I thought I would write a bit about girls gamers from my perspective, because my experience seems to be rather different than the ones I have been reading about.
This video on the topic is interesting.
I don’t totally agree though, personally I dislike those games aimed at girls made by Ubisoft, they seem really patronising. Games about shopping, pets, “babyz“, cooking.. Ugh. I think making these low quality pink-fluffy-glitter-pony games for girls doesn’t help the problem, it’s sexist and insulting.
I played video games with my friends a lot when I was younger, most of whom had consoles of their own and played regularly. (random side note: The only time I felt weird about it was going into a game store, I would never see other girls and people would stare at me like an alien just walked in) We would usually all want to play as a female characters, and in games where less female characters were available it would be a race to select them. :| But other than that, we played anything regardless of whether it was a game ~made for guys~ like Dead Or Alive supposedly is.
A lot of people online seem to act like there are 2 types of gamer, the hardcore (male) ones and “casual” (female) gamers, which I find irritating. I like playing Bejewelled and Pet Society on facebook but I also love Bioshock – it’s possible to enjoy both!
Finding images for this entry was depressing, most of the images I found to do with women playing video games had captions to show how “stupid” and unskilled they were, or they were naked girls covered in controllers & games. Google image search “girl gamers” or “girls playing video games” to see what I mean..
I’ve been playing games a lot lately, since Christmas I have finished, in the follwing order, Bioshock, WET, Prince of Persia, Bayonetta, Gears of War 2 and I have almost finished Resident Evil 5!
I like playing co-op with Marius a lot, I think our styles are very different, he usually goes very close to enemies using a shotgun, I’m more cautious and stay back with machine gun/rifle. Also he doesn’t think about health at all, whereas I always try to keep mine high.
Yeah I really dont like those silly plan a wedding look after a baby games, and i don’t think they really get girls into gaming just gets them into similar games like sims or something
I think it’s sad the way most people online and some game producers usually think girl gamers are just casual gamers and aren’t meant to be taken seriously. The Petz games on the DS and some of the Barbie games I’ve seen aren’t exactly interesting enough to give any attention to. The Imagine line is far worse but I think those are more geared toward kids rather than a female audience in general. Personally, the Ubisoft line of games suck. :/ Yes, I’ve tried one. They were fun for ten minutes then they seemed kinda stupid after.
Now me, I’m not really a shooter person but I’m more of a rhythm game/RPG person but I don’t think I’m a casual gamer. Sure, I enjoy Pet Society and Bookworm but I’d rather be playing some obscure JRPG over that,
Now my reactions at certain parts of the video:
-The big console hits as they call it… I kinda like some of them. Some of them. Sadly most of the “Console hits” that have been released nowadays I consider as meathead games. “HOMG big guns/blood/things that go boom!”. That’s what I mean. Don’t get me wrong. I liked Dante’s Inferno and Metal Gear and Assassin’s Creed… but somehow, I just don’t enjoy Grand Theft Auto as much as the macho male gamer does. :/ mebbe it’s just me but I prefer my games to have more substance rather than really loud explosions.
-Yes, Ubisoft had a good idea targeting a younger female audience but… not with sucky games! I got into gaming when I was around five thanks to a couple of cousins who’d always play Mario when we came over. I watched them and when I got old enough to promise not to mess up the controls (around 9 or so), they let me play. I loved it and eventually, I went to the arcade regularly… found I enjoyed video games and here I am with my cherished PSP.
-I don’t mind the boobs in games. Heck, if they’re part of the character design, I won’t bat an eyelash at it if the gameplay and/or story is good enough to keep me hooked. Take for example DoA Paradise. I found the volleyball game fun and… seriously, I was laughing my ass off when I saw the “Boob physics” because I was thinking “Guys get off with this?! But real boobs don’t move like that!”
Great article, I’m a really big PC gamer, and love going to LAN parties to find I’m the only female there xD Personally, I guess the (kinda gross) petz and barbie…create your own shopping assistant type games are aimed at an audience who will…well actually buy them.
But then, I LOVE Dragon Age, which I think targets both males and females, with the whole romance stories, but also with good gameplay.
Must get BioShock2………………………………..
Thanks! ^^ I sometimes feel awkward going on xbox live, I don’t see many girls on it and I am not great at video games xDD Despite playing them so much lately. >_>
Yes! Bioshock 2 is great! *O* I don’t like the multiplayer much, but the story in single player is really good~