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Girls Got Game
Via Joystiq, a story on the ABC News site discussing the (gasp) rising interest in games within the fairer sex. From the article: "I think it's easy to kind of stereotype that women don't want to shoot or that women don't want to do sports or that women don't want fast-paced action...I don't think that's true. I think that was part of the reason the industry wasn't speaking to women before." As Mr. Zackheim comments, I believe it more to be a lack of interest/effort on the gaming publisher's part that has resulted in the current player demographic profile.
that girls aren't gaming, it's just that they're not publicized as if they gamed, remember the gamer stereotype is a geek with glasses, though that is changing.
my girlfriend was COMPLETELY uninterested in playing world of warcraft until i told her that you could accessorize. she could be a cute elf with a really tasteful cloak and matching gloves!
then she was just uninterested. not COMPLETELY uninterested, but pretty uninterested.
One of my female friends who is studying to get into the gaming industry believes that some girl gamers, particulary those in development roles, push other girls away. She backs this up by saying that the majority of girl gamers (that she observes) play games "like men."
She thinks that there is probably a greater percentage of girls who enjoy games like The Sims or many MMORPGames, and I happen to agree. She further thinks that if there were more games like this brought to the market that focused on girls then there would be more girls in games (both developing and playing), as opposed to the girls who play FPS and other primarily male-orientated games.
I'm reluctant to agree, as I'm not a girl, but I still find it an intersting viewpoint.
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
My wife loves the Delta Force series and Call of Duty. She's getting better, too... I'm trying to convince her to come to the next LAN party with me.
...?
1. Realize you're leaving out 50% of the market.
2. Ask this "left-out" segment if they like your product.
3.
4. Profit!
Windows isn't the answer... it's the question. NO is the answer!
I really doubt the kind of games that sell now will ever be taken up en masse by females. This almost sounds like feminism to me. Women are equal to men, I think most would agree. But, why is women gaming so important? If women don't game as much as men (by choice, mind you), does that mean there is some great imbalance and injustice? Are women less equal for some reason if they don't play games?
The whole medium of video games was based in the early days on fast reflexes and\or puzzle solving (mainstream I'm talking about, I know about text games, but they weren't huge sellers, were they?). Why can't people accept that maybe for whatever reason, puzzle solving and finger twitching might not appeal to most women, and that doesn't mean their any less equal to guys if it doesn't.
Heh...
I find it sort of funny that a girl is gaming right next to me. PLaying stepmania on her laptop.
Of course, she also plays RPGs and MMORPGs and, like the article mentioned, Sims2.
I find it funny, though, that they talk about stereotypes... And then almost perpetuate them. Anecdotes != proof, but aside from FFXI and then one of my friends playing Sims... None of my female gaming friends fit the stereotype. They all play action games, and most of them love RE (Which, you know, is mentioned... But to me, those seemed to be portrayed as the exceptions to the rule in the article. *shrug*).
(Again, funnier, she turns to me and mentions how she beat her boyfriend in Halo over the weekend. Hahah...)
MY wife plays games all the time, she plays ET with me, bloodrayne, Half Life 1&2 and we have both played countless MMORPG's. The interesting thing is that she will only play the MMORPG's without me, the other games she won't touch unless I am around. I think many women do this, and with how many guys play a female char in MMORPG's its hard to truly understand how many females are playing, but rest assured that I know of plenty, it just takes teh right game to bring the females in :)
**It runs through my veins like radioactive rubber pants! Do not deny my veins!**
I was quite surprised to learn recently that 40% of PS2 gamers were female. Mostly children and teens, but even so, I had expected the numbers to be way more seriously skewed. Based on my completely scientific analysis of the people I know, it sure seems that the adult gamers are still very much predominately male though.
For whatever reason, these types of articles or comments always put me into this semi-amused/semi-annoyed mood, as if girl-gamers are so difficult to figure out.
The PS2 and the Cube are *mine*; they do not belong to my brother. Of course, my game library contains "typical attractive to female gamers" games (RPGs), but on the Mac, I can hold my own. My Scintillating Sphere saved our arses last night when we were playing through NWN, and I've brought the flag over to our side a few times in Elite Force. I may not be into the war games of which my brother is so fond, or the whole 'Rainbow-6' genre like my brother, but I do like the sci-fi FPS. I even liked Oni, a shame what happened to Bungie... I also happen to be a regular on a gaming forum, but I'm one of two female regulars.
I play the SIMS, but my brother plays it more than I do since there's a distinct lack of magic missiles in that game. I didn't play FFX-2.
So how hard can it be? But then, perhaps I fall into 'atypical', seeing as how I'm the only one at the store who can recognise that the shirts a regular customer of ours wears come from ThinkGeek.
I'm not a girl, so I could be completely off the mark, but here goes.
One of the largest problems facing female gamers is not the misogyny of the games, but the misogyny of the male gamers.
I am involved with a small, close-knit gaming group that runs a public CS:Source server.
