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SheTaxi's Uber-for-women service launches in NYC later this month
As sad as it is to admit it, there are a lot of creeps in this world, which is why we wouldn't blame anyone for feeling nervous about getting a late night taxi. That's why a new startup is launching SheRides in NYC and SheTaxi in Westchester County and Long Island, an app-based car service for women that only employs female drivers. In the same way that Lyft operators adorn their hoods with a hot pink mustache, SheRides drivers will wear a pink scarf to identify themselves to passengers. The app will ask a user if they're female, or if there's a woman in their group, and if not, they'll be directed to another app-based car service.
Schools find ways to get more women into computer science courses
Technology giants like Apple and Google are frequently dominated by men, in part because relatively few women pursue computer science degrees; just 18 percent of American comp sci grads are female. However, at least a few schools have found ways to get more women into these programs. Carnegie Mellon University saw female enrollment jump to 40 percent after it both scrapped a programming experience requirement and created a tutoring system, giving women a support network they didn't have as a minority. Harvey Mudd College and the University of Washington, meanwhile, saw greater uptake (40 and 30 percent) after they reworked courses to portray coding as a solution to real-world problems, rather than something to study out of personal interest. Harvey Mudd's recruiters also made an effort to be more inclusive in advertising and campus tours.
Riot Games promises to increase diversity in League of Legends
League of Legends features a lot of diversity among its male champions, but the female champions all feature a fairly uniform body type. That's something the developers at Riot Games are keen on changing. In response to a fan question at SDCC, producer Omar Kendall said that the company has been introducing new ways of looking at body types and shapes, with the end goal of making female champions who don't look like the others. Kendall went on to specify that the call for more diversity is one that players should see represented soon in a new character coming out. He also noted that diversity is being strongly considered with further character designs and any new champions. Game designer Brian Feeney noted that it would be a net boon to the game as a whole -- as Riot is very concerned with distinctive silhouettes, a more robust selection of body types makes it easier to tell champions apart.
Google will pay for coding lessons for thousands of female tech workers
We know the stats by now, and they're grim: women hold just a quarter of IT jobs, and they make up a mere 18 percent of recent computer science graduates. At this year's I/O, Google has announced a new program that, it hopes, will do something to correct this imbalance. It's going to pay for "thousands" of female tech workers to discover basic coding through self-learning courses, presumably in the hope that this will advance their careers and turn them into better mentors and role models for youngsters.
Rainbow Six: Siege to include male hostages, too
Rainbow Six: Siege was the surprise finale of Ubisoft's E3 conference, featuring a team of players descending on a suburban home where a woman was held hostage by a group of heavily armed bad guys. The woman cowered while the house exploded around her, and she was referred to as "The Hostage" throughout the demo, passed back and forth between enemies and rescuers as if she were a flag to capture. The apparent objectification of the woman didn't sit well with many viewers – but the game will also feature men as hostages, Technical Artist Oliver Couture told RPS: "We're also gonna have male hostages. That's part of the plan." Ubisoft decided to use a woman hostage in the E3 demo for a specific reason, Couture said. "I know some people asked about the hostage in the demo. I mean, when we did that design we felt a lot of empathy with the hostage. We wanted people to want to protect her. If the hostage gets killed a team loses the game, so we wanted players to care about the hostage so that's the design we chose." Men aren't worthy of empathy, apparently. Couture described the technical aspects of the hostages in Rainbow Six: Siege as the epitome of next-gen. "We're trying to define next-gen with the hostage," he said. "We call that a 'living hostage.' So she'll react to explosions and things like that. It's pretty cool. She'll cough because of the dirt in the air, she covers herself when there's shooting – those sorts of things. We want the player to be able to move her into different positions, for there to be fluid controls. It's a balance between player comfort and reality." [Image: Ubisoft]
The joke is on women in Blizzard's April Fool's gag
Though Blizzard doesn't always treat female characters with as much respect as I'd like, where big game companies are concerned they usually do okay -- heck, the fact that you can play a female character at all puts them ahead of a lot of the gaming industry. But Blizzard doesn't have a particularly spotless record, with sexist NPCs, more sexist NPCs, sexual dimorphism, the lack of women in game lore, and the fact that Aggra won't be heading to Draenor in Warlords -- not to mention the fact that Chris Metzen described the journey as "more of a boy's trip" at BlizzCon. The fact that Blizzard does all of this and I still think of them as doing okay speaks to the exceedingly low standards women have where it comes to inclusion in video games. And in today's April Fool's gag, the joke's on us with the new female draenei models. Today's draenei are the most sexually dimorphic of the lot, with male models that are extremely muscled and female models that are slender -- but still heavy on the cleavage (seriously, they must have so many back problems). Releasing this so-called ugly draenei model as a joke -- though it might have been intended to poke fun at the gamers who insist on sexualized game characters -- just says outright that any women who aren't the height of perfect beauty are a joke.
