Acid for Blood

Sony Brings E3 Home

These days, Sony is all about using PlayStation Home as much as possible to promote this that and the other product or event. This year, users could visit Sony's E3 booth in PlayStation Home. One of the reasons I continue to check in on Home is to see how Sony and other companies are using the space.

Like many Home spaces, Sony's virtual E3 booth allows users to view trailers for some of their top tier games like Little Big Planet. If you viewed all seven available trailers, you gained access to the VIP area of the booth—where you could obtain special E3 2010 items for your avatar.

Interview: Sylvia Liu, Winner of SOE GIRL Scholarship 2010

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) announced today that Sylvia Liu of Milpitas, CA won the 2010 GIRL Scholarship (Gamers In Real Life Scholarship). The scholarship encourages students toward career paths in the creative and applied arts, with the goal of developing videogames that attract more women to play.

Liu's $10,000 scholarship award will to be applied toward tuition and other educational expenses at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and comes with an optional paid internship of up to 10 weeks at SOE’s headquarters in San Diego, working on one of the company’s hit titles.

I was given the opportunity to interview Liu about the scholarship, her goals, and about gender and games.

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from, and what's your background?

My name is Sylvia Liu and I’m from Milpitas, CA. I studied at Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna Beach, CA in the Game Art major which is a really great school where I learned pretty much everything I know about art now. I’ve recently made the decision to go to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA for the Entertainment Design program. Also, during this summer I’m going to be taking three classes at Concept Design Academy in Pasadena, CA where I’ve taken many amazing workshops such as Kekai Kotaki’s Digital Illustration workshop. So, this summer is going to be really fun, especially with the SOE internship.

During your internship with SOE, what do you hope to learn?

I hope to participate and learn more about the process that Sony Online Entertainment goes through for creating appealing video games.

Gaining the real life experience of what the entertainment industry is looking for is valuable to me. I also hope to excel as a concept artist, and learn how to communicate my ideas so that they are visually compelling and easily understood by others. 

What do you hope to do after you graduate and why?

I hope to go into the Entertainment industry and work as a Concept Artist to create visual development for movies, animations, video games, etc. It has always been my passion to design new visual ideas and tell stories through my artwork for others to enjoy. 

Could you talk about your creative process for your art submission for the GIRL Scholarship?

I usually start out my design process by sketching abstract thumbnails and looking for interesting shapes that are appealing at first glance.

From there, I pull things that I like and build on it. I knew that I wanted to do a creature because Everquest II has many interesting creatures as bosses. Everquest II is also a fantasy game so I made sure that my environment and creature were more organic and unique. I went with a forest because its familiar yet there are so many possibilities to making it something people haven’t seen before. My Mosster, which is my creature, inhabits the forest so I made sure that you could instantly tell it belonged in its environment. I also created my designs so they were fun and had a story to them so the player would be more interested in it.

Are there any games that you feel have particularly good concept art? If so, which games, and why do you think the concept art to those games stands above the rest?

Some of my favorite computer games were Harvest Moon, Pokemon Yellow version, Final Fantasy, Warcraft III, and Starcraft. Recently, I’ve been playing Heroes of Newerth, Aion, and Starcraft II.

If I could go back in the past and work on any games, I would work on Final Fantasy X because I love the concept art –all the costumes, vehicles and creature designs are so unique looking! I also feel that my personal style is very similar to that type of art so I think I’d have so much fun working on it.

Are there any well-known industry figures you look up to for inspiration? If so, who are they, and why do you look up to them?

Yes, I look up to so many artists that I learn from and incorporate into my work. Some of my favorites are Khang Le and Veronique Meignaud. Khang Le is one of the best concept artists in my opinion because he's very versatile in his designing and has such a fun, unique style. I really love Veronique's work because of her use of colors and brushes. Her designs are also really interesting and her illustrations are beautiful. Both of these artists have taught me how to look at everything in a different way and see many sides to one thing—which, as a designer, it’s important to come up with different solutions for one problem.

According to a 2007 survey by Game Developer Magazine, women account for only about 20 percent of people working in the videogame industry. Do you have any thoughts on the gender disparity in games industry workers?

I think the game industry is still a pretty new industry and over the past few years it has become more and more popular.  I think it’s just taking more time for women to break into it, although I've already seen amazing female individuals working in video games.  I believe that more and more women will be joining the industry and play a large and important role in the development of games in the near future.

Do you think it is important to have diverse creative development teams, in terms of gender, race, culture, and other areas? If so, why do you think it's important to have more game creators from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds?

Yes, I think it’s very important to have diversity in any kind of industry because every culture, race, gender, etc. has a unique view and opinion. The more variety you have, the more people that you can reach with your product. Also, in games, there's so much potential for creating new worlds and with a mix of different cultures it will make games much more interesting. People from other places can also experience new cultures through their game which is a valuable and fun opportunity to have.

Given the fact that about 80 percent of people working in the games industry are men, do you think there's anything that men can do to help get more women into the games industry?

Maybe making some games with females as the main character!  Whenever my character is a big muscular guy, there's no way I can get into it because that’s just not me—but I know some female gamers who don't mind that. There are definitely more and more women getting into the industry so I just think over time the percentage will become equal.

Many gaming communities are populated mostly by men. Have you ever experienced sexism in a gaming environment? If so, how did you deal with it?

There have been many times where I was never expected to do as well as I have in my major, but I've never experienced any really negative sexism. I actually like that some people make assumptions about me because it gives me more motivation to do my best, and seeing people change their views is nice.

Thank you for your time, Sylvia, and best of luck with your studies and with the internship!