The group has three female members who play and the amount of bullshit they have to put up with is completely unreasonable. When players realize that they are female, they either a.) attempt to flirt with them (positive attention) or b.) harass them sexually or otherwise (negative attention). We (the admins) are CONSTANTLY punishing players for this behavior.
I am by no means an extreme feminist; however, that sort of muppetry is just inexcusable. I'm inclined to make a comment about how geeks simply can't handle being around women; however, this sort of vapid generalization is simply not true. We joke about how geeks are not socially adept and cannot get a date to save their lives; however, I think at the lowest common denominator, most geeks know that it's not appropriate to sexually harass women.
So why is it acceptable on a CS:Source server to "haze" women?
Yeah, I know. CS:Source is not exactly a collection of fine, upstanding gamers; however, to counter that argument, which game *IS*? Every game has its share of asshats, griefers, and complete fucktards of different ages. My point is that this behavior is not limited to CS:Source. I see it in ET, WoW, and Dawn of War as well.
Most mornings, I wake up early and play basketball at a local high school with an assorted collection of individuals. Among our numbers is one female player. Never ONCE has she been sexually harassed or hazed simply because she is a woman. As a matter of fact, she played hoop at a Division I school. To play her is a challenge and everyone respects her talent.
Why are these two scenarios so different, when essentially, it's the same thing?
Does the gaming industry need to grow up in order to suit the needs of female gamers? Honestly, I don't know. I'm not a female gamer.
I think male gamers need to grow up and respect that video games are not a male-oriented arena and that female gamers are not some sort of mythical creature that should be harassed, positively or negatively.
Respect It.
Is there some sort of Slashdot Law that states whenever the topic of girls and gaming comes up, there must immediately be a link to that article? Give it a rest.
Forget the whales - save the babies.
One thing, which I think might go a long way in not pissing off female games is, change some of the character and NPC models. My fiancee and I are playing through Everquest: Champions of Norrath on the PS2 right now, and some of the female NPC's are absolutly ridiculous. For example, one of the NPC's you come across is a female vampire who is, of course, wearing a thong, a see through sarrong, and two metal nipple caps where a bra might be. And to top it off, the voice acting sounds like it was done by a porn star. She sends you off on a quest to find a "Bloodvine." From the way she talked about it, I think it was really just a code name for a vibrator. And when we brought it back and actually ate it, I was even more convinced that the "Bloodvine" was a code name for a really damn good vibrator. It sounded a lot like a porn actress faking an orgasm while she ate it. And this is about the level of the female voice acting throughout the game. Before this, we had Baldur's Gate: Dark Alligence 1 & 2. In one, if that barmaid had breathed wrong, she would have had to charge us for the peep show. And of course we had to beat down a dark elf in a string bikini. Who, once again, seemed to be voice acted by a porn star and even broke into an impromptu pole dance on her quaterstaff during the cutscean. Two was actually unmemorable enough that I don't recall any specific instances, but I do know that they were there.
Why is it that the fantasy genere insists on doing this to female characters. I realize that its not new, even D&D did this, but isn't it time we grew up? Yes, I like pictures of women in chain mail bikini's, but lets leave that sort of stuff to Boris Valejo and hentai.
Let's face it, if a woman had a choice between the metal thong and a more practical, and infinatly more comfortable set of armor which one do you think she would choose?
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
My girlfriend has more consoles then me (I cancel that by having more then 10 computers)... and her and her sister beat Halo 2 (I helped I guess). We have conversations like this:
"On the plane to florida I saw this kid that had a PSP"
"Cooool"
"I also met this surfer boy and he asked me to be his surfer girl"
"Did he have a PSP?"
"No...."
"You trying to get me jealous?"
"Yes...."
"Not working"
"You'd be jealous if it really happened..."
"I'm jealous of the guy with the PSP"
"Yeah me too"
Nuff said. She's awesome. She's tried to play with some of her other girl friends but they just plain.. stink. I dunno if that's becuase she's good or if they are horrible.
I for one welcome our girl gamer overlords.
You have been warned.
Yes -- I'm always amazed at how themainstream media "discovers" girl gamers every few months. Although, every year when I go to E3 (the big games trade show), plenty of industry professionals are surprized by the women's gaming angle as well.
I always mention this, so the best source out there for mainstream girls gaming news is http://www.gamegal.com/.
Well personally I love gaming. I'm just not a huge fan of killing stuff. I've noticed that most games in the end are a blood hunt. I play games with invold killing things ...www.game.org...mmm TEXT ...
But personally I'd rather not see huge amounts of blood all over my screen. I REALLY wish that game makers would make a few more games today like the old (early 90s lates 80s) Day of the Tentical or Zork, Monkey Island(all of them) and Loom. (No not Doom, Loom). IE collect tons of dumb stuff and puzzel it together WITHOUT the need to kill more then a few plants. It's the type of game even my sister who thinks gaming is almost evil can't help but enjoy for hours.
Life is like untied shoe laces; it always tripping you up and getting in your way.