What was your job at Xfire?
I started at Xfire as the first person to support the sales team, which was 2 people at that time. This included handling contract details, testing ads, creating new advertising programs, implementing ad server technology, and of course, tracking revenue. I basically did everything that wasn’t involved in the actual selling of the ads. Once we were acquired by MTV, I helped grow the team and integrate with their systems. I have to give a lot of credit for my personal career success to the people at Xfire. I had a fantastic boss and a great CEO, who’ve both given me some very useful advice for Team Robot.

Are there game titles which you have worked on that our readers would recognize?
Sort of! Xfire supported pretty much every game on the market. We didn’t make games, we supported them… which is similar to Team Robot’s approach. I also worked at Slide, the makers of SuperPoke Pets on Facebook.

What types of courses have you taught to kids about building websites?
The first course I taught was at the University of Illinois, about online advertising. They didn’t have an online advertising course at the time, even though they were the top advertising program in the country. So I paired up with a seasoned professor and we designed and taught the course together. I wish I kept the course plan… we reviewed the revenue models of weatherbug, search engines, and punch-the-monkey banner ads. It’s old news now! I also taught a web course at an after school program for high school students. The kids were fantastic! And several of them ran circles around me when it came to CSS and so on, so I learned a few things from them!

What does “monetize” mean?
It’s a fancy way of saying, “let’s make money.” It seems simple, but I’ve seen too many startups focus solely on their users, with no revenue model in mind. By the time they figure out how to make money years later, it’s often too late. I also run into a lot of individuals and small teams running modest websites that just don’t know where to begin when it comes to making money. Since they’ve often never been exposed to that side of the business, they struggle to identify various options to make money, how much revenue they should expect or what levers to pull to increase revenue. I enjoy helping those small website owners learn the ropes.

Do you think that ads should appear in games?
Yes, but not in the traditional sense that most people think about. First, we need to get one thing straight… advertisers provide a service. In exchange for your attention, they give you something at a lower cost, or even free. This is how network TV and websites operate… it’s a very valuable and fair service. However, the lines are getting blurry and I think that’s a mistake. For example, product placements in movies and the ads before movies are fine, as long as I receive some value for that. Is my ticket price at the box office lower because I watched the previews? It should be. Now back to answering your question… advertisers can provide a lot of value and have fun with it in games. Give me 10 gold in Warcraft for every day that I wear a Mountain Dew tabard. Let me tweet about Nike to earn rewards for in-game pets. League of Legends sells skins for your favorite heroes, what if I could get an 80’s skin, for free, to promote the upcoming Footloose remake? This type of value-trade is the direction I think the advertising and game industry should go. It helps the brands, and it gives users get something fun in return, for free.

Were you always planning to work in the games industry?
I actually always wanted to be in the advertising industry… which was well before Mad Men made it seem so fun and sexy. I realized the ad agencies were pretty far behind the times when it came to online advertising, just like every corporation and even the Universities. So, I moved to silicon valley, where the innovation happens, and set my sights on Xfire. I got the job, and the rest is history.

You have said that you love helping geeks figure out how to make money on the web, so give us your top three tips?
1. Step 1: Make a short list of viable revenue options. Start by jotting down every creative way you can make money with your web project. Advertising, pay for premium services, subscriptions, etc, then narrow it down. To help with this exercise, have a beer, then make a list of websites you’ve given money to and those who’ve had a pay-service that make you scoff in disbelief. Then identify what made you take those actions, and apply the same logic to options on your list.
2. Step 2: Focus on the customer. Don’t stress about making a lot of money yet, instead build out the web project so your customers have a great experience and keep coming back. You won’t make any money if your customers don’t like your site. Test out your top revenue idea on the customer base, even if it’s small, and measure conversion.
3. Step 3: Iterate. Iterate. Iterate. Keep your site fresh with new ideas, always testing features to grow your customer base and their satisfaction. And continue to iterate on your revenue model. Changing things up doesn’t mean you’ve failed, it’s quite the opposite. It shows a level of flexibility that most people don’t have, and that flexibility often leads to success. Team Robot started out with 1 revenue model and we’re testing an alternate model later this year, and I expect several more iterations.
And above all else, always practice fair business. You’ll find people along the way that will suggest things like once you get subscribers, make it hard for them to cancel. Sure, if you mislead people on purpose, you will get extra revenue, but only in the short-term. If you let them cancel, it will hurt, but you’ll start to learn why they want to cancel. Knowing that piece of information is incredibly important for iterating on your product and eventually making it successful. You’ll find a lot of people strongly disagree with this advice, but you will always find me running my businesses this way. The decision is up to you.

