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I know The Games of Volition from the Summoner franchise. Those are vast, fantastic games that feature playable female characters. I even played the original Descent. So I am hopeful about the newest offering from Volition THQ. I’m glad to see so many women working on this project. Although in a staff of over one hundred, the women are outnumbered 10 to 1.
So much for pedigree and first impressions. I know better, you can’t judge a book by its cover, and that goes double for games. Saint’s Row will soon be released for the X360 and it is going to be a game that will have to sink or swim on its own game play merits. Like that infamous game that changed the meaning of “hot coffee” forever, Saint’s Row is a game that is sure to do alot more than just raise eyebrows. They are going to push the envelope one more time. I saw a developer interview video where he said that the character creation would be “appreciated by the “hip - hop” community”, and that the “clothing upgrades would earn the character more respect.” Unfortunately this attitude reinforces stereo types and materialistic superficiality, and might offend some people. The game looks so much like GTA, except cloudy in that hazy Xbox graphics fashion that I don’t like. I prefer crisp graphics.
There seem to be plenty of customization options. For the cars. For male avatars. you can select everything, except gender. Not cool. Would it have killed them to include a female character? I can’t imagine developers and programmers working so hard on customization options but ostracizing women?
Engrossed by the potential controversy I set out to interview the Saint’s Row team. I interviewed two of the game’s project managers Anne Odom and Rose Hunt. Anne is the Associate Project Manager. She is a self described student of philosophy, linguistics, and computer science. Anne had developed custom software of all shapes and sizes before joining Volition in November of 2004. As a project manager, she strives to keep the morale high, the communication strong, and the deadlines on target. Anne is active in the local community as well, she likes to volunteering with many charitable organizations and activist endeavors as she has time for.
Rose Hunt is also an Associate Project Manager. Rose served 8 years of hard time in the ISP industry before making the leap to project manager for a video game studio. That perilous jump was well worth it because she cemented her role in her nephews’ hearts as the “aunt with the coolest job.” When she is not wrangling schedules or working to keep the project team energized, one can expect to find Rose enjoying the finer things in life. Like classic cars, good wine, gourmet cooking, comic books and professional wrestling(?).
Girls if you want to work in the gaming industry there are many diverse jobs that are vital to the production of a game. In addition to these two ladies on the staff at Volition for example, the office assistant, Human Relations manager, bookkeeper, office manager and one of the Environmental artists are women. You can see that there is a need for women in the games industry in a diverse variety of job skills.
Geek Woman: You girls are outnumbered there at your job, what is that like?
Anne Odom : I’ve been outnumbered ever since I graduated from my all girls Catholic high school - first as a philosophy major, second as a programmer, and now as part of a game development team. The difference between then and now is simply the ratio at which I’m outnumbered. Being the only woman in a group of 10 men doesn’t really throw your stride, but sometimes when you’re the only woman in a room of 100 men, it can feel a little disconcerting.
Rose Hunt : I’m fortunate to work with a great group of professionals. About the only issue I can name with being outnumbered is that we did have to post a notice on the door that one of the women’s bathrooms is really, really women’s only.
Geek Woman: I noticed that in addition to you on the staff at Volition, the office assistant, human relations manager, bookkeeper, office manager and one environmental artist, are women. Why so few?
Rose Hunt : Our numbers are growing! There are a few more you could add to that count, including a third project manager. I think what’s most interesting about the staffing is that while women are the minority here; we make up a full half of the project management team.
Rose Hunt : I speculate that since women gamers tend to be more casual about gaming, fewer women consider game development as a serious career choice. I believe that as the ranks of women gamers continue to swell, so will the number of women who are inspired to work in the gaming industry.
Anne Odom : Actually, there are a few more of us than that - not everyone may yet be listed on the website. It’s still the case, though, that women make up a small percentage of this studio. To be honest, we don’t get very many female applicants, and while the number of women trained in technological fields is growing, it’s still the case that men outnumber women in seeking out game-related higher education.
Anne Odom : The place to start diversifying the work force is actually middle school. There are studies that have been done that show that middle school is where girls who have been interested in video games, math, science, etc., suddenly lose interest in all of those things. Encouraging more girls to continue with their interests and follow them through higher education is how we’ll see a more balanced gender ratio in the future. It’s not going to happen overnight.
Geek Woman: That is an interesting factoid, I wonder if we should point to peers or the guidance counselors for that loss of interest in science. You are planning to present a paper at the next Women in Games Conference, tell me what it is going to be about, briefly?
Anne Odom : I think it would be more accurate to say we’ve been “thinking” about presenting a paper at the Women in Games Conference. It looks like the call for papers just went up last week, and we haven’t yet decided for sure if it’s going to be possible for us to attend the conference this year. Right now, Saint’s Row is our priority, so we might not be able to build a quality paper before the submission deadline. If we don’t make it this time around, definitely look for us in the future.
