Beware: aggressive gamers and canny marketers in the hizzy! Credit: Richard Whittaker

“You may have noticed, I’m not a girl gamer,” said moderator Joel Greenberg. He then proceeded to get out of the way as the Frag Dolls and PMS Clan took over today’s “Girl Video Gamers Teach You the Facts About Succesful Marketing” panel.

Chronicle cover star Morgan “Roulette” Romine (favorite game of the last year – Okami for the PS2), and gaming twins Amy “Athena PMS” Brady and Amber “Athena Twin” Dalton (Gears of War for X-Box 360 and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii respectively) talked kicking derriere in on-line gaming and on-line marketing.

Apart from asking some really major questions, like, “since the Nintendo-DS comes in such really cute colors, and is almost exactly purse size, why don’t they advertise it in women’s magazines?”, they got into how to get to on-line markets. The key to their success has always been honesty – they’ve proved their worth by being genuinely skilled gamers, and that gives them some product-promoting clout. If a frag doll tells you which network card to buy, you better listen.

Honesty in marketing? It’s crazy enough to work.

This article appears in March 9 • 2007.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.