Video: PSFK Conference NYC: Celestine Arnold and Digital Multiculture by Christine Huang]

Hat tip: Gamers of Color LJ Community.

Keep up with the new posts on Iris via Twitter!

After a long hiatus the Winter 2009 issue is out! This issue’s theme is The Socially Conscious Gamer. Many great articles, interviews and reviews are here to welcome you back. Enjoy!

We’re currently looking for submissions for our February issue. Here’s the call for submissions:

Submission deadline: January 25th, 2009
Theme: Open!

Our February issue is theme-less, which means that anything to do with gaming is on-topic. If there’s something you’ve been wanting to write about and you’ve just been waiting for the opportunity, this is the time!

Due to technical difficulties, this month’s Cerise will be delayed until December. We apologize for the inconvenience!

The forums are back up and running. We apologize for the amount of time it took to get them working again.