The Most Influential Women in the Videogame Industry

[H.Bogard]

With the whole past Jade Raymond debacle and atrocities such as the Frag Dolls giving the values of gender in our industry a bad name, no one ever takes the time to appreciate the women who have actually done incredible in the gaming industry.

They never make it into the interviews, spotlights or PR because they're not sizzling hot (or are but don't exploit it)... they are known for their talent and nothing but, and my... what awesome talents they have!

Gamasutra lists the 20 most influential women working in our industry in this article (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3589/women_in_games_the_gamasutra_20.php), check it out.

Some of these women are also industry veterans, and others are newcomers, dazzling the gaming world with their novel energy and creativity.

In deciding who would make the list, the 2008 panel strove to include women from all parts of the industry -- from development, to marketing, to writing -- and to represent many different talents, both old and new.

Specifically, the panel wanted to highlight the women who are important to the gaming now, those who have a crucial hand in shaping video games as we know them today.

Highly recommended read.

[Sazime]

Oh man, an article about females in the gaming field, accompanied by a soft filtered picture of a female game designer.

With the whole past Jade Raymond debacle and atrocities such as the Frag Dolls giving the values of gender in our industry a bad name, no one ever takes the time to appreciate the women who have actually done incredible in the gaming industry.

Am I the only one who finds this juxtaposition... odd?

[Heretic Machine]

Oh good, 20 separate pages, one for each person... thanks anyhow. Is Roberta Williams in there anywhere? If not, the list is fail.

[Spigot]

Is that John Romero I see on one of the pages? :)

[Echani]

No mention of Amy Hennig? Peh.

[Echani]

Is that John Romero I see on one of the pages? :)
I think so, she's looking pretty good.

[OUX]

The fact that the writer apparently feels that their only 'peers' are women turn this into softcore feminism. It is not to be listened to, and not to be trusted.

[Hawkbat]

Oh good, 20 separate pages, one for each person... thanks anyhow. Is Roberta Williams in there anywhere? If not, the list is fail.

ha, roberta williams was the first person to come to my mind too, and I did a quick scan....she's not there.

[Exodus]

lol I'm sorry I just read through the first 11...
It's not a very good read. I love women and I love how women are becoming more and more important in a male dominated industry but this is reaching. What really cheapens this is that it's done in poor taste 'Top 20' complete bullshit.

They should have chose ONE of the women from the top 20 list instead of having less than 1 minute reads about 20 of them. Miyamoto, Nobuo, Kojima, Specter have articles about themselves that are heads above done better than this article and they can't even bother to write more than 3-5 paragraphs about each of the most important top 20 women in the game industry. How very unflattering.

I don't recommend this as a read at all.

[violentp]

No Roberta = bad read.

[jeffool]

At least this list has _actual game developers_ on it, unlike many similar lists.

[TheBrainKills]

I have no problem with the list, but this "atrocities such as the Frag Dolls". WTF ... grow up.

[Kryopsis]

By the people responsible for the Jade Raymond debacle, for the target audience of the Frag Dolls.:0p

[jeffool]

I have to agree, attacking women-clans doesn't particularly help (I mean, I got nothing against them. They're gamers, like us,) it is pretty fucked up when women actually making the games we dig are left out of lists like this in place of Frag Dolls/PMS.

But the anger is misplaced by attacking them; it's not the fault of the these women, that's the fault of either shitty journalism or intentionally sensationalist (shitty in a different way,) journalism.

[Eric_T_Cheng]

Wow. Both Brenda Brathwaite and Linda Currie are in the top 20 list. I worked with both of them at Sir-Tech on Jagged Alliance 2 and Wizardry 8. Grats to them.

[Lunar Blue]

Wow. Both Brenda Brathwaite and Linda Currie are in the top 20 list. I worked with both of them at Sir-Tech on Jagged Alliance 2 and Wizardry 8. Grats to them.

So you have worked at BOTH Sir-Tech and Toys for Bob? How is it possible you have not gone mental from over-exposure to awesomeness?

[Zanzibar]

So you have worked at BOTH Sir-Tech and Toys for Bob? How is it possible you have not gone mental from over-exposure to awesomeness?

(Psst: I'm the TFB guy, unless Eric worked at TFB a long time ago. ;) )

[cppcrusader]

I wish they would stop putting Sheri Graner Ray on that list. Sure she's been one of the big gender equality advocates, but her severe close mindedness and "I'm unquestionably right and won't acknowledge any differing viewpoint than my own for debate regardless of how logical it seems" attitude practically negates any positive effect she's had.

[ElectricMonk]

I've met one of the frag dolls. She was a genuinely nice nerdy girl so I don't think they have to be an atrocity. She was also one of the hot ones.

[Xerxes]

Why the mention of frag dolls and Jade again?

[Typical_Michael]

I didnt even know what the hell a frag doll was until just now.

I guess I need to get out more (or less).

[Eric_T_Cheng]

So you have worked at BOTH Sir-Tech and Toys for Bob? How is it possible you have not gone mental from over-exposure to awesomeness?

