Silly Girls

[Susan Arendt]

Silly Girls

Videogames may market to silly girls, but they sure aren't responsible for creating them.

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[FloodOne]

Final Fantasy XIII has a female protagonist.

So did Final Fantasy VI.

Final Fantasy X had a lead female who wasn't sexed up, and was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the people of her world. That's a pretty positive step.

Those aren't games that are marketed to girls though, so I don't know who you would hold responsible in those instances.

 

[Sparrow]

I've always been sceptical of girl "gamers". The ones I've met seem to fill the usual stereotypes, or are simply trying to make a statement that "girls play video games too".

I got called a sexist for my kill streak of 12 on CoD 4 once, because I killed the same girl three times. Yeah, needless to say my headset came off soon after.

 

[hopeneverdies]

You know, I'm gonna stop criticizing my sister for playing these games, but she's gonna have to agree to stop calling nearly every single one of my games nerd games.

I would always ask her, "What sort of point do your games have?" And I would always be yelled at for it.

 

[SquirrelPants]

Bah, video games are silly, aren't they? I know that many games did the whole 'play as a male or female' thing just fine, but in some games, it wouldn't make much sense. Sure, a girl could close shut the jaws of Oblivion, and she could just as well be in the SAS with some craaaaaaaaaaaazy nickname like Soap or...I dunno, hairdye, but don't you think it would look rather awkward for a woman to be walking around in, say, Gears of War, wearing half a car?

Maybe that's just me, but it seems like that sort of armor would have to be heavily modified to the point of actually wrapping around the woman's body and directly fitting the breasts and whatnot so that you'd be able to tell she was female at all. I don't mean this in an insulting way, because, by all means, women are perfectly capable of wearing power armor. It's just that power armor is usually BUILT in a way that it accentuates the fact that the guy wearing it is REALLY BUFF. That wouldn't fit well on a female, it would just look awkward, and if they built it in a way that accentuates the fact that she's female, the guys who made the game would get yelled at by annoyed people everywhere for the girls having breasts that are overly large(because we all know how most game designers are.)

Point is, we have to draw a line somewhere between male leads and female leads. While the whole both genders thing would be great in many games, it just wouldn't work in quite a few.

 

[ItsAChiaotzu]

You just changed your point halfway through...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

What about the Elite Beat Diva's? They were a secret unlockable in EBA, and they were implied to be more skilled at their craft than the Agents proper.

 

[iblis666]

Bah, video games are silly, aren't they? I know that many games did the whole 'play as a male or female' thing just fine, but in some games, it wouldn't make much sense. Sure, a girl could close shut the jaws of Oblivion, and she could just as well be in the SAS with some craaaaaaaaaaaazy nickname like Soap or...I dunno, hairdye, but don't you think it would look rather awkward for a woman to be walking around in, say, Gears of War, wearing half a car?

Maybe that's just me, but it seems like that sort of armor would have to be heavily modified to the point of actually wrapping around the woman's body and directly fitting the breasts and whatnot so that you'd be able to tell she was female at all. I don't mean this in an insulting way, because, by all means, women are perfectly capable of wearing power armor. It's just that power armor is usually BUILT in a way that it accentuates the fact that the guy wearing it is REALLY BUFF. That wouldn't fit well on a female, it would just look awkward, and if they built it in a way that accentuates the fact that she's female, the guys who made the game would get yelled at by annoyed people everywhere for the girls having breasts that are overly large(because we all know how most game designers are.)

Point is, we have to draw a line somewhere between male leads and female leads. While the whole both genders thing would be great in many games, it just wouldn't work in quite a few.

http://www.frsa.com/pixfemuscle/MariannaKomlos.jpg

some how i could imagine a woman wearing the power armor

 

[Gerazzi]

I find it sort of annoying but gaming is usually boxed in by the media monkeys as a boys club so it'd be hard to get science mama on shelves.

DISCLAIMER: Gerazzi is not gay nor is he female.

But jeez people, I shouldn't have to say that either.

Everyone's equally plagued by stereotypes.
Most people wouldn't picture me firing a .22, now would they?

 

[jamesworkshop]

Could people please remember that Girl really only applies to females under the age of about 12

Women when you have crows feet it really is time to start being an adult

 

[Gunner_Guardian]

I honestly didn't have a bad reaction to 'tween girls' because it was a girl-ish game. I didn't like it because I could tell it was a bad game... a horrible shovel-ware game that was being sent to a undeveloped segment of the market.

