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Games Entertainment

Women on Sex and Videogames 109

Posted by Zonk from the larry-wasn't-very-good dept.
KillerBetties.com continues to produce interesting female oriented gaming commentary. Their latest piece is entitled Sex and Videogames, with several female gamers commenting on the likes of Leisure Suit Larry, the Anarchy Online 'Play Me' ads, and the breast size of electronic actors. From the article:"Do you think the shift towards breeding game designers in college with specialized degrees is going to detract from the casual-gaming young female? Companies so intent on hiring people with only complete devotion to videogames... I didn't know I wanted to make games until my last year of college."
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Women on Sex and Videogames More

Women on Sex and Videogames

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  • all we need is better rumble packs (Score:4, Informative)

    by evilmousse ( 798341 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @03:35PM (#11565993) Journal
    here [gamegirladvance.com]'s a game guaranteed to get your girl off ^_^;;

    finally stoner videogame boyfriends and needy nontechie girlfriends can be 100% on the same page!
    • You're not really advancing the "sensitive male cause" here by linking that as the first comment. Neither are the moderators who modded it up. (And come on, guys, hasn't everyone seen it a dozen times already anyway?)
    • Yeah, and if I could find the US version of the game for less than a hundred bucks I'd have bought it already. I bought the peripheral (amazingly for someone with as many /. posts as I have, I do have a girlfriend - if I were buying a vibrator for my own use it wouldn't be shaped like an old IBM PS/2 mouse with no buttons) but now I need the game. I will eventually break down and buy the japanese version if necessary... But then I guess I need to mod a PS2 to play it?

    • my original post was not really informative, nor was it redundant to anything. overrated was about the only modding i could agree with. not ONE mod went with 'funny' which >i think was the obvious choice.

      mods are obviously reading primarily at +2, because before i got this karma bonus, i rarely got modded one way or the other, now i get modded all the time. i've gotta agree with some other ppl i see posting around here, read at a low threshhold PLEASE when modding, because there's so many worthy posts t
  • slashdotters are allowed to play as much as they like.
  • Telka: Too artificial...
    Staci: Her breasts don't bother me at all but the artist could have actually made her pretty.
    Lila: For some odd reason, I think females notice boobs on a character more then males.
    Staci: Her tummy is too flat.
    Telka: Give her some sagging breasts, some child bearing hips... if it was more life like... I think it'd be more appealing.
    More appealing for who? Not me.

    Well, women are slowly getting into games. But until they make a larger market share forget any changes. Guys, g

    • Re:Maxim should make games. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ra5pu7in ( 603513 ) <ra5pu7in@@@gmail...com> on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:10PM (#11566353) Journal
      Gak, as a woman gamer even I wouldn't find "sagging breasts" and "child bearing hips" attractive. The girl from Dark Alliance isn't ugly, even if these gals don't think she's pretty. Very cliche'd, but it really is true that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

      I don't think women getting a larger market share would stop games from marketing using sex or making games that include sex. That's like thinking that more women buying magazines will reduce the number of guy magazines. Women getting into games will simply provide support for developers and programmers who want to try different things - like an RPG with female heroes that doesn't focus on changing clothing or an FPS with female characters who dress and act like real military women do.
      • If Desperate Housewives has taught us nothing, it's not that women don't like impossibly-beautiful women, it's that women love smut.

        To get more female gamers, game companies must increase the smut content of their video games.
      • like an RPG with female heroes that doesn't focus on changing clothing

        (laughs) I know exactly the game you're talking about, which I'm currently playing and enjoying immensely. I've also played an earlier game in said series (the fifth installment, actually) where the battle system was centered around "changing clothes", and the playable characters consist of two guys and three girls. Oh, and one of the girls was a fairly androgynous pirate captain. I agree that the former game can be rather cheesy, but t

      • Alyx Vance (Score:4, Interesting)

        by SanityInAnarchy ( 655584 ) <ninja@slaphack.com> on Friday February 04, 2005 @12:26AM (#11569721) Journal
        I don't like Valve tech or how Valve treats their community, but Half-Life 2 was a thing of beauty. There were both male and female resistant fighters, dressed pretty identically.

