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Gender Inclusive Game Design Reviewed
BWJones writes "iDevGames has posted a book review on Gender Inclusive Game Design that should prove an interesting read not only for game design, but also for the sociological perspective. I've long wondered why the game design community has not paid more attention to gender issues given that the gaming industry has now eclipsed the movie industry in terms of overall sales. While I am not a gamer per se, I am on the beta test teams for a couple big Mac development/porting houses. I have wondered how some of these games would appeal to different demographics and what the gender demographics were. I am sure that given the financial motives, this data is available somewhere."
One thing I keep hearing from girls is that games like Barbie Horse Adventure suck. These people play The Sims, which dosen't seem marketed at any particular gender.
I don't care what sex videogame characters are. Why should this matter?
What sloppy journalism. Video game box sales are larger than movie ticket sales, IN THE US. Apples and oranges comparison. The DVD/VHS purchase and rental business is FAR larger, by itself, than the games business. If you're going to compare boxes sold/rented, movies win. If you're going to compare on-site viewings/playing then compare arcades with movie theatres. Again, movies dominate by a huge margin.
Big Mac development
Maybe you can ask that clown for help.
"Maybe you can ask that clown for help"
don't be talking about Steve Jobs that way. you might make him shit his pants.
So I wrote a puzzle game for the Palm Pilot. It involves simple geometry, spacial manipulation of tiles, and a consistent (if arbitrary) set of rules for scoring.
According to all the research, males are supposed to be "better" at spacial organization type operations. Whatever.
In any case, 90% of the people who register the software, write me email, or confess to addition are women. I have no explanation for this. I don't understand it. But more than one woman has said that the game "intrudes into her dreams," and becomes an obsession to the point where it's disturbing. I haven't had one man say either of those things.
I don't get it. But there it is.
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
"You have encountered a level 5 Demon. Press A to attack. Press R to restyle it's hair. Press S to invite it to go shopping with you."
The review and book make a good point - that us women DO prefer to use female avatars when we're playing (exceptions for online play, where the harassment by the socially inept "a/s/l" types makes hiding the fact valuable). Yet so many games either don't give us the opportunity, having only a male character, or when they do choose, the choices, seem to be clearly made for 14 year-old boys, with women that are endowed as if they were full of silicon/saline.
Diablo II is a great example of what there could be - three female characters, none of them looking ridiculous. Or some of the Quake 3 characters.
It seems like adding such a choice couldn't really hurt the game in many situations, except for the FMV-loaded games - though even some of them could probably be done differently to allow that kind of freedom.
"You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
the girl on the book cover needs to show more tit
I recall in the old Infocom game "Leather Godesses of Phobos", the first thing you did what decide which restroom to go pee in, which established your gender for the rest of the game. If you went into the ladies room, you got to rescue a hunky (but dimwitted) male later in the game...
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
I've played many female characters in games over the years. I most likely experienced my first video game cross gender experience with Ms. Pacman. Here's a list of games with female leads (or choice of) off of the top of my head that I've personally played:
Ms. Pacman
Choice of M/F - Labyrinth
Razor - Maniac Mansion
Alice - Alice in Wonderland (C64)
Princess Peach - Super Mario Bros. 2
Passionate Patty - Leisure Suit Larry 3
Princess Rosella - Kings Quest 4
Valkyrie - Gauntlet
Samus Aran - Metroid
Chung Li - Street Fighter
Sonya - Mortal Kombat
Jill Valentine - Resident Evil
Rebecca Chambers - Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil
Eternal Darkness
the cosmos in 20 words or less: thumbuki.com
"I've long wondered why the game design community has not paid more attention to gender issues given that the gaming industry has now eclipsed the movie industry in terms of overall sales."
Simple enough to answer. Game designers like to make games that they want to play. The team morale for a group of 22 - 30 year old programmers working on a barbie title is just slightly less enthusiastic then the guy who scrubs toilets for a living.
END COMMUNICATION
if by gender they mean sex, then yes i think we could all use some more of it included in games.
What do you need a book for? Just add this option to all future games:
TITS : ON/OFF
As a transgendered woman I have a little perspective here. There are a couple of gripes here.
1) Avatars -
The Men - We get good looking buff avatars and you get hot chick avatars. What's the problem?
The Women - All the males are playing the hot chick avatar and I personally wouldn't want 36EEE breasts. Why do these game programmers always program us like porn stars?
The Misunderstanding - Men honestly think about sex a lot. Women tend to think more about love and honesty. Women often would like to portray themselves to a certain extent, (maybe with a few enhancements but usually not the boobs). The last thing that most women want out of an avatar is to look like a depraved sex kitten and get hit on by 14 year old boys. If a woman is going into an online environment or even an offline one, she is more likely to try to relate herself to the characters presented. If there are going to be female characters in a game there should at least be some that have normal proportions that are a little easier to relate oneself to the characters. In short, women think more about what they are and where they are going while men tend to like to see themselves and others better than they are physically and women just don't need to be forced into a playboy centerfold when they aren't. It's demeaning and doesn't do much for self-esteem.
2. The Storylines -
The Men - That storyline kicked ass! I just saved the world and got the girl. woohoo!
The Women - Well that was a shallow piece of malarky. I just saved the world and got the girl. WTF! I'm gonna go read a book.
The Misunderstanding - With a few very notable exceptions(Final Fantasy has been FAIRLY inclusive though the main character 5 time out of 6 has always been male, but a few of them there have been shared roles such as in final fantasy 9.) Especially the early ones., these games are made for boys and boys mostly. To be fair, boys by more games by a VERY large margin. Men also write most of the game plots, again with only a few notable exceptions(Kings Quest anyone?). So anyway, you rarely see good storylines that can cater to both men and women. It's really a chicken and the egg thing.
3. The Victim
The Men - The character I most identified with was wearing full plate armor, had a magic gun of evil slaying, and could summon all 8 Gods of the realm.
The Women - The only character I have to identify with was lying stripped nearly bare on the dungeon floor was rescued by some dork with no personality in a tin can who thought he spoke to the Gods. Throughout the entire game, my characters only words were, "Help! Save me!". And in the end she fell in love with the psycho tin can. Games are dumb, I'm gonna go get some exercise.
The Misunderstanding - Women in games quite frequently exist as victims or sex toys and quite frankly chances are if you see a woman in a movie with only a few notable exceptions, it's the same way. The women fall in love with the main character and that's really why they exist. They don't do much of anything. If they do, they have to show a weekness to or for the main character in the games before they can be valid characters. If you look at one of my favorite games, FFVII, Cloud goes on a date with one of the three girls. It's easiest to get Aerith. She is the most outgoing and trusting of the bunch. She dies midway through the game never to be seen again. She was the strong one really. She was the one that helped everybody through to that point and they killed her. Don't get me wrong, that was one of the most poignant scenes in any video game ever. What happens after that is that one of the other female characters starts falling in love with the main character, notice it specifically isn't vice versa. He makes no admittance to her until the very end. The other woman is constantly stealing stuff from you and causing havoc and generally being the comic relief. Now Barret admittedly is a bit stereotypically male with the gun arm and a pentient to want to start fights.
Just so you know, it's spelled "Chun Li" in Street Fighter, and Alex Roivas is the female lead in Eternal Darkness.