Brenda Laurel
| Brenda Laurel | |
|---|---|
Laurel in 2016
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| Known for |
Human-computer interaction Interactive narrative Cultural aspects of technology |
| Movement |
Interactive storytelling Game development research Game development for Girls |
Brenda Laurel, Ph.D. works as an independent scholar and consultant. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusiveness in video games, a "pioneer in developing virtual reality", a public speaker and an academic. She is also a board member of several companies and organizations. She was founder and chair of the Graduate Design Program at California College of the Arts (2006 - 2012). and of the Media Design graduate program at Art Center College of Design (2000-2006). She has worked for Atari, co-founded the game development firm Purple Moon, and served as an interaction design consultant for multiple companies including Sony Pictures, Apple, and Citibank.
Laurel received a Bachelor of Arts from DePauw University. She received her Masters of Fine Arts as well as her Ph.D. from Ohio State University.
Laurel is one of the foremost theorists regarding developing videogames for girls. She posited that while the early videogame industry focused almost exclusively upon developing products aimed at young men, girls were not inherently disinterested in the medium. Rather, girls were simply interested in different kinds of gaming experiences. Her research uncovered that young women tended to prefer experiences based around complex social interaction, verbal skills, and transmedia.
The game business arose from computer programs that were written by and for young men in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They worked so well that they formed a very lucrative industry fairly quickly. But what worked for that demographic absolutely did not work for most girls and women.
In 1996, Laurel founded Purple Moon, the first American software company to cater games to young girls between the ages of 8 and 14. Laurel's vision was to create games for girls that focused more on real life decision-making rather than creating games that focused on appearances and materiality. The company was an experiment in turning research on girl's gaming preferences into marketable video games. The firm produced games designed around storytelling, open-ended exploration, and rehearsing realistic scenarios from one's day-to-day life, as opposed to competitive games featuring scores and timed segments. The company produced ten games primarily divided into two series: "Rockett", which focused around a young girl's quotidian interactions, and the more meditative "Secret Path" series. It was eventually bought by Mattel in 1999.
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