        And Alyx? If Gordon didn't have his HEV suit, he'd probably dress like that.

        They also went for realism all across the board, and although the breasts are perfect, they aren't DDD.

        I would even guess that we will start to see more fairness there as games get more realistic. Notice how big they were in Q3A -- but everything was big, guns, armor, everything, because if it wasn't big, you wouldn't see it -- computers weren't capable of particularly fine levels of detail.

        No, what I want to see is games that aren't so damn American. If I can blow up a zombie, will seeing some skin really traumatize me so much? Only in America.
      • "as a woman"

        Woah... you just admitted that? And you didn't post AC? What, do you enjoy having freaky Slashdot stalkers or something?

        Really... ouch...
    • Well.. Maybe I've looked at too much porn, but I think it's desensitized me.

      I don't even look twice at stick women with oversized fake tiddies and collagen stuffed lips, they don't do anything for me.

      I've come full circle to the point where the only thing that gives me wood is real looking women. I don't mean fatties or anything, just normal looking average women. Natural, but without armpit/leg hair.

      Not that any of this has anything to do with gaming. I guess an average looking player would look out

  • Young AND a girl (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JNighthawk ( 769575 ) <NihirNighthawkNO@SPAMaol.com> on Thursday February 03, 2005 @03:40PM (#11566050)
    This poor child [penny-arcade.com] has to face both stereotypes.

  • this just in.... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by TouchOfRed ( 785130 )
    SEX SELLS

  • Boobs (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 03, 2005 @03:50PM (#11566141)
    Women constantly complain about boobs in games, but look at the cover of women's magazines: boobs. They clearly like looking at boobs too.

    • Re:Boobs (Score:5, Informative)

      by Sentry21 ( 8183 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @05:01PM (#11566986) Journal
      While you point out an interesting contradiction, keep in mind one subtle difference: the women on magazine covers are women - they are real. Perhaps they are more 'beautiful' (read: airbrushed) than the average woman, but they are still real. Real breasts, real hips, real legs.

      Women in videogames are pretty much 100% fantasy. Waists so thin they can wear a wedding ring as a belt, breasts so huge that no material existing today could truly contain their gravity, and of course, so much jiggle that any real woman would be unable to maintain her balance. Oh yeah, and no depth. They just kill things, or look pretty (or both).

      The best comparison is between video games and porn - the typical non-amateur 'porn star' is so over-inflated and made-up that they bear no more resemblance to the average woman than the average man does. You never see their personality, and most consumers don't really care anyway.

      Let's have realistic woman, let's have interesting women, let's have personalities. Look at Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, or Alex from Half-Life 2. Real women, and attractive (insofar as they're not real) - not hard on the eyes, but not unrealistic either. As such, they're easier to realte to as well, for any gamer.

      Boy, would that be nice.

      • Re:Boobs (Score:5, Insightful)

        by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Thursday February 03, 2005 @06:35PM (#11567861) Homepage Journal
        The women on magazine covers are as real as the rubber shark in Jaws. Just like film, a photograph can be altered (or just shot!) to make someone look any way you want. The lighting, clothing, makeup, and hairdressing conspire to make them look substantially different from the way they REALLY look before you even get to airbrushing, digital retouching, et cetera. The clothing they wear shapes their breasts and in fact the rest of their body, and the pose you see them in on the cover is typically one of tens or hundreds and chosen because it makes them look as good as possible. In other words, they NEVER look like that, and even their body only looks like that for fleeting moments.

        My girlfriend just got Sudeki (you know, chick with huge gazongas on the cover, holding her arms above her head) and was actually partially motivated by the fact that Maxim gave it a high rating. The women in the linked dialogue might be representative but they don't speak for all female gamers and they need to build a bridge, get over it, and vote with their dollars. The guys in games are unrealistic too, but I don't give a shit because I'm playing the game, not critiquing its artwork.

