We've all heard the legends, the hushed whispers emanating from herds of awestruck, greased con-goers, and the awe-inspiring tales of heroism at the hands of a mythic creature: the girl gamer. And while my feigned shock and awe simply serves as a sarcastic device, sadly, game developers and gamers themselves seem to hold a similar opinion; a point Professor Celia Pearce makes well (in spite of some questionably factual statements) in a recent(ish) article.
Unfortunately, Prof. Pearce seems to fall in to the same trap many do when expounding on the infamous "girl gamer;" namely, assuming that all women who play games want games that are "female friendly." She attributes the success of the Wii and DS in part to its casual appeal and thus ease of accessibility to women, which in spite of her good intentions sounds uninformed at best, and insulting at worst.
In her lambasting Microsoft and Sony for focusing on "higher-end graphics" rather than the introduction of a new gimmick and focusing on "casual" games like Nintendo, Prof. Pearce makes an egregious mistake in assuming that "girl gamers" want "girly" games.
Of the female gamers I know, not one of them owns a title I've seen that was specifically marketed to women. Why? Because girls that game like killing giant monsters, racing obscenely fast cars, saving the universe, and stabbing hookers post-coitus just as much as I or any other gamer does.
Granted, my conjecture could be just as mistaken as Prof. Pearce's. However, I'm operating under the assumption that girls that game don't want to be treated like delicate flowers, spoken down to, or marginalized simply because of their sex. They want to be treated like gamers.
Would a broader spectrum of protagonists and less oversexed and unrealistic female characters be welcome? Sure. But that doesn't mean that everyone with two X chromosomes wants to play Imagine Babyz or Barbie Horse Adventures; or even if they do, that they can't enjoy a couple hours of kicking your ass in TF2.
[Thanks, Jonathan]
Contest:
12:02 PM on 01.25.2008
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To the public and the people writing these articles, a "gamer" is a person who plays video games. If you own a DS and a single game for it (Say, Tetris or something), you're a gamer in their eyes. However, to us, "gamers" are really hardcore gamers. If you're not out pwning n00bs on a regular basis, we don't consider you a gamer.
Using the public's definition, I think this woman is right, but she's incorrect in just applying it to women. For people who don't game regularly, "casual games" are more appealing regardless of gender. I know people's parents, both male and female, who couldn't give two shits about Halo or the latest Street Fighter, but love playing a game of Wii Tennis. That said, if you count every girl who plays a video game as a gamer, then she is correct in that the majority of that population would be considered "casual gamers".
It's weird for us, since I think most of us are friends with girls who love video games just as much as we do, so it's hard to equate what these people are talking about with our own personal experiences. There are "girls that game" like Faith and Colette and VirtualGirl, but there is also a large population of people like my friend Amy, who haven't touched a video game in their lives except for The Sims 2 and the original Mario Bros.
I do think the general thrust of Dr. Pearce's argument is correct though. On the whole, the industry needs to do a better job of marketing to women, both in casual games and for more 'hardcore' games. While many Dtoiders see casual games as something that will destroy the industry, I'm somewhat more optimistic and believe that it's going to help bring a whole new demographic to gaming. However, it's going to take time. People will need to play casual games for a while and realize "Hey, this is fun. I wonder what else is out there?". Because the emergence of "casual games" is relatively recent, this shift hasn't happened yet, but I believe it will eventually.
And, based on that theory, one of the best ways to get people interested in hardcore games is to first market to as broad of an audience for casual games as you can, and then once you've built up a base, start marketing the hardcore games to them. It'll take time, but we'll see how it goes.
Of course, if my theory is wrong, then pretty much everything I've said is a pile of shit. However, I think that I'm correct, and I think that economically marketing games directly to a demographic ("girly games" for "girls") to draw them to games in the first place, and then introducing them to more hardcore games is the most sound marketing strategy for these companies. It may not be fair, it's definitely not equal, and it's going to piss off a lot of true "girl gamers", but for the console makers and developers it's the best way to increase sales and bring in new gamers.
People like these are the reason why I still get told in a few places that I shouldn't play games because 'they might be scary'- why aren't boys ever told this? Of course, if someone thinks Devil May Cry is that terrifying, it might be time to return to mother for some more breast-feeding.
If they keep marketing the games as fun games, nothing more, they'll keep attracting the girls and boys who want to play. Sure, we females may (and I emphasise MAY) not be too keen to play Leisure Suit Larry, but there's a market for everything.
