Podcasts about Girls Make Games

Discover how Girls Make Games is supporting young women with scholarships, mentorship, and game development opportunities, featuring insights from CEO Laila Shabir. FOX's Eammonn Dignam spoke to her in this "FOX on Games." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shawne Benson, Global Head of Third Party Portfolio & Acquisitions at Sony Interactive Entertainment and Laila Shabirm, Founder & CEO of Girls Make Games speak to Will Freeman for the latest instalment of our Playable Futures Series. Our eighth outing sees us tackling what continues to be a prominent talking point within the industry - women in games. For a sector often associated with toxic stereotypes around gender, this enlightening chat looks at the ways in which the industry has changed to encompass more diverse voices and the future benefits of doing so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please visit our website 10bestest.com/girls for all of our show notes.If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a review. It helps us out.Check out our YouTube channel here. 

Laila Shabir is the co-founder and CEO of Girls Make Games. Here are some links to learn more about her game design studio, summer camp and quest to welcome more girls and women into the world of game design. Girls Make Games https://www.girlsmakegames.com/ What They Don't Sea (2019) - Explore the underwater seas to collect special algae for an alternative energy project Shredded Secrets (2022) - A game about bullying, that follows the bullied kid and the struggling bully as well. Nintendo Switch Find Me (2021) - A beautiful and surreal 2D puzzle platformer about a lost shadow seeking to be reunited with her human girl, while searching for memories and avoiding the dangerous city lights. Steam, Playstation Blubblub (2016) - Jennifer is out on a hunt to extract cuteness from anything and everything in sight to create the world's finest line of make up. It just so happens, BlubBlub is the cutest blub there ever was... Rescue your friends and thwart Jennifer's scheme for building a cosmetics empire. Down with the syringes! Steam, X-box Interfectorem (2015) - A young sheriff-in-training who lives alone with her sister Sali in a small town next to the woods decides to go on a hike one day, but comes home to find her younger sister brutally murdered! Steam, Playstation The Hole Story (2014) - When an unsuspecting young girl finds herself transported to a mystical world, she must rely on her trusty shovel and quick wits to find her way home. Steam Solvable is produced by Jocelyn Frank, research by David Zha, booking by Lisa Dunn, and editing support from Keishel Williams. The Managing Producer is Sachar Mathias and Executive Producer is Mia Lobel. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Girls love video games—and they make up half of all players. But if we want games to reflect young women's voices and interests, we need more of them as game developers. Laila Shabir set out to solve that when she founded Girls Make Games. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Girls Make Games is an annual summer camp that teaches middle and high-school girls how to create games. This year, due to Covid-19, they took the camp online and in doing so are reaching girls all across the world. I sat down with GMG's communications director, Isra Shabir (she/her), to learn how the camp began, what the process was like shifting to online, and what they have planned moving forward with more online events. You can learn more about Girls Make Games at girlsmakegames.com, follow them @GirlsMakeGames, and get in touch by emailing info@girlsmakegames.com. Their fall virtual camp sessions begin today with more planned throughout October into November. Things Discussed The history of GMG 2020's virtual camp The Portal - a home for GMG's talks and educational resources Demo Day - an end of camp competition for the games created during it Isra's Inspiring Thing to Share Political engagement among camp participants - many of the games created during the virtual camp deal with climate change and social issues, using the games to help understand and explore possible solutions to world problems Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nate Kiernan, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one. It means a lot.