[This entry was cross-posted at The Border House.]

Ada Lovelace Day: Women in the Games Industry

Ada Lovelace Day is a day set aside to recognise women in technology and in the sciences. Earlier, I posted interviews with two women who I wanted to give a small shout-out to today, Tracey John and Nicholle Young. The former already works in technology and games journalism and the latter seeks to enter the videogame development industry. I'd like to do another post, this time about all the women in game development I know of or have met, and the women who want to get into the industry. I know it seems like a bit of an easy out to write a post recognising many unspecific women, however my personal experience as both a member of the games industry and as a longtime observer of the industry, have led me to think about this for Ada Lovelace Day.

I have the good fortune of working at a company that, comparatively, has a large number of women filling its ranks. Nearly every single department—from design, to production, to web, to community, to business and administration, to writing, to quality assurance, to art—has at least one woman (if not more) working there. We have a number of women who are quite influential on the design side of our games. One of the clearest recent examples of that influence is in the design of the female charr (on the right), a feline-like playabe species in Guild Wars 2. Many women in the company (including me) felt quite strongly that female charr should not be vaguely cat-like humans that you attach breasts to. The result is the female of the charr species looking every bit as powerful and deadly as the male, but with a more feminine appearance (at least, feminine according to human standards). And thus, in this instance, we have avoided the "if it's female, just put breasts on it" approach to species design, an approach that is so personally aggravating in a great number of games. Fan reaction? Almost universally positive, with most fans using every superlative under the sun to describe the female charr design. Notably, many women have approached me personally, asking me to thank our developers for the way they designed the female charr.

Would the same thing happen in another company where there were fewer women? I'm not sure. I know that more diversity and more perspectives are better in game design. Game developers need to understand the perspectives of people who don't have the same lived experience as them, because not everyone who buys a game will be a straight, white male.

The fact that we have as many women as we do in game development is unusual amongst game companies, where women tend to be highly represented in business development, marketing, public relations, and administration, rather than in game development. Having said that, we as a company and as an industry are nowhere near as close to the proportionate number of women out there who actually play videogames in general, which is about 40% of gamers. There is still a very long way to go in terms of the percentage of women working in game development at large, in roles in which they're able to shape and influence game design.

This year, I attended the Game Developers Conference. I met many women game developers over the course of my week in San Francisco. Again, male game developers vastly outnumbered the number of women attending the conference. I had so many conversations with women game developers that week, and many of those conversations were discussions about sexism, inequality, discrimination, and hope. While many shared observations (and sometimes firsthand experiences) of sexism in the industry and rightfully griped about sexism in games and games marketing, all of the women I encountered were optimistic and hopeful for the future. There's no other field they'd rather be in, and all of them were passionate about their work and ambitions.

As I ruminate on the goals of Ada Lovelace Day, I realise that I am fortunate to have met a many women in game development and to have a number of women to look up to, both within the industry and aspiring to get into the industry, as colleagues, as friends, and as people I only know of from afar, but admire nonetheless. I respect them for their friendship, professional and personal, for their advice, for their opinions, for their constructive criticism, for their intelligence, for their senses of humour, and for their examples of excellence. So, this post is for all of the awesome women in the games industry. May you continue to inspire by being your fantastic selves!

This post is part of Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging (videologging, podcasting, comic drawing etc.!) to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science. You can read more about Ada Lovelace Day at the website.

[This entry was cross-posted at The Border House]

Ada Lovelace Day: Interview with Tracey John

I've been reading Tracey John's work since her days at MTV Multiplayer. I recently met Tracey at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Tracey agreed to participate, despite her very busy post-GDC and pre-PAX East workload. So, a huge thank you to Tracey for setting aside some time for this interview!

Tracey John is a writer and journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. She has written feature articles about video games, technology, toys and geek culture at large for MTV News, The New York Post, NYLON Guys, ToyFare and Wizard. Her writing on the web can be found at Techland.com, Wired.com, Massively.com and many other sites. She currently is an editor at UGO.com covering tech, gaming, comics and toys.

Tell us a little about yourself. What is your personal background? 

I was born in New York City, raised near Tampa, Florida and am of Chinese descent. My parents were born in Beira, Mozambique where they grew up in a Cantonese- and Portuguese-speaking community before coming to the United States in the '70s. I have an identical twin sister, who is a talented and hard-working web and video producer for Logo Online.

What is your background in journalism?

I have a degree in Mass Media & Communication Studies from NYU. I wrote for my school paper and interned at CMJ New Music Monthly magazine and MTV News before becoming an online assistant producer at MTV.com. I later became an assistant music editor at MTV.com, where I once interviewed Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) and made him walk out of an interview after I called him "emo."

Have you always wanted to be a tech and gaming journalist? How did you arrive at where you are right now?

Ever since college, I thought for sure I would work in the music industry or be a music writer. Though I was a gamer since childhood (mostly NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Dreamcast and PC) writing about video games for a living had never ever occurred to me until one day, in 2006, the then-games editor of MTV.com heard I played World of Warcraft and brought me onto his team as an associate editor for the now-defunct games.mtv.com website.

Even then, I didn't really write about video games as much as produce packaged online video content. It wasn't until 2007, when Stephen Totilo was getting his MTV Multiplayer blog (at the time, a single-person affair) into full swing that I was welcomed to join and write about video games full-time. And from 2007 to 2009, I wrote and reported for MTV Multiplayer.com, learning as much as I could from Stephen and our then-San Francisco reporter Patrick Klepek. I am very proud of the work we did there together, and it was the most formative time in my learning the ins and outs of video game reporting.

