Nintendo’s Developer Chat encourages women in gaming

Nintendo recently posted a Developer Chat with Risa Tabata and Aya Kyogoku, two women who have had their hands on some pretty big games.

Risa Tabata is a producer at Nintendo SPD. She usually oversees the work of Retro Studios, and in fact her first job at Nintendo was to assist Kensuke Tanabe in supervising a little game called Metroid Prime. She also has supervising and producing credits in Donkey Kong Country Returns, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Aya Kyogoku is a director at Nintendo that also wrote the scripts for two Zelda games: Four Swords and Twilight Princess. Her directorial work for Nintendo has been centered on the Animal Crossing universe, with the most recent release she worked on being the wildly popular Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

Currently Ms. Tabata is working on the upcoming Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, and Ms. Kyogoku is bringing us both Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival. Yes, that "a" in amiibo is supposed to be lower case, and it's killing me.

They do more than just shill games though. They talk about how they got into the business of making games, encourage women to pursue their love of gaming, and speak on the status of women in Nintendo's offices. It's pretty good stuff, and it's always nice to see positivity around women that make awesome games.