Bonnie Harris-Lowe, game designer and writer

Bonnie Harris-Lowe is a game designer and writer for Wildseed games, who are working on a genre bending videogame set in a sci-fi-fantasy world, inspired by Eastern martial arts and culture, hip hop, and Afrofuturism.  Follow Bonnie on https://twitter.com/southrnbonibell (twitter), https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonniehl/ (LinkedIn), and check out their https://www.mixed-reviews.net/ (Mixed Reviews) blog. Subscribe:  https://open.spotify.com/show/77bGURenaUZGlOeEJ5GDbv (Spotify) | https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vcHJvamVjdC10ZW1wZXN0Lw (Google Podcasts) | https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/project-tempest/id1526742214 (Apple) | https://project-tempest.captivate.fm/listen (Captivate (direct)) Outline: Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction  (00:32) - Dirty Computer by Janelle Monae. Black femininity, sexuality, and identity (05:31) - Origin story. Growing up bi-racial. Formative experiences - Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, POC representation in games  (07:37) - Becoming a creator: Learning the cons. Crunch, Gamergate and harassment. Studying media arts   (11:22) - The lack of industry elders creates a lack of industry advancement. Rockstar Games, Riot games  (15:40) - Wildseed and breaking the mold  (19:53) - N. K. Jemisin: “How Long 'til Black Future Month?” Black creators and commercial success, competing with America's addiction to black imagery  (25:44) - Personal life and projects (38:31) - Accessibility vs approachability in games  (44:40) - VR, XR. Developing new controls. Immersion versus bending reality (52:06) - Realism versus experimentation. Black hairstyles in video games (58:55) - Inclusive character creator: Diversity isn’t thought about as valuable (1:02:02) - Individual impact on the world  (1:05:41) - Finishing up Support & connect: Find us athttps://www.project-tempest