Rose Hunt : Unfortunately while we would have liked to write a paper, we now realize that the demands of our project are going to prevent us from hammering out something worthwhile by the due date. This is disappointing, but the project comes first. Perhaps we can plan ahead for next year.
Geek Woman: What type of education or experience did you have to get your job? (this is directed at young girls who want degrees that will lead them to jobs in the gaming industry)
Rose Hunt : My former experience was not strictly gaming or software related. Before taking on this role, I had 8 years of project management experience in the telecommunications industry. The types of projects I led ranged from integrating acquired Internet companies to creating virtual ISPs for professional sports teams to developing bundled internet and phone products. Project management in the game industry is both wildly different and remarkably similar to the projects I’ve managed before. The similarities - assessing risk, managing scope, scheduling, tracking, motivating developers - are how I could make the transition from telecommunications to games. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve been a gamer for many years and had friends in the game industry that provided insights and encouraged me to apply for the job.
Anne Odom : My undergraduate degree is in Philosophy, but I’ve pursued additional education in computer science and math. I built my experience starting as an entry level programmer at a software development firm, and gained my project management skills as I’ve grown in my career. Currently, I’m pursuing some official project management certifications to build my skill set.
Anne Odom : The educational path that people should pursue will depend largely on the area of game development that holds the most interest for them. It’s rare that any company, game studio or not, will hire a programmer these days who does not have a formal four-year degree in computer science. Young women who are technically inclined will want to look for strong CS programs when they make their college plans.
Anne Odom : There are many art and animation schools out there that do a good job of preparing people with the skills they’ll need for producing game art. These schools will be clear about the fact that their curriculum will prepare students for game development. Young women who are drawn more to the artistic side of development should look for schools like these.
Anne Odom : Design is the trickiest of the areas to break into, as there isn’t much out there in the way of formal education for design. Good designers are people who play a lot of games — video games, board games, card games, and anything else they can get their hands on. In doing this, they build up a strong understanding of game play mechanics, what makes a game fun, and how people they play with respond to the games they play. In addition to this understanding, designers must have strong and clear communication skills. One of the key responsibilities of designers on game-projects is to communicate the vision, passion, and requirements of a game to all the other developers. Design is the one area of game development that does not necessarily require a college degree, and you’ll find that designers with degrees have them in a wide variety of areas — english, history, computer science, fine arts, philosophy, engineering, and more.
Geek Woman: What types of work do you do?
Rose Hunt : I project manage the programming and multiplayer teams on Saint’s Row. This includes duties like creating schedules, conducting team meetings, assessing risk areas, and keeping all the various lines of communication between the team and management flowing. Perhaps the most important work that we do is keeping in touch with the morale on the team and providing encouragement.
Anne Odom : As a project manager, my key role is to assist in project planning. The production team on a project at Volition consists of the leads for each discipline (art, design, programming), a team of producers, and a team of project managers. The leads, producers, and project managers work to plan the development of a project together. Project managers are responsible for taking the ideas, dreams, and visions of the rest of the leads and producers and turning them into a timeline, schedule, and list of tasks that can be completed by developers. A lot of iteration happens here - elements that don’t fit in the timeline need to be revisited by leads and producers. If they are needed to make a competitive game, then managers need to revisit the timeline. As the project progresses, one of the most important tasks we perform is simply helping everyone to be aware of the effect of adding, cutting, expanding, or modifying elements of the game.
Anne Odom : In addition to that, we support the developers on the team by keeping their schedules accurate and relevant, tracking work that’s been finished, and make sure the work being done now is still moving the product in the direction it needs to go. We facilitate communication between disciplines, strike teams, and individuals, and we work to ensure that everyone has the work environment they need to do their best work.
Geek Woman: When will Saint’s Row be released?
Anne Odom : THQ announced today that the game will ship in the September quarter.
Geek Woman: Will it be released for the other 2 next gen consoles?
Anne Odom : Ack - I can’t even think about that right now. All that can fit in my head is everything I need to do to help developers release it for this console.
Rose Hunt : I really couldn’t say at this point. We’re concentrating on getting it polished up for the XBox 360. Though, I hope so. It would mean more people would get to play our game.
Geek Woman: Ok there is a female character in the logo, is she playable?
Anne Odom : There is not a playable female character in the game. The main character is a fully customizable male character.
Anne Odom : It was determined early on that adding an additional gender with the level of customization that we were planning would not be possible considering the overall scope of the game. There’s always a list of great things that everyone wants to add to an already great game, and sadly, it’s just not possible to fit all of them in.
Geek Woman: So there is no female lead character?
Anne Odom : I’m not sure which logo you were looking at - so much art has been released that I don’t really know which characters are out there. We do have a good selection of very interesting female characters who are integral to the story - they’re great, and I have posters of them in my office.
Rose Hunt : The character you see backing up the logo on the website at this time (February ‘06), is Tanya Winters. She’s not a player character, but is a wicked lady with a key role in the Vice Kings gang. Another woman to look forward to is one of the player’s homies, Lin.
