I do not view women as objects of sexual gratification.

just kidding =)

I'm not so sure. It's possible women will get more publicity in gaming [read: Jade Raymond] but when it comes to the actual designing, I only ever see men. I may be wrong here, but I feel that the media and game sites often pick up on female gaming in an attempt to disprove the sweaty nerd stereotype.

She looks like a man....or a WHOA-MAN! :|

I'll be glad when all this hub-bub about women in gaming passes over....honsetly - I really don't care who is involved in a game, as long as I like the game, gender of those involved = nothing to me.

I'm not woman bashing - I think it's great the industry is highlighting some profiles, and I'm happy people are employed and happy.

Now get in the kitchen and whup me up a game beotch...and a pot-pie while your at it! :P

If she's doing all these interviews because she's a woman, isn't that discrimination based on gender? I honestly think there shouldn't be any discrimination, good or bad. There's no need to give them special treatment or publicity, even if it's good, just because they're women.

Unfortunately, there will always BE discrimination based on gender, because it's pretty much impossible for guys to see girls in gaming and completely disregard the fact that they are female.

I think this explains why Poison had the sex change op, it's the only way she could get into the games industry.

I really wish these women in gaming would do more to draw attention to themselves than say "we're women in gaming". Yes, that's great, and I honestly do respect you, but not because you're a woman. You're in the industry, and let that speak for itself. It's just getting a little disgusting now... Let it rest, move on, and show us why you're a great person in this industry based on examples other than your gender.

That does not count cause you have to work on an actual game or at lest a good one at that. Playboy : The Mansion is not a game it was a cheap sims (and the sims was already cheap) copy with boobs. Iam suprised will right did not try to sue them over that game. and besides MTV is doing this blog. Going to MTV for video game info let alone music info is like going to Mcdonalds for healthy food.

You know I was reading an article by the Seattle Times and their editor said the same thing. She was writing an article on the low end game industry with the beta testers and low end grunts and in her interviews because there were so few women the women that were there got noticed and promoted more quickly.

I guess its sorta required in todays affirmative action diversity promoting days. Not that it is bad but she said the same thing. Being female is an advantage in this industry that is so male centric.

if its a propper game company the gender of an employee shouldn´t make much difference on game design/development side, but yeah, when its about pimping the game in public it obviously has advantages to have that side done by a nice looking female; assasin´s creed sure is an ambitious game in its own right but it would have received way less media interest among geeky male gamers and game journalists if it wasn´t because of her.
On the showing/marketing a game side it makes tons of difference by whom something is shown.
Imagine instead of nice looking friendly and cute Jade the game was exactly the same but made by Rockstar, maybe just due to its name and Rockstar´s reputation it would have received an AO/banned rating state before release ;)
Hearing about a game about playing an Assasin just sounds way less problematic when it comes out of Jade´s mouth ;)

Brenda was one of the coolest people that I've ever had the pleasure to work with. She's not out there in anybodies face because she's a woman in gaming, people are going to her because of it. And, because she's a great interview.

This is only an ongoing issue because the press (and some enthusiasts) continue to make it an issue.

It's important to differenciate between women in gaming and women in game development.

The stereotype we see most often is women in gaming, with groups like the Frag Dolls. They play up their sexuality to appeal to the average gamer. Whether or not they're really good (I'm sure even the Frag Dolls have their 'B' team), they look hot doing it, and that seems just as important. They get lots of press, and seem to be the perfect juxtaposition of geekiness and hotness.

Then, there are women in game development. They are just like the rest of us: artists, programmers, and designers that go to work everyday and work on their game. They could love to game in their spare time, or they may not. And, I don't know what they do at home, but I'll bet that 95% of them aren't licking their lips in their striped knee-high socks over a game of Halo. (And more power to you if you do, I'm just saying it's not a requirement). Sure, their different perspective as a woman is important to the team, but it's no big deal that they're women. They're developers. Sure, the percentage of developers who are women is low, but it's going up. In fact, it could be the over-sexed women in gaming that perpetuate a stereotype that turns women off from becoming game developers.

