Posted Sep 12, 2006 at 08:24PM by Victor B. Listed in: Opinions & Analysis Tags: Patricia Vance, Erin Hoffman, Christy Marx, Lucy Bradshaw, Morgan Romine
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Patricia Vance, head of ESRBChristy Marx, game writerLucy Bradshaw, VP for MaxisErin Hoffman, aka ea_spouseMorgan Romine, aka Rhoulette, head of the Frag Dolls


It might come as a shock to you, but there are women in this industry of gaming. In fact, there's a good chance you've either played something they've designed or marketed, learned something important about the reality of the industry from them, or got massacred by a team of them during an FPS battle.

Over at Next Generation, they've decided to take an accounting of this and made their own list of 100 most influential women in the games industry, and you might be surprised at what they're doing. Since we can't go over all 100, let's take a good cross-section of the women featured, and give you some insight into just how important they are for games in general, and the future of the industry in particular.

Of these 100 women, perhaps the one we'd notice the most is Patricia Vance. For those who don't know, she's the head of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), which tries to rate games for their content. More importantly, she probably has to endure calls from Jack Thompson on a daily basis, so you might as well call her the patron saint of responsible gaming.

Outside of actual gaming, we can safely say that the creation of ideas that become games, and the fleshing out of stories is an equal-opportunity workplace. To that end, Christy Marx is one of the people who can teach the next generation of gamers what it takes to write for a game. She's written for games, cartoon shows, live-action television, graphic novels, and other sorts of scripts, and even wrote a book that can help newcomers to the writing industry out, called Writing for Animation, Comics and Games. If you're ever going to learn about the world behind the creative process, she's probably the best person to ask.

Next up is Lucy Bradshaw, who's a big boss at Maxis. She's VP and Head of Production and Development there, and if you've ever played The Sims, she's probably had a hand in its creation. She's currently working with Will Wright for a new game Maxis is cooking up, so you can be sure it's going to be good.

"ea_spouse," on the other hand, is well-known for her essay that talked about the quality of life in the world of game developing (and boy, are game developers and programmers overworked and underpaid). Her true identity is Erin Hoffman, who is a game designer and co-founder of gamewatch.org, which watches companies to ensure that quality of life of developers are good.

Lastly, who are we to forget actual gamers? If you've ever played an FPS, this woman has probably beaten you or your team with her crack squad of trained killers. She's Morgan Romine, aka Rhoulette, and not only is she a community manager for Ubisoft, she's also the leader of Ubisoft's Frag Dolls, the all-girl gaming squad.

You can read about the rest over at Next Gen. Personally though, they forgot to include my mom, who taught me the value of going to sleep before World of Warcraft ate my soul. I less than three you, Mom!


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22 Comments


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   by LOLZ (Unregistered) - 2006-09-12
 » Yep.

Redheads are hawt.

   by Dr.Cube (Unregistered) - 2006-09-12
 » Hell yeah

if only her hair was str8,i h8 curly hair.

   by jdilla (Unregistered) - 2006-09-12
 » wtf

why does everyone make it such a big deal that girls play video games(even tho this is about video games) its only a big deal cus ppl make it.

   by jayhawker09 (Unregistered) - 2006-09-12
 » wow

one thing these girls all have in common....theyre all drop dead gorgeous!

except i think the one in the middle is a man....seriously

oh, and by gorgeous i mean when i look at them i throw up in my mouth a little

   by lawl (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » numba 4 lolololol

I lawl'd lotz

   by Damn... (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » Where

Wheres that hot chick from valve

   by wtf (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13

omfg FEMALE!

get a life newsposter .. rly ..

   by comedy - 2006-09-13
 » lol

there's something distinctly unattractive about the picture of a woman hunched over in front of some pc... in fact, gaming blokes are mainly spotty greasy nerds too.

gaming is not one of those 'attractive' pastimes, such as 'being a model' or 'going outside'.

yeah, i'm posting on a gaming website... that makes me a male gamer, but i'm lucky - i don't look, smell, walk, talk and generally behave like a freak!

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   by tim (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » truth



THE FACT THAT ALL OF YOU THINK THESE GIRLS ARE HOT LEADS ME TO ONE CONCLUSION:

ALL OF YOU ARE PALE, FAT, HAIRY GAMING NERDS THAT NEVER GET LAID, OR IF YOU DO... IT'S BY A THE FATTEST, UGLIEST CHICKS EVER!!!!!!!!!!

THOSE GIRLS ARE 3/10 MAX!!!!!!!!!

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAAHAHAHHHAHAHA

   by Baleur (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13

The fragdolls are hot, thats just the way it is. But i think the entire concept of the fragdolls and such is so redicolus. I mean, they Exist solely to show ppl that "girls can own at games too!", to show that they are no different, but while doing that.........

They ARE different, because they themselves are accepting the idiotic notion that girls CANT game, since they created an entire "club" devoted to prove that girls indeed can own at games........

Its just stupid and laughable. Why dont they just play games like they do on their spare time? Why should they get paid for posing as gamers when i myself could never get paid for posing as a Male gamer? Isnt the society supposed to be equal?
Double standards ppl, double standards..

   by hush404 - 2006-09-13
 » where is

Jade Raymond? A big wig at Ubisoft's Montreal studio>?

   by Bearmon (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » blah

Who cares about them..so what!

   by Noin (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » wtf

Do we *****ing care? no...

   by Koba (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » Yes, indeed.

Umm yeah I think alot of people know there are tons apon tons of girl gamers! My girlfriend being one herself. But all things aside, that bright blonde gilr in those photos looks extremely like a cross dresser, when my eyes hit that image, my brain almost screamed "AIYYY! wtf is that!?!". Yeah... Dunno how my brain could scream, but lets not cover that for now...

   by JX1 (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » Nice!

The last two are the only hot ones. =o~~
good article.

   by lansingone - 2006-09-13
 » i agree

the only good looking ones are the last 2

   by adam sessler (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » MORGAN

what about Morgan Webb? she is teh hawtn3ss

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   by Wtf? (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13

Morgan Webb is a man.

   by hmm (Unregistered) - 2006-09-13
 » hmm



If those girls are hot, then I am bob dole.

Those girls are the nastiest girls ever. Period. I consider Pamela Anderson a 9/10 so these girls are probably -6/10

   by blahh (Unregistered) - 2006-09-14
 » pah

nobody beats roberta williams.

   by SOME ONE (Unregistered) - 2006-09-14
 » WHAT EVER

nocomment

   by Me (Unregistered) - 2006-09-20
 » #19

Well that says more about your taste in women than anything.. Pamela Anderson.. wtf!



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