        • Re:Boobs (Score:1, Interesting)

          by zonker ( 1158 )
          actually there was a show a few years ago that did a piece on how magazines use computers to adjust pictures for stuff like covergirls etc. they will often stretch womens legs, reduce their thighs, make their lips bigger, supersaturate their eyes and on and on. the lengthening of the legs was really interesting as it is so subtle it's almost unnoticable. however you still see it and it does look more attractive...
        • As soon as I read rubber shark in Jaws, I was laughing so hard I was in tears.

          Unfortunately I was also drinking and spit all over my keyboard and monitor.

      • Re:Boobs (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 03, 2005 @09:56PM (#11569148)

        Women in videogames are pretty much 100% fantasy. Waists so thin they can wear a wedding ring as a belt, breasts so huge that no material existing today could truly contain their gravity, and of course, so much jiggle that any real woman would be unable to maintain her balance. Oh yeah, and no depth. They just kill things, or look pretty (or both).

        Yes, because MEN in videogames are so realistic! It's not like they have stupidly large muscles or anything, is it? It's not like the veins are basically bursting free of their limbs at all, right? And hey, the men in videogames have so much depth! It's not like they just kill things, right?

        Videogame characters are caricatures. Female, male, it makes no difference. The attempt to paint it as some sort of anti-female crusade is just baseless politics. Ignore it.


      • ... the typical non-amateur 'porn star' is so over-inflated and made-up that they bear no more resemblance to the average woman than the average man does.

        Also, don't forget that the size of male members in all these porn pictures/videos is the work of CGI and prosthetics - there is no such thing as an "average" of 6.5 inches. This size fallacy is based on measuring the erect penii of males willing to be measured - how many of those could there be? It's pretty obvious that Short Dick Joe won't show up t

      • Perhaps they are more 'beautiful' (read: airbrushed) than the average woman, but they are still real. Real breasts, real hips, real legs.

        But isn't that really more damaging to a woman's self-image? To be bombarded by images of those supposedly "real" women? To suggest that what is presented is what you need to be happy; to suggest it is a reasonable goal for every woman to strive for?

        Women in videogames are pretty much 100% fantasy. Waists so thin they can wear a wedding ring as a belt, breasts

    • Re:Boobs (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Damned if you do, damned if you don't [sexylosers.com]. (Most definitely not safe for work.

      Only half apropos to the topic at hand, but the double-standards imposed by women is a good point to make. Besides, you just can't help but get a good laugh out of that comic! :)

  • Cute? (Score:3, Funny)

    by IndiJ ( 842721 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:07PM (#11566319) Homepage

    Gordon Freeman is "cute"?

    They just totally ruined the ass-kicking aspect of the character for me!

    • Follow me here.

      My wife says I'm cute.

      My neighbors and coworkers say I look like Gordon Freeman.

      Therefore, Gordon Freeman must be cute.

      So, it's established. However my wife also says the Gordon Freeman looks mean and I don't. I think that may be because I don't generally carry a crowbar, although I've been considering it lately.
    • Everyone's cute. Try Master Chief with a ginormous head and a tiny torso. Difference is, Chief will stay cute (energy shield keeps his armor sparkling-clean) while Gordon Freeman will end up all bloodstained, scarred, and pissy. You wouldn't like him when he's pissy.

  • Boy, am I tired of this crap.... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "Trisha: Computer companies will need to grow up - and give benefits to workers to include more women. So that anyone can have a family and make games."

    Or, in other words "Whaaaaa! Women are discriminated against because they have to make a choice! I require benefits to pad reality so my choice not to devote my life to my art is easier!"

    Look, ladies. You either want to play with the big boys or you don't. You can have a career in tech, or a family and a pseudo-carrier. Even maternity/parental leave

    • Family Friendly (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Macgrrl ( 762836 )

      There were a number of studies done recently in Australia that showed that men also get side-tracked career wise if it looks like they will put their family first at any stage.

      Australia is one of a number of supposedly first world countries that doesn't currently have a fertility rate that is anywhare approaching replacement levels. One of the major issues is that people put off having children and one of the more frequently given reasons are economic.

