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3:13 AM on 11.27.2006

11 comments
German girl gamers play vanilla
Christina Faith Winterburn

German girl gamers play vanilla  screenshot
A new gaming magazine targeted at women gamers is scheduled to hit German news stands this December.  Play Vanilla will be a gaming magazine for the casual girl gamer, age 19-40 that wants a more feminine flair to her gaming articles.

Appearing as a supplement in the January 2007 edition of Joy magazine, Play Vanilla will start appearing as a regular solo magazine as of March 2007.
"Play vanilla will be serving an interest group that has so far been woefully neglected, a group with enormous potential and specific requirements,” explains Petra Fröhlich, Editor-in-Chief of play vanilla and PC Games. "Women want to play too, but are quite different from men in the demands they place on a game. A magazine like play vanilla is inevitable with the increasing numbers of female gamers and games with specifically female appeal. Focus groups and games publishers have shown excellent reactions to play vanilla.”

After reading about this magazine and what its goals are, I've come to the conclusion that I wouldn't be caught dead reading this. I read Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Pro and Nintendo Power and I find that as a gaming fan that they meet my needs as a female gamer quite well. I don't need some feminine soft gaming magazine to make it easier on me as a woman to read about games. They make it seem like woman gamers don't feel right about reading normal gaming magazines or something like they aren't emotional enough for our delicate minds to want to read them.

Women have been the source of enormous surges in growth on the games market; internationally successful games have already shown a large proportion of female players - 60% for Sims II, more than 30% for the Anno series. Half of the "casual” gamers - more than 54% of the target group for advertising aged 14 or over are female according to a recent study by Electronic Arts and Jung von Matt - as are 44% of the Nintendo DS gamers. Women make up more than a third of all mobile game downloads according to Bitkom presiding committee member Manfred Gerdes (FTD, August 2006).

The magazine owners are giving us stats on female gamers that play The Sims 2 and other casual games, and I have to wonder why any casual gamer would even want to pick up a magazine about video games in the first place. Speciality magazines are usually only bought by people who are really into the magazine's main topic. You wouldn't buy a cigar magazine if you smoked a cigar maybe once a week, would you?

The only way this magazine has any hope of selling well is if the editors and writers don't follow any stereotypes or make the magazine pink or something.  I don't see things going well for this publication though, considering the very name of the magazine insults me; Play Vanilla makes me think of the term, vanilla sex which means safe or plain sex.  Does that mean they're trying to say that female gamers and their choice of games are plain or safe? Not a good way to start off.

[Via Lockergnome.com]



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Latest comment by oyuncambazi |view all 11 comments
Oyun oyunlar oyun oyna gibi kelimeler toner kartuş konuları yer almakta bedava oyunlar - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ......




Dtoiders have posted 10 comments:

Fana7ic's Avatar
Fana7ic at 11/27/2006 03:52

I could check that out and post some scans...
Senryoku's Avatar
Senryoku at 11/27/2006 03:56

if there's more kasumi...please do
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 11/27/2006 07:56

Vanilla has etymological roots with the word vagina, both referring to "sheath" (vaina in Spanish, vagina in Latin). So essentially the magazine is calling itself "Play Female" The use of vanilla to mean something is bland is pretty much a North American quirk that stems from the usage of vanilla in cooking as a base for other flavors.

This publication really isn't marketed towards US or Canadian gamers, it's marketed towards Germans. I can't claim to know anything about gamer culture over there (other than Nazis in videogames are not allowed), but the possibility exists that niche magazines could be much more popular in European countries than they are over here, and there may actually be a demand for a magazine like this.

With all due respect, just because EGM, Gamepro, and Nintendo Power meet your personal needs as a female gamer, that doesn't mean they satisfy the needs of every other female gamer out there, especially those from an entirely different nation and culture. In other words, don't knock something you haven't even seen that isn't really intended for you. I like movies, but I'm not going to be upset about the content of a magazine about Russian Independent films I'll probably never see.
FrogMan's Avatar
FrogMan at 11/27/2006 10:03

I smoke cigars about once a month but I'm a regular Cigar Aficionado subscriber. Therefore your argument is moot.

Actually I do agree with you on the subject. I've felt the same way about Woman's Footlocker and how girls can ride a guys bike no problem so why do they get their own bike style that guys can't ride or how girls can wear men's clothing and no one minds but if a guy wears girls clothing... hoo boy. I could go on.
Aetsen's Avatar
Aetsen at 11/27/2006 11:34

Sometimes a cigar is just a YourFathersPenisInYourMouthDaddyWhyWontYouLoveMe?
Oni's Avatar
Oni at 11/27/2006 11:45

Faith, what has to be understood is that this magazine is not for women like you. They are releasing this magazine to women who only game a couple of hours a week. Y'know, Elite Beat Agents while on the train home; that type of person. Not somebody who arrives home from work and plays Gears of War until they have to go to bed, or plays Halo for hours on weekends.

However, if somebody is reading this magazine, and thinks to themselves 'Hey, I like this kind of stuff, I wonder what else is out there?', then it is successful. I think this magazine would work as a great jump point for women to go from casual gamer to regular gamer. This magazine may encourage them to start purchasing magazines like EGM and NP and the like, so they can see what else is available to them in the gaming world.

'least that's what I think.
JoshuaTR's Avatar
JoshuaTR at 11/27/2006 12:10

For that matter, why do women get magazines of their own in any category. I mean, hell, why would you even bother marketing to the largely untapped market in the first place that play games like Nintendogs and Barbie's magical horse adventure at all?

Let's explain something Faith - you are a hardcore gamer that happens to be a woman. We all know that - congrats on not having a penis. You are the exception among women who game. You don't mind the massive gore that splatters against the GoW walls with a decent headshot - plenty of them do. Hence creating a magazine aimed at a specific market (which does not include you even though you have boobs).

CREATING A MAGAZINE FOR A SPECIFIC MARKET?! INSANITY!

I know, it is hard to believe. That is, however, how companies such as ZiffDavis make their cash.
JonDarkwood's Avatar
JonDarkwood at 11/27/2006 12:40

Just in time to ride the trend of in-print magazines dying off, huh?
Christina Faith Winterburn's Avatar
Christina Faith Winterburn at 11/27/2006 14:57

True, I don't know anything about German female gamers, but I still find it weird to sell a gaming magazine to casual gamers. Male or female. If your Mom played Nintendo DS or The Sims, do you think she would need a gaming magazine over her Cosmo?


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