Viva Piñata Apparently 'For Girls'

An anonymous reader writes "Bill Gates has demonstrated his unique public speaking skillset again, this time by further ostracizing gamers who grew to love one of the best Xbox 360 titles of last year - Viva Piñata. Comments made by Mr. Gates during an interview on the Charlie Rose show include the choice comment 'We have a thing called Viva Piñata that's for young girls, where you're tending a garden and these animals come along...'. His comment are carried by Eurogamer, who also provide a link to the YouTube video of the interview. For gamers who really appreciated this under-marketed and lovably quirky title, this is just another low blow."

What a nasty man

[Anonymous Coward]

What's next, will he say MS Paint is a drawing program for 'children', insulting its wide and varied adult userbase?

Not to defend El Gates...

[Pojut]

...but did anyone stop to think for a second maybe that was their original intention was to market the game towards girls?

Hell, my fiance LOVES playing Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, hardly the target demographic for that game.

the real problem here

[poor_boi]

The real problem here is not Gates' comment, but the public perception that a game which is targeted at girls somehow insults the game. Come on. This is 2007. Girls' games can be fun too.

Low Blow? What?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is it such a low blow? There's no possible way that you could like something that was also made for girls? Are you that insecure that you can only like things that are made for men?

I fail to see the insult Mr. Gates made.

Re:Not to defend El Gates...

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly. Next thing you know, some childish gamer will get up in arms about how somebody mentioned that Pokemon was for kids. How dare they!

I mean Christ, the game's got purple ponies and shit prancing about. So some grown men like it. That doesn't mean it's not a little girls' game.

What's wrong with that?

[WombatDeath]

Who gives a damn what something is 'for'? So bingo is for geriatrics and Harry Potter's for kids; doesn't stop me enjoying either of them.

If you enjoyed Viva Piñata before Gates opened his mouth you have no reason to enjoy it any less afterwards. If you let marketing demographics dictate how you spend your leisure time you deserve to be miserable.

Bill's no gamer!

[hypervinetest45]

Bill Gates is no gamer. Hell, I'm impressed Bill even knew about Viva Pinata in the first place. If I was completely unfamiliar with the content of the game and spent about 10 seconds watching the game/show, I'd figure it was a 'My Little Pony' for modern times, too.

Re:the real problem here

[Klowner]

Maybe if the games marketed towards girls weren't so insultingly bad, then this wouldn't be quite so insulting, but that isn't the case.

Who'd have thought Bill Gates could emasculate a bunch of male gamers so easily? ;)

The real culprit

[EvilGoodGuy]

I think the real culprit in this article is the anonymous person who managed to sneak this blatent anti-microsoft garbage onto slashdot.

The game was designed for little girls. If you feel ostrisized because you're a grown man playing a little girls game. Then there are two cases here:

1.) You should feel ostrisized anyways

2.) The game turned out a hell of a lot better than they thought it would.

The problem

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

Corporate America needs to seriously redefine, or possibly even abandon, the whole concept of 'demographics'. The whole idea is fundamentally flawed. It assumes that certain types of games/tv shows/movies only appeal to certain age groups and genders. It is based solely on stereotypes. Not only is it insulting to the consumer and puts crap entertainments on the market, but it is also costing the corporations money, not only in the cost of the demographics 'research' but also in lost potential profits.

Re:the real problem here

[Khuffie]

Actually, the real problem here is not Gates' comment, but the fact that it was Gates who said it. If it was Jobs, Miyamoto, Will Wright, etc, we'd be hearing about how great they are for creating games that target the female demographic.

Re:The problem

[alta]

Whatever, demographics are very useful.
It optimizes the purchasing of adspace for the company, keeping them from advertising a product where it is completely useful to do so.

When's the last time you saw a Viagra ads in a 'boys life' magazine.
ads for shoes out of Amputee monthly.
ads Omaha Steaks on a Vegan mag?
ads for Monster truck shows off of Oxygen/We.
Ads for tampons on Spike?

You have demographics to thank for that.

Sure, 15% of the people who watch Spike might use tampons, but the money is obviously better spent on Oxygen/We.

Re:the real problem here

[Aladrin]

You obviously are -not- in touch with the Viva Pinata community, then. It wouldn't matter if God said it was a girl game, he'd get nothing but flames back.

This is a cutesy, kiddie-looking game that has a very loyal following among non-kids, myself included. It's an amazing game. Every time someone calls it a 'kiddie game' or a 'girl game', it is a chance for everyone who hasn't played it to write is off as 'childish'. Fans of anything are alike in 1 way: They want everyone else to try the thing they love so much.

So it's not that it's a personal insult, but rather that it's damaging to the thing we love.

Nothing can take away the game as it is, of course, so damage to the game's image doesn't mean much yet. But when it comes time to create VP2 or another game along the same lines, any damage to the original game matters a lot.

Re:the real problem here

[Khuffie]

You obviously are *not* in touch with reality.

From Microsoft's standpoint, they were creating a game that would appeal to girls (something that say, Gears of War doesn't). Note that that statement does *not* imply that girls can't play and enjoy Gears of War, or that men can't play and enjoy Viva Pinata. They talked about that game that way when they were developing it, their goal was to create a franchise for kids, along with a children's cartoon show, so get that stick out of your bum and realize the reason this game is in existence, and is so amazing, is because of this desire to create something that appeals to people who don't normally find something like Gears of War appealing. (ala Nintendogs, Brain Age, etc).