After I left MTV last year, I became a freelance contributor to Wired's GameLife, AOL's Massively and Time Inc.'s Techland, and was fortunate enough to write a few pieces for the New York Post, Time Out New York and Discover magazine.

Finally, I started a full-time gig at the Hearst-owned UGO.com in January as the editor of "The Goods" section, which covers technology, video games, toys, and comics. I'm also a contributor to 1UP.com.

The tech and gaming fields are quite male-dominated. What are your experiences of writing about technology, gadgets, and games? Do you think you receive any special attention, positive or negative, because you're a woman?

Sure, I have certainly received attention—positive and negative—based on my gender. As a female in this industry, I stick out, for better or for worse. But because of it, I've gotten to meet and speak with my readers, my peers and some of my heroes as a result. I can't complain about that.

I don't think I've had any negative experiences outright. I get the feeling from reading comments that some may be quicker to dismiss my opinions on certain topics because of my gender—like whenever I'm offended at the gratuitous nudity of females or the lack of a female character option in video games, for instance. I'll admit that I can't remove my gender from what I write, and as a female gamer, I'll let that pervade my writing when it makes sense or when there's a point to be made.

I think there's also a misconception that there are so few women out there as well. Though I do stand out, probably through the fortune of being able to work for a few big media outlets, there are plenty of women who are working in the industry. I am just one of many (if you even consider journalism part of the industry), and more and more women are playing games, writing about games and making games. We are not one-eyed unicorns!

And I like to think that the work I do makes me memorable too. :P

Is there anyone you haven't interviewed yet who you would like to? Who is it, and why?

Ha, my list is endless. I want to interview everyone. I am generally curious about the developers and their craft, as well as about the opinions, emotions and reactions of the gamers who consume their work. I do have a current wishlist of people I want to interview, but I'll surprise you in the next few months.

On one of the posts you wrote at MTV Multiplayer, you mentioned that you are a feminist. There is an undercurrent of anti-feminism in society, especially in a male-dominated culture like gaming. It was refreshing and inspiring that a games journalist would announce openly that she is a feminist, given the potential reactions from less enlightened readers. Many feminists talk about their "click" moment, the point at which they realise why feminism makes sense and informed their world view. Do you have a "click" moment? How did you come to come to the conclusion that feminism made sense to you?

Oh, thanks for saying so! I wish I could pin it down to one moment, but I think it's something I realized more over time (thanks, college). I don't adhere strictly to a certain set of theories, but I do call myself a feminist in the broad sense. Obviously, I think women should have equal rights and opportunities, and are capable of doing anything men can do.

As far as video games are concerned, it's certainly still a male-dominated culture, but as I said before, more and more women are playing games, all kinds of games. I, as well as many of my female friends, enjoy many games that our male counterparts do. While I like playing male protagonists, I really would prefer not to see things like hyper-sexualized female characters or needlessly topless women, especially when there's no ostensible point.

Great gameplay is great gameplay, but I can't help but notice when certain elements of some games make it clearly known that it was not made with a female audience in mind. Granted, not all games can and should be made with everyone in mind. But it seems surprising that many big-budget games, whose goal is to sell as many copies as possible to the mass market, don't always consider those outside the average 18-34 year-old straight male gamer demographic. Do heterosexual men just naturally play more video games, or do heterosexual men play more video games because they're encouraged to, and the industry caters to their view of the world?

And it's not just the content of the games either; the marketing of games is still aimed at this idea of the uber-heterosexual, girl-oogling male. "Booth babes," while still prevalent, seem to be less frequent or less of an issue, but sexy women are still being used to publicize games (like Dante's Inferno and True Crime to name some recent examples where I felt uncomfortable). At this point, publishers clearly have to know that such tactics can be offensive to people, male and female alike, but bad publicity is still publicity, I guess?

I think both male and female gamers deserve more credit than that though, and nothing can change unless we open it all up for discussion and examine ideas that are considered "the norm."

Name one of your all-time favourite games. Why do you like it so much and has it had any sort of personal impact on you?

This one's tough! I have a lot of favorite games spanning the years -- World of Warcraft, Diablo II, Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2 (can you tell I like RPGs?) as well as Portal, Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Crackdown, The Curse of Monkey Island...

But one particular game that is near and dear to my heart—Sam & Max Hit the Road by LucasArts from back in the day. I have fond memories of my dad making me a boot disk to run the game on MS-DOS, playing that game for hours with my sister, loving the fact that I could point and click on anything and see something new. I also expanded my vocabulary and learned phrases such as, "Gratuitous violence is my forte!" I had played games before that, but that was the first one that really captured my attention for hours at a time and really made me want to play more games. Then World of Warcraft came much later, but that's a whole nother story...

Is there any advice that you have for women who are aspiring journalists, that you would have liked to have heard when you were starting out?

This can apply to anyone I think, but I'd say... Be confident. Don't be afraid to speak up. Ask questions. Write constantly. Read the type of things you want to write. Volunteer for assignments. Pitch ideas. Talk to people in the field who inspire you. Learn their methods. While this seems like really generic advice, I don't think I knew any of this when I started, and I am still learning from my peers everyday.

Anything else to add?

Thanks to everyone at  Border House for doing what they do and inviting me here for an interview. If any readers have any questions or comments about anything, they can DM me on Twitter @TraceyJohn or contact me at my website (which badly needs an update) at www.traceyjohn.com.

Thank you so much, Tracey, for taking the time out of your no doubt busy day to participate in this interview!

This post is part of Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging (videologging, podcasting, comic drawing etc.!) to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science. You can read more about Ada Lovelace Day at the website.