      At some point we need to wake up to real across the b

    • From article: "I took pride in the fact that I was the only person to write reviews consistently for IGN who was a female. When I got added to their editorial staff list (because I was promoted to run their vaults), I was the only female on those lists. If another female had come in, I would have felt odd about it. But I would have needed to check myself too."

      I think it's interesting that they admit to doing the same that males often get blamed for. Being a "newer" market for women, it feels strange or a

    • when you move out of your mommy's basement and start exploring a real world with real women in it. Isn't that a scary thing?

      Enjoy your Listerine,

  • LSL: MCL is _not_ Leisure Suit Larry (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Safety Cap ( 253500 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:10PM (#11566351) Homepage Journal
    Get one thing straight: LSL: MCL is nothing but a collection of fark jokes and jigglies without any plot or character.

    Al Lowe, the creator of the original (and who had absolutely nothing to do with this POS) said this about MCL [allowe.com]:

    It is not an adventure game.There are no real puzzles, no interactive dialog, no narrator, no character development, and nearly no plot. Much of the dialogue is uninspired and trite. There's more profanity in the first scene than in all the previous Larry games combined. Women cuss like sailors. The F-word is repeated so often the writers must have used a macro.

  • Must not read womens mags. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by DAldredge ( 2353 ) <SlashdotEmail@GMail.Com> on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:17PM (#11566442) Journal
    These women must not read any womens magazines as they are just as 'bad' if not 'worse'. Of course, they could just be jealous that they do not get as much attention as they think they should.

    Begin Quote:

    Sarah: Here's another rant on sex in videogame advertising. It's an endless cycle, girls don't play because the ads are clearly geared towards men. They don't feel like game development is a good place to be. They don't join the industry to change things, so things stay the same.
    Telka: Sexuality in ads will exist as long as you have uncreative minds clamoring away on the idea "
    that their audience is entirely male."
    • ...they don't. For the same reason that Real Men Don't Watch Harry Potter. The sex has nothing to do with it -- a lot of the better games are gender-neutral (except maybe only being able to play as a guy), but girls don't play because videogames are a Guy Thing.

      Ladies, get down off your soapbox and onto the couch in front of Halo[2]. Yeah, it'd be better with girls joining the industry, but I think it's close enough, especially considering that this is undeniably a Guy Thing (press B for Bludgeon if you

  • Gee, I wish I looked and behaved like Duke Nukem! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by aok ( 5389 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:20PM (#11566484)
    How many guys look and behave like Duke Nukem or most other male characters in video games?

    Do we play those games because we wish we were big juiced-up tough guys or is it just funny and fun to play? Are we worried that if girls see Duke that they'll expect us to look and act like him?

    Anyway, you can't prevent what guys find physically attractive in females. The reverse is also true. If I'm an ugly bastard, that doesn't mean all male characters in video games should also be ugly bastards.
    • Huzzah! It never really occurred to me until recently, but I am nothing like Solid Snake. I don't workout. I don't know how to kick that much ass. Given a choice between an modest IT staffer like myself, and a real-life Solid Snake, most woman would not even notice me.

      So, where is the male gamer lobby insisting that video game heros should all be flabby, unable to complete a mile run in less than 20 minutes, etc? While I do find the portrayal of the female form to be rediculous in video games, I wish
      • A big part of it is the fact that while it's possible for almost any man to at least get in shape, it's impossible for any woman to attain the hypersexualized ideal presented in male-oriented media like most comic books and games.

        Another thing is the role of men vs the role of women in games. While many games have moved forward, you're still far more likely to find a strong, tough male hero rescuing a screaming, weak female than the reverse.

        The problem is not that games or other media establish negative st

        • Um, no. The Duke Nukem shape is not physiologically possible for any human being.

          The strange thing is that while the ultra-hunky heroes are seen as a "wish-fulfillment" figure for guys ("gee, I wish I had muscles like him and knew how to kick ass"), the ultra-feminine heroines are seen as a "jealousy/envy" figure by women ("they've no right to have a heroine looking like that - she makes me feel inferior"). Me, I reckon that speaks volumes about the way most men and women think. Men are much more "pack
          • It seems to be more a confidence/security thing.