I never worked at Toys for Bob. Re-read my previous post: "I worked with both of them at Sir-Tech on Jagged Alliance 2 and Wizardry 8."

[Pigeon]

What's wrong with the Frag Dolls? I got matched up with them in Halo 2 matchmaking once and they kicked my ass.

[Heretic Machine]

What's wrong with the Frag Dolls? I got matched up with them in Halo 2 matchmaking once and they kicked my ass.

Any woman who tries to be even a little sexy is betraying the feminist movement! :mad:


:rolleyes:

[H.Bogard]

The reason I mentioned the Frag Dolls is obvious enough. They're marketed around for having boobs rather than being an actually famous clan. I suppose a lot of the people haven't been subjected to the horrendously embarrassing marketing campaigns that they've participated in.


But the anger is misplaced by attacking them; it's not the fault of the these women, that's the fault of either shitty journalism or intentionally sensationalist (shitty in a different way,) journalism.


Perhaps you're right. Since I've explained myself already for mentioning the attention beggars now, I'm okay if a moderator feels like editing my post to remove the comment if deemed unnecessary.

Also, to all those whining the no-mention of Roberta, Amy Hennig ain't in there either!

[pheriannath]

I'll join in on the people crying foul for no Roberta Williams or Amy Hennig.

I would have also accepted Jane Jensen, for creating my favorite adventure game ever.

[Lunar Blue]

I never worked at Toys for Bob. Re-read my previous post: "I worked with both of them at Sir-Tech on Jagged Alliance 2 and Wizardry 8."

Oh sorry, I kinda remembered you once said you had something to do with Star Control 2.

[Zero]

The reason I mentioned the Frag Dolls is obvious enough. They're marketed around for having boobs rather than being an actually famous clan. I suppose a lot of the people haven't been subjected to the horrendously embarrassing marketing campaigns that they've participated in.

Perhaps you're right. Since I've explained myself already for mentioning the attention beggars now, I'm okay if a moderator feels like editing my post to remove the comment if deemed unnecessary.



Meh. You should have said that they're over-sensationalized.

[Spigot]

I'll join in on the people crying foul for no Roberta Williams or Amy Hennig.

I would have also accepted Jane Jensen, for creating my favorite adventure game ever.I wonder if it is supposed to be women working in the industry now as opposed to women who have worked in the industry. Are Jane Jensen and Roberta Williams still doing anything game related?

[H.Bogard]

I wonder if it is supposed to be women working in the industry now as opposed to women who have worked in the industry. Are Jane Jensen and Roberta Williams still doing anything game related?

Oh yeah, good point. The article mentions right at the start that it lists women are are influencing the industry today.

[Samstag]

Oh yeah, good point. The article mentions right at the start that it lists women are are influencing the industry today.

Ah, that makes sense. For a minute there I thought they left Dani Bunten off the list just because she used to be a man.

[MojoJojo]

What's wrong with the Frag Dolls? I got matched up with them in Halo 2 matchmaking once and they kicked my ass.
They all have Flavor of Love names.

[Sloth]

If you have a job, be good at it regardless of your gender. It seems like the most enlightened thing a game journalist can do is write an article about women and games. The only people that make a big deal out of gender are teenage boys and game journalist

[Sazime]

If you have a job, be good at it regardless of your gender. It seems like the most enlightened thing a game journalist can do is write an article about women and games. The only people that make a big deal out of gender are teenage boys and game journalist
Not really. Got back a generation or so and you'll find more and more folks who look at women as home makers who can't compete on any field with men. It's not such a common sentiment any more, but even the most sensitive guy who grew up in the 60s could have some gender bias, whether he recognizes it or not. Not to mention, we've still got folks that grew up in the 50s in charge of some things out there.

[Xerxes]

They all have Flavor of Love names.

That's fucked up. They all have gamertags like anyone of us. :rolleyes:

[MojoJojo]

I understand the concept of a callsign. However, they, specifically, have Flavor of Love-style callsigns.

[Xerxes]

I understand the concept of a callsign. However, they, specifically, have Flavor of Love-style callsigns.

Don't they have one named Mojo. :p

All screen names are kind of corny. :rolleyes:

[bub64882]

What did Jayde do wrong? And what was wrong w/ the Frag Dolls? To paraphrase the old add, don't hate them because they're beautiful. :) Unfortunately our industry is NOT far enough along that we don't have to stop and point when we encounter an attractive woman who enjoys a hobby dominated by the overweight male teenager stereotype.

[Schnoogs]

I'll file this right next to that list of African American game makers in my folder called "who gives a shit in a colorblind, genderblind, sexual orientationblind world"

Next week the top 20 wheelchair bound game makers.

[Xerxes]

I'll file this right next to that list of African American game makers in my folder called "who gives a shit in a colorblind, genderblind, sexual orientationblind world"

Next week the top 20 wheelchair bound game makers.

How does one get to this fairy tale land?