Women in Games
The number of women at GDC actually surprised me. The mixture of women and men rose to around 40/60 at some sessions, mostly those related to educational programs, edutainment, or the business side of the industry. The IGDA was thoughtful enough to create GDC t-shirts styled for women, which many of us greatly appreciated, considering that normally we're stuck using the generally XXL freebie t-shirts as car waxing cloths. Though still in the vast minority with regards to the programming and highly technical sessions at GDC (I'm a computer science major), I was impressed with the knowledge and abilities of the many women I met.

Microsoft sponsored a Women's Initiative one night, and I discovered that most of the women who attend GDC are quite high-ranking within their respective organizations. I found Vice Presidents, Heads of Product Development, and even a few CEOs in addition to the software engineers. Women are present in the game development world, and they do their jobs well, as evidenced by their advanced positions. Several women I spoke with discussed challenges they'd faced in the industry; I was happy to hear that most of their stories involved long hours and intense work rather than anything gender-related.

The novelty of a Women's Initiative at conference for such a male-dominated industry attracted a reporter from the San Jose Mercury News. Despite the fact that I had not felt uncomfortable due to my gender throughout the conference, her unexpected presence brought me back to a mainstream line of thought and made me realize yet again that women are still considered somewhat of an anomaly in the video game world. I hope to see that stereotype change, and I believe the women I met at GDC are helping to destroy it.

I expected that I would encounter a significant amount of indifference to my presence at GDC. However, nearly 100% of the people I met were extremely excited that I was there. I was amazed to find that my fellow attendees viewed me as a valuable source of input. I further discovered that women and men alike in the game development world wish that more women would pursue a gaming career.

I would like to take it one step further and make the contention that women are in fact needed in order for the game industry to move forward in a very significant area: The nearly non-existent female gaming market. The commercial reason behind the necessity of including women in development is simple: it is widely believed that the key to the elusive female gaming market lies with women developers because women know what women want. Creating a game with equal appeal to men and women is the Holy Grail of game development; such a game could as much as double the market, undoubtedly resulting in great financial reward. After all, there are only so many 18-34 year old males out there to purchase games.

GDC was a far more positive experience for me as a female than I expected; however, it was a far more negative experience for me as a student than anticipated.

Students in Games
The few number of students present at GDC unfortunately surprised me. I expected to find numerous college students like myself, excited about the game industry, but instead I encountered only the occasional student! In fact, the only students I met either had won one of the IGDA's 25 scholarships, or were participating in the Independent Games Festival Student Showcase.

One might assume that students would be welcomed to an Academic Summit. Not so. Wonder why students don't feel welcomed? At the bottom of the GDC's Academic Summit web page, one finds the stipulation, "This event requires a GigaPass or Tutorials-Only Pass in order to attend. See the Pass Options page for further information." The Pass Options page duly informs us that the cost of a GigaPass is $1695, and the Tutorials-Only Pass is a pricey $550. Certainly, it is necessary to restrict access to the Academic Summit somehow, but clearly, not many college students have that sort of money to spend. Students could attend the Expo (arguably the least educational portion of the conference), for $50, but none of the sessions were open to student pass holders. What would the IDGA lose by allowing students to purchase a reasonably-priced, more comprehensive pass? I haven't been able to come up with any arguments.

If the organizers (Gama Network) wouldn't lose anything by increasing the inclusion of students, why doesn't it allow students with a valid college ID to attend more portions of the conference? One weak reason behind the exclusion of lowly students is that fraud would abound under a student pass system. The GDC organizers could easily remedy this potential fraud by requiring not only a valid student ID, but also a current college transcript as proof of student status. This system would involve an additional teeny bit of manpower as students check in to the conference, but the benefits would be immeasurable, both to the students and to the industry.

At the Academic Summit, a comment was made that the IGDA should encourage students to pursue interests in the game industry by pricing the conference so that it's accessible to students (I believe the of the comment were Randy Pausch & Don Marinelli of Carnegie Mellon University.) The applause following Randy and Don's statement was the loudest and longest of any I heard throughout the entire conference. Rumor has it that for several years now, the sentiment has been nearly omnipresent that GDC should be more open to students, and academics were quite vocal in expressing their concern that more students weren't present.

Sure, the IGDA has established 25 student scholarships, but it's not hard to imagine that there are far more than 25 undergraduate and graduate students who could contribute significantly to the Game Developers' Conference. These students would love the opportunity to share their ideas and energy with the game industry. The IGDA is doing great harm to future developers by not allowing them access to the networking with professionals or the cutting-edge knowledge transfer that takes place at GDC. The lack of student involvement also injures industry because the fresh, exciting ideas and energy of the students cannot be tapped.

Henry Jenkins of MIT led another discussion at the Academic Summit regarding the problem of transitioning knowledge about game development from the veteran generation to the new wave of developers coming out of college. In my opinion, it is indisputable that increased inclusion of students at GDC would facilitate this transition by increasing the levels of contact between the old guard and the new blood.

These are only two of a number of benefits the industry is missing out on by denying students the ability to participate at GDC. Here's hoping someone who can change things reads this and makes things better for next year.

I hope to return to GDC in 2003. I hope to find more women there. I hope that the IGDA realizes the value of student involvement. I hope someone read this far. Overall, I hope. The game industry has a long way to go, and it's time for the underrepresented women and students (along with their traditional counterparts, of course) to step up and push the industry forward. I can't wait to see what the next year brings. :)

Katie Todd
katiet@mit.edu

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