Having come from a family of gamers, I found it odd that in the UK many girls I'd spoken to did not play computer games or they didn't wish to admit to it.
However, in recent years, possibly with the rise in graphical heroines in computer games, I had noticed a slight increase in girls that now play computer games and will talk about them.
However, the game play is only often very casual. Attempting to put myself into their shoes (in a metaphorical sense), I thought "what if the situation were reversed, what if the stereotype was for girls to be playing computer games?"
So I set out to bring forward and highlight some of the more hardcore girl-gamers throughout the world, in the hopes of bringing forth girls to get more involved and show them that they aren't alone in the world.
To that end I interviewed "Athena Twin PMS" A.K.A. Amber Dalton from U.S. Girl Gaming group P.M.S. (Pandora’s Mighty Soldiers). Amber was voted as one of "Game Industry's 100 Most Influential Women" by Next Generation Business, because the setting up of PMS clan has helped to break the stereotype of gamers and because it offers a safe and friendly environment for female gamers to play in. Here's the interview:-
Banxy : How did "PMS" form?
Athena Twin PMS : Pandora’s Mighty Soldiers (PMS Clan) formed 5 years ago at the first month on Xbox Live when my sister and I met another female, PMS Blues, and had a great time playing together. I went onto the Xbox.com forums and posted for members, which is where I met 2 other girls, Fraggity Ann and Wildthing. Today we have over 500 females across 11 games on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation platforms. We also have a great guys division, H20 Clan. Our mission is to provide a fun and competitive environment for female gamers.
Banxy : Where did the name "Pandora's Mighty Soldiers" come from?
Athena Twin PMS : On Xbox Live, clans typically go by a 3-4-letter acronym. We wanted something that was female, but not too girly-girl (we were playing with FPS games, not Barbie games). PMS Blues was actually the one who thought of PMS, and I loved it instantly! It used to stand for Psychotic Man Slayerz, but we toned down the acronym a couple of years ago to go with a goddess theme of Pandora’s Mighty Soldiers.
Banxy : PMS has (at this moment in time) almost 4,000 MySpace friends - Are you surprised with the amount of interest?
Athena Twin PMS : Just like the rest of the world, lots of our members enjoy MySpace, so it does not surprise me that our MySpace page has 4,000 friends.
Banxy : What is the age range of PMS members?
Athena Twin PMS : Our youngest is around 10 now, and our oldest is 59, I believe.
The PMS Girls at a Shoot |
Banxy : Who would you say your biggest gaming rivals are?
Athena Twin PMS :
Everyone is a rival in one way or another, this is a very competitive field. But, I am happy to say most groups worth any notation are very friendly with us, and we support gaming as a whole, so are happy with anyone’s success.
Banxy : The video gaming industry is often perceived as being generally guy orientated - Did any of the members of PMS, before becoming a
member, ever feel "they were the only girl playing" and do you feel
this puts a lot of girls off computer games?
Athena Twin PMS : Absolutely. Although, I will also say many gamer guys will also try to help female gamers have a positive experience in-game as well. However, I know from experience nothing is better then playing with other girls… it gives us a feeling of belonging, unity and sisterhood that playing as a rogue female could never really bring. There are more women everyday picking up a controller or keyboard, so the rarity of finding a women in-game is becoming more common slowly but surely!
PMS in PC Gamer Magazine |
Banxy : What would be PMS's most memorable tournament or incident in a game?
Athena Twin PMS : I am sure many members have lots of experiences, so I can only speak for myself. I would have to say it would have been at our very first tournament, at our very first match. We won, and we went over to the team to shake their hands and say good game. They looked at us like we had two heads, lol… and surprisingly not because we were girls, they said, but because we went over to shake their hands. We always try to do that, win or lose. I have to say, by the end of the event, many other teams were following suit, which was an amazing thing to see. |
Banxy : What sort of things do most members enjoyed viewing/playing/watching
playback of?
Athena Twin PMS : We love watching fun things revolving around gaming - Gamer montages, short videos/cartoons, or anything gamer related that can make us laugh will be a sure winner.
Banxy : Female gamers are many a guy's image of the perfect girlfriend -
This must lead to a lot of male attention, especially at tournaments?
Annoying?
Athena Twin PMS : Not usually, unless they become stalkerish, but that happens rarely. Most of the times, the guys are really laid back and are just there to compete and have a good time. I would rather deal with an over-zealous fan versus a rude hater who wants to say offensive things any day.
Athena Twin PMS |
Banxy : Who would be the group's favorite game character and why?
Athena Twin PMS : Again, we are so large in numbers that I can only speak for myself. I am a huge fan of Master Chief myself. He is mysterious, gentlemanly and can kick some serious butt! Who doesn’t love a dark knight with a past? I also love Johanna Dark, as she represents a kick-ass female that many women gamers can idolize.
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Banxy : If you/the group had to choose, which would it be - PC/Mac or Console?
Athena Twin PMS : We are console based, and I don’t think I could ever live without my Xbox 360. Luckily, we will never HAVE to choose, as I have some amazing leaders on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation that can ensure success on any platform! :P
Banxy : Has anyone in PMS ever suffered any Game related injures? Such as Wii-Bruise or Bloodshot eyes?
Athena Twin PMS : I think many of us have experienced blood-shot eyes, lol. No one can count themselves as a hardcore gamer without this experience. Many of us played games like Halo2, Gears of War etc for 10-16 hours straight (until we could not take it anymore) when the games first came out. Wii-Elbow and Wii-Wrist is something almost all of us have experienced, as it only takes 10 minutes in one of the sport games to acquire, lol.
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Banxy : What's next for PMS? Any upcoming tourneys or events?
Athena Twin PMS : PMS Clan and H2O Clan will have teams and players at pretty much every major event this year, including WSVG, WCG, CPL, MLG and CGS. The games in the venues include Halo2, Gears of War, Fight Night, Rainbow6:Vegas, F.E.A.R and Guitar Hero on the Xbox. We will also have players on Quake4, World of WarCraft and WarCraft III for PC in venues as well.
Banxy : Thank you very much Athena Twin PMS!
The PMS Official Site -
http://www.pmsclan.com
The PMS MySpace Page -
http://www.myspace.com/pandorasgamebox
Athena Twin PMS's MySpace Page -
http://www.myspace.com/athenatwinpms