All Zombies Must Die is a RPG and weapons-based arena combat game developed by doublesix, the same guys who brought us the highly flammable game, Burn, Zombie, Burn!

Though AZMD and BZB have some similarities in terms of fighting hordes of brain-craving zombies, AZMD offers uniquely different gameplay strategies then its previous successor.

Jack may be suffering from some serious delusions, but he's ready to take on the zombies hordes!

Who knew gaming addictions could be so helpful?

In All Zombies Must Die, you first play as Jack, a gaming fanatic who believes that he’s the badass hero in a zombie video game (and not that he’s actually in any – you know – real danger).

The first character I met in the demo was Rachel, an extremely pissed ex-girlfriend of Jack. Though it seems she would rather see her ex be ripped apart by the oncoming zombie onslaught, she agrees to join his side after some coercion on Jack’s part.

The other two characters – Luxo, an alien trying to learn English, and Brian, a mad scientist – can also be unlocked as you progress through the game and will have an integral part of the overall story.

Players can join in co-op mode during any point in the game. You will be able to play as any unlockable character alongside Jack. If you join in co-op play before any main characters are unlocked, you will play as Jack’s bodyguard.

Sometimes, it's okay to run away.

Zombie genocide will not save you

Fighting the zombie horde in All Zombies Must Die is different from its Burn, Zombie, Burn! predecessor. In BZB, your objective is to burn as many zombies at a time in order to raise your score multiplier and get better item drops.

However, in AZMD, your objective is not mass-zombie-slaying, but finding a strategy that will award you the most experience points to progress through the game and become stronger. You will still receive item drops such as hamburgers and ammo through killing zombies, however, mass-killing may not be the most effective solution for AZMD.

The zombie hordes also function differently in AZMD. There are several different types of zombies that can affect the gameplay, including jogger zombies that run out of nowhere, swat zombies that carry shields and police batons, and normal zombies that never seem to stop coming.

Zombies can also be affected by various status conditions, which can work both for and against you.

For example, a zombie affected by police sirens will be stunned for a few moments, but if they are not taken care of while stunned, the zombies will become larger and harder to kill.

Burning zombies in AZMD will cause zombies to shrink in size, but they will also become faster and chase you.

What's better than a irradiated chainsaw? Using it to kill zombies!

What could be better than a fire shotgun?

Through the game, you will also have a choice of what weapon you would like to use.

Personally, my favorite weapon is the shotgun, because I am able to pump more powerful bullets into the horde, however, each player may find a weapon that suits their different and unique play style.

Weapons can also be customized with different status effects through the weapons customization in the game. (By the way, the fire shotgun is amazing.)

The player is also able to craft necessary items that they retrieve throughout the game, such as torches that light zombies on fire.

Leveling in the game also adds a unique element of customization to your character. After you unlock Rachel as a playable character, you are able to visit her bathroom, which allows you to turn the experience you gain into higher stats. Players can decide if they would like a higher offense to crush the zombie horde, a higher defense to survive more hits, and more through this leveling system.

Prepare to actually use your brain – if you still have it

Aimlessly killing zombies in All Zombies Must Die will not get you very far, as the dynamics of the zombie horde can change within a few moments.

However, utilizing the vast amount of character and weapons customization, as well as taking advantage of your environment in the game will help you battle against the zombies.

