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Games Entertainment

Gear Up For Female Gaming Invasion 75

Posted by Zonk from the getting-beaten-badly dept.
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.'."
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Gear Up For Female Gaming Invasion More

Gear Up For Female Gaming Invasion

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  • It is about time girls relized how awsome games are. Maybe one day gamers will ratio 1:1
    • I can only hope. And wish. And pray to God.
    • It's not about girls realizing how awesome games are. Some of us have been gaming for a long time (such as since the Atari 2600 came out). It's about a larger percentage of girls getting into games. Remember, too, that not everyone would be pleased with a 1:1 ratio - particularly if it meant less boobies in the games.
      • But if it meant more boobies in real life, I think gamers would be all for it.
        • I don't think you're following that idea very far. When do gamers get out into real life to see boobies? If more girls were gaming, wouldn't there be less boobies on display in real life? What kind of physical shape are a good number of gamers in? Are those the kind of boobies a gamer used to digital boobies is going to want to see in real life?

  • Anyone else tired of hearing about this? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Evro ( 18923 ) * <evandhoffman.gmail@com> on Friday July 01, 2005 @07:22PM (#12965908) Homepage Journal
    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.
    • Exactly. You don't see an article about how guys don't like ironing or whatever it is girls like. It's dumb. NEWSFLASH: Girls don't like video games and guys don't like girls who like video games unless they're gay. There's nothing sexy about a girl who wants to play Xbox.
    • Is anyone else tired of hearing about "girls'" tendencies to playing/not playing video games?

      Yes (and for the record, I'm a girl). Note to the media: let us be just-plain "gamers", no gender explanations involved.

    • The reason that it's a big issue is that GIRLS HAVE ALL THIS MONEY and the gaming industry would like some of their money, please. So there are stories written and studies commissioned and discussions had in an attempt to let girls know "hey, the industry wants some of your money, please at least consider giving it to us."

      These studies are at least somewhat self-fulfilling. Girls read about how girls are getting into games and they start thinking things like "hey what do those girls know that I don't?" and
      • Don't forget that it's a ploy for straight boys too. Guys that want to know they're not just playing with penis. :)

        I kind of roll my eyes whenever I see these kinds of stories. You can't assume to understand a large group of people as if they were one person, with one set of likes and dislikes. I have met plenty of girls that love Tomb Raider, DOA Volleyball, Quake, or other "guy games" that girls are supposed to hate because the game was sexually exaggerated or excessively violent. Truely fun and rewardin
    • Yes, and if I was girl interested in gaming this would put me off in a big way. I'm sure that 90% of sites reporting this are just doing it to get the traffic boost that it brings.
    • I'm also tired of hearing about it. It's clearly marketing hype from the game industry.
      • Well, part of the reason you're hearing about it is because us gaming girls are getting louder and louder about it, now that more girls are playing, and they're getting into all-female clans [pmsclan.com] to play together.

        We're also sick of the treatment we get by many of the guys, and drawing more positive attention to ourselves seems like a way to offset the negative comments and crap we get on a regular basis.

  • Inflated Numbers... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Jinsaku ( 729938 ) on Friday July 01, 2005 @07:41PM (#12966032)
    From the article: The figures include free games that are accessed via portals such as Yahoo.

    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.

    • Spammer gets punishment yet somehow dodges death penalty
    • Microsoft caught doing something nefarious, film at 11
    • BSD is dying
    • Girls set to explode onto gaming scene

    Seriously, time to get some new material. Either that, or start writing for Mark and Brian, since that's only slightly less repeatative than listen to them crack the same jokes and making the same football bets every goddamn morning since 1988...

  • I read something new about women and games each day...
  • "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!

  • BS (Score:3, Insightful)

    by vga_init ( 589198 ) on Saturday July 02, 2005 @12:55AM (#12967310) Journal
    I call this BS. There have always been women gamers, and there will always be women gamers. How is a game supposed to appeal to women? What subject matter is supposed to be becoming of a woman anyway?

    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.

    • 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.


