Slashdot Mirror
Nielsen Survey Investigates Gamer Choices
Gamasutra reports on findings from a large Nielsen survey on gaming and consumer choices. From the article: "The survey also revealed that 57% of active gamers have played online, with free casual online games the most used, and a notable 21% having played MMO games. While online-enabled console, MMO and gambling gamers are disproportionately male -- 76% vs. 24% -- casual gamers who play free online games such as puzzles are just as likely to be women as men, 49% vs. 51% respectively."
I've noticed from personal experience that free games, especially ones that are easily played for 5-10 minutes during leisure time, are split down the middle for male to female.
MMO's, on the other hand, remain very male dominated. Well, on the surface at least. There might be more women playing than I noticed, but they definitely aren't as vocal as their pseudo-female (Guys with girl avatars) counter-parts.
The survey also revealed that 57% of active gamers have played online
Wow, I remember when 80% of computers weren't on the internet. Now, an PC that isn't connected to the internet isn't really useful. I think the same trend will happen with games - it's just going to take time for grandma to discover Yahoo! solitaire instead of her Windows one. I think that's where the numbers are getting skewed.
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
This might be the survey. It sure says Nielsen and asks all about gaming habits.
If it is, there are some serious issues with the questioning. It essentially excludes non-console gaming and the questions seem to push the results towards "more of the same, please". Stuff like this might help make more games just like WoW for profitability, but is that what we want in games? Endless variations of the least-common denominator?
People need to really read up on how Nielson conduct surveys, where and when. Their tactics is often very low tech against a small demographics. They are finding it hard to change with the times.
Considering that these things can often be done by computer, a 2000 person survey means NOTHING and opening the survey to a LARGE audience wouldn't make for more work yet would increase the accuracy of any survey.
So, games....
There are many good reasons why women don't play certain types of games in the first place.
MMO: Besides the hordes of teenage boys who are trying to get into cyber-sex encounters with anything even remotely female, there is the focus on super-thin women with large breasts as the female "avatars". There isn't anything like an average looking female in the MMO world, though there are always the "super ugly" types like trolls and ogres that are deliberately supposed to be that way. But there's nothing in the middle.
There is also the idea of needing to grind you way to the top without making the game good enough where the game has enough variety to make every dungeon or set encounter be a single pass only. What I mean by this is that an MMO could be done using instancing where each encounter is only done by a given character ONCE. You go in with your party, and if you manage to get through it, that encounter is completed by all the players and if they return, the encounter isn't reset, but MAY evolve. If a given room in a dungeon isn't touched though, these adventurers can go back later. Or the situation can change in time. In this way, a normally "static" dungeon can appear to evolve over time for those players. Consider it to be a multi-player game that feels more like a single-player game.
Next up, the World War 2 games. Women generally arn't into "playing war", so most of these games won't appeal to women in the first place. With so many World War 2 games out there right now, it's no surprise that women are turned off of gaming by the focus on war games. Tactical or strategy games may be a little better for women, but the subject of war doesn't appeal to most women, so won't attract and may even be a reason for women to think they just don't like games at all as a result. It doesn't matter how good or bad a game is if the subject matter doesn't draw a particular audience.
Which leads to this: If you don't think most heterosexual males would be interested in a game where the main character is a homosexual, no matter how good the game may be, then don't be surprised why women arn't into most of the computer games out there. Games based on certain topics will draw one type of player and turn off others. Right now, the focus seems to be on boys and men age 13 to 25. The game industry has seen what a good gender-neutral game like "The Sims" can do in terms of sales. The problem is that most game developers don't seem to understand WHY a given game does well or doesn't do well, so it's no wonder all we see are new game titles that try to emulate the popularity of the good innovative game titles.
Still no cure for cancer, eh?
...that briefly surveys about 8 or 9 families every couple years and holds practically supernatural power over the network marketdroids and the fate of the entire television industry?
I don't get the ultra feminist types that say busty women in games turns off women gamers. Women gamers weren't around when the games were as simple as pong and pac-man. Women gamers weren't aroud through berzerk and Rally-X. Women gamers didn't show up at the nintendo 8 bit era. In short, its not a new development that women gamers aren't interested in video games, they've always not been interested in video games. Now there are many women gamers out there, but nothing to contribute a significant percentage to male gamers. Anyone that's spent significant time in an arcade from the early 80s up until the recent 'death of arcades', has observed the overwhelming male percentage. The only time girls seem to like video games and stuff is when they're like under age 9 and going to Chucky Cheese, then it seems like it doesn't matter what sex you are.
So femenist types who like to overanalyze everything should stay away from overanalyzing video games. Unless they can give reasons why women never got interested in video games from the start.
God spoke to me.
So I have to wonder - was their sample all Windows-users? I didn't see anything about that in the article, unless I just missed it.
If Macs really have a 16% install base, plus say another 5% for *nix etc users, that's like a fifth of the population - the most geek-heavy fifth, I might add - out. Even if you don't buy the 16% number, they're still discounting the geekiest 10%. Do you think that would affect their results? I mean, a lot of the stuff probably wouldn't be changed much - but, for instance, the 18% of people who d/l games to cel phones... Is their sample possibly less gadget-philic than the total population?
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.