I just thought I�d share this interesting article about women in game development, in case people haven�t seen it.
[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5113554[/url]
Just a couple of quotes from the article:
quote:The times, they are (finally) a changing, however. Already well-represented in marketing and public relations, women are now moving into the creative areas of coding, design, art and production.
Advocates say it's about time. The industry needs not just gender diversity, but a diversity of ideas they hope will lead to new types of games and, ultimately, new players. The challenge is finding the talent.
quote:And finally, changes in the way games are built indicate less of a future demand for coders, but more of a demand for artists, producers, story tellers and designers -- fields traditionally better represented by women.
I don't know if i agree with that second quote, i'm sure that an artist is not necesarilly better represented by females, i think it's equally represented, and in this industry, probably better represented by male (No sexism intended).
Also, i only know of one chick that likes playing games, very sad i knkow, but that's only cos her boyfreinds a nerd. My sister doesn't mind a bit of sims now and then but i still wouldn't call her a gamer. I don't think times are changing at all, i still think it's extremely male dominated
It doesn't bother me either way. Same as any field. I think that both sexes should be welcomed anywhere. Pity female lingerie stores don't have the same attitude towards equal oppertunities and males :`(
My girlfriend will occassionally play a game. She isn't overly good as she doesn't practice. She puts that down to the attitude that girls shouldn't play games... I will slowly manage to change her :)
I have to admit that I tend to play as female characters in games. For the simple reason that when I'm going to be playing a game for a few weeks, and it comes down to a male who sounds constipated or a female who is having an orgasm... I'll take the orgasm. The guy trying to sound way too tough who only ends up sounding constipated shits me. Personal choice :)
Totally off topic and not meant as a barrage against you Moonunit, your comment just stirred up something I've been laughing about lately.
If you mean this 7yr old was a camper because she used the sniper rifle then shes not 'technically' a camper.
The definition of camper is someone who finds an area that is either loaded with powerups etc or is impossible or near impossible to attack without the occupant picking you off far too easily.
In other words they sit down there and 'Camp' with near invunerability.
Camping is an issue of bad game balance that is being exploited, it is not someone using a weapon that has been OK'ed by the developer.
Most games don't have these unbalanced areas anymore because of the public outcry and better design, if you play a more recent game which has snipers its generally very hard to defend against more than one opponent when you've been spotted, its just that most people lack the tactics to flush them out.
I've always found it funny that its ok for everyone to be a rocket bunny or always use the most powerful uber weapons but using stealth tactics moving around the game with a sniper rifle is frowned upon, I've never had problems with snipers, if they are part of the game then they are part of the game. [:P]
Phew, glad thats off my chest. [:P]
Malus i agree with you whole hartedly, but she translocated ontop of a hanging light and was shooting down from there with a minigun (and was consequently the lowest scorer on the team :P ). Personally ive got nothing against sniping or stealth tactics :)
Well theorectically you could get a voice alter-er ma-bob and say you were 7 but unless its an excuse for your dodgy playing i dont see why you would want to be treated like a "kid". (i know theres probably some great 7yr olds out there bla bla but think about the general reaction that a 7yr old playing online FPS would get).
As a female aiming to get into the games industry, all I can say is that from my own experience most of the women I know tend to only do things because they are cool or in fashion. Gaming is simply not 'cool' enough - not compared with clothes/ mobile phones etc... I don't seem to think is the game content as such thats turning girls off games. I believe that if games were marketed differently and were able to convince girls that they were 'fashionable enough' maybe things would be different.
As for getting into the industry, young females in general seem to go with what has a trendy image at the time. eg a independent, sophisticated lawyer or journalist etc. (I even have some friends who are studying to be forensic scientists because they want to be like the people from CSI) They don't seem to see the image of the independent, cool, sophisticated game developer.
One thing I have noticed is that the Australian game development industry seems to be very hidden from the public eye. When I was leaving school and wondering what to do with my life I didn't even know there was an industry in Australia let alone places you could study it. I think that there are thousands of girls (and guys) that would jump at the chance to have a career in such a creative and exciting industry if they were just simply told about it.
Jessica Andersen.
quote:One thing I have noticed is that the Australian game development industry seems to be very hidden from the public eye.
Oh I totally agree! It was a sheer fluke that I picked up the tiny dusty QTAC booklet from under the mounds of UTAC and VTAC books and found QANTM. If I had never found that I would have taken that course for graphic design at Wollongong. *shudders*
Acttually I have seen a few girls in the local EB checking out games (makes me proud [:D]) and even a couple of young girls that were around 11 or 12 that we like "OMG MUM Can we get this game???" *Girl grabs Doom 3 off the shelf* Or the other girl who was showing her mum around the PS2 titles and grabbed San Andreas and bugged her mum to get it.
Although I don't like the thought of childern playing such violent games, it definately showed me that girls are getting into gaming and are ok with it :)
Edit: (I just saw your post!)
quote:But seriously, If you had some of the games Developers I know come to your school and you saw them in person then it would be a backward step for promotion of the industry
Acctually I went back to my old high school last year as a request from my computer teacher, and I shed some light to some students about what I was doing, and by then end of the day there were a few guys that wanted to do stuff for games. It was good because it was a little country school and they said they didn't even know that you could do that sort of stuff here in Australia. :)
I'm such a nerd. [:D}]
Going over to an older gamer/game developer's house for a LAN recently (some of you will know who I'm talking about) he had two ~8yr old daughters playing games with the lanning crowd and on the ps2, and they were kicking some serious ass too.
I guess with this sort of upbringing more and more women/girls/females will find their way into game development, or at least into playing and buying games - which will move the market in other ways.
i know alot of chicks that dont mind playing game but i know only a hand full that are any good at the more compeditive ones.. was proud tho taught my x how to play halo but she only like co op cause she had me helping her.. wuss?
and u are always suspicios of someone that plays online under a female avatar.... damn werdo's out there..