Welcome to Week 10 of the Wise Not Withered Character Showcase! I'm honored to present our Wild West Tavern Owner, Meg. She owns and runs a business called "Wild Meg's Saloon and Cabaret Lounge".Illustration by PepiFor a couple years I did Lyft driving on and off. One of my passengers was an elderly gentleman who started telling me about how much he loves Wild West films. I hadn't (and still haven't) watched many (if any?) Western films. I did not grow up with them, and I told the man that I preferred movies and shows with characters that I could relate to. We got into a conversation about how most of the protagonists of those films are white men, and he said something along the lines of "Well that's just how it was." I found myself getting a little irritated at that blatant comment, but I also couldn't say that he was wrong.When I dropped him off at his destination, he said something along the lines of "Times are changing, though. Women are doing more, and I can't wait to see what you'll be able to do next!" It was a very positive note to end on. And I felt inspired. I started to ask with curiosity rather than resentment, "What would it have been like if a strong woman owned a tavern in the Wild West?"My initial ideas for this character were solid, but lacking in depth. I knew I wanted a tall, brooding woman, perhaps in-game an item shop owner. I pictured her saying, "Not in my tavern!" and shooting guns out of people's hands. She'd walk over, punch 'em in the face and throw 'em out! I wanted her to be gruff, with a no-nonsense attitude and a spark of humor. Expert-level ability in a wide range of card games. Extremely intelligent, confident, and sometimes abrasive—not afraid to verbally assault someone back into their place.The illustrator I found for this character is Mariel Astorga, or Pepi, from Argentina! Pepi was one of the first artists that I connected with, and I absolutely adored her enthusiasm and can-do attitude. She has experience in game design, and in programs that encourage and educate young women. I loved the life in the comic illustrations that I found on her Behance page, and I was so excited to be in touch with her.Pepi is from Mendoza, Argentina. She is an entrepreneurial designer who is passionate about video game development and user experience. She started to work in the gaming industry as a 2D artist in 2014, illustrating some characters and designing interface elements. In Mendoza, she works as an Arts and Design instructor at Probot's Video Game Course, which is a 12-week workshop for students from 10 to 17 years old. Probot School, part of the Tomás Alva Edison Foundation, was featured in 2018 by Microsoft's Flagship School Program. Now, Pepi is working with Game User Experience. Once in a while, she sketches for fun.In regard to the illustrations Pepi did for Meg: she feels very connected to Michelle's definition of Meg's personality. Pepi tried to make a mix of a Punk style and Australian outback.Over the past three years, Pepi has been promoting the video game industry and female participation in Mendoza. She had the opportunity to organize multiple workshops and events like "EVA-Mendoza" (Exhibition of Video Games made in Argentina) which is one of the most important Game Development conferences in Latin America, and Global Game Jam.In 2017, Pepi volunteered as an artist to remotely help on the "Girls Make Games" program. This eventually helped her win a scholarship to attend GDC, or Game Developer's Conference 2018.In Pepi's words: "Working with two talented and amazing women like Juliana and Michelle, makes me comprehend the importance of what we are doing, not only we were promoting and emphasizing the representation of middle-aged and elderly women in video games, also we were working from our different countries and realities to make changes in real life, in our daily lives. I'm very grateful. Wise Not Withered is a possibility to celebrate the alliance between women, defend our conquered rights, motivate younger generations and start to promote women's new roles all over the world. There are so many stories to tell."Looking back at our first emails to each other almost feels nostalgic right now! So much has happened with the project over the last year, and seeing how warm and friendly and enthusiastic Pepi was right at the beginning makes me really happy and inspired again. I had been sending dozens of cold emails, hearing back from a handful of people—a tinier handful of that already smaller group accepted the offer and collaborated with at least me, and sometimes as a trio, to create beautiful art of middle-aged and elderly women in stories and illustrations.I started to develop a tougher skin, in terms of being more readily able to accept rejections and keep moving forward... Where we circle back to Meg! It takes a strong woman who has seen hardship to be able to be so tough and rough—Meg brandishes a gun in the first chapter of the story. She means business! When I first created the character, I didn't realize that it would make sense—and in fact be essential—that she'd also need a more gentle and kind side, to balance out the rough exterior.When I found the writer for this character, I honestly had been simply searching for a writer specifically from Australia. Not for that character, I just wanted someone from Australia. At this point in my search, I was making games for myself. I have a world map taped on my wall above my computer where I've colored in the countries where artists on the team live. I wanted to have as much diversity as I possibly could, and it was quite frankly very easy to find people from all over the world. With this kind of technology available to us, there's really no excuse not to find new talent and diversify our content!I started searching Instagram using #australianwriter. I had an interesting interaction with a writer that I may possibly share in a post later with a collection of uncomfortable interactions! The writer who ended up responding and joining the team was Michelle Greening, an author, poet, and lovely soul who lives in West Australia. She will share her thoughts about the story and character later on in the episode.https://www.instagram.com/p/B7XjxxkFcKx/Michelle was so nice to talk to over Instagram, and at one point I ended up sending her the list of characters, in the format of "Description (Age)". I added that some of them are very comedic and some are very serious. Some of them would probably make a more interesting game than others, but the focus is to just showcase that women can and do still have adventures and stories worth telling into middle-age and beyond.Immediately Michelle's