[This entry was cross-posted at The Border House]

Ada Lovelace Day: Interview with Nicholle Young

I have been watching The Tester, the Sony PlayStation Network reality show, since the series first started. In the show, cast members compete for a position as a Sony PlayStation Quality Assurance Tester. Nicholle Young is one of the cast members of The Tester, and she graciously agreed to take time out of her busy day and participate in this interview on extremely short notice. In this interview, Nicholle shares her thoughts on what inspires her in games, a career in the industry, and diversity issues in games. Read on for the interview! 

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from, and what's your background?

I'm 23, I work now as a daycare Counselor and a part time student at my local community college. My hobbies consist of reading novels, listening to various genres of music and watching Japanese animation. I love movies. Sci-fi is my favorite genre, so anything Star Wars is a 'must' in my collection. I grew up on military bases, so I like meeting and learning about people and their cultures.

What sort of games do you like to play? Is there a particular genre you're drawn to?

I love to play role playing games, first person shooters, survival horror, and adventure games with an open world theme to it. I dedicate most of my gaming to role-playing games because not only do I love level grinding, but it's really the story that draws me in. I love being a part of it by making decisions—that have consequences—with various characters, and I like exploring new worlds.

Are you currently playing a game, and if you are, how are you liking it?

I am replaying Final Fantasy VIII. It's just as good as I when I first played it. I received it as my Christmas present the year it was released. I'm not playing it to grind all my characters to max status. I'm just taking the time to admire the detail that has been placed into the game—not to mention, test out a theory a friend of mine presented. You can learn more about it at www.squallsdead.com.

One of the things that many people, particularly those in the games industry, said when they heard about The Tester is that the participants had no idea what they were getting into in terms of what QA Testers do. How did you respond to those statements?

I do understand what QA testing is, I have no problem in working minimum wage in an entry level position that may be temporary for some, but for others like myself, [it's] a stepping stone into the career path that one might take into the game industry. I'm not saying I'm going to make the jump from being a Game Tester straight to Creative Director, but at least it's a start—especially if the jobs in between them such as Game Designer and Producer are already filled up. Game testing may not be as high as being Game Designer or Programmer to some, but it's a vital part of any game project. After testing phase, it's all about wrapping things up in order to meet the deadline for the game's release.

Something that really impressed me about the selection for The Tester cast was the fact that women and people of colour were well-represented. In an industry that is dominated by white men, this is noteworthy. Do you have any thoughts on diversity in the games industry and in the content of videogames themselves? 

I believe that we have come a long way in terms of diversity in the industry, but that doesn't mean we should stop. I think it's awesome that women who are looking to get into the gaming industry can have examples such as Amy Hennig (Creative Director of UNCHARTED 2) to look up to, as well as the growing number of people of color that are now moving into producing games, such as Felice Standifer (Producer at Sony Computer Entertainment America). Many minorities are not encouraged to think about the gaming industry as a career option, so I can see how it has lead to a lack of visibility. 

As far as games go—a wholly different story. Situational stereotyping is the norm in the gaming world. Take any first person shooter about being a soldier. It's all about being the tough guy, or the one guy who has the most experience, or the rookie with ideals that are constantly challenged. Now apply a racial heritage to the tough guy such as Rico from KillZone. He's now turned from the Average Joe tough guy to another hot blooded Latino that has a philosophy of "Shoot first and shoot some more"—[a character] who even has an intended racist view of [the] enemy, referring to the Helghast as "Higgers." Now what could that possibly evolved from, hmm? Whereas, the white guy, Sev, is the one who is balanced, fair, and generally the stereotypical "real White Knight hero" of the series, even to the point of sacrificing himself in KillZone 2.

In a couple of comments you've made on games blogs, you've touched upon your financial resources. Do you feel as if people ignore economic class as a factor in access to games? Could you discuss your feelings and perspectives about this issue?

I think people tend to ignore economic class. After all, here we are playing nearly $65-$70 for games. On top of that, DLC ranges from $1.99 to $15.99. Despite the fact that I am a consumer, I am well aware that this is still a business. Yes, it is about fun and games but in order to exist, you need cash flowing freely all around.

As for my status, being laid off two years ago, and now working minimum wage to support myself, paying for bills and college, has sharply impacted my gaming. At first, it was just about not buying every title that I want  on the release date. Now it is debating whether or not to pawn or sell my games or consoles just to pay bills. The last major game purchase I made was Modern Warfare 2 in November of last year. Since then, I've sold it for gas, as well as few others. I'm holding onto my PS3 mainly because I know I can play PS3 demos and PSOne games I've downloaded, but also because I know how much it is worth used—I may need it to pay for bills if I can't afford to do so with my pay check. There have been many titles that I would like to purchase, but right now I have priorities—to pay bills, have enough money for food, and go to college. 

I'm pretty sure the game publishers are not missing my dollars that much. I think it's rather interesting to note that games may not even been worth as much as the $65-$70, we pay for them brand new. Considering how many times I've seen GameStop advertise that you can trade two games in to equal the price of that not-yet-released title, which you can put on reserve for only $20... I mean what is that about? I guess that's the business aspect of the gaming industry when it comes to consumers. I'll probably understand more as I learn about the industry.

Why do you want to get into the games industry? What sort of profession would you like to get into? 

I want to be able to contribute what I can to the industry that has been a crucial part of my life. I've been inspired by it, and I think it's time for me to give back in any way I can. I would like to become a game Creative Director. I've already mentioned that it's the story that draws me into a game. For me, it has always been about how the story can be different things—an escapist fantasy, a social commentary on today's world, or a learning experience. It's like something one would experience if they read a good book or watched an amazing movie. It's an experience that I want to learn how to create for others to enjoy. I want to start in game design and work my way up.

