Relinquishing My Square Enix Fangirl

When I worked at the now nonexistent Kombo, I was known as the Square Enix fangirl. If Square Enix developed it or published it, I was the one who instantly squealed with delight and loved everything about it. When I went to E3 with them in 2010, the directors assigned me to every Square Enix meeting they could conjure up. It was more than fine with me, but my buddy–yeah, we had the buddy system–was less than enthused, poor guy. In fact, it was because of a Square Enix game (Kingdom Hearts) that I got back into gaming after many years of not touching my NES since Super Mario Bros. 3. So it’s really with great sadness for me that I am stepping down from my fangirldom. The final catalyst happened once I finished Final Fantasy XIII-2, but the writing has been on the wall for me for some time.

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Name our podcast, please! (Episode 2)

On tap this week/month/however often we’re doing this: What the f*#$ we’re playing and reading WonderCon The “Take Back Mass Effect 3″ Movement Whose Superhero Underwear We’d Wear and What We Want (What We Really, Really Want) This Week   Remember, we still need a name for the show, so call our voicemail at (209) 874-6555 to give us ideas or feedback.

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Enter to win a scholarship to National Computer Camp

Last year we sent Sarah, 16, to National Computer Camp. She had a great time learning at the camp and it’s our honor to be able to offer the experience of attending National Computer Camp again! GamingAngels is teaming up with National Computer Camp (NCC) to offer the Second Annual Scholarship for NCC’s June/July 2012 enrollment valued at $985 to a female student (ages 8-18) for one week.
 At NCC (http://www.NCCamp.com), campers can design a 2D or 3D video game, learn to program, create a graphic video, take apart a computer, create a home page, play tennis, play Civilization and make new friends. Now in its 35th year, NCC is America’s original computer camp with locations in Connecticut, Georgia, New York and Ohio. On National Computer Camp’s facebook page, you can see pictures of what the camps are like. “We’re excited to offer this scholarship again on GamingAngels.com,” said Trina

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Mom’s A Geek: Exploring Science And Making Salt Crystals

What You’ll Need: A Glass Jar A String A Paperclip A Pencil/Pen/Stick Water (You’ll be boiling it, so those supplies are necessary too) A Butt Ton Of Salt Patience Directions: Cut the string, tie the paperclip to one end and the pen/pencil/stick to the other. Put aside for now. Boil about a cup of water, this doesn’t need to be precise. Pour the boiled water into the glass jar. SLOWLY stir in the salt. Add more in small increments, until the salt stops dissolving in the water. Utilize patience here. Place the paperclip in the water, roll the string around the pen/pencil/stick until the paperclip doesn’t touch the bottom of the jar. Paperclip should still be completely submerged in the water. Wait. More patience needed here. After 48 hours, I noticed we weren’t growing any more crystals and removed the paper clip from the water to see what would happen.

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Name our podcast, please! (Episode 1)

It’s time for a new podcast at GamingAngels. Here, we’re just the opinionated women we are with absolutely no filter. Therefore, this podcast probably isn’t safe to listen to at work (yeah, we’re cursing all over the place). Show notes are below the player. On tap this week/month/however often we’re doing this: What the f*#$ we’re playing and reading Cross Assault and the fighting game community’s response to women The Hunger Games and their great social media campaign Blizzard Entertainment laying off 600 (and why?) One More Disney Day and What We Want (What We Really, Really Want) This Week   Remember, we still need a name for the show, so call our voicemail at (209) 874-6555 to give us ideas or feedback.

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Makers: Women who Make America project launched

We love to write about Women doing great things on GamingAngels. It’s great to see that AOL and PBS are joining an effort to also make sure that they are educating an audience on a variety of women that are working to change the world. “MAKERS: Women Who Make America” is an initiative that aims to become the largest and most dynamic collection of women’s stories ever assembled. MAKERS profiles Supreme Court Justices, Secretaries of State and CEOs.They have all paved the way in their fields and feel their stories are inspiring to future generations of women. “By spotlighting some of the most inspirational women in our nation’s history, MAKERS will tell the comprehensive story of how women have advanced in America during the last half century. I hope that the MAKERS project will become the seminal record of women’s achievement, and inspire a new generation of leaders,” said Paula

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Chocobo Rants: Are We on the Road Toward NEVER Getting a Full Game Again?

Square Enix announced this past week that there will indeed be a story-based DLC for Final Fantasy XIII-2, which will feature Sazh’s time travels parallel to Serah’s and Snow’s. As a huge Final Fantasy fan, this should excite me, but it most definitely does not. It makes me absolutely heartsick. Of all franchises, Final Fantasy should be one to never get campaign DLC. The games are monstrous in size, and they’re well known for weaving deep, intricate stories that do not need extra plots–and sidequests do not count. The sad thing is, though, FFXIII-2 has half the story of the first game. I’m currently over 20 hours in the game, I’ve done all the sidequests I’ve been able to unlock at this point, and I’m already at the last episode. At 20 hours in the first game (Final Fantasy XIII), I hadn’t even reached Pulse yet, and when I did, there was

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Gifts For Your Geeky Valentine

I’m not into too many holidays, and Valentine’s Day is certainly one of those I could easily do without – but I have to admit; Valentine’s Day inspires some of my favorite gift ideas! With the handmade market in full swing, it has only gotten better! From the funny, to the creepy, to the downright adorable, even sweet DIY kits - some of these goodies make me wish Valentine’s Day came around more than once a year. Still looking for the perfect gift for your geeky Valentine? {Slacker!} Maybe some of these ideas will help you out. The Season of the Mixtape is upon us! My husband and I are big on playlists nowadays, we have them for every occasion. But there’s something to be said about handing your love a cassette with every Cure song that reminds you of them. If only we could find a radio with cassette playing

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Win an Xbox Mass Effect 3 beta code

We thought it was pretty awesome getting to see the new FemShep trailer earlier in the week. It only heightened our excitement to get out hands on Mass Effect 3. Well Santa Claus (Bioware) has sent us Mass Effect 3 demo codes just for GamingAngels readers! What a great Sunday right? You can enter using Rafflecopter form below. You can get extra code for your friends with a Tweet and a comment. After blowing your mind with the demo, come back here and let us know what you thought! a Rafflecopter giveaway You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.

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Summer and Tiffany Play ‘Skyrim’: Wish You Were Here, Lydia

I almost thought about writing an article on the games I’d played in 2011 that I never reviewed (hint: it’s most of them), but then I didn’t know what I would write about Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Well, I did know, and it was one sentence: “Why did I buy this?”  That, friends, would not be fair to such a huge, critically-acclaimed game. So, I’ve teamed up with Summer, who is a great friend who’s new to GamingAngels (but if you’ve listened to our podcasts, you know her well). She also happens to be playing Skyrim, so together we’re going to bring you our misadventures. And oh, we are definitely not kidding about the “mis-” part of that word. We’re writing to one another about our exploits and frustrations, and taking Hipstagrams the whole way. Because really. There’s no better way to document such a moody landscape, right?

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