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Recruit More Women Developers, Attract Women Gamers?
Thanks to MSNBC for its fresh look at the problems of integrating the needs and tastes of the female into the male-dominated videogame industry. It's suggested by Microsoft's Laura Fryer: "Half of the population isn't having input into what's being created... And the one thing that I learned is that people make games they like to play. Having a diverse opinion helps games." Sheri Graner Ray of Sony also points out: "The purpose of recruiting women is not so they can make games about pink fluffy kitties... You can't say that women like this or Japanese gamers want this." Thus, it's argued: "The solution to this dearth of female fandom... lies in recruiting more women coders, artists and level designers, the type of positions that can shape a title's story, look and gameplay."
Lalala
So you're saying what's needed is an inverse Dating Sim? Where the end payoff isn't an anime girl's face full of spunk but maybe a shiny diamond ring from a Brad Pitt lookalike?
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Open Source Sysadmin
On the other hand, focusing on women (maybe near naked) with oversized parts of the anatomy does turn women off.
Hey, my girlfriend is a 36E! She sees nothing wrong at all about playing characters that resemble her. You are all intolerant small-breastists!
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
I'm afraid to ask what sort of gamer you were before that time...
Women play a different kind of video game.
It involves real life clothing, jewelery, shoes, accessories, makeup, perfume, and getting guys to pay for it all and then some.
They see the visa/mastercard flash, quickly sign the slip with practiced abandon, and off they go to the next shop.
Instead of wasting all their gp on some armor that's sure to rust and a dagger of poison resistance, they get the +4 white skirt of fatal attraction with the greaves of smooth-skin, which does massive area damage and renders all mages speechless.
Of course, they have an arsenal of spells, from the "Let's Be Friends" of Doom to the "I like your friend too" of monster confusion.
Surprisingly, their bag of holding actually is able to contain all magic artifacts, and is fully skinnable with the latest Gucci or Louis Vuitton wallpapers.
It should also be noted that while most of them adopt a winner takes all style of play, they will cooperate as a team when faced with a room-full of drunk monsters. They will use the "Wall of Silence" for defense and stick together like a cluster of giant spiders to fend off the most gallant palladin or the most gruff dark elf.
Oh, the payoff for paying the game well is not some cheesy animation with glowing credits scrolling up, but rather the latest Benz in the driveway of a million-dollar house with "Bob the level 60 Lawyer of Litigation" sufficiently charmed to fight all her battles, and an unlimited supply of lowfat Dannon yoghurts, to be enjoyed at all times of the day while deciding which restaurant to make a reservation at for the evening.
No wonder they don't like our stinking video games.
"Piter, too, is dead."