Game Makers Aren't Chasing Women 154
Thanks to Wired News for their article discussing what videogames women are playing, and whether the mainstream games industry is serving them well. According to the piece, "Observers say the industry isn't exactly rushing to make PC and console games that appeal to both men and women, let alone women alone. That's despite the massive success of games with crossover appeal, such as The Sims." However, a researcher on the subject suggests being too calculating doesn't work either: "Making games in which you get women to do 'women things' isn't a very successful strategy." So what does?
Women - Men - Gaming (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't like most of the games out there, because I
And this is not amusing to me. I enjoy a story arc, I
So the audience is overcharged young men with something to prove. I find it a laugh, because getting very VERY good at video games is not going to impress the girls. Which was the point of the testosterone boost in the first place. Irony.
Ratboy.
Re:Problem for ya. (Score:2, Interesting)
Any time I get my wife (age 22) to sit down and actually *try* a game out, its weeks before I can get my pc/console/pda back from her. I find most girls enjoy gaming, they just don't like the image it portrays and so they avoid playing them altogether.
Trying to target games to that kind of market (the female kind) sounds like trying to get poeple hooked on drugs. They don't want to try them, but as soon as you can get them started, you in. Maybe game makers should start giving out free copy of their games to women!?!
Non-Issue (Score:3, Interesting)
Furthermore, it's more likely easier said than done. War games, for instance, are much easier to conceptualize than a game like The Sims. (This is why I still admire Will Wright, despite EA's expansion-pack-a-thon.)
Sure, you can say "make a game about dating and finding the right guy". But, well, how? Where is the game? What exactly do you control? How should the AI engine work? Et cetera, et cetera. (And yes, I know dating games are big in Japan, but they're largely unrealistic and are mostly composed of multiple-choice quizzes.)
One thing... (Score:1, Interesting)
Gentlemen, I believe these women need to play Wario Ware.
They do.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Sure, she plays the ones they mention..The Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, (She likes anything sandboxy and expandable really). As well, we both like the Pop-cap style of small games, (who doesn't)
However the tastes go beyond that..
Everything from Baldur's Gate:Dark Alliance and Legend of Mana to Final Fantasy IX and Might and Magic VI and VII. (She is obessed with those games. One challenge she made is to beat a temple full of Lich's at as low of a level as possible. Her lowest is 6!)
Doom and Blood (Her personal fav) to Jedi Knight II. Diablo II for a while as well.
Burnout, Sonic Advendture II Battle.
All of the Mario games for the most part. Perfect Dark/007. Even Ikaragua for crying out loud.
Among many others. (The one thing we agree with is a dislike for the "classics". Outside Bubble Bobble, there is not many old games we really enjoy)
What is the point?
Women gamers are no different than men gamers. Each have their own tastes, likes and dislikes. Trying to lump them in a completely seperate catagory..to be honest is sexist and counter-productive. Make good games and women will play them, if they want to.
Re:I think it's more of a generational thing (Score:2, Interesting)
Its quite a jump from the "games don't have to be masculine or feminine" to something that implies they can't handle buttons.
There.com (Score:2, Interesting)
A few things they do off the top of my head:
- no killing, no blood. ever.
- lots of overly cute things (pets, environment)
- shopping. lots of shopping.
- lots of pretty clothes.
- very easy to find people to chat with
It's clearly not as "goal-driven" as most traditional games, and that might also be part of its women appeal.
Girls are simply not conditioned to play games (Score:2, Interesting)
My wife had never played a single computer game before we were married. She showed no desire after we were married until she saw me playing several games. Then she started playing games like Zeus or Majesty (puzzle/strategy games). She liked boggle and bejeweled as well.
Then... she saw me play some real games. She's not great, really, but has learned to love to play UT, Q3, Tony Hawk, Aggressive Inline, Mario, Twisted Metal:Black, GTA3, SSX, etc. She wasn't brought up having the expectation that she would like games so she didn't... and then, only liked girl-type games at first.
I notice the same thing with my daughters. I play games... their mom plays games... naturally, they want to play games. They love mario cart, mario party, a whole slew of barbie crud, SSX, and Tony Hawk PS3 (we turn off some songs though). Other than the barbie games... these are typically boy-liked games as well.
Sure, girls will be attracted to games with more puzzle or realistic situations as people have pointed out already in this thread... but more time should be spent by developers trying to turn girls on to gaming... not creating games they think girls will like.
Re:"Gearing" games towards women... (Score:4, Interesting)
Speaking as a woman, I never felt the urge to play a male character when a female one was readily available. And I'm half asian and specifically gravitated toward the more asian characters: Chun-Li over Cammy, Kitana over Sonja, Xianghua over Ivy... But I think we all realize that the scantily clad-ness is eye candy for the boys.
i think the main problem is that they cant relate to the protagonist in 99% of the games out there. the female urge is not "questing", it's not "me vs the entire world".
Then what about the strong success of the Zelda series? Or Final Fantasy?
Non-issue (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Problem for ya. (Score:3, Interesting)
No, I think the chief problem right now is twofold. First, video games are usually played by boys, so it's considered a masculine activity. And second, most video games are played by nerdy boys who are threatened by girls, so the social atmosphere is usually not so hot. I just think we need to reach a critical mass, so to speak, of female gamers, and once that happens they will start to get more proportionate representation. Yes, it's quite likely that some games (like Q3) will never see the representation that others (like The Sims) will. But the underlying reason computer games are fun is because of the challenge, and I expect that as more women become serious gamers, more women will realize that challenge in any guise can still be fun. Even if that guise includes blood spray, rocket launchers, and half-nude female models. (At least id was fair and made the male models horribly stereotypical too.)