bapenguin
11-10-2005, 05:13 AM
Girls, Games, Geeks and the Industry
by Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo
Women in gaming seem to be a hot topic lately. While most are excited that women seem to be coming out of the closet with their gaming habits, a lot of people aren't surprised by a woman gamer. Some see it as simple attention whoring. Others see it as an opportunity for gaming to grow. There's been a change in society over the passed couple of years, games are having a greater acceptance; gaming is suddenly cool. Part of this may be attributed to the fact that the gamers of the 80's are now adults. They are now in the working world and now have their own disposable income instead of an allowance or a paper route.
To some longtime hardcore gamers though, this shift is a bad thing. Hardcore gamers feel they are losing their industry, that it will become watered down, too mainstream. They don’t want to see the MTV of gaming. Gamers will lose their niche titles, their inside jokes, and the joy they found in their passed time.
We are seeing a change, whether it’s for the better or for the worse is yet to be seen. But with more and more Women finding their way into the gaming world, whether it’s through stereotypical means likes Hearts and the Sims 2 or whether through breakthrough means like Quake 4 and Halo 2. This is a good thing, it can help the industry. They can help grow games in a different direction, into something new and fresh and hopefully with a broad appeal.
I was introduced to a few girls from the PMS Clan (http://www.pmsclan.com) at a recent press event in NYC for the Xbox 360. After talking with them for a bit, I came to realize these girls wanted the same things from games I wanted. Most of the women in my life have never been gamers, my sister always played Mario and Sonic and similar adventure type titles growing up. My wife, she dabbled here and there but most games don’t hold her interest for very long. So for me personally, it was interesting to meet real hardcore girl gamers. I asked V3NUS from PMS, “What kind of games do you girls like to play?” Her response shocked me, “Any game that has guns in it.” Guys, we’ve all been there. It’s a Friday night; the guys are all hanging out, playing games talking drinking and having a good time. And there’s the one guys wife or girlfriend that’s there playing along with you. And you’ve either said it, or you’ve thought it: “Your wife/girlfriend is so cool that she plays video games with you.”
So with all this recent interest and media exposure lately, I wanted to dig a little deeper. I got to chat it up with Amber, AKA AthenaTwin from the PMS Clan to get the details.
bapenguin: Hello AthenaTwin, how are you? Could you please introduce yourself?
AthenaTwin: I am Athena Twin, Athena is my sister. And, I am doing fantastic now that you are here! :)
bapenguin: Excellent! Glad I could make your morning. So what is your role with the PMS clan?
AthenaTwin: I am clan leader of PMS clan, the largest female clan in the world. Our mission is to provide a fun & competitive environment to female gamers in the gaming community.
bapenguin: As of now, how many female members are there in PMS?
AthenaTwin: We number over 400 females at this time in 3 platforms: Xbox, PlayStation & PC.
bapenguin: I've been curious, PMS. What does it stand for? Or do I know already? :)
AthenaTwin: lol, you might and you might not. PMS Stands for Pandora's Mighty Soldiers....it use to stand for Psychotic Man Slayerz, but a lot of people though that was "man-hating". We LOVE men, and we did not want to misrepresent what we were about so we changed it this year.
bapenguin: Interesting. I noticed on your website that there is a section of your members that are men. They seem to be part of a Halo 2 online group. Are these actual PMS members?
AthenaTwin: They are not part of PMS Clan, but are part of the PMS family. We needed a way to house & recognize the men that supported us everyday in the gaming community, so H20 Clan was the solution. It is our way of honoring the men that help us everyday online with skill training, recognition, & friendships. Each girl is allowed to chose 2 H20 guys, and only 2, so it is a place of honor with us & the individual girl who selects them. It is our brother clan. We never intended them to be created, just kinda happened when there were so many guys backing us. We really wanted a way to acknowledge them & their efforts to help us in the gaming community
bapenguin: That's great.
AthenaTwin: Thanks.
bapenguin: PMS has had a lot of exposure lately with the Women's Gaming Conference, Digital Life, MTV TRL and Entertainment Weekly...does it feel good to see Women in gaming getting exposure?
