Polygamer #122: Web developer Allison Holt

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Allison Holt is a Webby Award-winning software developer with a 23-year-career that includes a decade of experience in the video game industry. She has built websites and backend systems for Turbine, developers of Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online; Harmonix, creators of Rock Band and Guitar Hero; and Curt Schilling’s ill-fated 38 Studios. She is also an accomplished artist, with her commissions appearing in friends’ homes and on the cover of the Transporter Lock podcast.

In this podcast, Allison and I talk about the divide between web developers and game developers; the work that earned the Beatles Rock Band website its own Webby; the ephemeral nature of a digital portfolio; the unrealized potential of 38 Studios’ Project Copernicus; why she left the games industry; and her experience accepting her identity as a transgender woman, and the difference it made in her life.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for a transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Polygamer #117: GamerDoc esports physician Dr. Lindsey Migliore

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Ken Gagne

Dr. Lindsey Migliore, also known as GamerDoc, is a licensed esports physician. While hiking the Appalachian Trail, she realized that only by abandoning her original goal of becoming an NFL team doctor could she combine her passions for medicine and video games. She now works with esports athletes to maintain and improve their health; and, as founder of Queer Women of Esports, she tackles the harassment and lack of sponsorship faced by female LGBTQIA+ esport athletes.

In this podcast, Dr. Migliore and I discuss the injuries that esports athletes experience, and the preventive measures they can take; the lack of educational materials for esport doctors; the challenges esport physicians must overcome to be accepted by both athletes and other healthcare professionals; why esports can be even more toxic than gaming in general; the difference between mentorship and sponsorship; and the roles of telehealth and VR in medicine.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 59:30 — 35.0MB) | Embed

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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 Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Links mentioned in this episode:

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Polygamer #62: Sabriel Mastin of Overwatch & Overbuff

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Ken Gagne

Sabriel Mastin is the head of social media and support for Overbuff, a stats-tracking website for Overwatch, the popular first-person shooter from Warcraft developer Blizzard. When not competing in competitive multiplayer matches as Tracer or Ana, Sabriel is engaging with fans on Facebook and Twitter, congratulating them on their gameplay and helping them track their improvement using Overbuff. Sabriel is also a frequent panelist at PAX East, where she advocates for diversity and LGBT representation.

In this episode, Sabriel gives me a primer on Overwatch: what makes it different from other first-person shooters, the diversity of its cast of characters, how the community handles harassment, and how Overbuff fits into the equation. Overbuff is Sabriel’s first paid job in the gaming industry, and we discuss her dream to eventually find herself on-camera in the e-sports community. We then talk about Playing with Pride, the documentary by recent Polygamer alumnus Matt Baume for which Sabriel was interviewed, and the experience Matt related in which Sabriel shared something personal with on her PAX East 2016 panel.

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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!

Polygamer #32: Matt Conn of Read Only Memories

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Matt Conn is the CEO of MidBoss, the studio behind Read Only Memories, a point-and-click adventure game featuring a diverse cast of characters. It is the first game from the same studio that produces the annual GaymerX (GX3) convention and the documentary Gaming in Color.

In this interview (originally recorded for the IndieSider podcast), Matt and Ken discuss why MidBoss chose the first-person adventure genre as a vehicle for social justice; who the game’s target audience is and what the reception has been from those quarters; what challenges are inherent to writing a script featuring diverse characters; and whether it is the responsibility of indie or AAA studios to include marginalized voices in their games’ casts.

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