I came across this article on IGN, which you need Insider to see, but I will summarize:

http://insider.ign.com/articles/835/835335p1.html

The article takes a look at female gamers, the increase in female gamers over the past couple of years and how the industry is trying to capitalize on it. Of course they mention Ubisofts recent foray in the Imagine series of gamesz (X-treme!), and while there is supposed "research" to back up the subject matter of the games still makes me cringe.

What was most interesting to me was the following paragraphs which discuss ways to get women to play games:

[i]There's got to be a way to tap into what women actually want out of a video game.

Actually, there are four.

A.) Go completely asexual. Puzzle-games show absolutely no favoritism, and that's made them a big pick thus far for a lot of casual gamers, female or otherwise. Doesn't have to be 2D, either. There's nothing wrong with Katamari, aside from its galloping insanity.

B.) Female role models. Lara Croft and Samus Aran are duds because those are guy games, but Super Princess Peach didn't do too badly by making a role-reversed platformer where the frequently helpless kidnappee finally got to kick some ass (with a magic parasol) and rescue Mario for once.

C.) Appeal to female tastes. The quest for chocolate or romance or adventure or equality or escape, what have you. There's a reason Girl Gamers tend to go in for RPGs, and it's the same reason they appeal to Boy Gamers... fantasy fulfillment. Specific fantasies, no less, whether it's leveling up in Azeroth or being who you want to be in Second Life.

D.) All of the above. Can't be done? It has been done: it's called Portal. It's short and packaged with a bunch of badass male-dominated shooters, but taken on its own, I'd bet something along those lines would absolutely appeal across genders. Several entries in the Final Fantasy series can make the same claim. Especially the asexuality.[/i]

I've been thinking this for a long time and I'm glad somebody had the balls to say it. Although I think Samus Aran could be a role model I think the points of making gender-neutral games and focusing on genres like RPGs to appeal to female tastes are totally the way to go. As a female gamer looking back on the games I was playing in the tween years were mostly Square and Enix RPG's. Why? Because they had fun stories with interesting characters. They aren't geared towards any particular gender but they have something that women and men can latch onto. I find this particularly with JRPG's more than Western RPG's, but it's hard to convince the marketing people that in these companies when we live in a gaming society that embraces "Real is Brown." JRPG's are too colorful and run the risk of being mistaken as a kids game. I almost wish I had a business degree so I could apply for one of these marketing positions; I would smack everyone over the head.

I'm not trying to be a bra-burner. I had dolls growing up (though they were back in the 80's when Barbie was very career-oriented). I like to look nice with the makeup and all that jazz. However I outgrew Barbie. Once girls outgrow the stereo-type companies have the potential to lose this consumer if they don't know what else is out there. I think the games exist, but most women don't know they want to play those games yet.