I don’t think so. I know at least 8 women that fit this description…including myself.

Dressing your iPhone with GameBoy

Slip this Infectious Skin onto your iPhone to transform it into a shrine of Nintendo gaming devices past.

[Via - thedw.us]

What happens if the match is a draw?

The reunion show featured the Top 6 + Geoff & Joel. They all look so happy. Aww

This is a close up of Amy, Swoozie and Chelsea. Swoozie creeped me out on more than one occasion. I think he caught on that I was trying to sneak a picture or two. 

See what I mean?! 

You all know that Della  made me gag hard. The mainstream news press has finally picked the story up too.

Suzanne Choney served up a biting yet balanced review of the site:

There is no virtual barf bag on Della, but there should be. Oh — whoops! That wouldn’t be very ladylike.

[Via - MSNBC]

 Matt Hickey of CNET says: 

Oh, Dell, did you start up a firestorm. Sure, your idea was great: create a site marketing your Netbooks to women. But instead of telling non-tech-savvy women what they can do with their laptops–download recipes!–you ended up offending the tech-savvy ladies, who, you know, are the ones who have actually bought your computers.

[VIa - CNET's Crave]

Matt Hickey brings up a great point. Offending the tech-savvy ladies is not a recipe for success. Women(and men) tend to rely on recommendations from their friends for product purchases. The tech-savvy ladies are the ones they go to for advice. If a girlfriend comes to me asking for a tech advice do you think I’m going to suggest a product that assumes she’s just trying to count her calories? Probably not. I’m going to suggest a brand that doesn’t talk down to her. I like the way Sony markets its lifestyle netbooks. Choney highlights their approach below:

Sony’s wording is gender-neutral — “whether you’re a traveling executive or a creative professional” — and thankfully, nothing about using the netbook to watch (stereotypically female) yoga or cooking videos online.

At least these computers are offered up on the companies’ regular Web sites, along with other netbooks and notebooks, not promoted on a “women’s site” that seems like it came right out of the pages of what was known as the “women’s section” in newspapers decades ago.

[Via - MSNBC]

I agree with her. I love my Sony Viao desktop which is still going strong after 4 years of heavy use and gaming (knock on wood). I’m more likely to recommend one of their products because I’ve had positiive experiences with them. 

Unfortunately, the one time I suggested a Dell laptop to a girlfriend of mine (I brought it for her as a gift) the damn thing broke down within 3 months of its purchase. She happened to be working in Korea at the time s getting appropriate customer service was hellish. She ended up trashing the thing and I was out of $850. Selling technology to women is less about a pink marketing campaign and more about the quality of the product. 

I applaud Dell for responding to the feedback from their latest campaign:

Della is “an effort that is evolving, and one in which we hope even more women will connect with the Dell brand,” Kaufman said.

Honestly, this Della fiasco has taken me by surprise. Dell is the social media/digital marketing case study of choice. I’ve even cited their work to clients of mine. So I’m confident the folks at Dell can turn this around. 

Xbox Live has given our avatars shoe options! But wait, female avatars got the shaft. Trina of GamingAngels gave us a rundown of the options:

For the guys, you have:

Flip Flops, High Top Sneakers, Socks and Sandals, 70’s Leather Platforms

For the ladies, check out:

Sunny Day Sandals, White 60’s Boots

Those lace-up boots clearly fell from the dungeons of Hot-topic. But that’s another issue. Why don’t the girls get sneakers? Women wear sneakers in real life. Why give the option to the male avatars and leave the female avatars with nothing comfortable to run in?

Trina is launching a petition to send to Microsoft. I’ll update this post once I get the details.

[Via - Gaming Angels]

I discovered this gem of a game on Twitter today. It’s a poetry-meets-8bit-feminist sensation. I’m torn between wanting to delve into the gaming mechanics and not wanting to spoil it for those of you who haven’t played it yet. So go play the game here then come back and read the rest of this post.