            IMO in general women (or perhaps just the louder/whinier ones) tend to view obstacles as problems whereas in general men view obstacles as challenges or even something fun...

            I don't even think that guys playing games go "I wish I had muscles like him etc". In fact during the game they are more likely to subconsciously go "This is _me_! This is me kicking ass! Yeah!! Eat that!". And don't forget "I 0wn3d J00!".

            I wonder whether most women actually see it as a
      • He said he hadn't had a byte in three days. I had a short, so I split it with him.

        I need to have a word with you. We must have a long talk.
    • Duke nukem voice:
      Staci: The women in the industry are doing their breast... err best
    • I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sitting in a computer lab spouting off witty one-liners right now.

      I also throw money at strippers before using my shrink gun on them. (You know what I mean! No jokes!)

  • Horrible Interview. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DAldredge ( 2353 ) <SlashdotEmail@GMail.Com> on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:23PM (#11566511) Journal
    Why did the interviewer allow it to degenerate into a political discussion? Hell, they couldn't keep their minds on the topic for 30 mintues and we a susposed to respect their opinions?

    "Telka: You'd be surprised... not to offend anyone here if you did vote for Bush... but look how many people voted for him because "he prays". That's it... *shakes head*
    Staci: I don't want to talk about elections ... I was fooled by the liberal propaganda that Kerry actually had a shot in hell and I voted for him -- which made his losing all the more devastating.
    Trisha: Understanding a sound bite about the president is easier than understanding the hundreds of games that come out yearly.
    Trisha: Bummed at the election as well."
    • Despite controlling all three branches of the government, most state governments and the media, convervatives continue to feel persecuted. I feel your pain; it must be awful
    • Why did the interviewer allow it to degenerate into a political discussion?

      Actually, based on the short blurb after the 'interview' ("Each week, the base team of Telka, Lila, Staci and Nicole hold The Devil You Say chats in IRC. We often have guests, such as Sarah and Trisha."), it would appear that this is more of an informal chat about women's issues in gaming than a structured interview that we should 'trust'.
      Regardless, the 'interviewer' didn't just allow it to happen, it was one of the hosting wom
    • First of all, no one was more surprised than me that this was linked on Slashdot -- although we'd had 3 articles linked last month, I didn't think this would be one. It is what it is, a roundtable chat involving women in the industry. Second, I kept that in to show off some personality. I could have edited it out as I did some other extraneous stuff, but I thought that was a fun comment and thats what KB is about - FUN.

    • Staci: I don t want to talk about elections ... I was fooled by the liberal propaganda that Kerry actually had a shot in hell and I voted for him -- which made his losing all the more devastating.

      What is she talking about? Of course Kerry had a shot: He was a very solid second to Bush's lead. If he had just a few more electoral votes, he'd have won.

      In the 2004 elections, both Kerry and Bush had a good shot at the whitehouse: Neither is liberal or conservative propaganda.

      If someone was tell

    • It's not an interview, and you're on slashdot complaining about someone else's discussion "degenerating"?
  • Sarah: I think it's not so much that she's almost naked with big boobs, more that it doesn't fit with the rest of the game.

    The character is a large-breasted, scantily-clad wench...at a bar...how does that not fit the rest of the game? Did they want the bar wench to be a 6'2" paladin with silver armor and a flaming sword?

  • Sex and AO (Score:3, Interesting)

    by astralpop ( 856161 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:38PM (#11566686)
    In defense of Anarchy Online's marketing ads. The game is a cyberpunk game and you always have half naked girls in sci fi. (Of course this is a fairly accurate stereotype).The game has been in a downward slide for some time. Even back when I played for about 6 months there were only like 3 servers. Now they are letting people play for free for a year. Lastly I had several friends online and real life that played the game and were girls.

    I agree with the comment about at least making the video game girls attractive. My friend and I just recently played through the second Baldurs Gate and I choose the Cleric and she was very ugly. Even my friends wife was like, "Man she is ugly!"

