What do you think?
Rate this book
DED LED
DED LED is an independently organized collection of articles, essays, and reviews originally posted to the videogame website Kill Screen between 2013 and 2016. Websites come and go, and great work dies with them. DED LED preserves a body of videogame writing created by a slate of 49 talented contributors, acting as a vertical slice of a critical scene over a 4-year period. Kill Screen’s lifeline can be broken out into distinct phases, and this compilation focuses on work produced during its final editorial iteration. Publishing DED LED gives this ephemeral moment a tangible footprint that can act as a historical resource as well as a celebration of the featured authors.
Contained within this volume you'll find a tremendous breadth of topics centered in and around the cultural sphere of videogames, including a deep dive into the world of competitive Pokémon, an investigation into the disturbing body politics of the Metal Gear Solid series, an analysis of Dark Souls' color theory, and so much more. Each piece was submitted by its original author for inclusion in this compilation, many choosing to write supplemental commentary to offer additional context.
Note that as of this writing, all of the works featured in DED LED are still available to view on Kill Screen (links included with each piece), but almost all the works in this compilation are modified in some way from their original versions. DED LED is not officially affiliated with Kill Screen, and all work on this document was conducted on a volunteer basis. We are not asking for or taking any money for this project, but encourage you to seek out DED LED contributors and support them. If you'd like to donate to an advocacy organization on DED LED's behalf, we humbly suggest Human Rights Watch.
For any questions about this compilation or requests for interviews, comments, or appearances, please email inquiries to dedledcomp@gmail.com.
Contained within this volume you'll find a tremendous breadth of topics centered in and around the cultural sphere of videogames, including a deep dive into the world of competitive Pokémon, an investigation into the disturbing body politics of the Metal Gear Solid series, an analysis of Dark Souls' color theory, and so much more. Each piece was submitted by its original author for inclusion in this compilation, many choosing to write supplemental commentary to offer additional context.
Note that as of this writing, all of the works featured in DED LED are still available to view on Kill Screen (links included with each piece), but almost all the works in this compilation are modified in some way from their original versions. DED LED is not officially affiliated with Kill Screen, and all work on this document was conducted on a volunteer basis. We are not asking for or taking any money for this project, but encourage you to seek out DED LED contributors and support them. If you'd like to donate to an advocacy organization on DED LED's behalf, we humbly suggest Human Rights Watch.
For any questions about this compilation or requests for interviews, comments, or appearances, please email inquiries to dedledcomp@gmail.com.
130 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 2018
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 7, 2025
The Ded Led collective wants to write about games and write well. A big chunk of it ends up being grasping at straws, but with titles like “Games Could Learn a Thing or Two from Confessional Poetry's History,” “The Goat, the Devil, and Doom,” “What Call of Duty Gets Wrong About Drone Strikes,” and “How Apotheon Turned Greek Pottery into an RPG,” I don't mind that much. It all comes from a place of effort and love—not only for games but for culture in general.
There's even an article exploring whether the color purple in Dark Souls 3 is a critique of religion and Catholicism. There are very few generic pieces here. I read it over the course of a couple of months, and the one I still think about is a memoir about the relationship between a boy and his father, viewed through the Mario games and the changes both undergo. I would kill for a paperback version of this.
There's even an article exploring whether the color purple in Dark Souls 3 is a critique of religion and Catholicism. There are very few generic pieces here. I read it over the course of a couple of months, and the one I still think about is a memoir about the relationship between a boy and his father, viewed through the Mario games and the changes both undergo. I would kill for a paperback version of this.
Displaying 1 of 1 review