What sort of background do you have, from a presenting as well as a gaming point of view? <\/strong>I have a degree in Fine Arts and a MA in 3D Animation. I’ve been playing games since I was about 8, and most of my research and art deals with video games.<\/em><\/p>\n Apart from presenting, what else do you? <\/strong>I lectured at WITS until the end of last year, teaching at honours and masters level in digital animation, as well as theory in those areas. In 2010 I began working at Don’t Look Down Productions, which is the production house behind The Verge, as a creative. I work on a number of different projects, including The Verge, doing research and design.<\/em><\/p>\n What do you make of the gaming industry in SA as it stands currently?<\/strong> In terms of development I think it’s not very big, but it has a great deal of potential. We have very talented people here, and what we really need is money and commitment to turn that into something great.<\/em><\/p>\n Do you see gaming growing locally in the next five years?<\/strong> What do you think needs to happen in order for growth to be possible? I think I might have jumped the gun and answered that in the last question. Money, commitment and training – and all of those things have the potential to grow in the next five years.<\/em><\/p>\n Being a female gamer, do you find yourself on the receiving end of unwanted attention from guy gamers when online?<\/strong> I guess. I’ll be honest I’m more of a solitary gamer. I prefer LANing with friends to playing in an online space, not because of unwanted attention, but more because I like playing with people I really know. <\/em><\/p>\n Why do you think gaming remains a male dominated past time? What do you think needs to happen for this to change?<\/strong> I think the perception is that it’s still a male dominated past time. A lot of research shows that this is not the case – that said, research doesn’t delineate genres, and it’s often taken for granted that many women play “social” games online as opposed to other more violent games. I’m speculating but I think many women feel intimidated, not because they don’t want to play, but because the perception is that they don’t. Regardless – for anyone though it’s really about finding the game that is the hook. <\/em><\/p>\n What sort of advice would you give to someone in SA considering a career in game development?<\/strong> Decide if you want to go into programming or art design. If the former then you need to find a more technically oriented science course that will give you that grounding. If the latter you need to find an art-based course that will steer you in the direction of animation and character modelling. There are a number of different avenues you can take in this regard. WITS offers a Postgraduate degree in Digital Animation, and as of 2011 they’ll be offering a course that is geared towards video game design in the Engineering school. Boston Media House offers an animation course, as do a number of colleges. UCT also offers a technical game design course. <\/em><\/p>\n Quick fire questions<\/strong><\/p>\n What was the first game you ever played?<\/strong> Alley Cat on a 286<\/em><\/p>\n What are you playing right now? <\/strong>Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age Origins: Awakening and currently replaying Batman: Arkham Asylum. I tend to return to games that I enjoy.<\/em><\/p>\n What platforms do you own? <\/strong>PC, XBox, PS3, PSP, DS – I love my PC best!<\/em><\/p>\n What was your favourite game of 2009?<\/strong> Batman Arkham Asylum.<\/em><\/p>\n What game are you most looking forward to this year?<\/strong> Red Dead Redemption and Starcraft 2 (just thought I’d squeeze two in there)<\/em><\/p>\n CoD4 or Modern Warfare 2?<\/strong> Modern Warfare 2<\/p>\n Dragon Age: Origins or Mass Effect 2? <\/strong>Aaaaaarrrrrrgggghhh! You’re making me decide!? Ummmm, Dragon Age… no, Mass Effect…. No…. <\/em><\/p>\n StarCraft or Command & Conquer?<\/strong> Starcraft without a doubt!<\/em><\/p>\n Five favourite games ever?<\/strong> That’s actually quite difficult for me – my favourite games change regularly, but there are always a few that stand out. Full Throttle, Morrowind, Warcraft III, GTA (at a push I’d say San Andreas, but rather leave it at the series), and The Witcher. <\/em><\/p>\n Thanks so much for your time.<\/strong> My absolute pleasure.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"pippa2_191714446.jpg\"](\"\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/pippa2_191714446.jpg\" "\\"pippa2_191714446.jpg\\"")
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