Stephanie_Bendixsen

Stephanie Bendixsen

Stephanie Bendixsen

Australian television presenter

Stephanie Claire Bendixsen (born 31 March 1985[1]) is an Australian video game critic, author, and is best known as one of the former presenters of the video game television programs Good Game and Good Game: Spawn Point, where she went by the gamertag "Hex", and screenPLAY.

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Early life

Bendixsen was born in Sydney, New South Wales,[1] to an Argentinian father Axel Bendixsen and a Dutch mother Winifred Margaretha Klinkhamer.[2][3][non-primary source needed] When she was two years old,[4] she moved with her family to Auckland, New Zealand, where she lived until the age of nine when she moved back to Australia.[5] When she was a child, she wanted to be an equestrian due to her fascination with horses.[6] In adolescence, her parents refused to let her play any form of video games,[7] and she would sneak out of home to her friends' places to play games with them.[8] When she was fifteen years old, Bendixsen stumbled upon a Multi-user dungeon video game titled Lensmoor, and she became addicted to it. Moreover, Bendixsen influenced her peers to also play the game, thus causing her to regularly play the game deep into the night and consequently passing out from exhaustion during class. This addiction ended when her teacher notified her parents, and she was sent to therapy.[9]

Bendixsen became interested in arts, as they provided her with some degree of escapism. She studied acting at Western Sydney University[10] with the goal to obtain a basic arts degree.[11] However, Bendixsen did not finish her studies and worked full-time in a call centre.[12]

Career

Good Game

In 2009, the ABC ran a nationwide search for television presenters to host a new kids channel, ABC3, and Bendixsen auditioned for one of the positions. While shooting her audition video, she discovered that the ABC2 video game review show Good Game[13][14] was also looking for a presenter. Bendixsen was approached by the ABC for the Good Game presenter role after auditioning for the role of a judge on ABC 3's talent search Me on 3. Being a long-time fan of the show herself,[15] she applied for—and won—the role, replacing former host Jeremy Ray.[16] Bendixsen also became a co-host for the show's spin-off Good Game: Spawn Point, on ABC3 aimed at younger audiences.[17]

On 26 October 2009, she made her debut for Good Game[13] and subsequently Good Game: Spawn Point on 20 February 2010[18] alongside host Steven "Bajo" O'Donnell. In January 2017, Bendixsen announced her departure from the show, resulting in its cancellation.[19][non-primary source needed]

Good Game controversy

In 2009, Bendixsen replaced the former Good Game co-host Jeremy "Junglist" Ray—even though it was originally planned that she would join the two hosts instead of replacing one of them.[20] Due to this incident, Bendixsen endured cyberbullying and doxing attempts from the viewers of Good Game, who were infuriated by Ray's forced departure from the show.[2]

screenPLAY

In June 2017, it was announced that Bendixsen was joining a new video game television program called screenPLAY on Channel Seven. The show launched online on 19 June.[21] On 30 April 2018, screenPLAY was cancelled.[22]

Back Pocket

In 2020, Bendixsen helped to launch an online gaming show called Back Pocket, where she and her colleagues present video game–related news and gameplays. The show is funded by its audience using the membership platform Patreon.[23]

Other

Bendixsen wrote a monthly gaming column for Dolly magazine,[24] and acted in an online mini-series called People You May Know.[25]

In 2016, Bendixsen created and presented her own program called How To Be A Fan With Hex.[26] For the show, she also directed a fan film called Dangerous Night, which pays homage to the 1982 film Blade Runner.[27] Moreover, she has co-written four children's books with her former Good Game co-host Steven "Bajo" O'Donnell called Dig World[28] and Dragon Land,[29] which were published in 2016, Speed Zone, which was published in 2017,[30] and Space Fortress, which was published in 2018.[31]

In September 2022, Bendixsen co-hosted high-school television series Ultimate Classroom alongside Eddie Woo, an educational STEM competition sponsored by the Australian Defence Force.[32]

Personal life

Bendixsen's Gamertag "Hex" came from her love of spellcasters in role-playing games, and their common attribute in a spell called "Hex", whereby an enemy would be afflicted by a curse which usually would cause damage or immobilise its current state. Hex now plays more stealth-based characters, such as a Rogue or Thief, but chooses to keep the name as a nickname.[33]

In 2012, Bendixsen started a relationship with Good Game's former production coordinator Peter "Pierreth" Burns.[34][35][non-primary source needed] The two became engaged in February 2019, and they married on 17 August 2019.[36][37]

