Perri Blake Gorman, co-founder of Unroll.Me:

Personally I love being a woman in tech. There is nothing that has helped me be more memorable than being a woman. Our first piece of press happened when Courtney Boyd Meyers (@CBM), then at The Next Web, reached out to us. She asked to write a piece because she had seen me tweeting about it. As a female founder you get on people’s radars. That press was followed by a post by Lifehacker which generated over 26,000 signups in 24 hours.

A great outlook on the ongoing and magnified diversity problem in the tech (and gaming) industry. Just unsubscribed from 85 newsletters, rolled up 29. My favorite part are the Most Unsubscribed / Most Rolled Up awards.

A half-true game about half-truths.

Danielle Riendeau, Polygon:

No matter how many pride parades I attend, or how much volunteer work I do, or how long I live in the generally accepting city of San Francisco, a part of me will always be that terrified 17-year-old, worried that her family won’t love her any more. Case’ game hit me right there.

Just completed a play-through. In the span of 10 minutes, I felt my blood boil, heart race, and gut wrench. Very brave and inspiring sim. Brought me back to this post.

Well done, Nicky Case.

An interesting piece over at Polygon.

Emily Gera, Polygon:

Chess historically has featured gender-segregated tournaments; This has nothing to do with differences in skill levels between the genders, however, MindSports International development manager and chess coach Eduardo Sajgalik tells us. Rather it’s the best method of helping smaller demographics grow.

Samit Sarkar, Polygon:

I went through a few Skills Trainer exercises during an EA press event in New York yesterday, with Doeberling explaining the setup. We started out with the Cover 2, a key scheme for defending the pass. I thought Courtney’s voice-over, augmented by on-screen visuals, did a terrific job of explaining how to identify the Cover 2 on the field: two deep safeties, with cornerbacks giving your wide receivers five yards of space.

The game then displays the gaps in the Cover 2 — the areas on the field in which you’ll be more likely to find open receivers — and finally, tells you the offensive plays that are best suited to exploiting those spots (Flood, Smash and Verticals). After the tutorial, Skills Trainer moves into drills, and awards medals based on how often you succeed.

Later…

Skills Trainer is now part of the onboarding process for Madden 15; the first time you boot up the game, it’ll encourage you to check out the mode. This is a step in the right direction. It’s not enough to include these tutorials in sports games, because hardcore players will ignore them and newcomers may not be able to find them. And unlike the start of an action title or shooter, it’s tough to make a tutorial out of a default exhibition game in a sports title. What’s even more encouraging is that with Madden 15’s Skills Trainer and Gauntlet, Tiburon may have found a way to make studying fun.

I haven’t played a sports game since NHL 10(?), but I can attest that I’d love to see more effective sports education built in. I have always wanted to join the greater sports conversation but have never found a way to engage with it. My best attempt was stat tracking my brother as he played World Series Baseball for the Sega Genesis; though, I chalked it up as an excuse to play with my dad’s new laptop…

I have a suspicious inkling that this doubles as an attempt to increase viewer and passerby engagement in NFL games. Either way, it’s a nice piggyback on yesterday’s post about alternative (e)sports commentary. File under edTech?

Vlad Savov, The Verge:

Valve is trying to tear down this barrier of entry to what is already its most popular game ever with the introduction of a new round of Newcomer’s Broadcasts at TI4. These video streams offer alternative commentary on the tournament’s matches, where the game’s jargon is either filtered out or explained so as to improve the spectating experience for the uninitiated. Alas, though the goal is noble, the execution has so far been uneven. The commentators come from the same roster that does the regular game broadcasts and they struggle between being overly simplistic — “the green bars above their heads” represent each hero’s health and LAN means Local Area Network — and utterly impenetrable with discussions of “ganking,” “popping the Aegis,” and being “blown up by the Dagon.”

I have yet to plunge myself into the MOBA craze but this seems like a novel idea, and not just for eSports. While watching a recent San Francisco Giants game, I joked with friends about substitute commentators that continually get sidetracked. What I didn’t suggest (but began pondering) was the inclusion of commentating for the novice viewer, breaking down different stats and rules. It would certainly be interesting to see commentary track choices rated by depth not only built into eSports broadcasts but services such as MLB.tv and NFL Network too.