Polygamer #78: Katie Kaitchuck of GaymerX

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Ken Gagne

Katie Kaitchuck is the executive director of GaymerX, an LGBT-focused gaming convention. In the past year, the organization became a non-profit, separated from the for-profit MidBoss Games, sent diverse indie developers to GDC, and began planning next year’s GaymerX conventions. Amid all this and after only two months as GaymerX’s program director, Kaitchuck became executive director in April 2018 and is now charting the future of the organization.

In this episode, Kaitchuck and I discuss the need for a safe space like GaymerX, and whether other gaming conventions have changed; when and where future GaymerX events will occur, and whether they’ll rely on crowdfunding; the benefits of becoming a non-profit; how GaymerX’s relationship with MidBoss has evolved; her previous games industry experience working for Ubisoft and Feminist Frequency; bisexuality and bi-erasure; and the many games starring queer characters (Life Is Strange, Gone Home, Mass Effect, and more!) that GaymerX is promoting for Pride Month.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Mixcloud, acast, or TuneIn. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 46:33 — 22.2MB) | Embed

Polygamer #73: Wally S on nonbinary characters

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Ken Gagne

Wally S is a game developer, author, artist, and cosplayer who has written such Twine games as The Leggy Blond and Your Merman Boyfriend. Wally recently made their GaymerX East speaking debut with the presentation “The Great Chasm of Nonbinary Content and How We Can Fill It“, examining not only how far LGBT representation has come in video game narratives, but how much further there is still to go for nonbinary characters, whether gender is even necessary in games, and how our existing stereotypes and tropes can be useful for creating non-traditional characters.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Mixcloud, Overcast, acast, Pocket Casts, TuneIn, or RadioPublic. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:07 — 26.1MB) | Embed

Polygamer #56: Live at GaymerX East

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Ken Gagne

GaymerX, the world’s only annual video game and geek culture convention for the LGBT+ community and its allies, has arrived on the East Coast! After four successful events in California and one in Australia, the first GaymerX East was held in New York City the weekend of November 11–13.

I attended GXE, as did many other Polygamer alumni. I invited three of them to participate in a panel about their work in gaming diversity, how they stay inspired and motivated, and how they define success. Joining me in this discussion were GaymerX founder Matt Conn (episodes #01 & #32); ethnographer and voice actor Khadeja Merenkov (episodes #05 & #10; and undergraduate community organizer Francesca Carletto-Leon (#33).

Stream the audio recording of this panel below or from iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Mixcloud, acast, or TuneIn, and stay after the credits for a bonus discussion about the viability of the upcoming Nintendo Switch console.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:07 — 31.6MB) | Embed

Polygamer #36: Gay erotica artist Steven H. Garcia

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Steven H. Garcia is an artist of gay erotica, especially of the pinup variety. His models are characters from throughout geek fandom, including movies, comics, and video games. His 2016 wall calendar showcase popular icons such as Superman and Batman, Ash from Pokémon, Street Fighter’s Ken and Ryu, Spider-Man and Deadpool, Harry Potter, and more. When not creating art, Steven is the co-host of the Gayme On video game podcast.

Steven recently exhibited at GX3, the third annual GaymerX convention. In this interview, Ken and Steven chat about their experiences at that event; how Steven finds real-life models for his art; representation of gay characters in comic books; whether Steven’s art represents or violates canon; how objectification of male characters is similar to and different from how women are traditionally portrayed; and why a video edition of an audio podcast isn’t a bad idea.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 45:26 — 21.7MB) | Embed

GaymerX (GX3)

GX, or GaymerX, is an annual convention focused on games — video games, tabletop games, card games, and creating a fun and safe space for gamers and gaymers of all identities to have fun and hang out with like minded folks.

Although it’s a “queer space”, with many of the panels revolve around queer issues or queer devs, GX is made for everyone and everyone is welcome!

This year’s special guests include:

Jennifer Hale, voice of Commander Shepard and a ton of amazing lead characters including Samus Aran (Metroid) Jaden Korr (Star Wars), and Naomi Hunter (MGS)
Natasha Allegri, creator of Bee and Puppycat and a part of the success of Adventure Time (and the creation of Fionna and Cake!)
Dr. Rob Jagnow, co-creator of the hit games Cogs and Extrasolar
Zach Weiner, creator of webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Ellen McLain, voice of GLaDOS (Portal)
John Patrick Lowrie, voice of The Sniper (TF2)

Musical performances from:

2 Mello
SAMMUS
Doubleclicks
Super Soul Bros.

And more!

Listen to Polygamer‘s interview with GaymerX co-founder Matt Conn!

Unheard Voices at GX3

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Ken Gagne

I’m honored to be moderating a panel at the GX3 conference in San Jose this December 11–13. "Unheard Voices" will feature podcasters Anna Tarkov (Unconsoleable), Tanya DePass (Fresh Out of Tokens), John James (Minus World), and Polygamer alumnus Shawn Alexander Allen (Nuchallenger) on the following topic:

"Get heard with podcasting! The past two years have seen an explosion of diverse voices taking to the airwaves to discuss race, gender, and equality in gaming. This panel will examine the motivations, equipment, and challenges to getting heard."

Formerly GaymerX, GX3 is an annual convention of games and gaming culture for marginalized voices and their allies. The event was co-founded by Matt Conn, Polygamer‘s first guest and recent guest of Less Than or Equal. This panel will mark my first time speaking on the West Coast and my first conference panel on equality and diversity since "Sex, Sexy & Sexism" at PAX East 2014.

Tickets for GX3 are still available. Come hear our panel on Saturday, December 12, at 11:01 AM PST!