Is there a game that had a strong influence on you in terms of inspiring your desire to pursue a career in the games industry?

There are two games, or should I say series, that had a solid influence on me, one is Metal Gear Solid and the other is Final Fantasy. They really broke the mold as far as showing how far can they take what would really be an ordinary game, and turning it into an experience that one has to play for themselves in order to understand. For example, in Final Fantasy VII I  thought I knew everything. I expected the twist in the main plot not just being about taking down a corporate government. What I wasn't expecting were character twists, especially learning that Cloud wasn't really who he said he was. Since that revealation, Square gone to many depths and (sequels) to show how Cloud has evolved from his initial hero character persona. You could apply the same thing to Raiden in the Metal Gear Solid series. By the middle of the story, you think you already know who he is: a naive grunt sent on some hostage-freeing mission. Then, you later find out he's an ex- child soldier trying to block out the memories of his past, and is caught up in the conspiracy that has been developing for the past 50 years.

Are there any well-known industry figures you look up to for inspiration? If so, who are they, and why do you look up to them?

I mentioned two of them earlier, Amy Hennig and Felice Standifer. I also look to Hideo Kojima, Hironobu Sakaguchi, David Jaffe, and Katherine De Leon for proving that, through dedication and standing tall in the face of all obstacles, you can make an excellent game if you are passionate about it. Their ability to be honest and think outside the box have really made an impact on how I would like to approach a career in the gaming industry.

What's the next step for you? Do you have any plans regarding your career aspirations that you'd like to share?

Right now, I am finishing up taking some introduction classes at my community college. Luckily for me, my college is starting a new program for an Associate in Applied Science degree. I, along with other students, requested this new program. The new degree is called Simulation and Game Development. I plan on choosing that as my major next year, and my electives will focus on game design. As I start my way into the gaming industry, as a Game Designer and ultimately a Creative Director, I'll also continue going to college. I will be majoring in English, so I can gain more experience in writing stories. I'm also applying for game testing jobs to some studios in Raleigh for the summer as a way to gain some experience as well. 

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

In regards to diversity and gender I personally believe it's all in a matter of perception and what people are exposed to seeing and experiencing. Even within specific racial groups, gender rules are influenced and experienced in a profoundly different way. Hopefully we can continue to have more honest dialog in the industry to address this, and not just simply outright deny that inequality happens or throw it under the rug as a "small issue". I would like to thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts. 

Thank you again, Nicholle, for spending some time to talk about what inspires you, and your ambition to get into the games industry. Readers can follow Nicholle on her Twitter: @ChicagoFameGirl.

This post is part of Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging (videologging, podcasting, comic drawing etc.!) to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science. You can read more about Ada Lovelace Day at the website.

[This entry was cross-posted at The Border House]

Naughty Dog at GDC 2010

Naughty Dog, the developers of UNCHARTED: Drake's Fortune and UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves are set to make a strong showing at GDC 2010. Naughty Dog staff will appear in at least ten sessions at the Game Developers Conference. Arne Meyer, Naughty Dog's Senior Manager of Marketing Communications, posted a list of their sessions on the PlayStation Blog:

Thursday (March 11, 2010) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Among Friends – An UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Post-Mortem
Richard Lemarchand (Game Designer, Naughty Dog)
Room 134, North Hall

Thursday (March 11, 2010) 3:00pm — 4:00pm
Behind the Scenes: UNCHARTED 2’s Unique Cinematic Production Process
Josh Scherr (Cinematics Animation Lead, Naughty Dog), Amy Hennig (Creative Director, Naughty Dog, Inc.)
Room 303, South Hall

Thursday (March 11, 2010) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
Micro or Massive: It’s Fricking Tough to Achieve a Vision
Baiyon Tomohisa Kuramitsu (Graphic Artist/Composer, PixelJunk/Eden), Richard Lemarchand (Game Designer, Naughty Dog)
Room 135, North Hall

Friday (March 12, 2010) 9:00am — 10:00am
GDC Microtalks 2010: Ten Speakers, 200 Slides, Limitless Ideas!
Richard Lemarchand (Game Designer, Naughty Dog), Ian Bogost (Associate Professor, The Georgia Institute of Technology), Chaim Gingold (levity lab), Gary Penn (Guru, Denki), Sam Roberts (Festival Director, indiecade.com), Margaret Robertson (Consultant and writer, Lookspring), Kellee Santiago (President and Co Founder, thatgamecompany), Suzanne Seggerman (President, Games for Change), Jesse Schell (ETC Carnegie Mellon, Schell Games), Jane Pinckard (Business Development, Foundation 9 Entertainment)
Room 134, North Hall

Friday (March 12, 2010) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Creating the Active Cinematic Experience of UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves
Bruce Straley (Game Director, Naughty Dog), Neil Druckmann (Co-Lead Designer, Naughty Dog)
Room 305, South Hall

Friday (March 12, 2010) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
UNCHARTED 2 Art Direction
Erick Pangilinan (Art Director, Naughty Dog), Robh Ruppel (Art Director, Naughty Dog)
Room 306, South Hall

Saturday (March 13, 2010) 10:30am — 11:30am
UNCHARTED 2 Character Pipeline: An In-depth Look at the Creation of U2’s Characters
Richard Diamant (Lead Character Artist, Naughty Dog Inc.), Judd Simantov (Lead Character Technical Director, Naughty Dog Inc)
Room 135, North Hall

Saturday (March 13, 2010) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Animation and Player Control in UNCHARTED: Drake’s Fortune and UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves
Travis McIntosh (Lead Programmer, Naughty Dog Inc.)
Room 135, North Hall

Saturday (March 13, 2010) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Getting Noticed: Why You Need an Online Portfolio and How to Make One
Jacob Minkoff (Game Designer, Naughty Dog Inc)
Room 306, South Hall

Saturday (March 13, 2010) 3:00pm — 4:00pm
UNCHARTED 2: HDR Lighting
John Hable (Programmer, Naughty Dog)
Room 305, South Hall

I'd love to attend them all, but that'd be impossible even if I wasn't a Conference Associate. All I can hope for is that my volunteer work schedule allows me to attend the Post-Mortem session and the Behind the Scenes session.