AthenaTwin: It feels great on many levels. Up until this last year, gaming & gaming products have always marketed to males. Women gaming groups, like PMS, help show the industry we are here...and we are not just playing Simms. We like FPS, Fighter, and other traditionally male-dominated games, but we are handed Barbie Dolls while our brothers are given their Pain Killer. What PMS is shouting is that we are here too...like it or not. Most people like it.
bapenguin: Why is it important for Women in gaming to gain exposure? Some people think it's just a craving for more attention.
AthenaTwin: One thing I would like to point out is that exposure for ANY gamer, be they female or male, is important to the gaming community as a whole. ANYTHING gaming related that gets the mainstream audience's attention helps bring interest, and therefore money, into the gaming industry on all levels...including sponsorships of tournaments, sponsorships of teams, and more products. Women teams do this, regardless if people disagree with the attention or not. Fact is, female players/female teams transcend into the hard-core gamers, casual gamers, male/female, and mainstream audiences, something most males do not do. Why? Because there really are so few of us doing it at this time in the hard-core male dominated games like FPS. The most important thing for ME is that female teams show other women that gaming can be done by them, which brings more women to the gaming scene. This increased interest should create more women who pursue careers/education in the gaming industry (i.e. techsupport, graphic/creative design). I see female team exposure bringing more women in the industry, period, which could create a wonderful diversity & creative appeal to the industry as a whole.
bapenguin: So are you a long time gamer?
AthenaTwin: Heck yeah, but not hardcore FPS like now.
AthenaTwin: I started off on the old Atari...Pac Man, Centipede, joust. I was totally hooked on the old Mario Bros (still love them now). I moved to FPS hard-core with Halo on Xbox. It really was the online function with the console that got me gaming hard.
bapenguin: What did you like the most? The social aspect of it? Or the fact that you could kick people's asses from around the world? :)
AthenaTwin: Both, but really the social aspect of it was amazing for me. Something totally new & exciting. I am a very social creature, as a lot of females are, and online gameplay is definitely the key for a lot of female gamers (which is why you see more of the coming in videogames). As we females began playing together (it's not as if top male players would put us on their team), we ended up building a community of mutual respect and love of gaming. It is really quite amazing for me to think about still. As more women see groups like PMS out their fighting, more will see it attainable (as men already do), and become more interested in gaming, design, and other tech involvement...which will bring more women into the industry as a whole...I think.
by Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo
Women in gaming seem to be a hot topic lately. While most are excited that women seem to be coming out of the closet with their gaming habits, a lot of people aren't surprised by a woman gamer. Some see it as simple attention whoring. Others see it as an opportunity for gaming to grow. There's been a change in society over the passed couple of years, games are having a greater acceptance; gaming is suddenly cool. Part of this may be attributed to the fact that the gamers of the 80's are now adults. They are now in the working world and now have their own disposable income instead of an allowance or a paper route.
To some longtime hardcore gamers though, this shift is a bad thing. Hardcore gamers feel they are losing their industry, that it will become watered down, too mainstream. They don’t want to see the MTV of gaming. Gamers will lose their niche titles, their inside jokes, and the joy they found in their passed time.
We are seeing a change, whether it’s for the better or for the worse is yet to be seen. But with more and more Women finding their way into the gaming world, whether it’s through stereotypical means likes Hearts and the Sims 2 or whether through breakthrough means like Quake 4 and Halo 2. This is a good thing, it can help the industry. They can help grow games in a different direction, into something new and fresh and hopefully with a broad appeal.
I was introduced to a few girls from the PMS Clan (http://www.pmsclan.com) at a recent press event in NYC for the Xbox 360. After talking with them for a bit, I came to realize these girls wanted the same things from games I wanted. Most of the women in my life have never been gamers, my sister always played Mario and Sonic and similar adventure type titles growing up. My wife, she dabbled here and there but most games don’t hold her interest for very long. So for me personally, it was interesting to meet real hardcore girl gamers. I asked V3NUS from PMS, “What kind of games do you girls like to play?” Her response shocked me, “Any game that has guns in it.” Guys, we’ve all been there. It’s a Friday night; the guys are all hanging out, playing games talking drinking and having a good time. And there’s the one guys wife or girlfriend that’s there playing along with you. And you’ve either said it, or you’ve thought it: “Your wife/girlfriend is so cool that she plays video games with you.”
So with all this recent interest and media exposure lately, I wanted to dig a little deeper. I got to chat it up with Amber, AKA AthenaTwin from the PMS Clan to get the details.
bapenguin: Hello AthenaTwin, how are you? Could you please introduce yourself?