interest was piqued when she read "Wild West Tavern Owner". She said she is a previous restaurant owner and had a dream to have another restaurant, called "Wild Meg's Saloon and Cabaret Lounge". Since that first interaction we had, Michelle has written a compelling collection of diary entries to set the stage of Meg's character and shed some light on why she is the way she is. She wrote a couple chapters of Meg's daily escapades, one of which I will include at the end of this post!Honestly for this character as well as last week's... and a lot of them... I just don't have the voice or maturity to read these amazing stories. This is why the next phase includes voice actresses that can really bring the stories to life! I can't do the whole project by myself, and I don't need to!I couldn't be happier with how Michelle's story about Meg is unfolding, and I absolutely adore Pepi's illustrations, with their sketchy, comic book, papery look. I really think that Meg's entire story could be told through comic illustrations like these!Illustration by PepiMichelle added in so much warmth and depth to Meg's character. She still has the exact kind of no-nonsense attitude and spark of humor that I envisioned, which is now rooted in Michelle's actual experience in owning a restaurant and loving Western movies (she even said to me near the beginning "I should have been born in Texas.").But not only does Meg have a rough exterior, she is also very caring and protective of the other women in her restaurant. That was an important quality that I wanted a few of the Wise Not Withered characters to have: none of my characters' defining quality would be their maternal nature, but rather that would be simply a part of some of them. Another important aspect of the project is also to show that nobody has just one "defining" quality. Meg is close with and trusts a few women in her saloon, and the interactions that Michelle wrote about them are so real and lovely.Illustration by Pepi—Now, here is Michelle, introducing herself and talking about Wild Meg's Saloon and Cabaret Lounge!"Hi, I'm Michelle.I live in Perth, Western Australia.The written word has been a love of mine since I was a little girl.Most of my writings are random quotes, ramblings and poems about love in all of its guts and glory. I am a huge romantic at heart and believe love never hurts, only people do. Our social conditioning and expectations can hurt us. But love heals.All in all, my inspiration behind my writing is love and life.Wild Meg's Saloon and Cabaret Lounge is actually a name I created many moons ago for a restaurant which is still yet to eventuate. I am a little, some might say, overly keen on The Wild West Theme and all things Country and Western. If I found out I was Annie Oakley in a past life I'd be pretty happy.The name Meg comes from my initials. Michelle Elizabeth Greening. When I saw the list of characters, I jumped at the chance to create a Tavern Owner who takes no nonsense from anyone. Bringing Meg to life is a wonderful way of putting me in to the character. The me who cannot tolerate people who mistreat others. People who believe they have the right to intimidate.Meg is there to make sure those who do the wrong thing are held accountable. Meg and I are firm believers that if you don't like how someone has spoken to you or treated you, then you have every right to put them in their place. My motto is, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.Meg's Story has taken on a life of its own and watching it unravel is exciting. As I develop the Diary Entries for her not-so-nice back story, you'll fall in love with her strength and tenacity as she defends the innocent against those bullies.Empowering young women and girls is a subject very dear to me, so I jumped at the opportunity to join the Wise Not Withered project when I was invited.Having created a positive self esteem Programme for teenage girls many years ago, I was keen to be part of such a wonderful and unique project such as this. I am very grateful to you, Juliana, for this opportunity."—And now, an excerpt from the story: Chapter 1.“Quiet!”Both hands on the bar, Meg takes a calculated breath. The waves of her recently unravelled hair cascade across her shoulders. Slowly and with an edge to her calm exterior, Meg turns to face the now hushed madness before her.The dancers, who appear to be frozen in time, discretely, one-by-one, step off stage. This is a scene all too familiar to many and they know it’s best to vacate at a time like this.Staff and patrons are silenced while bracing themselves for the inevitable.A red glow filters its way through the front windows, adding drama to the already sombre scene, another Western Ranges sunset bringing the day to an end.“I suggest that you holster your revolvers and step outside.” Meg glares at the men before her.“Lady, the owner of this establishment might have a different opinion. I suggest you step outside before you get hurt,” the stench from this man turns Meg’s stomach. It is disgustingly all too familiar.“I know the owner agrees with me Mister. Now holster your pistols gentlemen and remove your stinking selves from these premises.”A tiny giggle erupts from the silent yet crowded saloon as Meg raises, in one hand, the rifle that nobody noticed by her side.“Wait. You’re Meg?” the smaller man finds his voice, drops his revolver and makes a hasty exit.Meg’s gaze is still fixed on the outspoken man. “You need an escort or are you leaving willingly?”“Meg hey? Is that who you think you are? She’s but a legend, not real I heard.”Meg aims the rifle between the man’s legs. “Left or right?”“Left or right what?”“Left or right knee?” Meg remains calm, “My aim might be a bit off but I am happy for you to find out.”The people closest to this man quickly disperse. Five women, who had been standing separately throughout the saloon, are now on either side of her. Charlotte, Francis, Suzette, Lila and Claudine are the only people Meg trusts.“Lady, my knee is already busted.”She allows herself a hint of a smile. “As I said, holster your pistol, NOW.”“Alright, I heard you.” With his pistol now back in its holster, he grins, “Can I at least get a drink?”“Don’t push your luck. While you remain intact and before you say or do anything you will regret, leave my Saloon.”  Meg steps alongside and sees him to the door. “On the outskirts of town you’ll find a place full of your kind. When you get there, tell Joey the girls sent you. He will make certain you are looked after.” Meg watches as he mounts his horse and rides away.Illustration by Pepi—Stay tuned for more Wise Not Withered Character Showcases, every Sunday until mid-2020!

