I finally got the chance to learn more about Jade Redmond, who I previously only knew as "the woman who made Assassin's Creed." The funny thing is that I did so with an article found on AskMen.com that begins with a sexiness rating.
The cool part is that the sexiness description includes more than just physical attributes, and her biography contains none. I learned that she is Canadian born (from Montreal!), and graduated from McGill University with a degree in computer science. Her first job was creating Sony Online's first R&D group, after which she moved to produce The Sims Online at Electronic Arts. Her huge successes at these companies landed her the position of lead producer for Assassin's Creed, a game that's been called by Game Spot, among other wonderful things, “one of the finest gaming experiences ever created.” Nowadays, you can find Jade on The Electric Playground, "bringing her face-to-face with video game industry colleagues and the fans who’ve supported her over the years." All this, and she's only 33!
I can't believe I've missed out on knowing this awesome role model until now! I mentioned her in passing during my mini-course on video games for girls, but I think I'm going to have to change that for this year's edition. I find it amusing that it took a male friend reading a men's site (which is practically obligated to talk about how sexy women are at some point) to finally dig deeper on Jade's background. I am relieved, however, to see that AskMen.com was respectful in their descriptions, and gave Jade all (or at least most) of the credit she deserves.
Oh yes, one more thing: I think I'm going to have to buy a copy of Assassin's Creed now...
That is really awesome! I've never heard of her either.
ReplyDeleteDNLee at Urban Science Adventures is starting a diversity in science carnival, I'm sure a theme in the near future will be women innovators in STEM. This would have been perfect for that! I'm sure you could backpost it whenever it comes around, or find another awesome woman to write about.
Cool! I'll keep my eye open for that. Jade might also be a good candidate for the Ada Lovelace blogging day. If you haven't signed the pledge yet, you should. :)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! You're right. I am still thinking about who I want to feature for that (I did sign up).
ReplyDeletewhat does it mean when my word verification is "hyper sin"?? eek :).
It's quite fun to hear the female perspective on things, esp. on one people stereotype as male-dominated.
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