Slashdot Mirror
Gear Up For Female Gaming Invasion
rmanocha writes "BBC is running a story stating that women are set to explode onto the gaming scene in the near future. 'Existing online role-playing games are succeeding with women in spite of their subject matter, not because of it. When we get more games whose gameplay genuinely appeals to female players, we can expect to see huge growth there,'. What I found really amazing was the statistics for the number of women players - 'women gamers in the UK made up a quarter of the gaming population. This compares to 39% in the US and 69% in South Korea.'."
Cool.
Is anyone else tired of hearing about "girls'" tendencies to playing/not playing video games? It seems every week there's a new story about "Why girls don't play games" or "Why girls do play games" or "Girls will play more games if _____." If girls don't play games, apparently they don't want to, so who cares? The only people I can see who'd care about this is the game companies, looking to profit from a relatively untapped demographic. Men and women are different and tend to like different things. There are many reasons and explanations for this, and any of them can be applied to this specific issue. But as the French say, vive la difference.
rooooar
The so-called casual gaming market, made up of games such as poker, pool, bridge, bingo and puzzles, is a booming one, especially among women.
Yeah, pretty much every woman I know (including my Mom) that has a computer has played solitaire or bejeweled or something when they were bored.
The real gaming crowd that people think of as "gamers".. people who buy games at the store and play them (console or PC), I'm sure the percentage is probly more like 2-5%. Of course, that's just an estimate.
-- Jinsaku
"women gear up for gaming invasion"
"women are set to explode onto the gaming scene"
"women are about to invade the male dominated gaming world"
Holy crap! They're coming! Call to Arms: Venus Attacks!
"The games that are likely to appeal to women are not [..] time-consuming strategy games that men prefer.
"Women don't have free time even to set up a game. They require a game that is quick to get into and doesn't require a great time commitment,"
Oh good. Women are apparently stupid and easily bored.
This article really sucks. I've never seen so many backhanded complements. And what's the most obvious point behind all this female gaming stuff? Equal representation in video games you say? Fool! No! The big push towards women in gaming is because the industry has already sucked as much money as possible from the men.
Women, stay away! Gaming isn't for you; you're all much better than us!
Direct away from face when opening.
We're talking about adults playing games, and I don't think gender roles should be a factor in game consumption. In markets with children, we make games for little boys and little girls, because we want them to be molded into what we want. That's what we do to our children, but by the time we're all grown up we realize that gender roles aren't all black and white. Is a game effeminate because it's main goal is to care for and nuture some creature? Nonsense; many men play such games and enjoy them. Similarly, many women enjoy playing games where you get to blow stuff up or find the lost amulet.
Also, I don't think the sex of a character hardly matters. Is the main character male or female? Why would that lesson or increase the appeal of a game? We've had our fair share of games with main/major characters of both genders.
One might argue that women are oversexualized in games, but aren't men too? How often do we see games depicting men that women find sexually appealing (perfect bodies, smart, talented, sexy voice, kind/caring, rich...the whole gammut). In addition, it'd be incorrect to neglect the fact that some women (not all) actually do enjoy in one form or another a sexualized depiction of their own gender (the same can be said for men).
Who says gaming is not for women? Honestly? WHAT, pray tell, makes a game girly and feminine? A game is a game, much like a PC is a PC, and "girly" games are "girly" games, just like a Barbie PC is a "girly" PC. Barbie PC's didn't sell well at all, and it's a testament that "made for the female sex" does not necessarily mean that women [i]like[/i] as much as it means it's what society wants to impose on women.
I, for one, welcome our new female gamer overlords. With open arms. Come on, I'm waiting...