Shawna Blumenschein

Bioware’s The Old Republic says no to overweight female characters

Bioware’s upcoming MMORPG, The Old Republic, will allow players to create male or female characters. Gamers will have the option of slim, muscular, or fat for male characters, but only slim and muscular for female characters. Why the...

Medal of Honor controversy reveals hypocrisy

The upcoming October release of Medal of Honor has stirred up a lot of controversy. The game won’t be sold on American military bases. The UK’s defence secretary called for it to be banned. And discussion...

World of Warcraft Cataclysm collector's edition announced

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the hotly anticipated expansion to the massively popular MMORPG, is getting the collector’s edition treatment. Releasing special editions that are packed with extras and other goodies is a hot trend in video gaming. Blizzard...

Facebook has social gaming figured out

Social games on networks like Facebook have exploded alongside the networks themselves. Games like Farmville, Frontierville, Castle Age, and Mafia Wars are designed with a specific goal – to keep players coming back regularly. Social networks thrive on the people...

Free-to-play MMORPGs grow faster than subscription games

If World of Warcraft shifted to a free-to-play model, rather than the current subscription model, would it affect the number of current players? Would it draw in more players? These are the questions Blizzard may soon be asking...

Silicon Sisters Q&A session part 2

Today we have the remainder of the Q&A session with Silicon Sisters’ COO, Kirsten Forbes. Catch up on part 1 of the interview if you missed it yesterday. Would you describe Silicon Sisters primarily as a casual...

Gamer girls get unique opportunity at 3G Summit

The 3G Summit starts today and runs until August 15. With the subheading of “The Future of Girls, Gaming and Gender,” it's turning its focus onto the place girls currently have in gaming and will open...

New Duke Nukem still a possibility?

3D Realms’ thirteen year odyssey to create Duke Nukem Forever ended over a year ago when the studio laid off the majority of its staff. A legal battle over who owned the intellectual property erupted between 3D Realms and...

Silicon Sisters Q&A session part 1

When it comes to women and girl gamers, one of the problems with the video game industry is the lack of women employed by the industry. It’s little wonder that female characters are usually nothing but sex symbols...

Girl gamers find freedom in games that provide gender anonymity

Social interactions in online games can be a dicey proposition for the two-thirds of online players who are women. There’s always the risk of girl gamers being derided for their gender. But for games in which talking...

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