And hell, you may even win your ex-girlfriend back.

Maybe.

All Zombies Must Die is slated to come out on the PlayStation Network and Steam this Christmas.

Enemies come in waves monsters with swords and axes come at you on all sides. The character is difficult to move and the control stick does not work as fluidly as I am used to from other games with virtual joystick. Frequently he is being jumped from behind because of sluggish controls and an inability to automatically turn to face the attackers. You have two basic type of attacks on tap for the right hand. A quick attack and a heavy attack. Beneath the health bar is a heat meter, and when it is filled a greater attack power can be summoned. He sort of grunts and squats and force waves emanate off him as though he needs a dose of Gas-X.

The backgrounds and the hordes that you have to clear all all a barrage of garish colors all smashed together. You’ll see fuchsia lady bug swarms, heaps of poison spiting green ooze and tall purple crystals dripping with the turquoise waters of fountains. It has a funny over the top art style interpretation that has great resolution.

As each wave comes at you it gets bigger. Thankfully the areas expand too. There are various rewards. Some are straight forward treasure chests. You can keep doing battle until your inventory runs out of power ups and health potions.

You accumulate three types of medium of exchange, you have your experience points. And coins and gems. Killing gleans the experiences points and another factor which is soul remains. The soul remains are a multiplyer you earn by surviving successive waves. Soul remains are transformed at a ‘hearth’ into coins. Coins are used at the shop on new items. Experience points level you up.

Gems are the currency used the freemium currency. Those are earned when clicking ads, watching videos or by in App store purchase. They try to entice you with the better gear armor and weapons, buffs for your character and other bonus deals. Gems can be converted into coin but not vice-versa.

Like other Glu games it keeps annoyingly asking me to log into to Facebook. I don’t want to. I wish it would stop asking me every time. My scores for this game aren’t that important that I want to post them. I’m not likely to want to invite anyone to play through Facebook either, but if someone wanted to, it is more than available. You can play with a friend, or take their character with you on a mission. What I found even more irritating about this aspect of the game is that they repeatedly show a female barbarian warrior avatar with robust cleavage imploring you to add friends. I am wondering if she is playable in the multiplayer? I haven’t found it said anyplace that she is playable though.

Eternity Warriors is a good mindless diversion. It is brightly lit and you don’t have to do much except for tapping the attack buttons. It is a good one for taking up your time while you are doing something else or waiting around and you want something that doesn’t require your full attention. Eternity Warriors best asset is that it is free.

Geek Woman: What was it that inspired you to start making furniture for gamers?

Brenda Holzknecht: Well, being gamers, it was originally all about making furniture for ourselves. We gamers are a “can do” bunch. We can design and make our own furniture, but we realized sometimes it’s nice not to spend your time making the furniture as much as playing with the furniture. Wanting to spend your off time in a pleasant environment, gaming with a group of your friends is what it is all about. Not spending your off time designing, making and in many cases educating yourself on furniture building and manufacturing…a skill that many will never use again once the original goal is accomplished. We also wanted furniture that would live where we live, not relegated to hide in the basement.

How many marriages have you saved with the comic book and collectible card storage systems?

It’s not about saving marriages, its about strengthening them. Nothing strengthens a marriage like beautiful, rock solid hardwood…not quite as hard as

Your prices are astronomical, it is hard to believe that people have that kind of money for a game table. What kind of jobs do these high rollers have?

Astronomical prices? I would sat that is all about perspective. We decided to make furniture that would last, so our tables are actually economically priced for made to order, heirloom quality (AKA your grandkids will fight over it) furniture that enhances not only your game, but your lifestyle. (We have been told if the Amish were geek gamers this is the furniture they would make, only they’s double the price!) If you compare our tables to those of similar quality, they are a bargain. When you purchase from us, you are purchasing from the manufacturer, not a middle man. You save that additional cost on our furniture as well.

