Welcome XFX Girl 2.0 and Gamette Rika

We’re not sure how your Valentine’s Day went but we can say with some certainty that however it went, Rika Stead’s shoot is just the pick-me-up you might need to chase away the last of that post V-day depression you’re fighting.

Rika’s been writing for us for a while now (you can catch her posts here) and now we’re fortunate enough to have her join the lovely ranks of the Gamettes.  And if you haven’t been paying attention, Rika recently won the XFX Girl 2.0 contest and will spend the coming year serving as their spokesmodel.

We’ve welcomed Rika with open arms as a writer and now as a Gamette and we’re sure you loyal readers will do the same.  Be on the lookout for more from this very talented lady on this very site!

Here’s a few of the questions Rika answered for us:

Do you have any future aspirations to work in the gaming industry? And if so, what would you like your job to be?:
Are they accepting apps for the next Olivia Munn? There are a lot of gaming industry jobs I’d like to have and think I’d enjoy. In an absolutely ideal fantasy situation where i could pick whatever I want, I think I’d like to do concept art or character design. Or I’d love to continue on in the game journalism vein full time eventually.

Name the best game you’ve played and what made it so unbelievably awesome.:
Legend of Dragoon. The way it looked was awesome for the time, and I liked its stylization. The storyline was too intense for most novels and the ideas presented therein impacted the way I viewed things. The characters were well developed and I got attached to many of them and the gameplay appealed to me too- I liked its traditional RPG style but the combat system (involving targeted button presses to make bigger attacks) was a nice introduction of player skill without being distracting from the rest of the game. And I love the theme song from it.

If you were a video game, what genre would you fall under and why?:
I’d be an RPG with an epic storyline, and probably a surprising twist of another genre, because I’m pretty literary- always into stories and metaphors and words, but then I have some eclectic characteristics thrown in too.

You can catch the rest of Rika’s interview and her pictorial here.

Rika and Fefe heat up the playing field

A couple of days ago, the Reckon Crew brought it to your attention that our writer and soon to be Gamette, Rika Stead, was competing for the title of XFX Girl 2.0. We were very excited to make the announcement and lend her our support and, hopefully, the support of our readers. Well, for those of you who hadn’t heard, Rika did indeed win the competition!

We’d like to take a moment to congratulate Rika on her new title and to also give a Busy Gamer kudos to Felicia “Fefe” Sunato who was runner up and will be taking on her role as an XFX girl as well. If you’re on Facebook, you can also take a moment to congratulate Rika and Fefe here.

The contest was well fought and it should be noted that all of the girls who participated promoted themselves and the contest in a very professional manner and should all be commended for the hard work they did to get as far as they did.

So, once again… Congratulations, Rika! You earned it!

Gritskrieg – End of Line

VOTE 4 BusyGamer's RIKA! CLICK IT!

For those of you who might not be familiar with one of our newest writers, Rika Hollinshead Stead (and if you’re not, where the hell have you been?), you may not know that Rika is currently competing in an XFX contest to be chosen as their XFX Girl 2.0. This is an opportunity for Rika to represent the XFX product line (which includes some very high end motherboards, one of which is currently in my personal gaming rig, and video cards) as their spokesmodel/gamer girl and we’re very excited to be letting you, our readers, know about this. You can see more about the contest, including videos and photos of the different phases of the contest here.

Rika and five other girls were selected from all the entries XFX received as finalists and were flown to Los Angeles for the final phase of the competition. The challenge was a photoshoot, a meet and greet with the folks from XFX, and to take a camcorder, a friend, and some cash and see “What Can a Gamer Girl do in L.A. with One Day and $500″. There was a limo and some pretty cool clubs involved that night and you can catch the part one of Rika’s video here and part two here.

Currently the competition is focused on the individual contestants’ involvement in the competition and we’re asking our readers to give Rika some Busy Gamer props by visiting the contest’s Facebook page here and leaving some comment love about how we all think she should be the next XFX girl. Even if you don’t comment, at least click on that little thumbs up on one of her posts to show your support.

Rika’s involvement in the gaming community alone would warrant her selection as the XFX Girl 2.0. She currently writes for Charismaplus2.com, her own blog Pixelain Skin, and writes and does reviews for some little site called BusyGamer.com… Oh, that’s us. Awesome. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s also smokin’ hot.  You’ve got eyes though, you can figure that out for yourselves.

So get started already. Help us help Rika win this thang. Yes, I just said “thang”, it’s not a typo. The contest goes on till 2am so I expect everyone to get over there and make Rika Stead become XFX Girl 2.0. I mean it. Otherwise the Reckon Crew goes to your mom’s birthday party and drinks all the cooking sherry. We’re more than capable.

Not convinced?  Here’s some of Rika’s info to help sway your vote:

Playing right now:
Dragon Age Origins, Borderlands,Zeno Clash, Quake Live, COD MW2. I’m a bit ADD when it comes to gaming, can’t stick to just one at a time.

Does she play WoW?
Yes, she does. I’m not currently in a raiding phase though. I was hardcore in BC, but it kept me from playing any other games. Now I play my main casually and am playing on a reroll too. I’m planning on hitting the Cataclysm xpack hard though.

Nerd heroes:
Kevin Smith as the Warlock in Live Free or Die Hard. Jay and Silent Bob. Trillian in The Hitchhiker’s Guide (the book not the movie). The narrator on
Space Quest IV.

RIKA by Tim Bennett Photography

All time favorite game:
Probably Legend of Dragoon or Chrono Cross.

Ambitions:
To write about games! Wait, I already do that. To be more famous for writing about games. To expose more girls to gaming. To be the next Olivia Munn. To kick ass across all genres of gaming.

About being a hot chick:
“I’m not a hot chick in real life, but I do play one in a video game.” I use my looks to draw attention to my talents and skills, not to replace them.

The coolest part of the contest:
I love that a lot of my supporters are people I don’t know personally. And I also dig that a lot of them are female! I’m all for girls being included in and involved in gaming. I am now addicted to vlogging.

The coolest part of the trip to L.A.:
Meeting the other girls! And meeting all the industry people. Driving all over LA in a mad search for nerd hangouts was cool, too.

Has been gaming since:
Nintendo controllers had only A and B buttons. But I came by my nerdiness honestly- no one ever really pointed me in that direction or encouraged it in me. My parents never even bought me a console, although my dad did unintentionally open the door to Space Quest when he bought our first PC. I’ve always loved games… I just didn’t realize that I loved them more than other people did until I was about 17 or 18.

Is excited about:
Gaming becoming part of the larger culture! Games are starting to be respected as an art form. And gamer culture is becoming prevalent- I <3 gamer t-shirts and other clothing, crazy products marketed towards gamers and even crazy nerd crafts that people are selling on Etsy these days.

Gritskrieg – End of Line