Scorpia (journalist)

Scorpia is the pseudonym of a video game journalist who was active from the early 1980s through the late 1990s. She wrote for Computer Gaming World, performing reviews on role-playing video games and adventure games. Scorpia was known for harsh criticism of video games she disliked. She was fired after CGW was sold to Ziff-Davis in 1999 and subsequently retired from games journalism. Her pseudonym is based on a character she created in a role-playing game.

Scorpia became interested in computers after attending a computer expo. Her initial intention was to become a programmer, and she said she bought her first computer games to learn how to program. In November 1982, while working as a data processing consultant, Scorpia co-founded an early gaming-related Special Interest Group on CompuServe. It became the eighth most popular forum on CompuServe, and Scorpia received free access to the subscription service in return for maintaining it. As a system operator, she ran online conferences and hosted games. The following year, Russ Sipe contacted her on CompuServe and invited her to write for Computer Gaming World ("CGW"). Scorpia agreed, though she had never read it. She reviewed role-playing video games and adventure games there for 16 years.

Scorpia became a prominent reviewer in the industry. In addition to her writing and online presence, she provided hints to players who contacted her through a post office box.CGW billed her as "controversial", and often published a Scorpia review together with another of the same game by a different reviewer. She became known for harsh criticism of video games she disliked. Scorpia's review of Ultima VIII: Pagan was highlighted by GameSetWatch as one of the harshest video game reviews ever written. Her review of Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World resulted in an angry response from the game's designer, Jon Van Caneghem, who named a monster after Scorpia in his next game. She did not enjoy very literary or experimental games; while usually a fan of Infocom, she so disliked Infidel that she never mentioned it in print, although lambasting the game during an online chat with creator Mike Berlyn.

...
Wikipedia