High rollers? Nope, most high rollers (lets say income of over 100k per year) look at our furniture and say, I need the right room to place that in. Now they are looking at a remodel, or the right house and they don’t look at the table as a piece by itself, but a whole project. Most of our customers are geeks like us who make reasonable salaries, may or may not have kids, and realize the investment in our furniture is for life. Not for the next 3-10 years like that computer you have to replace that frequently and costs just as much…again and again. Our furniture is an investment, but you buy once.

You say that the Black Walnut and Maple wood are from sustainable forests what does that mean?

We order lumber from companies who manage acreage in the US and Canada with real oversight. In lay terms this essentially means these companies farm the lumber. They have enough acreage to essentially harvest a crop of trees, replant after the harvest, tend the crop and come back to this field when the trees are big enough. The main difference is it takes longer for a crop to ripen, whereas food crops typically take only one season. So the companies we work with have large amounts of acreage they farm. Whereas using rainforest woods is like strip mining, usually the land is left to it’s own devices to attempt to heal itself, and not very successfully.

Wikipedia “black walnut” and you’ll get information from experts and scientists in the field of agriculture and forestry. There is in fact more black walnut than there used to be, because of farming. Farming lumber makes the overall cost of that lumber more expensive, sometimes twice as much as rainforest hardwoods that aren’t being farmed, but essentially poached. As soon as rainforest lumber becomes scarce, only then will attempts to farm it come into play, however in those environments we don’t even know if it is possible to do so.

And my Mah Jong table? For real Mah Jong, that seats four, not the lameo tile matching game. Did I just give you an inspiration?

Hello game sister! It is on our R&D list. (I have a Mah Jong bracelet by the way, and every once in a while someone recognizes it for what it is, nice to meet another player!) – Let me know if you are truly interested in one sooner than the later

I’ve also want a table for Tarot reading for years which seats two side by side. Do you make custom tables?

Yes we do. We call it our bespoke program. We can do everything from a custom Mah Jong table to installations of custom cabinetry into your gameroom.

Are you a gamer?

I sure is.

What games do you play?

I used to play RPG’s, TTG’s and CCG’s. Some more epic and long term stuff. Then I became a mom…and Eurogames (an hour of average game play), dexterity games and card games took front seat. My girls are getting bigger now and we are just starting to branch back out again. We currently have an ongoing game of Arabian Nights set up in our Emissary game vault. It’s refreshing when your kids ask “can we play some more of the game?” instead of “Can I watch something on the TV? The Emissary is also great for kids, because if you pull out one of those desk drawers, they are low enough that no booster seat is required. Kids under 12 especially love the special area it creates for them and the lowered surface is more comfortable for many types of projects, not just eating.

How difficult is it to travel to cons with such big products?

We repeatedly ask ourselves when setting up for conventions “Who’s idea was it to get into the furniture moving business?” It definitely adds a lot more work and financial strain on our part. But it’s worth it when people come up and touch, quite possibly the first real piece of heirloom quality hardwood furniture they have ever come in contact with, and realize it was made for them and their gamer lifestyle.

It also really makes me appreciate the owners decision to make our shipping program a customer service and not a financial center. Our team delivers, sets up the furniture and removes the reusable crating for one third to one quarter of the cost of using a commercial carrier. It’s not inexpensive, but it is an experience that is totally worth it.

In Companions there are two game modes, which are the quick play ‘Single Map’ mode, and the Campaign mode. Each of the members of the four person team has a little backstory. The controls are simple taps on the characters and then a tap on the enemies to attack. Each party member has three special skills that they can equip at a time. They are limited by cool down times as you would normally see.

Graphics are limited. It’s very pixelish. You don’t actually see your characters in three dimensions. They look like little icons, or pac men. I’m not one for retro style gaming, it might be a love it or hate it type of choice of tastes. I prefer the newest most cutting edge in graphics and gameplay. The old days don’t hold any charm for me. Also the characters are so tiny and hard to see, it is difficult to know what they are doing. For the amount of graphics that are here, it might as well be a text adventure.

