Female gamers and developers
I've been sent this interesting article about women gamers and women developers. They're a rare breed (we have no female developers in Microsoft UK and that's a huge shame). I do like the reasoning about why there aren't more female develoipers:
"One of the major problems we face is lack of awareness that the industry is actually becoming a lot more balanced with more and more women joining in influential positions. There is greater representation of women across all departments, and we are no longer stuck in the marketing department. There are a great range of jobs within the industry, so it's not just jobs for code geeks anymore. There are all sorts of jobs available from production and design to art and animation.
(Eve) I think that when a team is made up of people from more diverse backgrounds/outlooks, there's a greater propensity for new influences, and a wider range of ideas to come to the fore. If the majority of people are thinking along the one line, it's more confronting for some people (male and female) to stand out from the crowd and suggest alternatives. With greater diversity (and okay, with agile development and planning poker!) it's easier to put forward different viewpoints."
So we need to talk about our women gamers and women developers more. I've met a few women who work around the periphery of this industry - like Ann from Moviestorm (who are hiring by the way), but the list of females seems very short - even though there are Women in gamers conferences and round tables discussing this ongoing issue. Australia certainly seems to have the right idea by encouraging women into joining the female gamer developer community. Apparently women own more games consoles than men in the US (and that's true if my friend the wonderful Betsy is anything to go by)
And if you're a woman and have never played a game before I've found a few videos on how to beat your boyfriend (on the Xbox 360 - not with a stick!)
Beat your boyfriend on Guitar hero
Beat your boyfriend - Gears of War
Beat your boyfriend - Viva Pinata
Now where's that controller? - Aah it's next to the TV remote control of course :-)
Pah!...