What do you get when you mash games, music, TV and writing talents into one? You get pure awesome, and a lady with all that and more is none other than the lovely Maude Garrett. You may know her from her various appearances on Nickelodeon programs such as Sarvo (where she was co-host with Kyle Linahan), and Camp Orange (another successful Nickelodeon kids reality TV show). Along the ride she’s also collected a whole host of awards for her work, with more to surely be coming her way in the future.

Recently TNB had the opportunity to have a chat to Maude, and here’s how it went down!

Question 1: What originally got you into videogames?

I was 6 or 7 years old. My Dad bought a computer before Windows – and we’d play games on DOS. I would play games like Wolfenstein and Hack, it was a lot of fun. It’s evolved from that.

Question 2: What’s your favourite games console and why?

My fave console of all time will always be the N64. That console made the gaming industry sit up and take notice. It had a brand new controller, games in 3D, and it had Zelda: Ocarina of Time on it. Heaven.

Question 3: As a girl gamer, what type of genre do you find yourself playing the most?

I’m very much into RPG’s. I love to immerse myself into the character I play, it makes it easier for me to vicariously live out battles and adventures that will never be real I suppose. Also, I love fantasy genre, and I find RPG’s really use this well.

Question 4: Do you think females gamers are marginalised by the games industry in Australia/the world?

Yeah, in a way. People that I meet never expect me to be so into my gaming, and I love to show off and impress them after that, and make them swallow their words. But saying that, if I was a guy, no one would nearly be as surprised or impressed. And with a lot of things in the world, there’s the assumption that men are better than women, and gaming is no different.

Question 5: Do you think that the games currently out on Wii and DS would appeal to a small or large amount of female gamers? Do they appeal to you? And if not, what do you think should change?

Let’s just say that all the games which have unnaturally large breasted ‘chicks’, over the top gore from mob violence and high speed car chases with fuel-injected whatevers aren’t there to make MY experience any better, that is definitely for the boys out there. It has become such a standard nowadays that I would not even know what game they would design for the hardcore female gamer. There are a few games that throw in a devilishly handsome guy (thanks, I notice) but on a whole, the gaming industry for hardcore gamers are catering for guys. You got to be in it to win it, and us gals just find one of the games that we will like.

Question 6: Do you think that Nintendo’s Wii and DS have helped make it more obvious to the rest of the videogame industry that female gamers do exist?

Yes, especially because of the new generation of young gamers that are coming through now. There are many Nintendo games solely for the tween girl, whether its raising a puppy or becoming a fashionista. These girls are playing games on their consoles now, and when they get older there’s every chance they decide to up it a notch and turn into a gamer.

Maude's most favourite game... ever.

Question 7: Do you think Nintendo’s videogame systems have made it more acceptable for females to play videogames in a mainstream sense?

I think that because of the introduction of the Wii and the motion playing involved has definitely made it easier for girls to fluidly join in when it comes to playing video games. It’s broken the tradition of sitting down with a controller in your lap over hours at a time in the gamers slouch (you know the one, where legs are splayed apart, one shoulder is lower than the other and the slight drool threatening to escape the corner of your mouth), and instead made it fun for not just girls, but everyone to get involved. Because of this its only natural that more girls are playing, therefore more games skewed for a female demographic are being made.

Question 8: On a lighter note, and after doing a bit of research (oh yes, research) I’ve noticed you’ve been playing your Xbox 360 recently. What kind of games have you been playing, and what do you find appealing about the Xbox?

I think that as a gamer you need a wide variety of games to play. There are a lot of games and features on the Xbox 360 that can offer something that Nintendo can’t. I own a headset and love to be able to converse my way around a battlefield with the rest of my team members who are all over the world (yes, I’m talking about Halo). I’m very much into the fantasy RPG Dragon Age, because in a nutshell this is my favourite genre of game that’s out there. I’m also falling steadily in love with Assassin’s Creed I & II, aesthetically this game is so beautiful to look at, and very easy to play with a few number of buttons to use. I love the Xbox Live function as well, and that the more you play a game, the more you can unlock. It really encourages you to strive through a game even when you get stuck or over it.

Question 9: Is it really true you can play the first level of Super Mario Bros. 3 with your eyes closed?

That is… all talk. I’ve never tried it, but I have played that level so many times I know the distance between the goombas, where all the hidden coin blocks are and how long I have to run before I need to jump. It’s something that I’ll have to do just so I can walk the walk, instead of just talking the talk. But there are bound to be plenty of peeps out there that can.

Question 10: And finally, what makes ‘The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’ your favourite game ever?

Wow. It still leaves me breathless to talk about. This game was the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s the first game I’ve completely finished, and played consecutively until I had beaten it. I loved the story, the temples, the sages, the tunes to play on the ocarina, the side quests, and the MUSIC! I have downloaded all the music from Zelda: OoT in the original soundtrack and also instrumental and orchestral versions. The score for this game is just insane. Even Navi is bearable! Not that I even listen to her when she asks me to, but that’s between her and me.

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And that’s it! A huge thanks to Maude for taking the time to have the interview with us, and stay tuned for more content to hit TNB soon!