games really are for guys

[jfiemmpa]

http://www.avault.com/?p=1911

[BasiliskWrangler]

I wonder how this would be effected by game genre? Certainly Halo 3 is probably enjoyed more by the male population, but from my experience RPGs have a much more balanced male/female ratio of players.

[acoustibop]

Very much, I would have thought. I remember the original Phantasy Star had a female lead character - great game! I'm sure there must have been other games with female leads before that.

[elstyr]

WoW is an example, how women can become addicted to games too. In my friend-circle there are two couples playing WoW like hell. They're both married and, erm, if the female part wouldn't play the game I think the marriages would've been divorsed, just a guess .
I remember the days when we've played DSA a lot. Just with paper and pencils, later went to mid-age fests. All our girls liked to play RPGs in their imagination and then switch it over to these antique ancient meetings.
I think girls dislike playing games where you're sitting alone in your computer chamber, but do like, if they have peoples around them (not all, of course, there are always some Arwen's out there, smile).
Just imho..

Best regards,
Elstyr

[llew silverhand]

Basilisk, I don't care what spammer say about you, you're alright in my book!

Hah - and now it looks like you're harrassing me! :p

[BasiliskWrangler]

I deleted the spammer and all his/her/its posts....so llew silverhand, now it looks like you are giving elstyr a bunch of grief! What a fun game this could be!

[Evnissyen]

Well, it's hard to add to Elstyr's response, but I suppose I could add that there seem to be a fair number of successful games that not only feature female characters (appropriately attractive, of course, to also please male players) but also seem to be designed with a female audience in mind... The Longest Journey & Dreamfall, Keepsake (this one especially), Syberia... these are non-violent, problem-solving games that, if product visibility is a good indicating factor, have proven quite successful.

And The Longest Journey, for example, even though it gives nice images of April in her underwear at times, actually features (edited) male nudity without any female nudity. So... it seems that some developers are actually not only thinking of gender fairness but also looking at female gamers as a viable target audience. Girls might be a minority among players, but they do play.

I suppose, for good or bad or neither: the bottom line, as the above-mentioned games show, is that even with female-oriented games the developers can't help but be concerned about drawing male players as well in order to make their games successful. Keepsake seems to be aimed entirely at girls, but it's definitely not common.

Of course... I suppose it shouldn't be disregarded that a lot of developers have assumed, for the longest time, that guys are the only viable audience and that therefore they've designed their games with only guys in mind... that and I suppose the fact that the majority of game developers seem to be guys.


Oh... and an interesting article, by the way. Thanks, JFiemmpa

[Mongolian]

Throughout history, women have traditionally been gathers, while males hunters. It's only been about a century or two, since those roles have changed or become invisable. So with literally 1000's of years of coding the male body to hunt, all the testosterone can relate closely to males desire to play video games (hunt). There are clearly games created for females and ones totally dominated by the female demographic, but the majority of games are hunting ones.

[Scryler]

Throughout history, women have traditionally been gathers, while males hunters. It's only been about a century or two, since those roles have changed or become invisable. So with literally 1000's of years of coding the male body to hunt, all the testosterone can relate closely to males desire to play video games (hunt). There are clearly games created for females and ones totally dominated by the female demographic, but the majority of games are hunting ones.

Interesting perspective.

I'm not familiar with games clearly created for females or dominated by females. Have to check that out, see if I like any of them.

[Mongolian]

try the Sims.

[Scryler]

I tried the Sims, back when it first came out, I think. I got bored and quit playing.

Then, more recently, my daughter was going to get the Sims for my teen granddaughter. She had heard that some Sims couples could become graphically romantically inclined, and wanted to know if that was true. I told her I didn't know, as mine kept dying. Must have reassured her, as she bought the game.

A little more on-topic, Wikipedia has a couple of lists of games which might be of interest to females. A lot of them didn't seem very interesting (to me).

I am going to check out some of the games referenced earlier in this thread...but not for awhile. Too long a list to get through first.

I don't like games like GTA, and wouldn't even think about playing them. Nor do I particularly like straight hack 'n slash type games. I prefer a story line, generally.

[Dragonlady]

I must be 'Abby Normal' then cause I don't like Sims. The first one I did try and play was for my old Commodore computer. Had to keep a little dog alive and happy. I like role-playing type games. When I couldn't find those for the computers I had, I'd make do with hack and slash such as Angband, etc. I'm much older now and dislike killing monster after monster with no end in sight, nor the kind that you have to move the camera angles around to check everything. What can I say? At 63 the mind doesn't work fast anymore!

[Scryler]

What can I say? At 63 the mind doesn't work fast anymore!

And...when it does, it puts a manic ping pong game to shame! Zipping here and there with no reason or logic to speak of. Or at least mine does. Then, next morning after a sleepless night, try recalling anything of consequence.

[Amazadh Kristeopolous]

I guess it is generally thought that we males take to bashing things up and mindless slaughter more readily than the female half of our race... ...hhmmmm... ...but, I seem to remember, that one of the nastiest fights I have ever seen was between two women...

I know my erstwhile girl-friend is seriously unimpressed by my love of computer games, and can't believe that she likes a computer geek! And that I ought to know better at 61.

I find that the most irritating aspect of ageing is that, when playing RPGs, I have to keep checking my inventory because I can't remember whether I have a particular item, and the map, because I can't remember where I am... ...I think...

[CrazyBernie]

I find that the most irritating aspect of ageing is that, when playing RPGs, I have to keep checking my inventory because I can't remember whether I have a particular item, and the map, because I can't remember where I am... ...I think...

I've had that problem for at least fifteen years... and I'm half your age.