Cooking Mama, Nintendogs, the Sims and a lot of other games you could label as more Girl games, those I can respect, they do they're own thing and I don't like it but they do it well. Tween girls are the games you see a non-gaming parenting buying for their kid and you know their child is going to hate it and you twitch and try to resist screaming at them not to buy it. It works both ways genders too, for every "Dora saves the snow princess" there's a "HOTWHEELS RACING GAME" that's just as bad.

I hate shovel-ware regardless if they're directed at a female audience or not. Hopefully with more female gamers in the market, girls will receive better games directed at them.

 

[Dele]

http://www.frsa.com/pixfemuscle/MariannaKomlos.jpg

some how i could imagine a woman wearing the power armor

Some_how I can see the marketing team doing a group suicide.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Well....ummm.....I'm not quite sure i'm qualified to comment but I'll just say "Video Game Companies are run by either blockheads or heartless CEOs looking for money" and that pretty much sums it up. I mean, come on, Video Games aren't the boo hiss evil FOX makes them out to be. Yeah not every girl plays games like Barbie's Horse Adventure but come on, females who play games like Call of Duty 4 will not want to broadcast their gender to save on annoying people bugging them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I sorta understand their pain, but then again I'm not your typical guy who i enthralled at the idea of glistening jugs 5 times too large for whatever skimpy leotard outfit they are wearing. I've got a less superficial way of looking at video game characters. This coming from a person who played KOTOR as a Guy but Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Neverwinter Nights and Dungeon Siege as a girl becuase he felt like throwing a stick into the gears and being a girl for a change. Not all video game characters have to be men who have voices like a blender full of gravel and make grunting noises instead of words. I like a little class with my characters, so if they at least can speak proper English I won't gouge my ears out. But seriously, Suzie has a point. Girls don't HAVE to play girly games, they can if they want to. I can remember my days when I was completely fascinated by Pokemon....it was like my life. Then I decided that I was too old for childish things. I still have my Pokemon cards, dosen't mean I use them. Just because a chunk of games is for silly, young girls it doesn't mean you can't be sophisticated and play a little Mass Effect or Braid or heavens forbid Halo 3 it does mean that Developers can be very very shallow. Play whatever games interest you, no matter if its Halo or Coking Mama its your choice you don't have to comply. That is until Microsoft takes over the world." but then again I'm one of those guys who dosen't know a lot about women....

 

[squid5580]

It is a shame a stnding ovation doesn't translate well on forums. Who cares what games whoever else likes to play. As long as they aren't taping your eyes open and going all Clockwork Orange on you then it shouldn't matter. Games are meant to entertain just like any other entertainment medium. Sure some can be educational as well but there is no rule saying they should be teaching us anything.

 

[Clarkarius]

Final Fantasy X had a lead female who wasn't sexed up, and was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the people of her world. That's a pretty positive step.

...But then you had X-2 which was a step back to old habits.

As for responding to the topic I think it is worth remembering that when Marketing directors make a game (or anything for that matter) they pick a target audience and are not trying to meet everyones individual tastes; so its only common that a target audience will be based often be based on stereotype, and futhermore it makes sense to a marketer to take the Utilitarian route and create somthing that they know will attract the greatest number of sales.

To be honest I never really understood why so many people feel that they have to defend their image of what games they play, does it really matter providing you have fun at the end of the day, after all their only games at the end of the day.

 

[hanako]

"It would be wonderful to see Science Mama alongside Cooking Mama in the store, but we apparently have to leave that sort of thing to Papa. "

Science Girls! - http://www.hanakogames.com/science.shtml

Close enough?

 

[CakeDragon]

I'm a girl, and I like dirtbikes and shopping. Just as I like RPGs, RTSs, FPSs.....
Pluys the JoBros are just a Disney cash-in, unfortunately every girl under the age of 12 have fallen into their trap.

 

[Xvito]

Great article as always!

Although you had already convinced me that I was wrong in a thread the other day, so it kind of lost it's meaning...

Also, Sora's a boy!? [small](jk)[/small]

--Xvito, keeping it excellent.

 

[yeah_so_no]

My big problem with these games is pretty much what Susan said--that there's nothing else--that the games just reinforce gender stereotypes (Cooking Mama and Science Papa). The overwhelming (and therefore depressing) number of games marketed to girls is just the sparkly pink dating-make up-ponies stuff (full disclosure; I loved ponies as a kid).

Couple that with the lack of female leads in games (and yes, people have mentioned a FEW of the games with female leads, but deny they are few and far between) as well as the way women are often portrayed in games, and it's nothing but bad message after bad message all around.

I certainly have no problems with the girls who want to play these kinds of games playing them, or with the fact that there's a market for it. I just wish Mama could also do more than cook.