Point is: game development is a normal job. (Well, a normal job that puts game controllers and TVs on your desk). Women are just as qualified to be in it as men. Like Ubisoft said, Jade made more people watch their videos, regardless of how important she was on the project, because there is a stereotype that there aren't women making games. Well, there are, and I've known some good ones, and they don't need internet fame to enjoy their job any more than I do.

Game development is *not* a normal job. That's why you mostly see men doing it -- it has shitty hours and pays less than comparable fields for people with technical expertise. You don't see a lot of 55 year olds or women because, right now, you've gotta be a fan of some stripe to want to deal with 16-hour-a-day crunches.

Wanna see a bigger diversity of people working in development? Make the hours more predictable, and make it less of a punishing field to work in. Then you'll start seeing people other than 20-something males.

Amy Hennig is one of my favorite game directors. NOT BECAUSE she's a woman. Even after i saw what she looked like in the making of Uncharted...she's still one of my favorite game directors/creators.
She created Soul Reaver and led the Crystal Dynamics team to popularity.
What did Jade Raymond do again?

Best part of that article was the Henry Jenkin's quote: "As an art form, games deserve constitutional protection. But as artists, game designers have a responsibility to take seriously what they're saying through their work and how that message is being received by their audience."

@DrFresh: True enough. But that brings up a whole other issue about how better planning (read: realistic time estimates, not management guesses) could avoid crunch times, and therefore appeal the industry to a larger group of people.

I'm a female game designer at a major developer. I've been in the industry for a touch over 13 years. Looking around the room at my current team, I see three female artists, one female programmer, one female producer, and two other female game designers. There's also a localisation woman and some girl on the other side of the room I haven't met yet.

There are women working in the industry. We've been here a long time. Most of us are no more or less dedicated than the guys with whom we work, and trying to become more visible is repugnant to some of us because we'd rather become known for our work than for our gender.

@Malthius:

Well said.

:-)

Sincerely,
a woman who makes games

@DrFresh: Well said. This needs to shape up from the ground up because quality assisstance are the ones who look for bugs which the programmers end up fixing or designers end up cleaning, etc and that's how it goes.

Positive discrimination ftw!

I'm glad that Professor Brathwaite sees advantages in being a woman in the video game business, but looking at the first 5 or so comments on this post it appears there are definite disadvantages as well.

When I know more than 5 girls who play videogames then I will read this article...

I DONT WANT TO HAVE TO PLAY WORLD OF WARCRAFT TO MEET GAMEGIRLS!

There is this one video on Youtube of this girl playing smash bros... THATS what im talking about!

Finally, a minority (in this case, a female in a male-dominated field) admitting they get preferential treatment in the workplace. Shocking. You typically only hear about the disadvantages while the advantages are glossed over because it wouldn't be politically correct to discuss those...

In the workplace I've never been given an advantage due to my gender (except that I get guys to lift heavy and high things for me, but that's because I'm tiny.
A few years back, though, I did a uni course while still in highschool, which the newspaper was all over. I was the only girl among eleven guys for this software design course. I was the one the newspaper wanted to speak with.

Luckily it fell through, because the thought terrified me at the time, but the fact remains that although women have been in the industry, the wider public still has the mindset that women are hairdressers, nurses, and teachers - despite the evidence. When evidence appears that there are women defying that norm, we get the usual OMGPRESS despite the fact that anyone paying attention would know that we've been around for a while. And games developers will cash in on that for the extra publicity, as seen in Jade's case especially.

It's positive discrimination in this case - as long as you don't mind being known for your sex as much as what you've done. It's still discrimination, however, in an industry where it's so entirely unnecessary.

@KAVATAR she says in the article that she is doing this partly in response to the jade raymond comic to see what other womens in the industries experiences are.