There were a few things that bugged me with this game. Annoyingly your characters will not attack correctly unless they are in range of the enemies and facing the right direction it’s a pet peeve of mine. I thought we were done with that old problem, now that we’re using iPads. I don’t know what they were going for here when they have competition like Order and Chaos by Gameloft to contend with. The group formation and party-wide commands do make the game act more like a strategy game, or even a puzzle game than an RPG.

Another problem is that the four of them are always are always static Minotaur, Female Elf, Human, and Dwarf and are not customizable. There are three classes to choose from for each of the the races in the four member party that changes up their stats, but still not enough to make it interesting, or to keep up with other iOS games. This one still needs some work because when you tap a particular character and nothing happens it leads to unnecessary deaths.

Companions has an inventory system, with randomized drops falling you can collect loot. Although there isn’t any shop, yet anyways. There is a way to control time in the game which is different. Called a ‘tactical pause’ it stops the game while you set up. The time is limited, but it provides a work around for the other troubles in the game.

Though Companions isn’t a perfect game it will appeal to those who like strategy games and don’t mind a challenge. If you go into it without expectations you may find it to your liking. It has the retro ambiance to it that some people really like.

It has superior graphics, and a beautiful art-style for the backgrounds. There is lots of magical glitter around. Special effects move the cutscenes and animations along with cleverly used transitions. There are flowing fountains and decorative ponds surrounded by gardens. The animal Guardians in the game who are outfitted with brass fittings that are able to translate animal to human speech. The animals aren’t the only nod to steam punk in the game. Entire areas look like they have been detailed with shiny brass whatnots. It is beautiful, and once again like the first Empress of the Deep, all those pipes and plumbing, electronics and arcing electricity, is very reminiscent of the original game of Myst. My iPad Screen Shots:

Make your own animation

Far from being just a static hidden object puzzler, the game keeps you thinking. Although the puzzles are very easy to solve, the objects aren’t always easy to see or where you would expect them to be. Of course there are locked doors and passageways, but you will have to use all of your puzzle skills to get past them. One of the best parts of the game is the sound. The music is pretty, and it changes from one area to the next. The underwater bubble noises are soothing, and you do hear a little bit of whale song added into the mix.

The full version of the game is worth the price. They also did something different and they have a Collector’s Edition with extra content. The very best part is that you can enjoy a lengthy Free demo of the game from the Apple App Store.

Prior to joining Turbine, Linda was an independent design and project management consultant, and Creative Director at Create Studios, Inc. She was at while at Blue Fang Games, and was Design Manager of the design department. She worked as a Producer of Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania, and was Lead Designer on Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species and Senior Game Designer on the best-seller Zoo Tycoon: 2. Before that she was Executive Producer for Strategy First, and before that… well, you get the idea…30 years is a long time!

Linda was co-founder of the former Sirtech Canada. While at Sirtech she was the Project Lead on the award-winning RPG Wizardry 8 and Co-designer of the Jagged Alliance strategy role-playing series.

Linda Currie is an industry veteran dating back to the early 1980’s, holds a B. Sc. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business and has extensive experience creating and working within teams of various sizes and functions.

Geek Woman: As a gaming industry veteran what changes have you seen affecting the role of women in game design since the eighties?

Linda Currie: There is little doubt that women are holding a wider variety of roles, including very influential roles in some of the largest gaming companies that exist and that there are more of them. Is that because there are simply more roles due to a growth in the overall industry, or is it due to an increase in the proportion of women in the industry? Alas, that’d be a good question that I’m totally ill-equipped to answer as I’ve had the pleasure of working with other women on almost every project I’ve worked on…. even in the 80s!

It seems like there are more women gravitating to art and design in gaming than there was before, are you seeing this change at all on a daily basis?

I see more and more women in every sort of role, not just art and design. As far as noting change on a daily basis?  Nope, can’t say I’ve observed change at quite that level of granularity.

If you were starting over today, attempting to break into the gaming industry, how would you do it?

