Winners of Aspiring Women Game Artists Contest Announced

Amy McDonough Jones and Erin Robinson have won the Aspiring Women Game Artists Contest, according to Notes on Game Dev, which hosted the competition. McDonough Jones and Robinson will each receive a fully paid grant for the Accredited Game Art Certificate Program at Sessions Online School of Game Art, the right to use the Notes on Game Dev Grand Place Award Winner digital seal in their future portfolio and reel, a one-year membership to the IGDA, and a one-year subscription to Game Developer magazine Entries for the contest were judged by female leaders in game art and education including Heather Kelley, Sheri Graner Ray, and Cristin McKee Two runner-ups, Elise Motzny and Lesa Wilcox, will also receive the right to use the Notes on Game Dev digital seal in their future portfolios and a one-year subscription to Game Developer. "I was a little pig-tailed girl growing up in the suffocating heat, canals, and blacktop of South Florida when my father brought home a semi-functional Pac-Man tabletop machine,” said one of the winners, McDonough Jones, in a press release. “Between the juicy 80's color appliqués and the hum of the giant tube lighting the bright graphics, I fell in love with the dusty arcade reject and a newly born art form." Robinson, the other first place winner, commented, "I want to challenge the notion of 'games for women.' Thus far, attempts to court women gamers have focused on games with domestic, consumerist, and cutesy themes: the gaming equivalent of cotton candy. I feel that this is far too narrow a scope. My goal is to create games that are smart, funny, and memorable, and enjoyable to anyone who likes a challenge."