In addition to listing the sessions, Meyer began the post with a call for questions to ask the Co-Lead Game Designer of UNCHARTED 2 and the Graphic Artist and Composer of PixelJunk/Eden at the "Micro or Massive" panel.

[Read]

Metroid Director Yoshio Sakamoto Profiled on MDb

Yoshio Sakamoto, Director of the the majority of Nintendo-developed Metroid games, will speak at the Game Developers Conference this year. Sakamoto also happens to be the Director of my favourite Metroid game, and the game that (if pressed) I might call my favourite game of all time: Super Metroid.

The Metroid Database has an extensive feature article about Yoshio Sakamoto:

Sakamoto has become a kind of enigmatic director at Nintendo to outsiders, being overshadowed by the work of Miyamoto and Miyamoto's apprentice, Eiji Aonuma (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess). In some cases, Sakamoto's role has been overlooked or underemphasized and credited to Gumpei Yokoi, who served mainly as the producer or supervisor of Sakamoto's games rather than as a creative director. So Sakamoto is Nintendo's 'other' director, one of the most creative men in the company, yet also one of the least known, considering his body of work. As such, he has not been as widely sought out by the press, but his recent work with Other M is likely to change that, catapulting him into the spotlight.

The in-depth article details Sakamoto's many years of experience at Nintendo, design philosophies and approaches, and discusses the background of Super Metroid's development. It's a really interesting read, particularly since Sakamoto is not as high profile a creative director as other Nintendo luminaries.

[Read]

Convention Sexual Harassment and #EAFail

I haven't spoken up about the failness that is #EAfail, partly because I've been doing detective work, collecting many of the links you see in this post, keeping tabs on what's going on in the Twitter stream, and just gathering my thoughts on it after several days of perspective. 

If you haven't heard about it, this post gives a good overview of the Dante's Inferno "Sin to Win" contest, which EA Games ran at San Diego Comic-Con this year.

I think there are several interconnected issues at play here, and a broader context that many of the articles I've read about this incident that I feel people have not discussed enough, which I will cover towards the end of this post.

First is the misogynistic, sexist, and heteronormative bent of the contest itself. It appears targeted to males of a certain mindset (immature) and social aptitude/ability (incompetent) and/or Males Who Don't Give a Shit About Women. It presupposes that straight women and gay men are not interested in buying this game, therefore part of the prize EA and the Dante's Inferno development team offered up were just"two hot girls", no equivalent prize for straight women or gay men. This is setting aside the fact that awarding people as prizes is gross objectfication. I feel it's safe to assume they didn't consider that lesbian and bisexual women play games, either, because the language and imagery used by EA were quite sexist and disrespectful of women, in my opinion. The graphics for the contest, a woman's chest and cleavage, and the tattooed silhouettes of two women, on their hands and knees, with their asses in the air in a provocative position that presents themselves as sexually available and subservient was just gross.

Further, labeling women 'girls' is, to many women, sexist as well, because it infantilses them. A girl is a prepubescent human female. Do adult males get called 'boys' all the time? No, they're usually called 'guys'. But it's different for women. Women are taken a notch down, they're 'girls'—they aren't adults, they are children. "You throw like a girl!" is a common insult—just one tiny, tiny facet of society's partiarchal power structures in which men are raised up and women are devalued. I know many women who don't mind being called 'girls'. I'm cool with that. It's their choice. I don't look down upon them for it, because it is a woman's own personal choice in how she identifies. Personally, I won't rip your head off if you call me a girl, but it gets on my nerves because I haven't been a child for a very long time. In the specific context of this contest, however, the terminology, combined with all of the other sexist content, further stresses the disappointing lack of respect for women.

The second issue is treating women as objects (that men are entitled to). They were being given away as prizes. Booth workers/models/"babes" are there to do a job. Whether people approve of booth babes or not, they are human beings and deserve to be treated with the same respect and dignity afforded to any other human being. Dangling a couple of booth babes as prizes in this contest is not respectful in my opinion. I don't feel the need to elaborate further on this point, because it seems pretty obvious why this aspect of the competition was problematic.

Thirdly, there is the objectification of women. Just because EA or any other company hires attractive women to work at their booth does not mean the women are "asking" to be objectified or harassed. Supporters of this contest argued that "booth babes know what they are getting into" and that the possibility of being groped (in other words, assaulted) is "part of the job", which is a dumb argument. Why? Because employers have a responsibility to ensure their employees' safety. Sexual harassment or assault should never be "part of the job". To put this into a little perspective, so that people of the dude persuasion can perhaps understand better:

As to the guys saying "if your job is to look pretty and pose for pics in a bikini, you're asking to be harassed," well gee, your "package" is out on front of your body---I think you're asking for it to be smacked. I have the right to decide that, don't I? IMO, if you aren't wearing a cup, you're asking for it and it's fair game. If you don't like it, then either wear a cup, cut it off, or get used to it---because you've asked for it.