These days there are more and more options for getting a foot in the door of the gaming industry but the most commonly used is through QA.  Of course with there are 1000x as many people looking to get a foot in the door so some other things to consider are:

There are an increasing number of game development programs being offered at schools throughout the country. When I first saw game development appear as academic course offerings (many years ago), I was skeptical. Since then I have seen the knowledge they bring to their students and having met and hired many great candidates graduating from these courses, I can attest first-hand to their value.  So getting into one of those programs won’t hurt and the opportunity to intern somewhere or simply make a personal connection to someone working in the industry is just the boost you need.

There are numerous other things you can (and should) be doing. Visit the wealth of game development related websites. Consider internships, paid or even unpaid if you can afford it. (Large companies often have official internship programs but your role may be small… small companies on the other hand often rely on developers wearing many hats and may expose you to a lot more variety.) Become a game guru on a given game and get yourself recognized by the devs. Read job postings to see what different roles are looking for… and develop those skills. Read books to help you understand the concepts of game design and the process behind it.

But ultimately, when you’re in a crowd of a 1000 people, whether you’ve gone to “game school”, have read every game development book known to man or have expertly mastered game X, you need to do things to get yourself noticed. Create things yourself. Teach yourself tools. Compile a portfolio of work. And make sure you make it’s easy for a prospective employer to see, read or experience your stuff. Do this and show off skill and initiative at the same time!

What challenges are there in working on design in a game that has so much source material to consider?

A couple challenges come immediately to mind. We know that our particular source material is incredibly iconic and very much loved by such a huge audience. This puts great responsibility on us to ensure we handle it with care and respect.  Then there is the incredible detail that exists in Middle-earth. It’s a lot to keep track of. Fortunately we have amazing (and much loved) Middle-earth experts on our LOTRO team and they are an essential ingredient in our ability to deliver such a rich and authentic experience to our players.

On a long running game like LOTRO, what projects are there for you to work on?

An endless variety actually! For every project we could possibly undertake, I typically put a colored sticky note on my wall. My office is now a mosaic of colored pieces of paper! We have so many things we’d like to do that there is never any doubt that we’ll run out. Our biggest dilemma is which to pursue next! And while I wish I could share some specifics (and I bet you’d like to hear ‘em), I’m afraid I have to leave you in the dark as to what those projects are for now J

Can you tell us what being a Design Director means for those who don’t know?

For me it means planting creative seeds and watching them hopefully grow into huge plants. It means providing guidance, giving feedback, sharing and shaping ideas, and acting as a liaison between design and other departments. It means problem solving. It means planning, planning and more planning. Planting more seeds. More problem solving. More planning. Rinse and repeat.

What types of tasks do you have to perform in your job?

My days are really never the same and the things I do each day are constantly changing. But there are some constants… lots of meetings, lots of email, and lots of conversations. I do little to no actual game design. I know, sounds weird huh? The reality is that I work with a team of excellent designers and they do the hands-on game design.  I get to plant seeds J

Were you a fan of LOTR prior to working at Turbine?

Yes, absolutely. I was first introduced to Middle-earth from the books… geesh, I can’t even remember how many years ago that was (either that or I refuse to count that high!) That triggered a great love of fantasy worlds and fiction.  And perhaps with that early exposure to the quintessential party-based adventuring story, it’s no wonder that my introduction to Wizardry with its party-based game play so successfully pulled me into this industry forever.

Are you playing LOTRO yourself?

Yup! I’m especially fond of my Lore-master J.

What are some of your all time favorite games, or game art?

Now that’s a hard question. There are so many games that gave me such great experiences that a favorites list would be really long… and it would go back a really, really long time.  Without doubt though, the two franchises that have had the biggest and most far-reaching impact on me were Wizardry and Jagged Alliance… without those experiences, who knows whether I’d even be here completing this interview for you today!

Stephanie Herrera: When I made the game I was a lot younger than now and the differences just came out of thin air, I didn’t plan them at all, just made whatever came to my mind. I think the innocence of the moment also helped and the stuff I was going through in my life at that certain point, such as becoming a self conscious woman.