    • Re:Sex and AO (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Blakey Rat ( 99501 )
      I always enjoyed the human female skins in Neverwinter Nights... as long as the camera was zoomed out (the way you normally played), the model was attractive and moved realistically, etc. But when you zoomed in, suddenly she had all these crows feet on her face and looked 90 years old... it was almost surreal-weird. I guess the developers either did it on purpose as some kind of joke, or just assumed nobody would zoom in that far and didn't fix a bug.
  • I was expecting
    article = women.opinion("sex").strcat(women.opinion("video games"));
    not
    article = women.opinion("sex+videogames");

    My women don't play video games. I think a two part article on sex and video games would be much more useful than sex in video games.

  • Women? (Score:5, Funny)

    by softspokenrevolution ( 644206 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @04:58PM (#11566952) Journal
    I don't see why video-game companies are trying to appeal to a non-existent audience. We all know for a fact that women aren't real.

  • Barbie Standards (Score:3, Informative)

    by White Roses ( 211207 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @05:25PM (#11567226)
    Are video game females portrayed as unrealistic? On the whole, yes. Some are better than others, for instance the comic-like drawings in Need for Speed Underground 2 aren't all that unrealistic. Lara Croft? Not a chance. But then, Barbie, who has been popular with young girls forever, is also unrealistic, so I don't see why that would be driving young girls, who would eventually become mature women in the industry, away from gaming. Maybe it's the lack of decent stories to have the female characters interact in? The female Jedis in Jedi Academy are every bit as skilled as the males. And the story line doesn't change in a gender dependant manner. But that's a small sampling. Certainly, Lara Croft and The Operative from NOLF are strong female roles.

    On the other hand, not that many males are portrayed realistically either. Seen NFL Street Big? Yeah, those gorillas are realistic.

    Now if you'll excuse me, I left Virtual Valerie in a compromising position.

    • On the other hand, not that many males are portrayed realistically either. Seen NFL Street Big? Yeah, those gorillas are realistic.

      But lack of realism to what end? In male characters, the abandonment of realism is towards enhancing the sense of machismo - that is, to make a man more manly, make him stronger, make him more capable.

      When women are portrayed unrealistically, it is not to enhance their strength so much as to enhance their perceived beauty. The disconnect between us saying "guys aren't reali

  • Screw Women's boobs and such... by that I mean keep doing whatever they want with women models in games... just don't make the male characters look absolutely HORRENDOUS while making women 'breathtaking'... Guys care about fashion too, but apparently the only male fashion in most games is, at best, a trenchcoat... or some other generic crappy look... I dont mean make Male Dresses... but there's more to men's wardrobes then Jeans, t-shirts, and trenchcoats... Hardest thing about playing RPG's nowadays i

  • Did /. really have to link to such a bad article? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Flyboy Connor ( 741764 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @06:11PM (#11567671)
    This article is terrible. It is just a page ripped from a chat session between four women who have little interesting to say about "Sex in Games", who have no qualifications to talk about the subject (apart from the fact that they are women), and who quickly degenerate towards yakking about game advertisements without saying anything profound about them.

    Surely there is a lot that can be said about "Sex in Games" from the female perspective. But it should be said by a woman with a brain who writes an article because she has something meaningful to say, and knows how to bring an argument.

    So my mind boggles why /. felt it necessary to link to this stuff.

    • You should really read the credentials of the women involved in the chat. I posted the two guests credentials (one of whom works for EA) and linked the regulars credentials, including mine. We are hardly women "who have no qualifications to talk about the subject."

      I was surprised Slashdot linked to the chat, but they obviously found something interesting in our chat. I found the chat interesting and we had a lot of fun in the chat, which I think came across well and is *what* our site is about - fun. S
      • I'm sorry, and I really don't mean to sound like a troll here, but lets look at some quotes from your "fun" article.

        Telka: Sexuality in ads will exist as long as you have uncreative minds clamoring away on the idea that their audience is entirely male

        Well, while the majority of the market is male, I know a _lot_ of female gamers that have no issue with the gameplay and advertisement. People say GTA:SA is bad, yet my ex and my current girlfriend that both come over to my house to game on a nightly basis. An

        • The important thing you have to know here is the difference between examples of exceptions to the standard and what the standards are. We aren't talking about women who *already* game here. We are talking about women who don't game but might enjoy it, but will never know because ads like that turn them off or tell them nothing about the game, etc. The game developers say they want to attract more of a female audience but they aren't doing anything to do that. Women who already game are obviously fine wi
          • The game developers say they want to attract more of a female audience but they aren't doing anything to do that.

