Interview: Tonya Constant, co-founder of The Ant Firm

Tonya Constant is the co-founder of The Ant Firm, a QA company. They believe that women have a particularly keen eye for games testing and as such; I completely agree. They aim to employ more diversified test teams than competitors.  As it stands, their team is are 5 women and 2 men.  Ultimately, they would like the female-to-male ratio of testers to reflect current gamer demographics. The Ant Firm tells us that while 43% of all gamers are female, the truth is 86% of games testers are male. They strongly believe that those who test games should adequately reflect those who are playing them. Geek Woman: I get the metaphor.  It could have been bees, or crickets. Why the ants? Tonya Constant: We identify with the strong teamwork and industrious nature of ants.  And from a marketing standpoint, we thought going with ants would result in a very strong brand.

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Interview: Kinou Games Group

Spokesperson Seira of Kinou Games tells us that their group makes dual language releases, with voice actors in both Japanese and English as well as JP and English text Their goal is to encourage the inclusion of both languages in the original version of the game, and work with a Japanese doujin group called ZeroZigen who also supports including an English language version in Japanese games, and, ultimately, doing an exchange; having English-speaking game makers include a Japanese version. She also said “For our side, my group tries to be inclusive of marginalized people in our games, putting them in starring roles. Papa Pirate, Baby Bandit will be our first release and our focus for this was a strong female protagonist in many different roles, the ever-elusive brown people in major character roles, and gay relationships that are loving and PG.” Coming at the end of May will be a

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Jennifer Mercurio: She’s geeky, she’s a gamer and she’s fighting for us

If you haven’t figured it out yet, today is a very big deal for gamers in the United States, especially those of us who enjoy a little violence in our games. It’s not just Election Day – the Supreme Court of the United States is hearing The State of California vs. The Entertainment Merchants Association and Entertainment Software Association, and essentially deciding whether or not a large fine can be given to merchants who sell violent games to minors in California. Sure, “it’s just one state,” and “they’re just keeping violent games away from kids, what’s the harm in that?” You might not realize that there are a lot of problems with the law, and if it’s allowed to stand…well, the future of video games as an entertainment medium gets a lot bleaker. That’s why I’m glad we’ve got Jennifer (or “Jenn”) Mercurio on our side. A self-described “geeky smart

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Interview with Lexipanda – 5 year WoW Veteran

As a player who started after Burning Crusade was released, I’ve always had respect for those who started back in the days of Vanilla WoW. Those were the days of 40 man raids that could take all day, no dungeon finder and no easy emblem gear. It was basically a different game and it was a lot harder than what people are used to these days. Well I luckily know an awesome girl who’s been playing since the days of Vanilla WoW and she has even been a guild leader since those days. I’m also lucky enough to have her in my guild, and Lexi was kind enough to answer some questions regarding the “old days,” her feelings on current WoW and thoughts on the future with Cataclysm. GA: What first got you into playing WoW? Lexi: The first time I saw the original WoW trailer, I was absolutely blown

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Featured Interview: Rixty Joins Forces with Facebook

Facebook announced the news this week that it is integrating Rixty as a way for users to pay for Facebook credits to get enhanced content in Facebook games and send virtual gifts. As many more Facebook games are including the universal Facebook Credit as a way for players to get more out of their games by offering more content and more continuous play – for a price, Rixty is becoming an exclusive way to pay that price without a credit card (and without completing offers… which also often requires a credit card). I recently had the opportunity to char with Joel Andren, Marketing Director for Rixty about the exciting news… Rixty & Facebook GA – Why don’t you start off by telling me a little bit more about Rixty? Joel – Rixty provides an easy way for people who pay for online content – especially games – using cash and

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Interview with Sylvia Liu, Sony’s 2010 GIRL Scholarship Recipient, and Sara Kaplan, Manager of SOE Corporate Communications

Last week, I was lucky enough to get to interview the winner of this year’s Gamers In Real Life (GIRL) Scholarship (provided by Sony Online Entertainment) – Sylvia Liu, of Milpitas, Calif., who beat out 200 other applicants with her EverQuest II designs (pictured below) and an essay on women in the video game industry. The GIRL Scholarship has lofty (but attainable) goals: Get more women into the game development, so that video games are more enticing for women as a whole. Female students in the arts are typically encouraged to apply, though the requirements could expand in the future. Sylvia is the third recipient of $10,000 since the program’s inception. She will be using the money to finance her education in Entertainment Design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. She also has the opportunity to work for Sony in a paid internship at SOE headquarters

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Interview: EA Trax Band, “Pint Shot Riot”

Thanks to EA Trax, we’ve been able to interview three of their bands, all of whom are responsible for some of the music you hear in your favorite Electronic Arts titles. This is the second of those interviews, with the band Pint Shot Riot. Read on to find out where their name comes from, how working with EA has increased their star power (but not necessarily in a Guitar Hero-like way, since that’s another company) and what kind of video game they’d make if they had the chance. We asked the questions, and band member Baby Dave was kind enough to answer them, even if a couple of them ended up not really applying…read the rest below. GamingAngels (GA): What was the thought behind the name Pint Shot Riot? Pint Shot Riot (PSR): It comes from this time our singer was texting his mate and he noticed that, with predictive

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10 Questions with Marty Cortinas, Editor-in-chief of the Warcraft Magazine

The Official World of Warcraft Magazine has only released two issues.  But already, many WoW players that have subscribed and the fan sites seem pleased with the results so far. Marty Cortinas, Editor-in-Chief for the new magazine, not only has experience in writing and publishing, but has also been an avid player since WoW first launched. Marty was gracious enough to answer some questions for me regarding the magazine as well as the game! GA: What was it like moving from Wired to being the Editor in Chief for the World of Warcraft Magazine? Marty: I’m thrilled to be part of a magazine about a game I love, published with the highest quality standards in coordination with Blizzard. As a World of Warcraft player since it launched, I am excited to pass on my deep knowledge and love of the game to develop exclusive editorial content through the pages of

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Featured Interview – Aletheia O’Neil, President of Gravity Bear

This month I would like to feature a new social games company, Gravity Bear, who has just announced their debut title, Battle Punks, which will open in Beta on Facebook coming up pretty soon here. I am pretty excited to see what comes from this company because social gaming is really emerging as a force in the casual games space and Gravity Bear seems to be heading in a great direction to both innovate and bring back some things that made a lot of us fall in love with gaming in the first place. On top of that, the president and passionate designer, Aletheia O’Neil, is a female gamer herself. And she seems incredibly cool and genuinely excited about her work, Gravity Bear, and the launch of Battle Punks. Plus, she’s a GamingAngels fan and encourages females to get their creative minds into the industry! Enjoy! GA – Let’s start

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Featured Interview – Her Interactive

Here is the first in what I hope will be a regular series of featured interviews with strong, successful, creative, interesting people and companies out there in the casual space today. Her Interactive is one of those companies which I believe has a strong, positive approach to creating games targeted toward females that challenge us to think critically, while still having a good time – without being all pink and frilly. I was able to ask a few questions of Amy McPoland, VP of Marketing at Her Interactive, a company which has always created and supported great games that challenge us and make us think to talk about the face of women in the industry, creating games for women, and what’s in store for Her Interactive. GA: First, please tell me a little bit about your role in Her Interactive. Amy: As the VP of Marketing, I’m responsible for the

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