Email: Sharon@GamerAndy.com
Yahoo or AIM: sharonoagain
Websites: Prosemonkey

Hello, my name is Sharon O’Neill (aka SharonO) and I’m a girl gamer. This may not be anything special since almost half of all gamers now are female but the thing with me is I’m probably ‘old enough to be yer mom’. I have two teenagers (a boy, 15, and a girl, 13) and let me tell you, the excess hormones in this house are almost overpowering.

I’m a grad student (again) at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. I’m about to finish up my Instructional Technology licensure add-on to my Masters of Library Science. I’m a teacher/librarian/media specialist at a public elementary school but I would eventually like to teach at a University by the time my kids are old enough to be going there (can you say family discount?). Maybe then I'll think about my Doctorate ... right after I get my head examined.

Since I’m a single mom, I’ve done everything I can to keep myself in their world, from working in their school to introducing them to my music to letting them play my video games … well, some of them anyway. I’m really in the second phase of my life, post-divorce, wherein I live my life by my rules ...  sort of a midlife crisis without the crisis part. This means winding the clock back to my punk/artist/college student days, back before I got married, and maybe I can do it right this time.

One big difference is now I have my kids along for the ride with me. The other difference is now I work full time and am up to my eyeballs with responsibilities so I really have to plan how I budget my time. This leads to many late nights trying to squeeze games in between homework and trying to have a life. Thank God for IM and a very understanding, supportive boyfriend!

All Time Favorite Game
Hard to choose but I think it’ll have to be Galaga … I don’t know how much money I spent on that thing but I’m sure it was close to enough to buy the freakin’ thing. Thank God for Glory Zone on the PC.

First Gaming Memory
I first ran into arcade games at Pickering Wharf in Salem, Massachusetts, when I had just turned 14. It was the ‘in’ place to go play mini-golf during the summer and the arcade, which used to only harbor dusty skeeball games and those crazy fortune telling games, suddenly was alive and full of boys. Once I dragged my friends in, they stayed for the boys and I spent my allowance. During the winter, I had to settle on the new arcade at the local mall. For home play, nothing beat playing Pong and Asteroids over at my friend Debbie’s house after school in high school. My mom (a single mom herself) couldn’t afford a console so I had to get my game on whenever I went to visit friends. I did a LOT of visiting.

Pet Peeve
Ooh, I have a lot, but most of them come down to gender stereotyping, especially by the media and in games.

Favorite Genre
I'm not really choosy ... but I DO get sucked into games that are unique, artistic (stylized cell shading, campy 8 bit, I love the art of gaming), and immersive. 


Reason for Writing for GamerAndy.com
Because I’m a writer that loves video games. Because I think I can offer a different viewpoint on video games that you usually find on gaming sites. Most of all, though, because I believe in Andy, Hawkes  and the whole crew here.