            Actually, they ARE doing. Maybe not always with so good success, but at least something. And just look at all these dancing games, how you can choose to play girl/woman character instead of male etc.
      • You should really read the credentials of the women involved in the chat.

        I don't think that "working for EA", or "playing MMOGs" makes one particularly qualified to talk about the subject of "Sex in Games". But I'm an academic, so perhaps I set different standards than you do.

        On the other hand, I am glad we agree that there was no reason for /. to link to this article. Personally, I think people should place on the web whatever they think might be entertaining or interesting for a passing visitor, wheth

  • ...is on the US White Male 14-29 demographic. Give men some credit. We can objectify women in any number of ways beyond gravity-defying boobs and tiny butts. There's a whole section of the population that maintains the height of female aesthetics is expresseed by the term badonkadonk [urbandictionary.com]. And there are plenty of fans of a biologically plausible, no-back-pain boob solution out there as well. If your game is so lame you need the resonance supplied by the ultimate in synthetic breasts, a G4 Spot and a waist the li
    • " ...is on the US White Male 14-29 demographic. Give men some credit."

      My current "real job" is sorting out incoming magazine subscription inserts (you know, those annoying cards that fall out of magazines). As such, most of my day involves sorting pictures of T&A that are on those cards; it would seem that every topic imaginable has its own series of pin-up girls.

      Yeah, there are the obvious genres like outright pornography and T&A magazines*, and the somewhat less obvious ones like car rags or

  • Women in Gaming (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Macgrrl ( 762836 ) on Thursday February 03, 2005 @08:45PM (#11568755)

    In the last decade I have noticed a significan tincrease in the number of women involved in roleplay conventions, largely due to an increase in games that focus more on characterisation, political machinations and problem solving over dice rolling and simply slaying things.

    Which is not to say that us chicks don't enjoy a bit of hack-n-slash from time to time, but overall we don't find it particularly compelling hour on hour.

    Oddly enough, games that apparently did well in the female demographics were games like Myst and The Sims. They focus more on relationships and problem solving and not so much on killing stuff. They were also games that appealed to non-gamers generally.

    They were also games that support picking them up and playing for a few minutes if that's all you have, but will also let you play for hours if you can. As someone with lots of other responsibilities in my life, it can be incredibly frustrating to playing a game and being unable to find the save point before you have to leave the game to deal with something more important. A good example would be one section in the middle of Sphinx last year where it was about an hour between save points the first time through in one area, with complex jumps, stealth sections, pattern based puzzle sequences and several combats. As another example, in WoW my primary character is Lvl 27, my husband's is Lvl 36, we started on the same day but I do most of the housework because he can't drag himself away from the computer.

    Most women who game probably class themselves as casual gamers rather than hardcore, if they want to capture the femlae market it's possibly more important to focus on that aspect rather than how much cleavage the female characters are showing.

    • In the last decade I have noticed a significan tincrease in the number of women involved in roleplay conventions, largely due to an increase in games that focus more on characterisation, political machinations and problem solving over dice rolling and simply slaying things.

      Or maybe women are more open to it, because they are more open to RP in general from growing up with video games.

      Which is not to say that us chicks don't enjoy a bit of hack-n-slash from time to time, but overall we don't find it pa
  • O gawd please... I'm only ashamed that trash came from the hands of one of our own kind...
  • I'm so sick of hearing about "girls in gaming". Girls play games, guys do to. One of the beautiful things about playing games online is that gender/race really doesn't matter. If you want less half naked chicks in games, then don't buy games with half naked chicks. It's that simple.

    Stuff like this:


    Do you think the shift towards breeding game designers in college with specialized degrees is going to detract from the casual-gaming young female? Companies so intent on hiring people with only complete

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