Geek Woman: I understand that there is a character creation feature in the game? What will it be like?
Rose Hunt : The character creation and customization features are among my favorite features of the game. You will be able to select your character’s starting template and then be able to tweak them to look precisely how you want them to by adjusting hair, skin tone, build and facial features. Once you’ve created the basics and played to earn a little cash, you can outfit your PC with his own personal style by clothing him, adding tattoos and accessories. The more money you earn the better style you can afford. Your attention to style can earn you respect on the street, which is important to gameplay.
Anne Odom : The character creation and customization feature is unbelievably robust. Everything is adjustable - from overall character build, to variations of skin tone, to lengths and angles of ear lobes. The other day, one of the technical artists made a character who’s head looked exactly like an ape.
Geek Woman: An ape. But no women, you’ll never hear the end of that I’m guessing. Are there the obsequies “Ho’s” in the game?
Anne Odom : I’m not sure if you mean obsequious (doormats) or ubiquitous (everywhere) in this question, I’ll answer it both ways.
Geek Woman: I blame my southern new england accent. I guess you can spell that obsequies or obsequious. But anyway, any Ho’s in the game?
Anne Odom : There are hos, but I wouldn’t say they are obsequious. I am regularly clocked by all of our women NPCs - hos, joggers, senior citizens, business women. Don’t assume that if you start acting up all the women around you will go running for cover. Saint’s Row women won’t put up with it - and they have a mean right hook.
Anne Odom : It’s also important to note that we have a wide variety of characters in the game. While we certainly have prostitutes, we have women from all walks of life, all different backgrounds, and a wide variety of demographics making up the population of the city.
Rose Hunt : Yes, there will be ho’s. There will also be grannies that will attack you with walkers and buff joggers who fight back when they’re assaulted. Make no mistake, the ladies are not pushovers in Saints Row. It’s especially gratifying to see ho’s lay down a cover of gunfire to assist you in a getaway.
Geek Woman: What steps have been taken to avoid the rampant sexism that we saw in GTA?
Anne Odom : In this respect, comparing Saint’s Row to GTA is a little bit like apples and oranges. The GTA series features story lines that come from a pretty serious and dark perspective. Saint’s Row is comes from a much more “tongue-in-cheek” angle, and plays upon a variety of overblown cultural stereotypes to build some really enjoyable humor. Every demographic can expect to feel the sting of Saint’s Row wit, and we certainly didn’t spare the women.
Anne Odom : That said, I’ll reiterate that strong women are integral to the storyline that’s been developed for this game - something I don’t feel we’ve seen in any GTA game to date.
Rose Hunt : Our writer and designers took care to make sure that the women in the game portray a variety of archetypes. We have women who are arm candy, mastermind manipulators, tough chicks that can kick your ass and just good people trying to get by. I give the design team top marks for the amount of thought and effort they put into this one. They even changed the gender of a key character because they wanted to place women in several varied roles.
Geek Woman: That is intriguing. Do you think that this title will appeal to women who have played GTA?
Anne Odom : I think women who’ve played and enjoy GTA and other games in this genre will really enjoy this game. It’s a bit smarter and a bit wittier, and it should appeal to a wider audience in general - regardless of gender.
Rose Hunt : Definitely. Anyone who enjoys living the virtual thug life will be delighted with the ramped up mayhem in Saints Row.
Geek Woman: Do you think that women that have been turned off by GTA will like your game?
Anne Odom : If they don’t care for driving games or third-person shooters, no. If they were turned off by other elements of the games, like the story lines or the portrayal of women, they might find Saint’s Row to be refreshingly different.
Rose Hunt : There’s a little something for everyone in Saint’s Row. The brilliance is in the activity gameplay that lets you focus on the things you like best. If you’re keen on racing games, you can earn respect through street racing. If you’re the master of the heist, you can earn your cash through theft. I’ve only named a couple. There are several activities to explore.
Geek Woman: I noticed that THQ has signed with Massive for the in game advertising, which seems to be popular with everyone in the industry - but not the gamers. On the surface the game you are working on seems to be shaping up to be one that women will avoid, and possibly rally against, does that give you an internal conflict about it?
Anne Odom : When I first started at Volition and realized what I would be working on, I had my concerns. As I really learned about the game we’re making and the story we’re telling, those concerns dissipated. Developing this game has been a huge project, and I’m excited that I’ve been a part of it. Beyond the game itself, working with Volition and working on Saint’s Row has made me an appealing public speaker in lots of forums that reach young girls. My personal goals to encourage the participation of young girls in technological fields is only enhanced by my work on this game and future projects at Volition.
Rose Hunt : People often play games to explore things they’d never do (or approve of) in real life. Whether the game is playing guitar like a rock star or mowing down pedestrians in hijacked vehicles, a game is simply escapism - which is something we could all use. With that in mind and buoyed by a healthy sense of humor, I don’t lose any sleep at night.
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