Shelby Interview

by Funkadelic
August 12, 2000

Girls, games -- what red-blooded male gamer doesn't like those two things?! Well, later this month a new site called GrrlGamers.com will officially launch, bringing with it the unique views and opinions of an all-female staff. Now, don't be a sexist male pig and underestimate these young women; they have the knowledge, writing ability, and game-playing skillz to compete with the best of 'em. Oh, and they also happen to be quite attractive and could wipe the floor with Christina Aguilera's little ass...in a game of Dead or Alive, that is. And don't expect any nude pictures, feministic rants, or hidden agendas here: these female gaming journalists claim they are "gamers first, grrls second."

I recently had a chance to ask Shelby, the editor in chief and owner of GrrlGamers.com, some questions about the female-run site and her gaming habits & views. Judging by her responses, this 19-year-old has a great personality and a good head on her shoulders. She, along with the rest of the staff -- Angel, Shakita, and Daemia -- seems determined to make GrrlGamers.com a success!

[MPOG]: What do you and the rest of the female staff members hope to accomplish with GrrlGamers.com, and who is the target audience: male or female gamers?

[Shelby]: Our main goal is to provide a top notch game site, that encourages contact with our readers through e-mail, audio and video. We were tired of emailing questions into websites that we thought were valid, and not receiving even an auto-responder back! I thought the Internet was supposed to be more interactive and contact oriented, but many game sites have all but closed off contact. As natural born listeners, we want to open the lines of communication with our audience and give them a real voice.

In response to the target audience question, without knocking any of the work done by our fellow grrlgamers out there, we felt that we didn't want to fall into the old feminist trap. We want to be looked at as Gamers first, Grrls second. I'm confident that our content will reflect that. However, from the positive comments we've been getting, I'm going to say that our target audience will be a male majority. If females want to show up, we'd love to have them! Our ultimate vision is to create a site that covers videogames with humor, personality and passion; Maxim meets Videogames.com or something like that.

[MPOG]:  Which systems will GrrlGamers.com devote most of its attention and coverage?

[Shelby]: We are planning on having coverage of all of the current systems: PlayStation, PS2, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, PC, X-Box and Dolphin. I've heard from many PC gamers that they are very reluctant to get information from a website that covers both console and PC, and I understand that. Measures are being taken to ensure that we do the PC section justice. Of course, we won't ignore those who have questions, comments or concerns about any system, be it NES, Genesis, Colecovision etc.

[MPOG]:  How long have you been playing video games, and do you consider yourself a hardcore gamer?

[Shelby]:  LOL I used to be hardcore until I started putting GrrlGamers.com together! Now, who's got time for anything but HTML? Actually, I've been playing since grade school. Although I wasn't all that interested in video games at first, I grew into it, year by year. We actually owned a Colecovision and the Adam Computer. I was hooked on Dragon's Lair for the Adam, which was a sprite-based version of the classic Don Bluth Laser Disc game. It was pretty bad, but I just couldn't stop trying to save the Princess.

[MPOG]:  What are some of your favorite video game systems, games, and genres?

[Shelby]: As I said my first system was Colecovision, and I had a ton of games on it. Some of my faves for that system were: Tapper (anyone remember that?), Venture, Popeye and BC's Quest For Tires (for some strange reason). My other favorite system was the Genesis; I was just so blown away by Altered Beast, Ghouls and Ghosts, Strider, Sonic, and Phantasy Star II (I owned and loved the original Phantasy Star on SMS). I remember the day my parents brought the Genesis home; it was magical. Even my Mom was blown away by the games. I remember her freaking out because the characters actually talked in Altered Beast! How about Last Battle? Anyone remember that piece of $#%&? I'm still mad at Sega for that one. Of course, I can't forget the NES which had Super Mario Bros 3 on it and Bionic Commando. I could pick favorites for every system. For the PSX, I loved Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7 & 8, Vagrant Story and Tenchu. N64 has Mario, Pilot Wings, Wave Race, 1080, Zelda, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark... Stop me already as I haven't even touched on SNES or Dreamcast or PC! Never ask me that question again!

[MPOG]:  Of the many great upcoming console and computer games set to emerge upon the gaming world, which ones are you looking forward to playing most?