Women are a major marketing target for Ever, Jane
Maybe you're not quite the target market for Ever, Jane. You may not like the works of Jane Austen, for example; that would be a major deterrent. But according to project head Judy L. Tyrer, one of the major areas she wants to target is the women's market, which she feels is neglected by companies as a whole. She feels that one of the major failings of game companies is failing to realize how large the game market is for women. Tyrer goes into more depth about the game's mechanics, noting that what appealed to her as a designer was the rigid stratification of social classes in Austen's work. Social movement is a major element of the gameplay, with most of players' time devoted to attending balls and gossiping about one another. No word on endgame raids against Mister Darcy or whether or not wit will be seen as an overpowered stat.
TruEnergy headphones are designed for women, full of vibrance and color
It's not everyday I get sent a review request for an iOS accessory specifically for women, but TruEnergy got in touch with a range of in-ear headphones with just that in mind. The headphones come in three different models, each model in three different variety of colors. It's certainly not your typical grey, black, white or aluminum that I'm so often used to seeing in gadgets and accessories. None the less, I'm happy to push on with a review for the fairer sex! TruEnergy says the headphones are designed for "modern, active and stylish girls." Second to that, the biggest focus of the headphones is their SoundShare feature; basically a built-in extra 3.5mm quarter-inch jack input for someone else to add their headphones to, making sharing listening to music or watching a film a breeze. The headphones come in three models, Playful (US$19.99), with a "bright, colorful style." Flirty ($29.99) "style with an edge." And Inspired ($39.99), "elegant style with a feature-packed listening experience." Each model comes with the SoundShare feature. The Flirty and Inspired models come with a built-in mic and enhanced audio, whilst the Inspired model comes with a play control button and further enhanced bass response. The headphones are very colorful, and both my wife and visiting-from-abroad mother took interest in them when they first saw them on the desk. The vibrant, dual-tone coloring is particularly eye-catching. The cabling is more flat than rounded, with an elastic, rubbery quality to it. It feels durable though, and there's the impression of quality too. The earphones themselves look great and fit snugly and comfortably into your ears, with ear-buds in three sizes that fit over the earphones. With any in-ear headphone, making sure you've got a good, sealed fit is essential to the quality of the sound. I really enjoyed the sound quality of the Playful headphones. With a warm, clear tonal quality, I would happily use them for running with, or even as a set to pull out of the backpack / handbag on a commute. From there, sound quality improved in the Flirty and Inspired models. Things became more well-rounded, with a bit more depth and clarity. The same two models also have a built-in mic for calls, which is always a handy feature. The play control on the Inspired model is basic in appearance and feel, but it's good to be able to pause a track or with a double-click move on to the next track. Conclusion At the end of the day, no matter what model you go for, sound quality will be good. I think what's going to appeal more here, and what TruEnergy is encouraging, is the variety of colors (pick the colors that best express / suit you). Being able to share whatever it is your listening to is a great additional built-in feature that you don't find in many other headphones. And if you decide to splash out for the top tier Inspired model, a play control button will be the icing on the cake, though you may want to look at other in-ear options if you're going to spend $40. If you're a lady looking for a budget set of vibrantly colored headphones, then look no further than TruEnergy's line-up of in-ear headphones. Available at Target.com and select Target stores. Check out TruEnergy's website for further into. Pros Many colors to choose from Good sound quality Durable Built-in SoundShare feature Cons Higher end Inspired model feels a little over priced
Prime World defies gender stereotypes in latest update