Both the above statements are ridiculous---but that's my point: assuming that a woman's clothing (or lack thereof) is an invitation to harass her makes just as much sense as a woman assuming a guy not covered by a cup is asking to be hit in the package with a 2x4. Since when does *she* have the right to assume you're asking for it, get into your personal space and flatten your package, based on her own ideas about how a man should properly hide his goodies?

These above two points—the fact that people objectify women, and the fact that women are being treated like objects—are different, but related. As Eleniel said, "Just because people objectify models doesn't mean models become objects when they do their job!"

Fourthly, there is the ignorance of convention fan culture on the part of EA, which fans  who have some awareness or critical thought know, is rife with misogyny—sexual harassment, incidents of stalking, assault, and just general badness towards women. Geek conventions can be a safe, accepting haven for many who have been derided or shunned because of their hobbies in other social environments, but geek fandom is a very male space, where women, unfortunately, get treated poorly with disturbing regularity. I'm going to elaborate on this point by discussing one of my own personal experiences with creepiness at an anime convention. Before I begin, I'd like to note that this incident happened when I was much younger; I would probably behave differently these days (hindsight is 20/20):

I was hanging out in the Video Game room, watching people play a fighting game, and I wasn’t really bothered to play it. This guy walked up and stood beside me to watch the others play the game, as one does. This fellow was a very large man, in terms of height, and in terms of girth. He had thick glasses, unkempt clothing, and dark, messy, curly hair—in short, a typical geek. However, he was standing so close to me that I felt a little on my guard.

Like many people at anime conventions, my badge name was different from my real name. In this case, my badge name was 'Samus Aran', because I like Metroid so much. He started the conversation with me by looking down at my badge—keep in mind he was already standing very close to me—and saying, "So you're a Metroid fan, huh?" We started talking about Metroid and fighting games. That was okay. He started talking about his online girlfriend in Taiwan, who he was going to visit very soon. That was fine, too. But then he started bragging about how he spent over £100 on anime porn at a previous convention. He kept going on and on about his girlfriend, their long distance relationship, and his porn collection. The fact that he discussed his porn collection and his girlfriend at the same time disturbed me and creeped me out, because he was just so keen on bragging about both. He wasn't talking about her like she was an actual person, but a trophy, another part of his collection. I also felt undertones of Asian fetishisation/exotification in the way he talked about his girlfriend, and this racial dynamic also made me uncomfortable, as someone who identifies as Asian.

At this point, I really wanted to leave, I didn't want to hear about his porn or his girlfriend anymore, and I was thinking of how to extract myself from the conversation without making a scene. Luckily I spotted a friend of mine, and excused myself.

In hindsight, I consider what happened to me to be sexual harassment. Uninvited, a total stranger launched into a discussion of a sexual nature completely out of the blue. This dude had no sense or understanding of social boundaries, and it made me feel very uncomfortable. I've experienced a few other incidents of general creepiness from men at conventions (and outside of conventions), and they were uncomfortable experiences as well.

My experiences were tame in comparison to what many women experience at fandom conventions. Sexual harassment, stalking, and even physical and sexual assault, are not recent problems at cons, either. The incident I described above happened to me nearly a decade ago.

I don't live in fear of going to cons. I've been going to and working at cons for a long time. If I didn't enjoy them, I wouldn't go. My good experiences of conventions outweighs these few negative experiences, so I hope people don't get the impression that I am against fandom or conventions. I'm against people getting hurt at conventions.

I have insight on this issue from another point of view. I've been on Otakon Staff for ten years* now. Otakon is the second largest anime convention in the United States. Every year, about 23 000 people attend. When you work behind the scenes in running a convention you know that there are incidents where convention staffers have to help out a member who is having problems with another member, and sometimes those incidents involve sexual harassment. That is reality. I won't get into details, but there are definitely a lot of disgusting and creepy people out there.

SDCC has continuing problems with sexual harassment. Last year, people called for a no-tolerance sexual harassment policy to be instituted. The convention administration has remained silent and not addressed the concerns of women and members who complained. I looked through the SDCC website and found no policies on sexual harassment or any type of behavioural policy**. The pleas of fans last year seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. This year, there were yet again incidents of sexual harassment at SDCC.

For EA to run a contest like this in complete ignorance of the problems that fan conventions have with stalking, sexual harassment, and other problem behaviours, was not a good move, in my opinion. Many men at fandom cons already have problems recognising social boundaries and the personal space of women who are fellow attendees, without any external prompting or encouragement. Contests like the Dante's Inferno "Sin to Win" promotion invites contestants to go beyond social boundaries by committing "acts of lust" with any booth babe. It puts not only EA employees workers at risk but also the employees of other companies. Furthermore, it leaves the door open for this type of inappropriate behaviour towards regular attendees, who may not have the same protection or power as those with exhibitor badges.  As the link round-up post concludes, "It encourages behaviour that makes cons unsafe for women."

EA's response? A not-real apology (saved here, in case they try to take it down again), the kind that blames you for being offended and "confused". It didn't actually address people's concerns.

While EA may learn from this, I wonder whether this even registered on the radar of SDCC convention staff.

* At the moment I'm not active because living on the West Coast makes travel to Baltimore to staff a con impractical.

** Full disclosure: Shortly, after reading the blog posts about what happened SDCC last year, as well as the ridiculousness of the Open Source Boob Project, and after the establishment of the Con Anti-Harassment Project, I proposed to other Otakon Staffers that Otakon institute a sexual harassment policy. Convention leadership felt that the very broad existing disruptive behaviour policy already included sexual harassment and was adequate for the con.