@Achenar: Meh. All of these circumstances come back to the question of why there aren't as many women in high level math and physics as there are men. Whether there's a definitive difference in ability or desire or *not*, the fact of it is very clear, regardless of how significant the minority actually is. It's never surprising to find a woman painting or working on writing, or getting involved in a social kind of gaming, or even taking some kind of management or marketing role. But the core of gaming has this kind of tinkering aspect to it, like working on cars, and *that* is the part where there's a gulf, and everyone wants to know why. Especially guys, since the deep dark fear is that girls don't think fun things are actually fun--leading to an inevitable paranoid corollary about a certain indoor-sport.

It's an issue which cuts deep to the groin of all humanity.

I work in the game-industry, and from friends that have worked with Jade, I've been told that she's a terrible and un-trustworthy producer. Only in it for herself, conniving and calculating. I know a bunch of people that would never work with her again. Not because she's a woman, not because she's "doing something to prove to a male-dominant industry that women are able to hold powerful positions"...it's because she plainly sucks. The only reason she hasn't been fired due to her producing inability is BECAUSE we give her so much press. Us, the "male-dominators"... the internet r-tards that can't help but marvel at the female figure, comment, goggle at. Does this seem right to you? I don't care if you're woman, man, tranny, alien...if you're leading a team, it should be about setting an example for the people under you. It should be able gaining trust, and protecting your team from the evil publishers. I loathe reading about women that "have worked against the mold, have broken into this industry because it's so hard to do so with a male-dominate environment." that to me is complete and utter bovine-feces. We work in an industry that is very much like a sports team. You play your position, you lead by example, you work as a unit! Women that are promoting themselves on divide the team dynamic. They are NOT thinking about the team, but more for the personal fulfillment, something to prove. This is why it's such a big issue, because once you start acting and working towards personal gain, you lose the trust and respect of your peers...be it male or female.
I've had many coworkers that are women, and I must say they are by far the best that I've worked with. Women add another PoV to the game industry. From animators to programmers, to designers, they bring a certain sensuality and non-misogynous outlook to the field. Which is great for us, how many times have you seen the big-boobed heroin or a barrage of WWII, mech or pure violence games? TOO many IMO. They bring balance and an break from the traditional gaming molds. But once you start promoting the "hey, I'm female working along side you, yay me!", people don't feel your part of the team dynamic. Now I could be saying "hey, I'm a black male in a white male dominant industry, where's my cookie??" but that's not how you act when you're part of a team.

These are the most powerful parts, for me, of her interview:

Q: Is it still weird for women to play games? "Oh, it still is. This hasn't changed at all."

Q: Any discrimination against women in gaming? "No, it's a bonus."

"People would come up to the booth, and you would want to show them the latest games...They would just treat you like a booth accessory, which in some respects - a booth decoration - which is fine."

"Women get paid less in all fields right now...I don't know that it's unique to the game industry."

"If there's a job opening at a company and people tell their friends, odds are their friends are going to be guys."

"There are to this day, that I'm aware of, there are still no sex games for women."

Q: Why don't other women join the video game industry? "A recruitment ad had a bunch of guys holding up beers and looking nuts. Do I want to go work for a frat? Hell no!"

"I've never said, "Go be a game designer" but [my daughter] wants to do what Mommy does. I think it's a question of having someone out there."

Q: Nursing stations for women? "I don't think it was an intentional oversight."

Q: But are there any disadvantages AT ALL? "If there have been, I'm not aware of them."

Brenda is my role model. I had the pleasure of having to as a professor. Her classes were always fun.

She even gave a lecture on diversity in games. During the lecture she showed a slide of some female game characters. The one that had the most clothing on screen was Lara Croft. All the guys didn't see anything wrong with the way the women were dressed or portrayed. I was one of two girls in the class. Since I've been playing games for some time I'm used to scantly clad women. Then she showed a slide of some Calvin Kline models. They were shirtless, posed all sexy, and really hot. All the guys in the class squirmed. They looked so uncomfortable. It was so funny.

