A More Level Playing Field
Amid the old-world glamour of the Queen Mary, Jonathan Reynolds and his crew of computer-game-loving friends spent the evening zooming along electronic raceways and blasting digital foes.
Occasionally they won. But often they lost. And what’s worse, said the 25-year-old engineer, they kept losing to “girls.”
“I can’t believe how good some of these girl gamers are getting,” Reynolds said as he mingled with several thousand guests at Game-Rave ‘98, a benefit for the Special Olympics held last week aboard the docked ship in Long Beach.
The party--which took over several levels of the ship--wrapped up the 12th annual Game Developers’ Conference, a weeklong brainstorming session for people who build computer and arcade games.
“I’ve never seen so many women at this show who actually work on games,” Reynolds said. “I wish some of these girls weren’t so good at playing ‘Quake.’ But it’s nice to know that we’re starting to see some female faces out on the conference floor--and they actually know what they’re talking about.”
Conference organizers say that this year women had a stronger presence at what is traditionally a mostly male conference: An estimated 13% of the 7,500 attendees were female.
“It’s still not enough, but it’s a move in the right direction,” said Jennifer Pahlka, director of the conference.
Indeed, there were female faces scattered among those vying to play the arcade games in the Grand Salon. They sat in blackjack games in the casino and limboed as well as the boys out on the deck.
And throughout the boat, developers and engineers of both genders and all ages gabbed about their favorite topic: how to play computer games and how to make them better.
“I come here for two things: to play games on the company dime and to see my heroes,” 3-D artist Jenny Devinshire, 32, said. “How often can you gamble with the guys who build your favorite titles? I meet them here, they get to know me, and maybe--just maybe--I’ll get a job at one of their companies someday.”
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The schmoozing continued in the Royal Salon, where partyers surrounded the karaoke machine and browsed through the song selection. Some popular choices: “Danke Schoen” and any ballad by ‘70s and ‘80s rock bands. (Think Foreigner, Styx and Bon Jovi.)
Dissatisfied with the karaoke choices, a half-dozen men who said they were from a Sega subsidiary decided to sing--a cappella--songs that incorporate references to PC technology.
The more esoteric the song or band, the better: Kraftwerk’s “Computer World,” Neil Young’s “Computer Age,” Bad Religion’s “21st Century Digital Boy,” Faith No More’s “Naked in Front of the Computer.”
Down the hall, another group began humming along to theme songs used in classic video games, such as “PacMan” (undiscernible bloops and beeps) and “Asteroids” (the theme to “Jaws”).
The later the hour, the louder the singing.
Wandering between floors, game tester Steve Cannell decided to entertain fellow passengers with a medley. Skipping down the hallway, the 27-year-old belted out the chorus of his favorite song by the techno act Information Society: “Where would I be without my PC? Where would I be without MTV? Where would I be without CNN? Where would I be without IBM?”
If the answer was up to one very tired Queen Mary guest, Cannell would not be on the boat. It was, after all, past midnight.
As the singer danced along, a disheveled man stepped out of his cabin and blocked Cannell’s path.
“Can you just shut up?” pleaded the man, who declined to give his name or age. “It’s time to shut down and go to bed, kid. Some of us have to play tomorrow.”
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Times staff writer P.J. Huffstutter can be reached via e-mail at p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com.
