Can a guy gamer get a say in this bull?

[Archetypal_Maniac]

Recently, as in the past year Iv'e come across so many articles that amplify the fact that:
Games are designed for MEN! Games are marketed to MEN! Theres no games aimed at girls! Now wait just a minute, aimed at girls? What the hell does a girl want in a game? Guys like guns and cars and sports, games about guns, cars and sports sell well. What do girls like? Exactly, these articles state that girls are pretty much ignored, but I have yet to see one of them put forward an idea that they would like to see in game form.

The people who make games are genuinly interested in building games, and the majority are men. Why should they take 4 years of their life, a sack of cash and their companies credibility to go out of their way and produce a game they are not INTERESTED in?

The thing that ticks me off the most is this marketing bullshit, games are marketed to men with use of SEXY GIRLS! BULLSHIT! I call bullshit on that, I don't know who thought this up, the huge population of male gamers are just gamers to get a cheap thrill! Which I think is strange, check out MW2, selling like hot cakes not a boob in sight. Bunch of pervs we are eh guys? Let's check out my current games:

Borderlands: A sex filled shooter, where the player shoots skags to unlock pictures of HAWT GURLS.

Dragon Age: Origins: An RPG where killing dragons allows us to dominate girls! And make them cook us dinner too!

CS:S Zombie mod: FWAAAR CHECK OUT TEH BEWBS ON THOSE DEAD GURLZ.

L4D2: Pretty much me as a guy teaching women not to talk back yah.

Heres the inside scoop, boobs, great love em, make me smile whatever, but, and you might wanna strap yourself in for this one, I didn't spend 2 fucking grand on a gaming PC to get kicks out of jiggly wiggly boobies ok? So stop sticking this god damn label on my head that I am sort of friggin sexist, pervo because I bought a game that has a vuluptuous female character in it, it's offensive, more offensive than the girls in the games. That's not to say all games are innocent, that's just to say I, and many others like me are not guilty. If you lasses are truly into your games, then get building and show us immature boys how it's done.

 

[Worgen]

Im suprised how few spelling errors I see here.

 

[Sir_Tor]

I think it's the generalisation (spelling?) that bugs them the most, not all guys love guns, cars and loud noises so not all girls like fashion, the color pink or make-up.

 

[oliveira8]

Well uh...I think that...hmmm...what is there to talk about here really?

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Well, there is some validity in what you say, but its not entirely accurate. Games ARE marketed to men by putting large breasted women on them, its just that not all of us fall for it. Just look at Evony. It blatantly advertises its product with tits, and there aren't even any female characters, or any characters, in the game because its an RTS.

I think that women look at men in general as more sexist than we actually are, but there definitely is some of that going on.

 

[Erzengel]

It is a very in depth topic in the game industry. What can we do to attract more people to games? Women "tend" not to like the guns and violence (there are exceptions), and so are not as interested in video games involving such. So what games can be made that would be compelling to women? Well, games that are fun but don't involve violence. The Sims, for example. Peggle. Board games. Games that are accessible to anyone.
But in truth, we don't consider that "girl games". We don't consider violent shooters "boy games". We call it "Casual" and "Core". Men are the larger demographic for Core games, but women can and do play (and make) such games.

You are correct in one aspect, though: When we make games that we aren't genuinely interested in, they are very, very poorly made. Often poorly designed. I remember one designer that wanted to make a "girl game", so he designed a "become the prom queen" type game. Then his wife told him, "Please, never make that game." It is difficult for a male designer fathom what would make a good girl game. That's why the game industry is mostly aiming at accessible games instead of "girl games".

 

[Archetypal_Maniac]

Well, there is some validity in what you say, but its not entirely accurate. Games ARE marketed to men by putting large breasted women on them, its just that not all of us fall for it. Just look at Evony. It blatantly advertises its product with tits, and there aren't even any female characters, or any characters, in the game because its an RTS.

I think that women look at men in general as more sexist than we actually are, but there definitely is some of that going on.

Well you see this is my point, as I said in my post not all games are innocent, I don't play evony and in fact Evony is the source of a lot of ridicule, sure theres some boobs on there. I doubt guys go awesome let's play, most think how ridiculous it is and some write articles on websites, *points at Escapist* about just how ridiculous this form of advertising is. I think your deffinatly right about the core and casual labels, but what I want to also know is: What do girl gamers want in a game? what can a designer actually do to make a game accessible? Make it easy? Make it girly and pink? I just see so many complaints about the direction of games but no suggestions to improve it.

 

[scnj]

Guys like guns and cars and sports

I loved your rant, except I think that's a bit of a generalization. I see what you're getting at though, just a nitpick.

