OAKLAND, CA – The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (The MADE) will premiere its newest all-playable exhibit, Women in Game Development, on April 11 from 12 to 6 pm.
The exhibit highlights the work of women across the history of the videogame history, from marketplace pioneers like Roberta Williams, to modern developers like Kim Swift.
Since the days of Atari, women have made some of the most influential and important games, despite the perception that only “men make video games.” The exhibit features games that were created by women as solo developers, such as River Raid, and those that were created by teams led by women, such as Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
The MADE seeks to increase awareness of women's contribution in games, by celebrating the following women and important games from their careers:
Roberta Williams - King’s Quest 1
Carol Shaw - River Raid
Reiko Kodama - Phantasy Star
Yoko Shinomura - Street Fighter II
Danielle Bunten Berry - Seven Cities of Gold
Amy Henning - Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Corrinne Yu - Anachronox
Kim Swift - Portal
On April 12 from 12 to 6 pm, the MADE will be hosting a gala opening for the exhibit. The opening is free to the public, and all ages are welcome.
Henry Lowood, Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections at Stanford University Libraries and founding member of The MADE's board of directors, said, "Digital games without a doubt have become one of the central creative media available for entertainment, art and other forms of expression. So much so that contemporary cultural history is difficult to talk about without including digital games. As a result, not only will the history of this medium be lost if we do not preserve the history of digital games, but there is more at stake: we will be unable to provide a complete cultural history of our times.”