      As an experiment I played WoW as a female to see how different I would be treated, and I'm still like WTF?? Its really us men that are always bringing up the gender debate.

      Women are just people like us men

      Everyone kept bowing, and blowing kisses at me - doing all sorts of

      • Anything surprising about the 'male' reaction? Guys, for our part, always try the 'knight in shining armor' schtick when a 'girl' is on board. I don't know exactly why but it seems to be the thing.

      • > Women are just people like us men

        Well, thats debatable ...

    • One might argue that women are oversexualized in games, but aren't men too?

      Women are over sexualised in nearly all media. Look at the ads in women's magazines. Perfect flawless bodies. Same everywhere. Expect certain niche pornography.

    • Games don't need to be 'girly' to appeal to girls/women, nor do they need stylized versions of men or women which are appealing to women. They need to be NOT OFFENSIVE TO WOMEN. There are subtle, pervasive aspects to games that men may not notice, but turn women off immediately.

      For example, for a large number of women, an ad or box art for a game which features scantily clad models is a big red warning light that says, "This game is for the guys, because we're treating women as objects." An even larger

  • Obligatory (Score:4, Funny)

    by Wampus Aurelius ( 627669 ) on Saturday July 02, 2005 @01:43AM (#12967488)
    I, for one, welcome our new female gamer overlords. With open arms. Come on, I'm waiting...
  • The article lists the following games as popular with women:
    Role-playing games - Final Fantasy
    Narrative adventures - Legend of Zelda
    Easy to pick up driving sims - Colin MacRae Rally
    Puzzle adventures - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
    Quick-fire arcade puzzlers - Tetris
    Life simulations - The Sims
    Those games are popular with men. They are not 'girly' games, they are good games. Women like good games?! Wow I'm shocked. You mean there is no magical formula for making a game popular with women?! We nee
  • The girls that tend to play the same type of games as "the guys" as passionately as the "the guys" tend to just as scruffy and ill manicured. This is because in korea, the PC bangs (internet cafes) are everywhere, and everyone smokes inside, and there's no sunlight or anything usually. Most cute girls I've seen were just playing the usual games or chatting it up on webcams. They didn't stay too long though. Someone else have different experiences?
  • The figures include free games that are accessed via portals such as Yahoo.

    Am I the only one that thinks statistics on "gaming" should not include these types of free casual games. At the very least, there should be a separate statistic for games where some form of payment is required. I know a number of women who play these games but would not consider themselves "gamers."
  • When the trolls figure out that a good number of the people playing MMORGP's are woman the spams will start...
  • For the love of Jebus, someone get women gamers the hell out of online combat/FPS games.

    The level of annoying chatting almost always goes up in their presence, not to mention the pathetic attempts by guys to sound cool. Try charging the enemy when half your team is building a pyramid, all the while LOL'ng away as you get hopelessly outnumbered and killed out in the field.

    Worst of all, if you try telling them to shut up (because CptPwnALot here doesn't want to hear about your day) then some wannabe-hero ad
    • Just because a few women gamers milk the whole attention thing in those types of games, and the guys are busy trying to impress them, doesn't mean we all need to stop playing such games!

      I love it when guys try and "impress" me when I'm playing Halo 2, cause usually I'm on a team with other girls in my clan, and we just make them look silly when we're 0wning them in the process.

      Yeah, we're chatty, but it's because we're having fun. And just as often the "chatter" is game-related as we're communicating abo

  • huh? (Score:1)

    by mbius ( 890083 )
    TFA: Existing online role-playing games are succeeding with women in spite of their subject matter, not because of it.

    'Kinda unqualified mishmash is that? Which of knights, dragons, magic and fairies is diametrically opposed to the female sex? There's no need for sexist archetypes--plenty of broads got as excited over LOTR as I did. The vast majority of men still prefer sports to hobbits. Geeks are geeks.

    TFA quotes the founder of a certain Int. Game Dev. Assoc. as saying women don't have time to
  • My wife has been playing Battlefield 1942 3-4 times a day for the last year and has recently upgraded to BF2. She even plays the thing more than me. Bob

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