Credits

Film

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Television

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Web series

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Bibliography

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References

  1. [1]
    Gredley, Rebecca (19 April 2015). "Stephanie Bendixsen". The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  2. [2]
    Citizen, Jessica (29 August 2016). "Game Hugs Podcast - Episode 34 - Stephanie Bendixsen (Good Game)". playerattack.com. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  3. [3]
    "Stephanie Bendixsen on Instagram". instagram.com. 29 March 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  4. [4]
    Guy 'Yug' Blomberg (29 August 2016). "Game Hugs". gamehugs.com (Podcast). Event occurs at 4:16. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  5. [5]
    "Good Game Spawn Point: About Hex". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 December 2014.
  6. [6]
    Guy 'Yug' Blomberg (29 August 2016). "Game Hugs". gamehugs.com (Podcast). Event occurs at 4:33. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  7. [7]
    Walsh, Liz (28 July 2013). "Adelaide follows US trend with more adult women playing video games than teenage boys". news.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  8. [8]
    Fox, Tiffany (11 December 2009). "Geek lands dream job". The West Australian. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  9. [9]
    "Q&A with Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen". theloadedgamer.com. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  10. [10]
    Guy 'Yug' Blomberg (29 August 2016). "Game Hugs". gamehugs.com (Podcast). Event occurs at 19:26. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  11. [11]
    Guy 'Yug' Blomberg (29 August 2016). "Game Hugs". gamehugs.com (Podcast). Event occurs at 17:16. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  12. [12]
    Guy 'Yug' Blomberg (29 August 2016). "Game Hugs". gamehugs.com (Podcast). Event occurs at 21:01. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  13. [13]
    "Good Game – Browse by Date: 2009". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  14. [14]
    "Mornings with Zan". 2015. 15 May 2015. 1:05 minutes in. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Triple J.
  15. [15]
    "Stephanie Bendixsen Personal FAQ". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  16. [16]
    "TechnologyABC trashes sacked Good Game presenter". news.com.au. 30 October 2009.
  17. [17]
    Bodey, Michael (22 October 2009). "ABC to launch new kids digital TV channel ABC3". The Australian. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  18. [18]
    "Good Game Spawn Point – Series 1 Episode 1". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  19. [19]
    "Stephanie Bendixsen on Instagram". instagram.com. 31 January 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  20. [20]
    Collerton, Sarah (30 October 2009). "ABC bites back over Good Game sacking". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  21. [21]
    Reilly, Claire (15 June 2017). "Good Game's Hex and Nichboy return to TV in 'screenPLAY'". CNET. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  22. [22]
    Walker, Alex (30 April 2018). "Channel Seven Cancels ScreenPLAY". kotaku.com.au. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  23. [23]
    Ellison, Joe (2 February 2021). "How Stephanie Bendixsen became one of the most important voices in gaming". redbull.com. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  24. [24]
    "The role of the reviewer in the age of Twitter" (19 September 2011). News, University of Sydney. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  25. [25]
    "People You May Know - Episode One". Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2012 – via YouTube.
  26. [26]
    "How To Be A Fan With Hex on iview". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  27. [27]
    "How To Be A Fan With Hex: Episode 8 on iview". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  28. [28]
    Bendixsen, Stephanie; O'Donnell, Steven (May 2016). Dig World. Scholastic Australia. ISBN 978-1-76015-925-2.
  29. [29]
    "Dragon Land on Booktopia". booktopia.com. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  30. [30]
    "Speed Zone on Goodreads". goodreads.com. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  31. [31]
    "Space Fortress on Booktopia". booktopia.com. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  32. [32]
    Knox, David (8 September 2022). "Airdate: Ultimate Classroom". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  33. [33]
    "Good Game: Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen". Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  34. [34]
    Bendixsen, Stephanie (10 August 2016). "Europe Quest". Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2017 – via YouTube.
  35. [35]
    "Stephanie Bendixsen on Instagram". Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  36. [36]
    Bendixsen, Stephanie [@hexsteph] (17 February 2019). "Our next adventure together is a forever adventure" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  37. [37]
    Bendixsen, Stephanie [@hexsteph] (19 August 2019). "On Saturday 17th of August 2019, Peter and I got married in what was the most magical forest celebration we could have imagined in the beautiful mountains we call home. I can't wait to share more of this special…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

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