I agree with her. If we want more people to be attracted to games we need people from different backgrounds and opinions.

The only thing that irks me about this article is the photo they have of her. Her hair looks so...frizzy. I'll have to talk to her about that the next time I see her.

@DrFresh: Seriously, you have a good point about the outrageous conditions in many game development companies that might deter anyone who isn't a rabid fan from working there.

But I work as a programmer, not on games, in a place with an excellent work environment - not too much stress, no late hours required, above-required maternity/paternity leave and vacation time, flexible working/working from home for women with young children (and other people too if they need it), very good job security, etc.

There are probably about 20 programmers in my department and only 2 of them are women.

It's not a big sample and I think other departments are doing better but still, it's not good. Jump to another profession (project managers, say) and the gender ratio is suddenly balanced.

And maybe things have improved since but when I did computer science at university, I guess there were about 80 people in my year, and 1 was female...

Maybe the UK is worse than the US in this respect. And maybe in gaming the problem extends beyond programmers to other groups too. But still.

Is everybody reading the same interview? All she's saying is that the video game industry is actually very encouraging of women in its ranks.

If this somehow said something about "those damn minorities crying for special treatment" this in no way relates to that. She isn't complaining. Nobody ever has to my knowledge.

I'm not even sure if she's the first but as a part of the man-wife team that started Sierra Studios, Roberta Williams is proof that women have been a part of the development side of the PC gaming industry since its earliest days.

On the other side of the coin it's in no way a hard-won victory for liberalism since there was never much of a barrier to speak of in the first place.

While there's definitely more women in development than before, I think that's kind of true of just about everything.

@quen: But is the problem that more women want to be doing those kinds of jobs and aren't getting in because of their gender or just that for whatever reason, not as many are interested?

@TheDollHouse: Agreed.

Ugh! Fed-up of this argument!!!

Seems to crop up every month too... Wonder why that is?

[www.thatguys.co.uk]

My god, people being insulted and not automatically assuming it's harassment, followed by a thorough suing?

IT IS THE END OF DAYS!!

I really wish people would stop with the fucking "OMG WOMENZ IN GAMES!!!!!!!!" stories over and over. Every one of the interviews that I've seen has essentially been:

"So you're a woman in games, eh?"

"Yep"

"Is there some horrifying conspiracy to keep you out, or other major disadvantages or hardships that you've faced?"

"Not really"

"Oh, um... well... that's nice."

I think there've been three of these interviews posted about on Kotaku in the last 2 weeks, which is way more than is deserved by them all having, essentially, the same goddamn content.

Maybe some commenters here should actually read the interview. This interview is actually saying "Hey! Girls are totally welcome! YAY!" thats it. Brenda is just pointing out some things that weren't there until she asked for it, like a maternity leave. Not a big deal, kids. Haha. Just read the interview before you start to go off on something you don't even know about. :)

@deathbunny: You said it's a debate, but before that you accept that women aren't made to "tinker" like men. I don't think you will win the debate. In fact, from all of the women throughout history who have, despite overwhelming odds, made significant contributions to "tinker" sciences, you aren't winning.

Off the top of my head: Emilie du Chatelet - conservation of energy, Emmy Neother - symmetry of physical systems, Ayn Rand - objectivism, Rosalind Franklin - DNA, double helix, Lisa Meitner - nuclear fission, Ada Lovelace - first computer language, Grace Murray Hopper - first computer program, Jocelyn Bell - radio pulsars, Mary Somerville - polymath, Marie Curie - radium, polonium

The connection between all of these women is that they had special access to education that most women never did. Without access, there's no chance for success. Why do you think there are so few Mexicans and Blacks in politics and business? Because our brains aren't made to handle politics or business? Please, the human brain can do what it can do, no matter if the person who houses it is man, woman, black, white, quadruple amputee, or whatever.