In a stunning twist of irony, Prime World is now challenging gender stereotypes by adding effieminate males and burly females for the upcoming NA and EU release. Producer Marc Singer commented on the new customization options: "We want to give a lot of skin options that are not just hairdos and color changes. We want to completely shift them from one spectrum to the other. We want effeminate males and we want burly, bulky females. We want animal-style stuff and old women and young kids." Singer said that this was part of a game-wide effort to combat tired portrayals of sexy girls: "A lot of games nowadays are very over-sexualised or male-centric when it comes to character pools. When you have over-sexualised characters, when you have male-centric hero pools, that's not something that the Russians are concerned about, because culturally for them, it's not a big deal. And even in parts of Europe, it's not a big deal either. But in the US, it's a very big deal." This change is ironic because the MOBA is perhaps best-known for originally forcing gamers to play their gender and incorporating gender-specific abilities and buffs, including a team-wide defensive buff if a female was part of the squad. Nival later decided to (mostly) remove these features for the NA/EU release, although gender locking is still part of the experience.
Prime World devs tackle gender issues, hero prices
The folks over at Nival have posted a quick dev diary that addresses some of the biggest player concerns with its still-in-beta MOBA, Prime World. The studio wants players to know that matchmaking is being refined, an EU server should solve European lag issues, a report system is on the way, and hero prices are under review (though the team seems generally happy with them). Perhaps the most interesting tidbit is Nival's decision to nix all gender features from the game. Prime World has been the subject of some controversy due to its treatment of gender; male and female characters have different abilities that operate in relation to their gender and the gender of other heroes, and player hero choice is determined by the gender established either on the player's Facebook page or Prime World account. Nival explained that the decision to remove gender-specific features will soon be discussed in greater detail in a separate post. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
App Camp for Girls would introduce girls to coding
The App Camp for Girls is a recently unveiled Indiegogo project that's designed to provide support for young girls interested in putting together iPhone and mobile apps. The camp itself is planned for a run in Portland later this year, and will allow girls to go through all of the steps of putting an app together, including brainstorming ideas, building out storyboards and putting the app together in Xcode, and then even pitching their finals apps to a panel of investors. The project is seeking about US$50,000, which isn't cheap, but will provide for all of the hardware, software and (wo)manpower needed to keep the App Camp rolling. TUAW's very own Kelly Guimont is serving as a volunteer organizer on the project, and we're proud, as a site, to serve as a media sponsor. Despite all of the improvements made over the last few years, there is still a major gender imbalance when it comes to app and game development. Projects like this can help young women and girls realize that they can enjoy building apps and code skills, too, and in the end, that will mean more and better options for all of us who enjoy using great software. If you're interested in helping the cause, please do head over to Indiegogo and support the App Camp for Girls.
Donkey Kong hack gives Pauline the central role, 32 years later (video)
Mario's quest to rescue Pauline in Donkey Kong is one of the most famous in video gaming -- and also a prominent reminder that women in games are often reduced to level objectives. Mike Mika's 3-year-old daughter wasn't happy with this lopsided state of affairs, which led Mike to redress the balance through a customized NES edition of the game. His version swaps the roles completely, giving Pauline full freedom of movement while Mario waits for her to come to his rescue. The tweak is a simple one, but it mends what many would say is a decades-old imbalance while giving Mike more than a few brownie points as a dad. Can we see an official port, please?