Ada Lovelace Day: Spotlight on Paulina Bozek

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, an international day to draw attention to women in technology, in which bloggers from around the world write about a woman in tech that they admire. Today, I'm going to write about Paulina Bozek, a fellow LSE alumna and the Executive Producer of one of my favourite videogames, SingStar.

Paulina Bozek is the award winning Executive Producer, and Game Director of the SingStar franchise of games, which was developed at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Studio London. Prior to her stint at Sony, Bozek had previously worked at Ubisoft and GameLoft. She later decided to pursue a Master's degree in Media and Communications in the media@LSE department at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2001 - 2002. After graduating from the LSE she joined Sony in 2003, starting out as an Associate Producer. 

Bozek is cited as one of the key developers of the SingStar franchise, having guided the direction of conceptual technology towards the popular social music game we know today. About the early days in her role as a game designer on SingStar, she says:

"SingStar already existed as technology -- that is, the programmers were developing something with which players would interact by singing rather than pressing buttons. My role was to look at it as a possible product and ask questions like how will it play? Who is it for? The technology had already existed for a couple of years. It could have been used as a music tuition tool, but we wanted to develop something more intuitive that didn't require a manual -- just a pick up and play game that would be entertaining and fun."

A significant number of women were part of the development team for SingStar, which is a rarity in the games industry. Thinking about why this was the case, Bozek mused:

"It might have something to do with the nature of the game as it is not as male-focused as many games and women might see it as relevant to them, but lots of people are interested in working on it and women in the industry also play 'male' games."

The game was initially going to be targeted to women and girls, with the knowledge that it would appeal beyond the target. Bozek emphasised how important it was to keep the target market in mind in the development process:

Music is universal. The development team used music as a way of segmenting target audiences, i.e. through music genres. The key lessons Paulina has drawn from SingStar is that it is all about the user and their experience and that it is central to innovative game design to prioritise what brings most value to the experience.

SingStar was released on the PlayStation 2 to mainstream popular, as well as critical, acclaim in 2004. As of February 2009, the SingStar franchise has sold over 15 million units in the PAL region alone. SingStar has achieved a huge success in bringing gaming to traditionally non-gaming markets. Very few videogames get advertised in publications targeted to women, and SingStar is one of them. SingStar and its creative team won the 2004 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Originality in Video Games. Paulina Bozek also won the first ever BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award in 2004.

In 2008, Bozek was named one of the 'Top 35 Women Under 35' in Management Today. She was also listed as one of the members of the exclusive Courvoisier Future 500 List for 2008. After her success at Sony, she joined Atari in 2008 to develop games for a new internal games studio.

Media consumption is still gendered in many ways, and this is abundantly clear in the realm of videogames, where there seems to be a huge divide in terms of what is specifically targeted to women and girls, and what is targeted to males. Furthermore, games that are enjoyed by both sexes, such as World of Warcraft, are seen by mainstream, traditionally non-gaming audiences as targeted specifically to men and boys. Unfortunately, game developers and publishers continue to hold the assumption that the vast majority of their audience is male, and this assumption impacts development at every turn. They base these assumptions upon past sales demographics. However based upon current trends in games marketing and advertising, it seems that many aren't looking to future potential -- that their games could grow beyond current markets -- or they are averse to taking risks and spending money on promoting games to non-traditional markets.

94% of teenage girls aged 12 - 17 and 50% of women in the United States play videogames, so there is huge potential for growth in games, but it requires a lot of cultural and social change in the way non-gamers and gamers, alike view games and gaming. It requires companies to shift how they market and design games so that they are more inclusive to women and girls. The marketing for SingStar included demographic segments that are usually completely ignored by the games industry, such as women, teenage girls, and gay men. The marketing and box art for SingStar games typically includes at least one, if not multiple, women in active roles. Furthermore, the women that feature in SingStar marketing materials are generally not depicted in hyper-sexualised ways. All told, these marketing tactics send important signals to consumers that Sony has thought of them during the development process, that Sony has made it a point to include them, and that Sony wants them to play these games.

Designing games with inclusiveness in mind, where the design team operates with the key assumption that women and girls will comprise of at least half of their audience, has positive impacts. Bozek says that "Women can bring a different point of view" to game development, and that "the industry is looking for more women and wants to get more girls playing games to expand the market."

I admire Paulina Bozek because she played a pivotal role in developing a piece of voice technology from a product that could have been a niche educational toy into a cool, fun, competitive singing game that achieved mainstream and critical success. She and her team recognised that women and girls are an important part of their audience, and this is reflected in SingStar's marketing and advertising. In turn, their excellence, innovation, and hard work were rewarded and recognised by consumers.

[List of  Participating Blogs]

Nintendo Customer Service Centre

Today I visited the Nintendo Customer Service Centre in Redmond, Washington to have oliemoon's and her friend's DS Lites repaired (the right shoulder buttons stopped working). I took a few pictures with my phone. I apologise if they're a little blurry.

This is a shot of the counter towards the back of the shop:

There are two seating areas, marked by Pikachu and Mario. Mario is closer to the entrance:

You can buy Nintendo merchandise and accessories:

 
 

This is a display case filled with Nintendo products. At the top, you can see hanafuda playing cards, which is what Nintendo was originally formed to create way back in 1889:

I'm guessing this is a majong set, but I'm not really sure:

I think that's a ROB at the top:

The customer service person was pleasant enough and efficient. Instead of repairing the DSs, Nintendo just replaced them with new ones, with a brand new one year warranty on each.