Women in Games: The Gamasutra 20 [Gamasutra] [Pic: Game Informer]

When it comes down to it — beauty sells. No matter what industry. Putting a good looking guy out front (like Abercrombie) appeals, having beautiful women starring in television shows appeals, and so does a great figure in body paint. The day we start looking at something like this and saying it is a bad thing and is sexist is the day we need to re-evaluate pop culture as a whole.

Fischer hasn't seen any of the discrimination or sexism that other women in the gaming industry have encountered, though in her particular profession the chances of any real dirt coming to fore are relatively slim anyway. I've known a great many PR people in my day, and they've all been extremely cheery, positive people, even when faced with promoting a product that's less than amazing. Not that Sega has ever had a less than amazing product, of course.

I'm guessing a lot of PR folks go home and cry at the end of the day. It's okay PR people. We understand. Let us know if you need hugs.

Women Working in Games: Sega PR's Tali Fischer On Progress, Sweatpants, And Naked Women At The VGAs [MTV Multiplayer]

By The Numbers: The Forbes Fictional 15 [Forbes.com - Thanks Greg's Wife!]

No, if anything it's been a bonus. For instance, I'm doing this interview right now because I'm a woman in games, and I've done many because I was a woman in games. It's also important to have that diversity of opinion on a team, and a lot of companies recognize that. So that's been helpful. I haven't experienced, except once, anything that I would say was discrimination because of my gender. And then I would chalk it up to the guy being an idiot more than I would chalk it up to intentional discrimination.

Of course Brenda Brathwaite does have a bit of an advantage, being a woman with one of the longest careers in the industry. She started out when she was 15 years old, working with Wizardry publisher Sir-Tech Software, and has been going strong ever since. She's written a book entitled "Sex in Video Games", and has worked on - of all things - Playboy : The Mansion, so she has quite a few stories to tell. Hit the link for one very insightful interview!

Women Working in Games: Brenda Brathwaite on Maternity Leave, Making The 'Playboy' Game And Hope For The Future [MTV Multiplayer Blog]

I think there have been enough women in the industry now that there really isn't any pressure as a woman to prove yourself anymore. I think there has been so many great people out there doing things that right now, I think it's completely open-ended. Anyone who comes in, you just want to know that they're good. Their gender is irrelevant.

Women Working in Games: 'Assassin's Creed''s Elspeth Tory on Jade Raymond and Entering the Boys' Club [MTV Multiplayer Blog]

"I'm hoping to be helpful to someone now who may be in a situation similar to the one I was in at Atari, said Bailey, " I often wish there had been a group of WIGI colleagues back then from whom I could have gotten advice!"

Women in Games International to present conference at Austin Game Developers Conference "She Got Game" Looks at Experiences of Women in the Interactive Game Industry

August 30, 2007—-Austin, TX—-Women in Games International will hold its next conference on Saturday, September 8 in Austin, Texas. Entitled "She Got Game," the conference will offer information on current trends in diversifying the games industry talent pool and how these efforts will impact the industry and its products in the future. This half-day seminar provides timely, useful information for women and men alike, as well as new and veteran game developers.

"She Got Game," presented in conjunction with CMP Game Group's Austin Game Developers Conference, will be held on Saturday, September 8, 2007 from 11 am to 5 pm. Speakers include industry experts from Amaze Entertainment, BioWare, Midway, NCsoft, Sony Online Entertainment, Ubisoft, and numerous other games industry companies.

"WIGI and its commitment to organizing these meaningful events is invaluable to the game community," said Izora de Lillard, Event Manager for Austin Game Developers Conference, "The impact of offering this level of information, community and expert information to an often overlooked sector of the industry has been profound. We're proud to be involved." Fiona Cherbak, Chair of WIGI's Strategic Alliances committee, adds "Co-locating this latest WIGI conference at the Austin Game Developers Conference creates a unique opportunity to supplement the overall experience of peers and professionals who attend the various games industry events in Austin this September. This promises to be the most abundant games-related event offering in Austin to date."

