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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.
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...)
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.
Skip that last post. you can't hit "cancel" after "submit" when you meant to hit "Preview." It doesn't work. Here's the last post, properly formatted:
... there is a good range. Now you have to give them a REASON to play. It seems all the guys I know just enjoy the time to waste. But I need a reason to give up 3 hours to get my char one level instead of playing Mario Party with my daughter, oil painting, gardening, doing homework, reading, cleaning, giving daughter a bath, or doign ANYTHIGN with daughter while she's still young enough to like me...
/. equation:
*~*
Being the afore-mentioned wife, I think the reason I play MMORPG's without him, and other games only with friends, is the personal aspect.
As the old adage goes: "a man may work from sun to sun but a womans work is never done". I have only really wanted to play games to waste time when I'm waiting in line or at work between tasks. When I get home, I have things that need to get done, and I don't have 5 hours to sit mindlessly at a computer just to finish a game. It seems senseless. if I'm going to play a game, something needs to come of it!
however, if it becomes a sort of contact sport, such as an MMORPG, or ET where you kill your husband in the next room and his friends.. that is a lot more worth it. Playing Fatal Frame, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat with your mate is a form of "together" time that is actually interesting, cooperative, and productive -- definitely moreso than TV.
However.. reading FP up there.. I suddenly have a distinct need to play Bloodrayne... alone...
But, back on topic... I say that girls have the games out there
So, to answer the
1) Create games
2) Advertise games so men like them
3) Advertise female aspect of already-bought game as:
a) a way to talk to boyfriend that owns the game already and WILL be on it anyway.
b) a way to get out frustration on boy that wouldn't go to family easter party by killing him repeatedly with knife in ET... and then taunt him to his friends that he's getting killed by a girl. Oh, and have a cheat code for girls that boys do NOT want. For example: Girls get pink skirted uniforms, but higher computer-controlled aiming. Because c'mon, it needs to be fair against these guys that HAVE played non-stop for 3 years. Pink frilly skirt can be modified depending on how much cheating you want to use. if you're going to cheat up to almost-god-mode, you have to wear a bikini. That seems fair.
c) a way to find other friends that agree that the rumble packs & BloodRayne are heaven-sent, if only you could set the vibration on controller 2 to "constant" while using controller 1.
4) Offer 30day trial for solely "trying out" afore-mentioned game without having to borrow other friends computer.
5) End of 30 day: Profit!!
~*~
"There is a reason Linux is free"
~me~
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.