What art your art style influences?

In that time I liked manga and anime a lot, probably you can tell from the images, lol… But now I’m older I have much more influences in my style, most of all come from cool conceptual art in films and videogames, and the range of styles is infinite, so you can use the stuff you like and combine all the aspects of different design forms.

How hard was it getting your art to become a game?

Actually I was really lucky, I was searching for a freelance job at that time and suddenly Adam appeared out of nowhere, told me he had seen my art and wanted to do a game with me. I never imagined it would become this big within internet gaming.

Was it a lengthy process?

Back then I was exploring my techniques of work as well, so yeah, I was a bit lengthy, but it was very cool process. First I did the sketches, then I put ink by hand, scanned and colored digitally.

Did you begin yiur career with a video game App in mind?

Nope, I never thought this game would become of such proportions. When Adam told me the game had been played more than 20 million times… I was shocked!!

The game tells a story without using words, why did you choose to go that route?

I didn’t chose it to be that way, but I’ve always liked the way someone can tell a story without words. That means the communication level has to be higher to make a story understandable. Now I know it’s better to do games without words, it’s more globalized that way.

Is this your first video game project?

Yes it is I did other small stuff for Adam before Dreams, but nothing as mine as Dreams.

What were you doing before working on Dreams?

By that time, let’s see… I think I was starting with my studies at the university or maybe just finishing high school. I’ve always liked art and drawing and painting, so probably I was doing that as well, lol..

Are you going to make more games?

I already finished some more difference games with Adam that soon will come out, and right now I’m finishing a Pinnochio twisted fairytale in a comic style that I hope people will like a lot too.   Part from that, it’s always been my dream to become a recognized woman in the videogaming world. A lot has been lost in the way of making new games, seems like somehow everybody forgot what is like to really think and use your head to win a game.

What games do you enjoy playing yourself?

I enjoy playing games that are not made for dummies, games that are not just about killing a bunch of dudes and massive special effects, but games that actually require you to use your head and present you an interesting new story and new ways of gameplay.

I had done an interview with someone from Aerial 7 so I checked out what they had. I found this set of Aerial 7 Tank Headphones in a Hello Kitty motif. I wanted them immediately, but I forced myself to really look around first to make sure that it wasn’t just the Hello Kitty design that was drawing me in.

I had many needs to fill. I wanted a headset because I had enough with ear buds. I wanted a decent mic for recording vocals at home. Being able to plug it into an acoustic electric guitar could come in handy for tuning, or practice while the TV is on. It had to be stable enough to handle Skype and not add additional static. Whatever I chose had to be compatible with all of our Apple devices too.

The Aerial7 Tank Headphones feature a 57mm Driver which gives a fairly robust sound quality. They are very comfortable, and have a small enough setting for my size. It came in attractive packaging. The instruction manual was very brief though, and could have been an actual booklet to help explain how each attachment is used in more detail for people who don’t know. For my purpose, just a short description and picture of each cord that they had was enough.

The set Includes a soft cloth case to carry the headphones and the variety of cords all together. The whole thing is compact enough to fit inside the niche in a guitar case, or easily hold an iPod as well as the headphones and the cords, in your purse or a beach bag. It is definitely worth it having the soft feeling of the foam on the ears. The sound is more round and holistic, the stereo separation is much more effective. They cut out background noise such as an air conditioner very well too.

These Tanks, while offering a very cute addition to my collection of Hello Kitty skins and covers for my eQlectronics, are extremely multi functional and handy. There are the many applications for these. I can use them for song writing Apps on my iPad, or gaming, as well as listening to music on iPods. It has those 3.5mm iPhone® – Skype™ adapters which means I can plug the alternate cord with the red and blue ends into my netbook PC for meetings on Skype, and for podcasts. All I have to do is switch over to the cord with the built in mic, or the 3.5mm input plug and 3.5mm iPhone that were included. It also came with a very long coiled DJ cord that can be plugged into a mixer. The fatter plug 3.5mm – 6.3mm (1/4″) adapter is included too. With everything it comes with and the way it sounds, it seems reasonable for the price. I just hope they will last.