This week, Sinow and Kimmy talk about a team of teenagers who won the Girls Make Games competition and some acts of gratefulness that happened around Texas during Thanksgiving! Check out the blog post at https://www.kimmymauldin.com/joybinge-podcast Be sure to follow on social media! Twitter: @joybingepodcast IG: @joybingepodcast Facebook: @JoyBingePodcast Artwork by James Cole "Industrious Ferret” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Links to listen on other platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0rT6ZVEFT66DWlxx0KoMTT?si=_O72pl1ySCGi9rL-NQSB1A Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/joybinge-podcast iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joybinge-podcast/id1444367585

Christine and Sarah praise Women In Gaming at GDC and Girls Make Games. Checkpoint XP's social media was so good that Christine and Sarah had to highlight their own favorites. Plus, a new fashion segment introduced called What's She Wearing, starting with the evolution of Lara Croft's outfits.

Women in Gaming continues to grow our community through events such as the Girls Make Games camp. We believe that these girls are the leaders of our future, will change the gaming industry, and that the world needs to hear their stories. We are so excited to have been able to host this incredible event that brought fun, education, and inspiration together.

This week on FC3 Monkey Business, C. and the other Monkeys will be talking Weird Al Yankovic, Girls Make Games, Dungeon and Dragons Creator Intellectual Property and the upcoming DC Universe streaming service! After that, stick around for our Upcoming Events and Our Question of the Week! Girls Make Games http://girlsmakegames.com/

This week on FC3 Monkey Business, C. and the other Monkeys will be talking Weird Al Yankovic, Girls Make Games, Dungeon and Dragons Creator Intellectual Property and the upcoming DC Universe streaming service! After that, stick around for our Upcoming Events and Our Question of the Week! Girls Make Games http://girlsmakegames.com/

Latest episode of Downloadable Coffee (DLC) - Dallas

Aj Mendez shares how “Crazy is her super POWER” on PHIT for a Queen podcast: So excited to share how Turning crazy into a superpower book is now a TV series. Wants to normalize and educate on mental health specifically bipolar. Got her start on WWE by paying for an audition AJ’s role models of women were strong, powerful ladies. Sometimes keeping your script to yourself can be a selfish thing. Sharing your story can be freeing. You can find AJ and her superpowers at: http://theajmendez.com/ http://theajmendez.com/crazy-book http://theajmendez.com/animal-adoption https://www.instagram.com/theajmendez @theajmendez   So you know she is legit: New York Times Bestselling Author, Former Wrestling Champion AJ Mendez is the New York Times Bestselling author of Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules. She is a mental health advocate and animal rights activist, currently serving as an ambassador for the nonprofit organizations NAMI, The JED Foundation, The ASPCA, and Girls Make Games. A former professional wrestler with the WWE under the ring name AJ Lee, she has won three championships and numerous awards, as well as inspired a generation of young girls to wear sensible shoes. AJ has been made into several video game characters and action figures, all with substantially exaggerated body measurements. In her spare time, she enjoys comic books, video games, and internet videos of unusual animal friendships. She is currently working with the producers of the Genius franchise to turn Crazy is My Superpower into a TV series, which she will write and executive produce. Follow AJ on Twitter and Instagram at @TheAJMendez .    

On this episode of The Trophy Room: A PlayStation Podcast, hosts Joseph and Kyle welcome back their good friend Bobby The Nintendo Guru. As they discuss, GameStop current business model. With the cancelation of the PowerUp Pro Elite Membership, what are some other changes the company needs to address the current increase in digital sales. Sony teams up with Girls Make Games, to inspire young girls to create their own games. The gang, discusses the growing shovelware hitting the PlayStation store, and how some devs are making games with easy platinum trophies, and whether or not Sony should intervene, lastly Spider-Man hep continues as Insomniac announces that Spider-Man PS4 goes gold!

