A lot has already been written about Nintendo’s Tomodachi Life controversy, and honestly I kind of wondered if there was any need for me to say anything when there are already so many well-written responses (like Samantha Allen’s, which pulls no punches and is recommended reading). But there is another…

The phrase “cultural keystone species” was introduced in 2004 in a paper by Ann Garibaldi and Nancy Turner. The whole paper is available to read online, and its worth reading. The idea is similar to that of the ecological keystone species; a species which has a huge effect on its…