[Shelby]: I was able to see X-Box in action at E3 this year, and although the demo's were amazing, they'll have to pony up to the talent trough and pull out a killer app to make it much more enticing to the early adopters. I've heard rumors of Microsoft courting Konami, so it could be very interesting. Metal Gear Solid 3 on X-Box anyone? Of course, I can't say anything about Star Cube or Dolphin or whatever the heck it's called now. I wasn't blown away by the PS2 software as much as I thought I'd be. I guess owning an import PS2 took some of the magic away, as I have played a ton of average titles. I'm falling in love with my little Dreamcast more and more every day, and although we get into it around the office, I'm confident that Sega can hold it together. They've been releasing some pretty cool stuff lately. It's cool for Sega to be hip again, heck it's only been 10 years! However that World Series Baseball 2K1 debacle is gonna cost them. Ouch, guys.

[MPOG]:  What do your non-gamer female friends think about your gaming hobby and current Web site venture?

[Shelby]: A few of them think the website is a pipedream and some of them think it's really cool. I try not to listen to negativity. Too many people live their lives without taking any chances. I was tired of game sites that had no personality, so instead of continously bitching, I thought I'd do something about it, and that's why I'm here. Angel, Shakita, Daemia and I knew each other, and when I approached them, they were pretty enthused about the site. Considering that not only do they love games as much as I do, but have so many other talents in the Internet or Multimedia field, I was sure that we had a strong team.

[MPOG]:  Do you currently have a boyfriend? If so, is he a gamer as well?

[Shelby]: No I don't have a boyfriend. I'm hoping to meet the right guy on the net, you know the scenario: he sends me an e-mail with his picture, tells me he runs his own server, likes all the games I like and of course I fall madly in love with him.

[MPOG]:  As a female gamer, do you have any issues with the overly sexy video game vixens that appear in today's games? Do you think young female gamers view the tough, independent Lara Croft as a role model or as a virtual "Barbie Doll"?

[Shelby]: I know I speak for all of the grrls (at GrrlGamers.com anyway) when I say that it really doesn't bother us. In the case of Lara Croft, I think it's very cool for men to even accept the fact that there is this funky, cool heroine that can use to save the day. I think it's a positive thing for the most part, in that young girls can look up to these heroes, just as boys love Spider-Man and Spawn, and have someone they can identify with. Females have spent too much time being tied up waiting for King Kong, it's time we took the bull by the horns. On a personal note, the only game that caught me off guard was Dead or Alive for PlayStation. When I saw the breast animation, I was actually embarrassed for the males! Tecmo wsn't insulting women, they were insulting the intelligence of men with that one! I'm glad they cleaned up the act for DOA2.

[MPOG]: Most young, misinformed male gamers believe the female gamer population is made up entirely of hideous-looking one-legged trolls. Based on the pictures I have seen, the GrrlGamers.com all-female staff doesn't fit that description. Do you think female gamers get a bad rap from their male gamer counterparts?

[Shelby]: I think we (Grrlgamers.com) have been getting a bad rap from some. Some guys think we aren't "real" because of the way we look on our website. What they don't understand is, is that as females who are about to go public on the Internet, we want to look good!! We don't show up at work like this everyday, but when we know the videographer and photographer are coming, we'll put some effort into it. If you think we are going to have photos or videos taken of us on the net wearing some old sweats...you're out of your mind. We have no idea how many people will be looking at us, so we aren't taking any chances. Let's face it: If the content isn't up to snuff, no one is going to stick around.

[MPOG]:  What do you think about the "booth babes" who parade around in skimpy outfits at every E3? Would you or any of the other female staff members ever resort to such means to promote GrrlGamers.com?

[Shelby]: LOL, Haven't we already? As for the booth babes, they are hired by men to attract other men, not unlike baiting a fish hook. At this years E3, and as I'm sure you already know, the girls at the PR booths (not even the actual Booth Babes) for the companies knew as much about games as I do about Genghis Khan's brother-in-law. The lineup for Panty Raider was nice and long, thanks to the leggy and beautiful brunette standing by the game. And just for the record, I'm not offended by that game premise, I'm offended by the game PLAY! At least make the damn thing fun! Here's another perfect example of a game that looks to be insulting women when in fact it is insulting and belittling men!! Actually I guess we both lose.

[MPOG]: Finally, if a magical button existed that would rid the world of Pokéman, would you press it?

[Shelby]: On one hand I understand how much Pokemon means to children and how much they love it and have learned many life lessons from it. On the other hand, everything I just said was crap and you're damn right I'd press that button! Where is it? Don't tease me!!

[MPOG]: I would like to thank Shelby for taking time out of her busy prelaunch schedule to answer my questions. GrrlGamers.com will officially launch on August 22. In the meantime, make sure to check out the reviews, videos, and letters that are already posted on the site.

---

[Back to LadyGamers.com]

Copyright Information