AC4 director: Another leading lady 'wouldn't be surprising' in the future
The Assassin's Creed team at Ubisoft never imagined placing a woman in the lead role during the era of the Kenways, which spans Assassin's Creed 3 and Black Flag, director Ashraf Ismail told IGN."Really early on, we decided to tell the story of the Kenways," Ismail said. "So we already had in place the idea to tell Edward, Haytham and Connor. This was actually years ago, we had this." He continued, "We actually never thought, 'Could this be a woman?'"Historically, there weren't many famous female pirates, Ismail said, and he didn't want players to fixate on that detail. Still, there's a lot of history between pirates and now, and Assassin's Creed may explore a leading lady in another, main game. The lead character of Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation for Vita was a woman, and that story fed into directly the prime Assassin's Creed 3 narrative. Ubisoft may continue this trend with future games."I would say it wouldn't be surprising to see a female assassin coming up in a mainline Assassin's Creed," Ismail said. "But for us, for AC4, it was always Edward."If choosing the gender of protagonists was a business decision, it would fall to Ubisoft's brand team, and Ismail said he didn't know what they were cooking up for the "next few games.""But the concept of a female assassin, I can tell you it's not a no-no; it's not something we're trying to avoid at all."Epic Games art director Chris Perna, recently sounded off about selling a female protagonist, saying "it's tough to justify something like that," at least from a business standpoint.
Gears of War art director: 'It's tough to justify' a female lead character
In a macho, Power Thirst-inspired market, it's difficult to sell a game with a female protagonist, Epic Games art director Chris Perna tells OXM."If you look at what sells, it's tough to justify something like that," Perna says.Epic's Gears of War series features supporting female characters that Perna describes as "butch," rather than a stereotypical portrayal of feminine beauty in an action game."You see the implants and the blonde hair and pants and you roll your eyes – it's almost like the game geek's idealization of what a woman should be. I think because we didn't go that route we have more believability." Perna continues, "They're still feminine. Anya in Gears 3 comes across as being very feminine, and I think it works."Perna says player feedback supports his theory, in the form of female players dressing up as Gears of War characters at conventions and shows."They feel empowered," he says. "They put on that armor and they walk around with these massive weapons and I think they get a kick out of it – I get a kick out of seeing it. From what we've heard, when they play the game they feel empowered and they feel good. Some of the feedback I've heard from women that I talk to is that if we'd made these women more feminine and more stereotypical it wouldn't have been so nice."
Halo 4 gets tough on sexist players
343 Industries wants to make it clear: It will brook no further discrimination of any kind in Halo 4. Executive producer Kiki Wolfkill and studio head Bonnie Ross say that sexist discrimination of any kind will be met with a lifetime ban from both the game and the Xbox Live network.Ross says that "most people look at a franchise like Halo, and automatically assume it's run by a guy," but this particular franchise is run by a few ladies, and they're not having any discriminatory nonsense in their latest sequel.We agree with the sentiment, and hope that the harsh penalties make sure that the losers who make sexist and other offensive comments get shown the door for good. The ideal should be to make sure all forms of this offensive discrimination are squashed as far and wide as possible, no matter who's running the show.
What women want: Fujitsu's Floral Kiss Ultrabook with pre-installed horoscope app
Fujitsu has just revealed its Windows 8 lineup for the Japanese market, and top billing goes to the new "Floral Kiss" Ultrabook, which the manufacturer claims was built "under the direction" of its female employees in order to entice an equally female audience. At heart, it's just a regular Core i5 notebook with a 500GB hard drive, but the womanliness is all in the presentation. There are subtle color schemes like "feminine pink" and "luxury brown" to choose from and every laptop comes with pre-installed Windows 8 apps including a digital scrapbook for collecting website bookmarks, a diary and a daily horoscope checker. This almost oppressively enticing bundle will hit stores on November 2nd, with some sort of premium designer version arriving a few weeks later. As for the exact price, that'll be determined by retailers in Japan and by how good your husband is at haggling.