If that was the question I'd have backed it with a resounding "yes!".
I was in Wallmart a few months ago and this young (maybe 8?) girl was shopping for DS games with her Grandma. I remember quite clearly her point out all the games she already owned: Nintendogs, Ponies, and the rest of JTHM87's list.
I'm not sure what conclusion I can draw from that other than different people play different types of games. *shrug*
The idea that people out there actually take these game things seriously and want to push them forward technically and artistically... wait, what?
That caption and picture was hilarious.
Here's my $0.02.
There are two only game that has consistently got my wife on xbox live every night for the past few months: Halo 3 and Puzzle Quest. She's got a friendslist full of chicks that spend all night tea bagging n00bs despite the lack of teabags. (we still haven't come up with a female specific phrase for tea bagging...the best so far was Pastrami Slap).
But like I said she plays a lot of puzzle quest too...so that's where it falls down is she a hardcore gamer on halo who likes puzzle quest or a casual gamer on puzzlequest who plays halo?
I mean she is a "gamer", but she doesn't spend all day reading blogs like I do...but she's a lot more hard core than some of her friends who come over and just want to play sonic on the Wii.
The whole gender specfic argument is stupid. I agree with Aerox, it really comes down to marketing to the casual set which has expanded the market.
What were we talking about?
I don't want games marketed/made to/for woman, I just want games!
Thousands of MEN enjoy Kirby, the pink ball of hope (lulz) and no one thinks that weird. So why is it weird for girls to like the guns and the gore?! stfu weird lady, stfu!
Maybe they've been brainwashed, or maybe they actually like those games. But defining girl gamers as girls who like to play Halo 3 neatly defines the question away.
I find that direction in marketing counterproductive to pretty much everything.
I don't really know much about marketing, so I might be way off base here, but at last from a psychological perspective if you show a person who normally doesn't play video games a video game, they'll say "Oh, a video game. I don't care about that." and move on.
If you instead show them their peer group/popular people people playing the video game, there's a subconscious "Oh, people like me/people I want to be like are doing this. I should do it too.", and that seems to be what marketing is based on. Most Coke commercials now aren't people sitting around enjoying a refreshing coke, they're awesome breakdancers having an awesome party and they happen to be drinking coke. Campbell's is all about football players playing football for 25 seconds, and then having a bowl of soup in the last 5.
If you market to people who are already interested in your product, you're not getting new customers. The real point of marketing is to convince people who wouldn't normally be interested in what you're selling to buy it.
It seems stupid to us, but it's really all about making money.
These games aren't marketed to anyone older than age 12 so I don't see the problem, its not like these games are marketed to the female 20 somethings that are into gaming. The females who are into gaming generally don't come here to post their thoughts which is why there is such discrepancy over what females want. I think we just want to choose what games we play, and not have something marketed specifically to us, because then its usually considered a "kiddie" or "girlie" game and is shunned by adults.
You make a great point, but what I was saying is merely a suggestion in a different, more HONEST direction - a direction that happens to go upstream, against an infinite flow of liquid gold that goes a billion feet per second, teeming with robot piranhas.
A man can dream...
(we still haven't come up with a female specific phrase for tea bagging...the best so far was Pastrami Slap). [/i]
OMGWTFBBQ that was awesome.
I don't want games marketed/made to/for woman, I just want games!
Thousands of MEN enjoy Kirby, the pink ball of hope (lulz) and no one thinks that weird. So why is it weird for girls to like the guns and the gore?! stfu weird lady, stfu!
I played Pokemon when I was started to get into that phase where most girls become a little less girly and I'll admit that I liked the cute Pokemon like Eevee and Vulpix over others, but I just think we're starting to cater a little too much to the little girl demographic.
That's my opinion, though, not my advice. And keep in mind that I just tend to hate most things that are stereotypically associated with women.Girly games just don't sound fun. *sad face*
I will admit though that I really want to play Hamsterz 2, but I think that has more to do with my desire for companionship with small animals that ask little of me since I can't own any where I'm living.
...And my obsession with hamsters.
Unfortunately during LAN's and other social occasions we're forced to put up with the handicap.
Katamari Damacy is a great example of this. Who wouldn't love rolling things up?
The games are there, but most people don't know they exist yet.
haha?
Yes, Samus is a girl.