AthenaTwin: I am Athena Twin, Athena is my sister. And, I am doing fantastic now that you are here! :)
bapenguin: Excellent! Glad I could make your morning. So what is your role with the PMS clan?
AthenaTwin: I am clan leader of PMS clan, the largest female clan in the world. Our mission is to provide a fun & competitive environment to female gamers in the gaming community.
bapenguin: As of now, how many female members are there in PMS?
AthenaTwin: We number over 400 females at this time in 3 platforms: Xbox, PlayStation & PC.
bapenguin: I've been curious, PMS. What does it stand for? Or do I know already? :)
AthenaTwin: lol, you might and you might not. PMS Stands for Pandora's Mighty Soldiers....it use to stand for Psychotic Man Slayerz, but a lot of people though that was "man-hating". We LOVE men, and we did not want to misrepresent what we were about so we changed it this year.
bapenguin: Interesting. I noticed on your website that there is a section of your members that are men. They seem to be part of a Halo 2 online group. Are these actual PMS members?
AthenaTwin: They are not part of PMS Clan, but are part of the PMS family. We needed a way to house & recognize the men that supported us everyday in the gaming community, so H20 Clan was the solution. It is our way of honoring the men that help us everyday online with skill training, recognition, & friendships. Each girl is allowed to chose 2 H20 guys, and only 2, so it is a place of honor with us & the individual girl who selects them. It is our brother clan. We never intended them to be created, just kinda happened when there were so many guys backing us. We really wanted a way to acknowledge them & their efforts to help us in the gaming community
bapenguin: That's great.
AthenaTwin: Thanks.
bapenguin: PMS has had a lot of exposure lately with the Women's Gaming Conference, Digital Life, MTV TRL and Entertainment Weekly...does it feel good to see Women in gaming getting exposure?
AthenaTwin: It feels great on many levels. Up until this last year, gaming & gaming products have always marketed to males. Women gaming groups, like PMS, help show the industry we are here...and we are not just playing Simms. We like FPS, Fighter, and other traditionally male-dominated games, but we are handed Barbie Dolls while our brothers are given their Pain Killer. What PMS is shouting is that we are here too...like it or not. Most people like it.
bapenguin: Why is it important for Women in gaming to gain exposure? Some people think it's just a craving for more attention.
AthenaTwin: One thing I would like to point out is that exposure for ANY gamer, be they female or male, is important to the gaming community as a whole. ANYTHING gaming related that gets the mainstream audience's attention helps bring interest, and therefore money, into the gaming industry on all levels...including sponsorships of tournaments, sponsorships of teams, and more products. Women teams do this, regardless if people disagree with the attention or not. Fact is, female players/female teams transcend into the hard-core gamers, casual gamers, male/female, and mainstream audiences, something most males do not do. Why? Because there really are so few of us doing it at this time in the hard-core male dominated games like FPS. The most important thing for ME is that female teams show other women that gaming can be done by them, which brings more women to the gaming scene. This increased interest should create more women who pursue careers/education in the gaming industry (i.e. techsupport, graphic/creative design). I see female team exposure bringing more women in the industry, period, which could create a wonderful diversity & creative appeal to the industry as a whole.
bapenguin: So are you a long time gamer?
AthenaTwin: Heck yeah, but not hardcore FPS like now.
AthenaTwin: I started off on the old Atari...Pac Man, Centipede, joust. I was totally hooked on the old Mario Bros (still love them now). I moved to FPS hard-core with Halo on Xbox. It really was the online function with the console that got me gaming hard.
bapenguin: What did you like the most? The social aspect of it? Or the fact that you could kick people's asses from around the world? :)
AthenaTwin: Both, but really the social aspect of it was amazing for me. Something totally new & exciting. I am a very social creature, as a lot of females are, and online gameplay is definitely the key for a lot of female gamers (which is why you see more of the coming in videogames). As we females began playing together (it's not as if top male players would put us on their team), we ended up building a community of mutual respect and love of gaming. It is really quite amazing for me to think about still. As more women see groups like PMS out their fighting, more will see it attainable (as men already do), and become more interested in gaming, design, and other tech involvement...which will bring more women into the industry as a whole...I think.