 

[tjarne]

Well the majority of gamers are men so by following the simple rule of supply and demand it is not very strange that it looks like it does. But I actually saw a lecture about this at dreamhack a few days ago.(called "WTF u r grl irl?") And he brought up pretty much what you said.
And yeah I to get offended by the fact that everyone I meet seems to think Im some kind of desperate perv just because Im a gamer. Like when you say you like Mass Effect and some people think just play because of the sex scene.

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

I find it hard to take you seriously, what with your Username and Avatar photo.



Boom headshot indeed.

 

[dreamtime]

I think many female gamers just want games that have real female CHARACTERS, not just annoying bitches with oversized breasts, or naive lolitas...with oversized breasts.
And maybe some unicorns.

 

[robman1130]

BEHOLD THE AMAZING DOUBLE STANDARDS

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

I think many female gamers just want games that have real female CHARACTERS, not just annoying bitches with oversized breasts, or naive lolitas...with oversized breasts.
And maybe some unicorns.

A Charlie the Unicorn game methinks

 

[kiwisushi]

There are games solely marketed for girls. In the UK there is DS commercials for some fashion based game. Also a lot of casual games show girls playing them on their commercials. I can see the idea that there isn't many "gamers" games for the use of a better word that have a female protagonist that is identifiable. They do exist though, Silent Hill 3 for one.

 

[Psyco Slim]

well i dont really know how to feel about this because hardly any of my gamer friends are girls and the ones that are and mostly bi-sexual so they dont mind at all.

 

[ZeroDotZero]

snip

Hang on, you kill Skags to get pictures of hot women? What version of Borderlands are you playing (or am I playing for that matter)?

 

[azurawolf]

Wait a minute...
I am a girl and I love guns and cars and shit like that.
To think that girls don't like that stuff is being a little sexist. I am far from a feminist but saying that girls don't like those kind of games is a little.
I actually like games that allow me to shoot a zombie's head off better then a game with a talking unicorn.

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

I think many female gamers just want games that have real female CHARACTERS, not just annoying bitches with oversized breasts, or naive lolitas...with oversized breasts.
And maybe some unicorns.

I wish they'd stop doing that and treat women as proper characters/people, and not something to look at.

 

[BlazeTheVampire]

Well, there is some validity in what you say, but its not entirely accurate. Games ARE marketed to men by putting large breasted women on them, its just that not all of us fall for it. Just look at Evony. It blatantly advertises its product with tits, and there aren't even any female characters, or any characters, in the game because its an RTS.

I think that women look at men in general as more sexist than we actually are, but there definitely is some of that going on.

Well you see this is my point, as I said in my post not all games are innocent, I don't play evony and in fact Evony is the source of a lot of ridicule, sure theres some boobs on there. I doubt guys go awesome let's play, most think how ridiculous it is and some write articles on websites, *points at Escapist* about just how ridiculous this form of advertising is. I think your deffinatly right about the core and casual labels, but what I want to also know is: What do girl gamers want in a game? what can a designer actually do to make a game accessible? Make it easy? Make it girly and pink? I just see so many complaints about the direction of games but no suggestions to improve it.

Actually... it's psychologically proven that yes, that sort of advertising does indeed work. It's generally at a subconscious level and just like all of psychology, there are exceptions. Hell I'm a girl and I'll click on things with hot chicks in them. I didn't fall for Evony because I couldn't tell what the hell it was about, but that's beside the point...

The reason cars have become "sexy" is because they've been advertised a LOT while associated with hot women. Pavlov and the dogs, anyone? The more they associated cars with hot women and sexiness, the more cars became associated with sexiness by themselves. They no longer needed the food along with the bell. This advertising is basically the same concept. However, like I said, exceptions do exist. Advertisers just go with what they think the majority would be interested in, and sex sells.

 

[high_castle]

Umm...I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. Are you saying girls don't like games with violence and action? Because out of the games on your list, I'm playing Borderlands, L4D2, and Dragon Age (definitely my favorite on the list) and enjoying them all. (For anyone not keeping track, I'm female.) I don't mind the violence, I don't mind the guns, and I don't mind characters that are attractive (in fact, in games that allow character creation, I try to make decent looking characters myself; I'd rather stare at something ascetically pleasing than something ugly for 40+ hours). The only thing I occasionally have a problem with in games is the lack of characterization beyond her sexuality that some female characters are given. Not all games are like this (Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Half-Life 2 all have strong, well-developed female characters), but some (Lara Croft and Wet come to mind) basically exist just for titillation. Again, I have no problem with female characters being attractive. Just try to throw in a personality, too.