Nielsen: Consoles bridge TV gender gap
When you boil the American people down into a set of television-oriented numbers, women spend more time on average in front of the ol' tube than men, according to Nielson. Specifically, women between the ages of 18 and 34 watch an average of four hours and 11 minutes of TV per day, whereas men in that same age bracket watch an average of three hours and 34 minutes.That's a disparity of 37 minutes, but factoring in the amount of time spent playing console games reduces that gap. Average daily console usage for women -- in this case, time spent with a 360, PS3 or Wii -- clocks in at 22 minutes, with guys pulling down more than twice as much, playing an average of 48 minutes a day. Combine all these figures together, and the gap between daily male screen-time and daily female screen-time drops to just 11 minutes: Four hours, 22 minutes a day for men and four hours, 33 minutes a day for women.There's a lot to glean from this research, like the fact that time spent watching TV still far outweighs time spent gaming in the average American household. More importantly, however, is the fact coach potatism is a gender-neutral phenomenon, and we should all probably go for a walk or something.
DOA5 lead: Japanese view of women in games 'not going to change'
The Dead or Alive franchise is notorious for its blatant emphasis on sexy female fighters in tiny, physics-defying outfits – in the western world, at least. In Japan, this form of female representation is "common sense," Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi tells MCV."With the representation of female characters in the Dead or Alive franchise, we've always wanted to make the girls look as attractive as possible, and that's something that's not going to change for us at all," Hayashi says. "We are a Japanese developer, and we're making the female characters with our common sense and our creative sense. When you take that to countries outside of Japan, it tends to be very misinterpreted in some cases, people considering it sexist or derogatory, etc."In February, Hayashi said Team Ninja would attempt to shift focus in Dead or Alive 5 away from sex and violence, heading instead in "a direction that contains emotional experiences that can move players." It's entirely possible that Hayashi was pandering to western sensibilities with that statement, but it's also possible he plans to combine deep, emotional experiences with sex-infused character models. There's nothing immoral in making beautiful things, as Hayashi sees it."For us, within our culture, we're showing women like that, and we're trying to make them look attractive," he says. "We can't help if other cultures in other countries around the globe think that it's a bad representation. Within our nationality and within our national borders, we obviously have morals that we create our female characters from, but within our Japanese sensibilities, we've made those characters the way they are and we're not going to stop doing that."
E3 2012: InnoGames talks pirate MMOs, strategy titles, and games for women
At this year's E3, we had a nice long chat with German studio InnoGames about its MMO repertoire. The company actually started out quite small with three college buddies, who released their first game only to their close friends. That game, Tribal Wars, and its original servers are still around, albeit with some updated graphics to keep things looking fresh, but we wanted to focus on the team's more recent offerings. While InnoGames has several titles under its belt, including Bounty Hounds, we focused primarily on Kartuga, a pirate-themed strategy MMO; Lagoonia, a social building game created by and aimed at women; and Forge of Empires, which is similar to the Age of Empires series. All three games are free-to-play browser games, and we even got a pinch of hands-on time.
Prime World charges women less to play, 'protects' them in mixed groups [Updated]
It's ladies night at Prime World, and drinks are on the house. The upcoming MOBA is offering unique incentives to rope in real-world women to play, including discounted heroes and special buffs if girls team up with guys. The game is connected to players' Facebook accounts, so women looking for special treatment need to actually be a member of that gender. Nival's Creative Producer Larisa Nuretdinova hopes this will expand Prime World's potential audience: "The idea is to introduce the MOBA genre not only to hardcore players who already love it, but to their friends who might be more casual, and of course to their sisters and girlfriends who may not be as hardcore." To encourage both sexes to group up together, Nival has devised a special defensive buff that is only activated when a woman playing a female character is part of the team. According to Prime World's About page, "this bonus helps encourage beginning female players, who feel more helpful when fighting in a mixed group." Prime World offers six heroes for free, three of each gender; additional heroes can be purchased with actual money. It's here, too, that real-world women have an advantage, as Nival is offering a discount for the ladies who go shopping in the game. [Update: Kotaku reports that Nival later clarified that it is offering discounts for both genders purchasing the same gendered character.]
