Comments for Women in Games Jobs - women in video gaming industry.

Comment on Chick-ening Out? – Activision deny rumours on scrapping Female Game Characters. by Michelle Tolfrey

Michelle Tolfrey — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:11:45 +0000

When I read this I really couldn’t believe it and actually checked the date this was posted to make sure it wasn’t an April Fools.

I’m astonished Activision have done this especially since they are connected with Blizzard and the majority of female charaters in WoW are actually played by guys. (I’ve played WoW for five years, always as a female character and only had a few minor problems which I’m happy to say were sorted by the ignore button! ). This in itself should be proof enough female characters do sell the games and can work as strong lead females.

All I can say is they should be rethinking this and being the big brave company that takes that first step into a stronger female prescense for gaming, who knows, if they can make a game with a female hero, they might encourage more actual female gamers into the market and that really can’t be a bad thing.

Comment on Changing the Future of Games – Develop’s WIG conference shows it can be done. by Katherine

Katherine — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:40:49 +0000

Agree with Anethea with ‘wow’!
It really was a fantastic day, full of positivity and lovely to meet such inspiring women.

Katherine

Comment on Changing the Future of Games – Develop’s WIG conference shows it can be done. by Anethea Veenman-Hodges

Anethea Veenman-Hodges — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:42:03 +0000

Wow! I just wanted to say what an awesome time I had and what a real privilege it was to see, hear, and meet such an impressive group of women.

I truly believe after attending the conference that Women in Games will make a difference in this industry and I will be able to look back and remember I was a part of it!

Thank you all so much!

Kind regards,
Anethea

Comment on 40% of game players are women says ESA. Are female gamers closing the gap? by Anethea Veenman-Hodges

Anethea Veenman-Hodges — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:52:01 +0000

A really interesting read! Thanks for posting the link and I’ll be sure to pass this around.

What I wonder in regards to the statistics is when surveys targeted toward women actually began. I suspect that we could’ve seen similar statistics 10 years ago for female game players — but did anyone ever ask? Was this type of research or query around, where the focus was on female players?

Thanks again!

Cheers,
Anethea

Comment on It’s the Final Countdown…To the WIG Conference, 2010! by Anethea Veenman-Hodges

Anethea Veenman-Hodges — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:45:35 +0000

Hi Ngan,

I am so looking forward to meeting you and the other WIG’s tomorrow! I’m really excited and don’t feel bad — as a legal advisor, I, too, have been in the background about attending gaming conferences. So, this will be my first time, too.

Hooray for newbies!

Cheers,
Anethea

Comment on 40% of game players are women says ESA. Are female gamers closing the gap? by Chiaki

Chiaki — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:43:54 +0000

Enjoyed the article! Just saw an article these days on a magazine talking about how women represent a growing group of consumers of everything. I guess game industry is included in it, too.

Comment on Top 10 or 100 women in video games lists – are they inspirational or sexist? by Ellen

Ellen — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:40:42 +0000

I do agree with Antonia on this one. This is how I feel- why are you considering me as different to a man? Why do I get a little bubble? Why am I somehow different to men? Am I really going to integrate myself properly as long as I maintain the division set up by this otherwise Patriarchal industry?

At the same time, it is good to have situations where women can come together and look to each other as role-models and to share experiences.

I’d really like to see more games branded “guy games” The sooner we get to something like action flick/rom-com (without loaded gender divisions), the better.

Comment on Top 10 or 100 women in video games lists – are they inspirational or sexist? by Heather

Heather — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:30:00 +0000

I find that the women who are on those lists rarely are a fair representation of the women who are making a big impact in gaming. However I think that’s true of ANY “top list”. They’re popularity contests. I don’t think there is any doubt that women are capable of holding high level jobs in gaming. The problem is that the culture of gaming often makes it so that the best candidates don’t want to!
I can’t even count the times that CEOs have said things to me like “Women can’t be trusted” thinking that it was acceptable. Often gaming companies are structured like fraternities. That is what we need to focus on, not on “look..she’s a girl and she can do it.”

Comment on Top 10 or 100 women in video games lists – are they inspirational or sexist? by Melany Fulgham

Melany Fulgham — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:56:08 +0000

I agree with Jess. For now, I think these lists are great, because they help to establish role-models and help women-in-games feel like they have a community. Until the industry is closer to equal, these things can have a positive effect.

However, there is also a danger of further marginalizing other groups. For example, most women in games are white. While we work to be included as women, what are we doing to make our group more diverse? When we see a list of the top 10 women in games, are we happy to see role-models, or concerned that there still may be a lot of girls who don’t see someone like them represented? Are we welcoming men who are interested in recruiting more women into the industry, or making them feel like they are the problem?

These issues can make you dizzy. But think about this…..When you google for the “top 10 women in video games”, you get lists of the top hottest game characters well before you get lists of real women in the video game industry. As long as that is true, I think our efforts to promote women in games is well spent.

Comment on More Women are needed in games. It’s official! by Me

Me — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:01:37 +0000

Chelcie – you seem to forget characters like Lara Croft, Tifa Lockhart or Yuna, Chun-Li, Mileena & Kitana, Jill Valentine – there are so many more I could name. Sure it’s looking pretty grim lately with so many male oriented games where females are pushed to the back but just remember the greatness that female characters have shown in the past and remember that everything is part of a cycle. The only way women can make change is to be change. I tried working in the industry, I eventually left but at least I tried. You can’t complain about something you haven’t been actively involved in trying to change.

Personally, I don’t care if the lead character is a female or a male. I care more about the subject matter and the quality of gameplay. Women’s personalities and looks are varied and women have different abilities so there is a place for all types of women in games. I just think that the video game industry is in a funk right now because the type of game that are appealing (selling) at this moment are war and destruction and apparently the census is these should be male lead.

The whole industry is copy-cat, there’s very few “original” ideas anymore. Call of Duty was a hit so everyone made war games, Halo was a hit so everyone made sci-fi shoot em ups (recalling DOOM days), Guitar Hero was a hit……… you get my point. What we need is innovation in gaming again. Little Big Planet shows us just how far we’ve come since the beginning of video gaming and all the big game companies can do is stick another gun in someone’s hand and send them off to save the world…. sad.

You can fill video game companies with as many women as you want but the fact remains is that it is a male dominated industry and only women with VERY thick skin survive (in the basements of video game companies anyway). Besides, if what is selling is a male-led-war-themed game that’s what said company is going to make.