Sharon’s background is mainly in marketing, so the goal of her new lifestyle app, Luminous, is to get a high profile sponsor on board to use it as part of Stone Creek Entertainment’s digital marketing campaign. Recently, for example, MTV sponsored a Facebook game Stone Creek created to promote this season of The Real World.

Her career has taken an interesting transition. Her first job was with a sports marketing agency, working on campaigns such as Major League Baseball. She then transitioned into gaming, leading the charge on marketing Grand Theft Auto, developing partnerships with with Jeff Gordon and Coca-Cola. She’s also played an important role in marketing MTV’s Virtual Worlds. Luminous promises to have a wealth of content about prominent females. The app is about understanding your own personality, just as Sharon is now marketing to an audience she feels she can fully understand.

Geek Woman: Your background is in marketing, how did you make the transition to representing games?

Sharon Wood: I worked in entertainment marketing for most of the first half of my career, and then video/digital game marketing the second half.  These weren’t traditional roles, and for the most part, I worked in start-ups, where everyone does and has to know everything.  I was involved with video game product development through market definition and frankly, because I am a girl and have raised a girl, I had opinions about the types of products I hoped to see in the market.  The other thing to keep in mind is that marketing can and should touch product definition, no matter the industry you work in.

What was your job at Grand Theft Auto like?

The Company was ASC Games, not Take Two, and we worked on multiple titles of which Grand Theft Auto was one of them.  It was enormously interesting.  When the first title released, it was quite different from what it is today.  It was more of an appeal to the player’s fantasy of being the “bad guy”, and it made for fascinating focus groups.  We launched with short marketing funds, and the awareness of the game travelled virally before I even began my campaign, so I had a great base from which to launch a campaign.

Are you a gamer?

Yes!  Not a hardcore, console gamer as much as a casual gamer.

What do you play?

I love Words with Friends.  It’s very social and I always have 20 games going with both friends and game-friends.  I also like Tiny Wings, Scoops, Chuzzle (a long time fan) and one of our prior titles, Her Pet Peeves.

What is Luminous about?

Karizmac Luminous is a self-discovery/self-exploration app.  It asks you to agree or disagree with decisions, and then shows you other women who may think like you, spanning women from history, the arts, business, entertainment, fashion and fiction; and it also tells you which personality trait goes with the decision you make, giving you 3 layers of personality traits.  Then it summarizes it on an interactive “Charisma Map”, so you can explore both your traits and the women, in a summarized form.  You can then compare your personality traits from day to day, and see how you do, or do not, shift.

Which type of game play is it?

Although Karizmac Luminous starts out as a quiz, it quickly departs into something that we feel is unique.  We hope women will enjoy gaining more insight about themselves, comparing their thoughts with others and sharing what they think with others.  We’ve seen some women enjoy collaborating on the answer choices, and also being a little competitive in the Bonus/Self Confidence section, which plays a little differently from the other part of the app.

How are the female characters in the game portrayed?

We observed decisions they made and aligned them with the decisions in the app.  We tell you a little bit about them and the situation.  I personally found this fascinating as we were writing.  These are women who, whether their actions were large, high profile, or small, were very thoughtful, in many cases brave and pioneering, and are really interesting.  For example, I had no idea that a woman invented the windshield wiper and the disposable diaper (although that certainly makes sense!).  Another received a Medal from the President for taking her husband’s place on the battlefield.  And various women’s thoughts about their careers, their relationships and motherhood were all intriguing, and thoughtful in ways I hadn’t thought about previously.

How do you go about finding a sponsor for a Facebook game?

In most cases, our team has relationships with sponsors and in others, we reach out to them.  Our sponsorships are strategic in nature; we’re not just asking them to put their name in our game.  We want it to work for them to reach their business goals.

Do you get private information about the gamers from Facebook?

No.