Keynote speaker is Dona C Bailey, Professor at University of Arkansas. She was one of the few female game programmers in the industry in the 80's, and was also the programmer and designer responsible for ever-popular Centipede game. "I'm hoping to be helpful to someone now who may be in a situation similar to the one I was in at Atari, said Bailey, " I often wish there had been a group of WIGI colleagues back then from whom I could have gotten advice!"

Bailey's keynote will focus on how women in the industry can cultivate powerful ideas, how to communicate those ideas effectively, and how to use artful creativity to perhaps broaden game audiences. Bailey is one of many other industry notables, visionaries and experts scheduled at the event. Her keynote speech will be offered in the morning, the event then moves on to a variety of panels after lunch and finishes the day with an array of roundtable discussions.

Topics vary to include issues of the past, present and future of women and their impact in game development, including panels such as "Diversity Equals Dollars: Why having a diverse development team is good for your bottom line." Industry experts will discuss how workplace diversity and environments have evolved in the games industry over the last 2 decades, what the experience is like now for people entering the industry, and why diversity equals profitability.

Another panel is titled "Her Virtual Life: Women and Online Games." With the statistics showing that MMO's are the second largest market for women gamers, industry experts will address how game developers can utilize this information to expand MMO content and game play. Roundtable discussions will include topics such as "Attracting and Retaining Female Players in Virtual Worlds," "Looking Good on Paper" and "Making Good Industry Connections."

Located at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, registration for "She Got Game" is $55 for general attendees, $40 for WIGI members and $30 for students with I.D. AGDC pass holders will be admitted for no charge, but must pre-register. Space is limited, so interested attendees are encouraged to secure their spot by registering online today at www.womeningamesinternational.org.

A three day conference to be held in the UK starting April 19th, Women in Games is having a conference to discuss new platforms, players, and opinions the future in gaming.

Women in Games is an annual conference with the distinct aim of highlighting the most recent, groundbreaking work in computer game research and development to both academic and industrial worlds. It has consistently addressed the empowerment and professional development for women working in, and researching into, games and the games industry."

Rounding out the speaker list is Sharon Knight (EA's Europe Online VP), Raina Lee (publisher and editor of 1-Up), Kotaku (and the Beeb's) Alice Taylor and a very interesting doctor named Mary Flanagan who researches systems to educate women and minorities in particular.

Men invited, communal hair-braiding optional. Kim Phu

Women in Games Conference 2007 [Women in Games International]

Why aren't there more female gaming bloggers?

Don't get me wrong, I know they're out there and most of the ones I know of are quite good. My favorite, by far, is probably Alice Taylor who McWhertor and I are constantly browbeating into posting on Kotaku despite her busy schedule with the BBC and her own blog Wonderland.

And there's, quite famously, Jane Pinckard once from 1Up now with the GDC folks, who I wish would do more stuff on her blog, and Brenda Braithwaite, who's work in the game development community, as a professor and her blog on gaming and sex keeps her quite busy.

So I know they're out there, but why aren't there more of them out there, or more specifically, why aren't they, you know, more out there.

While I think that strong woman writers who cover gaming are not proportional to the number of women playing games, the bigger issue it seems is that there aren't a whole lot of immediately recognizable female writers on the net. I think the ones out there now need to be more vocal perhaps, or maybe I'm just not reading the right sites.

I have, for the past month or so, been trolling around on the net to find a woman to write for Kotaku because I feel very strongly about having a diverse group of writers. I know that people with different ethnic, gender and social backgrounds can offer different perspective; and perspective, insightful perspective is where it's at in blogs.

But despite my digging around and my somewhat overt nosing around at GDC, I was hard-pressed to find the same sort of, for lack of a better term, job pool that I usually find with male writers.

Why is that?

If you're a woman and a gamer, get out there and blog. Raise the flag, let the industry know what you want from games. It's up to you to help change perceptions, because god knows we've had enough Barbie Adventures for a lifetime. Brian Crecente

And sadly, none of them are Crecente. To gear up for this week's Women in Games International conference in Seattle, a list the industry 100 Most Influential Women has been drawn up. The list contains the likes of Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan, "sex in games lady" Brenda Brathwaite, PMS leader Amber Dalton and Wonderland's (and Kotaku's when we blackmail her) Alice Taylor. An interesting read and insight into a traditionally male dominated industry. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Next Gen]