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 Heather “Ybis” was born in Anchorage, Alaska during November 1980 at the old native medical center. She soon moved to the town of Santa Maria not too far from the Pacific Ocean. Growing up she played a lot of girl’s softball and volleyball. It is of no wonder that she is into sports today. Heather is also very interested in art and hairdressing.
Just before her 21st birthday she met the love of her life Frank at the local Denny’s in their home town. Although they had seen each other around, they had not really met until September 28th of 2001. It was love at first sight; ever since that day they have been in separable and together for seven years going strong. In fact, it was her husband Frank who introduced her to the world of gaming. She's been hooked ever since.
GET TO KNOW HER...
An Exclusive Q&A from NewBiiz!
NewBiiz: When and how did your love for gaming start?
Heather: Well I used to play Tetris when I was younger along with Super Mario brothers; but gosh that was so long ago that my cousins and I use to goof off. I was mostly into the PC Gaming and later on the Xbox but mostly casually. It was not until the release of the 360 that I found myself drawn to video games. In fact my husband “Frankie” was the one who truly got me into video games and the culture that surrounded it all; playing games like GRAW, Rainbow 6 & Vegas, Madden 09, Tiger Woods 08, and many more…
NewBiiz: Can you explain your gamer tag “Ybis” and how that came about?
Heather: Well it actually goes right along with my husband’s gamer tag kind of like a cute couple thing…. I know cheesy but can’t be helped. You see I often get into these moments where I just stare off and one day my husband said what are you doing staring off into the great abyss; my full gamer tag was Lady Ybis369 but most just call me Lady or Ybis now. I have even tried to change my tag a few times but everyone of our friends in the industry still know me by the other tag it was just easier to stick with what works.
NewBiiz: What are some of your favorite games to play?
Heather: Currently my favorite games are Call of Duty 4, Madden 09 and Counter Strike – I’ve gotten more into the PC Gaming lately so much that I think I might pick up the COD4 for the PC.
NewBiiz: Do any of your friend’s game? If not, how do they feel about your interest in games?
 Heather: Most of my friends are involved in the gaming industry in some form or another whether they are just the average gamer to a few of the behind the industry friends I have made over the years. In fact our families know that we are into gaming on all levels and they are totally supportive.
NewBiiz: What motivated you to create “ChiX Gamin’” Magazine and your blog “Grl n’ Pwn”?
Heather: When I first started “ChiX Gamin’ Magazine back on 1st January 2007 it was as a result of the main stream magazines in the industry. I found that they did not have the content that I wanted to read about all the time or that it was too little content. Now I am not knocking the other magazines that are out there; however as a female gamer I am always looking for information about events, reviews, previews, and other aspects but what I found a lack of is content that is geared mainly towards the female video gamer. It was not until this last year that we shifted our focus to “gamers from all walk of life” meaning we are innovating our content to reach all gamers.
NewBiiz: Do you think the perception of girls and gaming has changed in the past few years? What would you like to see in the future for girls in the gaming industry?
Heather: I think people’s perception has changed especially with the Frag Dolls and teams like PMS. I do think that we can still improve our position in the industry by doing more public service. In the future I would like to the ladies dominate across the board on all platforms.
NewBiiz: We noticed that you will be graduating soon with a BS in Game Dev and Design with a Minor in Math and EMDA. Congrats! Not many girls choose such a technical major – What made you choose to major in this? Do you feel you encounter any kind of sexism because you are a girl in such a male-dominated field?
Heather: Yes I am so excited I only have about 3 more years to complete it all. I find that each day is a blessing to have this opportunity to purse what I am passionate about let alone be able to achieve this right along side of my husband. It is so funny you ask why I chose this as my major, because before I chose to major in Game Dev and Design it was all about Dentistry but you see peoples mouths are not my forte no matter how much I wanted it to be there was no way. Then I looked more into other aspects of the medical field and found that I really was not interested or passionate about it. Then it dawned on me why not the video game industry.
Actually not as of yet so far most of the people who have met me find it to be interesting that both my husband and I are into the same degree and usually grill us as to why, how can you stand to spend that much time together… it just makes me laugh because I totally enjoy spending time with my husband and I am privileged to be able to go for a degree that I love.
NewBiiz: What are some of your future goals you would like to accomplish in the gaming world?
Heather: Future goals in the gaming world, that would be easy: to build a video game dynasty. No really, I would love to make my own game with a story that I have been working on for a while now. And also to visit all of my online gaming friends that I have not met as of yet
NewBiiz: Are there any role models or teams you look up to in the gaming industry?
Heather: I would have to say that I really don’t look up to one specific person in the industry, but if I had to choose I would say the PMS Twins for all of the foot work they have done in order to help the girl gamers of the future.
NewBiiz: What challenges do you see for girl gamers? Do you have any tips to help girls overcome those challenges?
Heather: I think that in any industry you find challenges but the trick is to find ways to handle it all with out losing yourself in the mix of it all. What girl gamers really need to understand is that even though we are out there in some cases they will have to work harder to prove themselves as gamer that is where practice and determination come into play because with out it you won’t make it past the opening round.
Know someone who is tech savvy? Email us with your candidates!
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Chelsea O'Neill aka LadyLuck 
Heather "Ybis" Newton 
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CiJi 
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