In Episode 27, Solo & Lilo cover the week's top gaming stories. For March 27, the team tries out a new segment, Rubiu5 breaks 1 million concurrent Youtube viewers, Google Play partners with Girls Make Games, Overwatch League Stage 2 playoffs & Player Conduct Policy, the importance of mental and physical health in gaming & more. Then, for our Game Spotlight, Solo hijacks Lilo's segment & reflects on the 5 year anniversary of Bioshock: Infinite. For The Final Lap, we ponder on Microsoft's options in the face of a less then stellar response to Sea of Thieves, no AAA title on the horizon, & it main competitors Sony and Nintendo widening the gap.

In this episode Cathy welcomes Maury Brown back to the show and they talk about games used to relax; Carrie tells us about Chuck·s Challenge, and Cathy has a conversation with Laila Shabir about Girls Make Games.

Naughty Dog character artist Alexandria Neonakis returns to the podcast to discuss her transition away from UI design, what motivates her during the long nights of freelance work after acquiring her green card, and the odd and complicated world of dealing with internet trolls in a positive way. GUEST LINKS: Alex's Website: https://www.alexneonakis.com/ Alex's Twitter: https://twitter.com/beavs Uncharted 4: http://amzn.to/2p8Klk6 Naughty Dog: https://www.naughtydog.com/ Girls Make Games: http://girlsmakegames.com/ GMG Donations: https://www.pcgamesn.com/girls-make-games-charity ------------------------------ The Collective Newsletter: http://www.thecollectivepodcast.com/newsletter Subscribe on iTunes: http://www.thecollectivepodcast.com/itunes Subscribe via RSS: http://www.thecollectivepodcast.com/rss Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thecollectivepodcast Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thecpodcast ------------------------------ SHOW NOTES: Ghost in the Shell (2017): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/ Janice Chu: https://www.artstation.com/artist/klangoda Maciej Kuciara: http://www.kuciara.com/ Vitaly Bulgarov: https://vitalybulgarov.com/ Ashley Swidowski: https://www.artstation.com/artist/aswidowski John Sweeney: https://www.artstation.com/artist/johnsweeney Tickled: http://amzn.to/2p90LJd Foxcatcher: http://amzn.to/2oD1Ya4 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employers.

We've all been waiting for it, but the time has finally arrived. The Nintendo Switch has been released. But there's more news besides the console itself. Amazon dropped the ball on delivering the consoles big time. Nintendo is touting sales of the Switch being larger than sales of Wii. And then there are the games. We talk about Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 1,2 Switch. In other non-Switch related news. Sony has thrown their sponsorship to Girls Make Games. Finally we take detour around video games to talk about another Game... Game of Thrones that is. The hype machine for the next season has just launched into gear and we'll give you thoughts and predictions.

In this episode Cathy, Melissa, and Sarah share what they have been playing and talk about some of the most common styles of board games; Nicole tells us about Girls Make Games; and we share some podcast news.

In this week's Double Tap, Alice Taplin talks to Nintendo Life's Thomas Whitehead about the new release in the Star Fox franchise, Star Fox Zero, and the possible death of the Wii U's Gamepad. Then, Producer Jamie Wareham chats to Laila Shabir, Founder and CEO of Girls Make Games, the initiative that's encouraging young girls to break into the games industry. You can find out more or get involved with Girls Make Games at http://girlsmakegames.com/

Join Josh and Juan as they discuss the last week in video games! THIS WEEK: Silent Hills dead dead dead dead! Banjo Kazooie succesor Yooka-Laylee hits all of kickstarter goals. Misadventures of Tron Bonne hits Playstation Store. ESPN 2 airs Heroes of The Dorm tournament, ESPN radio host denegrates the sport. Nintendo Direct predictions. Splatoon bundles. Nintendo officially acknowledges the Amiibo shortages. Wrestler AJ Lee started a scholorship for Girls Make Games. Disney announced Disney Infinity 3.0 with Star Wars roster. Project M. Puzzles and Dragons Mario Edition. Destiny. Attack on Titan Hummanity in Chains. Hyper Dimension Neptunia U. Listener Mission Objective of The Week: What is you biggest gaming news let down? Geekscape Games Theme Song: Sunny Day by MmcM

Boom! We speak to Laila Shabir of LearnDistrict about educational gaming and a wonderful summer camp that teaches girls how to make video games called Girls Make Games. Fantasticness ensues. Download link – Episode 37 (Laila Shabir) LearnDistrict’s website –http://learndistrict.com/ Girls Make Games’ website – http://girlsmakegames.com/