I spent the first few minutes throwing unmentionable words at the screen. The woman featured in the opening scene is clearly in trouble. She has a stone tied to her body that is weighing her down. She’s also surrounded by some mean looking fish. They don’t try to eat her (which surprised me) but attempts to move the squid away from her had no effect.

Then I stopped to think. How did she get into this situation? The game opens with her in the water with no explanation as to how or why she is there. This left me to wonder. Perhaps, she had an abusive boyfriend who put her there? My mind went to that question first. I wonder if the heightened visibility of domestic violence in the media had anything to do with it. I’m not a morbid person.

The title of the game, “Today I Die”, very nearly seduced me into quitting the game.  It’s easy to just say, “she’s screwed” and then move on.

I finally figured out that the player needs to interchange the words in the poem to move forward. And so, I did. The journey shifted from an impossibly bad situation to a turbulent and perplexing struggle to reach the end. Each piece of the puzzle solved brought more light to her dark corner of the sea. The game came to a joyful (yet woefully generic)  end when the woman meets a man to swim to shore with. You’ll find the closing poem below:

free world

full of beauty

today I swim

until you come

But “Today I Die”  has two endings! I played it again and this time I chose not to go off with the dude. I kind of just left him there. He gave up and swam to shore by himself while the former-damsel-in-distress swims to shore on her own. And why shouldn’t see? She managed to escape a bad situation without the help of that guy. Who needs him?

It finally feels like Spring! Here’s what I’ve been up to lately…

Playing Assassin’s Creed 

I know I’m playing it late in the game but that’s how I roll. I wait for the price and the hype to level off before I buy my games. 

I like Assassin’s so far. The meta-play is the most interesting aspect of the game. I can’t think of another title that gives the player an explanation as to why he or she can control the movements and actions of a video game character. The game play is bordering on the repetitive mission-of-the-day-antics but the rich graphics and story line are keeping me engaged for now.

Hooked on Chelsea Mind Games

If your gaming habit has given you carpal tunnel syndrome then it’s time to revisit old school gaming and trivia. To give my tortured hands a rest, I stopped by Chelsea Market for the Mind Games Geography Bee in Manhattan. I had a good time and now I’m thinking of attending the upcoming Vocabulary Bee to make sure I sharpen my vocab muscles before classes start in the fall. 

Decisions, Decisions

I’ve also been thinking about the future a lot lately. I have big decisions to make. Where should I live? Should I get a roommate? Should I get another cat to keep me on my toes? Where will I end up in two years? Should I find an internship in California so I can finally learn how to surf? Or should I intern on the East coast and surf on the bunny slopes with Shaun White?

I have no idea. I do know that life is far sweeter when I refuse to settle for anything less than awesome. 

I know a couple of my readers are gaming professionals based out of New York. New York has been hit hard by the financial crisis which has made finding job opportunities a challenge. Today I came across a couple of positions with gaming companies in New York. None of them are looking for marketing associates so I’m out of luck. However, if you’re a designer or web developer check out the jobs below.

Kaos Studios

Kaos is now hiring to staff an unannounced project. The mysterious project looks like a big deal given the number of openings available.  There are nine openings in total for 3 programmers, 1 animator, 3 designersand 2 producers. 

[Via - Joystiq]

SocialSauce

SocialSauce is a small indie game developer based out of Midtown New York. They host bi-weekly game nights at their offices. I’ve actually met a couple of people that work there. They seem chill. They have three job openings at the moment: 1 Web designer, 1 Part-time character designer, and 1 programmer. 

[Via - SocialSauce]

Lush has a serious competitor in form of a shop on Etsy. The Digital Soap Shop makes soap bars in the shape of our favorite digital accessories. The Xbox soap above is made with: 

• Coconut Oil
• Cocoa Butter
• Palm Oil
• Castor Oil
• Safflower Oil
• Glycerin (kosher, of vegetable origin)
• And other ingredients