Vangie Beal Interview
Founder of Gamegirlz.com, and co-host of
Lillith & Eve, we welcome Canadian megagamer Vangie
'Aurora' Beal to the spotlight. Definately one of the
firestarters out there, Vangie has done so much for the
community we just had to ask her about her time in this crazy
place many of us call home.
dolo: What projects have you
contributed to and to what extent have you influenced them?
Vangie Beal: Where do I start and
how far back do I go? My involvement in any game-related
project has always been from the gamer's side. In the past I
have run two rather successful female gaming tournaments; the
Female Frag Fest '99 which took place at a past CPL event in
New York, and The GameGirlz / CPL All-Female Tournament (with
$7500 in cash prizes) last December. Outside of tournaments
I've also taken an active role in producing game and hardware
related content for several online sites including; my own
site GameGirlz.com, Stomped.com, AllGames
Network, Pseudo (via an Internet TV show), SharkyGames.com, and SharkyExtreme.com. I
also did some work for the Gamer's site 3dfx used to run and
briefly at HardwareCentral.com. I started working on these
things "way back" in 1992 and have been trying to keep as
actively involved as I can. There's so much more but I highly
doubt anyone is that interested in reading the "resume". Lets
just say any opportunity presented to me where I could speak
my mind about games, the gaming industry and the gamers
themselves I've accepted.
dolo: Women and games - Why?
Vangie Beal: Well, why not? Its fun.
Its something that most industry developers don't understand
(or bother trying to understand). Least we forget that years
ago there were such a few number of visible female gamers
gamers online, that I knew someone had to start the ball
rolling. I did that and I love it so much I have had no desire
to stop my role in it. Everyone has his or her own hobby -
mine just so happens to be doing fun things for women who
enjoy gaming (and trying to convince game developers that
women gamers are really out there buying their games).
dolo: Hearing about sexist industry
events (ahem strippers), what kind of advice do you have for
women who want to keep their sanity, survive the sexism and
stay in the game?
Vangie Beal: Strippers are okay. I
mean I don't have a "yeah or nay" opinion on them specifically
or the "sex appeal" issue, but I admit that but it bothers me
(for many different reasons) to see this theme at trade shows,
at developer/gamer conferences, pro gaming events, and in game
marketing. Want some reasons?
dolo: Absolutely! :)
Vangie Beal: First I know it can
easily make some women uncomfortable (especially when in a
room full of male gamers staring and waiting to see
the
female gamer's reaction will be. We also have to understand
that yes,
even kids and very young adults play these games
and its "only in the games
biz" where is type of marketing
is deemed "acceptable" (you won't see
strippers giving lap
dances at movie premieres). Thirdly I think it is
rather
stupid to use such unrelated marketing tools to try and sell
your
product. Unless your making an adult R rated computer
game, why try to sell
it using naked and scantily dressed
women? Even a large number of male
gamers that I have
talked to find this silly. We're gamers - I'd much rather see
an in game video than have a photo autographed by some girl
who has no clue about the game in question, you know what I
mean?
dolo: I agree with you 100%! :)
There is no place for strippers at a LAN party. There are
children at those things. I don't want to open any old
wounds, so I'll leave it there.
Next question: 3dRealms cancelled Duke Nukem Endangered
species, which was supposed to be a female targeted title.
What are your thoughts on this?
Vangie Beal: No offense to the crew
there mind you but I can't say that I have much of
an
opinion on anything they do or do not produce...
dolo: I hear ya on that last
response. Geez I heard that DNF was going to be expensive. Oh
just give me the next DOOM. Next Question: GameGirlz.com has been a
great resource for women gamers for some time. How much has
this site influenced you since you created it? How has Clan
PMS impacted you as well?
Vangie Beal: I'm a stronger person
in that I can take one heck of a pile of crap of people and
let it roll of my back like nothing. I can also not hit the
delete key faster than anyone else I know. :0
On a more serious note - I think through all the
experiences I've had since I started that little Quake Clan in
1996. I have become someone with a whole lot of determination
and ambition. In doing behind the scenes stuff I learned that
I really do have the ability to do whatever is required to
get the job done. My personal writing style has changed
(and grown) and my desire to play games and have a good system
to run them on has taught me more about ripping apart and
building a rig than I would have ever learned otherwise.
dolo: And to finish up this
interview, one final question: What is the most important
aspect of a game to you?
Vangie Beal: Addictability.
:) (Yes I just made that word up).
I can't play a game unless from the very start it grabs me
and makes me
want to play more. First and foremost I'm a
LAN girl. I rarely purchase a
game that cannot be played
via our home LAN. I also can't play a game if it
looks
like crap. Like, for example I hate watching people play at
the CPL
because - the players KILL the graphics. :) The
game also has to have cool characters (If its a first or third
person game that is). If you can choose a different character
and have an option to play a female character to boot it gets
bonus points. I play all types of games; shooters, strategy,
side-scrollers etc. and all games I play have to be FUN
and challenging at
the same time.
We'd like to thank Vangie for her time,
and leave the readers with one final image of her gaming rig!
