Can a guy gamer get a say in this bull?
- Thread starter Archetypal_Maniac
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Women are very fickle when it comes to gaming. I know a few that like games such as Super Monkey Ball or whatever random puzzle game, and I know a few that like games such as Resident Evil.
My questions is, what would a "girl game" look like? Put in girly stuff like flowers and it's patronizing. Keep it neutral and it's not pandering to tastes enough. Keep it the same and all we hear are more complaints.
What women need to realize is gaming is more or less a male thing. No matter how much I'd love it for women to get involved in my interests, most would rather do other things than sit in front of a TV and click buttons. Case in point, if you look at certain ads on TV, they are always aimed at a certain demographic. Ads for shopping are usually aimed at women. We all know all women don't like shopping, but most do. That's why these things are the way they are. You're not going to see an ad for Call of Duty aimed at women because there are not enough profits there. Games like Final Fantasy and The Sims have neutral marketing because they span more than just the male market, but ultimately, more guys will buy them than women.
My questions is, what would a "girl game" look like? Put in girly stuff like flowers and it's patronizing. Keep it neutral and it's not pandering to tastes enough. Keep it the same and all we hear are more complaints.
What women need to realize is gaming is more or less a male thing. No matter how much I'd love it for women to get involved in my interests, most would rather do other things than sit in front of a TV and click buttons. Case in point, if you look at certain ads on TV, they are always aimed at a certain demographic. Ads for shopping are usually aimed at women. We all know all women don't like shopping, but most do. That's why these things are the way they are. You're not going to see an ad for Call of Duty aimed at women because there are not enough profits there. Games like Final Fantasy and The Sims have neutral marketing because they span more than just the male market, but ultimately, more guys will buy them than women.
what if you could shoot a zombies head off while riding a talking unicorn... that would be AWESOME...azurawolf said:
but yeah I can see what you're getting at... but fear not even though it is not evident, the gaming community/market is slowly but surely conforming to allow for everyone's enjoyment...
I know the games that girls play. That bejeweled crap. Wii games. Yeah, those 'games' that should be 5 dollar apps you only whip out after solitaire loses its luster. What a lot of girls seem to like make better movies and books than games. And so... here we are with games for guys dominating the markets. yeah. you go girls.
Why is this hard to understand? The general consensus believes games are sexist. She said it was sexist to assume games are sexist, because she happens to likes guns/cars/explosions/whatever.Gyrefalcon said:
There's no winning, sexism is just as much bullshit as racism.
How about a compromise? You ride unicorns that gore zombies with its horn and trample them underfoot.shewolf51 said:
First of all; gender stinks. Alright? Let's have that established.
The two sexes at their very core have purely physiological differences. Everything else is a normative construct which reflects the society wherein our species operate.
Secondly; video games is very much catered to a pubescent male audience - in a fashion that demographic is expected and encouraged to appreciate.
I'm not making a generalization of this matter, there are several exceptions to be taken into account.
But the interactive arts is still a medium in its infancy, which shows in the commercial markets rampant juvenility.
The two sexes at their very core have purely physiological differences. Everything else is a normative construct which reflects the society wherein our species operate.
Secondly; video games is very much catered to a pubescent male audience - in a fashion that demographic is expected and encouraged to appreciate.
I'm not making a generalization of this matter, there are several exceptions to be taken into account.
But the interactive arts is still a medium in its infancy, which shows in the commercial markets rampant juvenility.
They may not be for adult female gamers but they are for females, male gamers are going to buy them, are they?Gyrefalcon said:
So why don't you put what a girl wants in a game then email it to a dev and hope for the best or post it here just so we know what you want.
I think its that women and men mature faster. I'm a staggering one year older than my wife but she spends here waking hours figuring out how to pay the bills whilst I spend sleepless nights figuring out how to kill an Archdemon.
Men by there very nature are more prone to an obsessive love of trivial and escapist things. This is a complete swing in culture from over a hundred years ago when it was the women who had little or no grasp of "reality."
I am talking cultural stereotypes now so please don't dive on me. Look at the amount of adverts showing men as useless idiots! So we have games marketed to us because were the most psychologically predisposed to purchase them.
Also what about a game where you get to gore zombies with a talking unicorn? It's a win win situation!
Men by there very nature are more prone to an obsessive love of trivial and escapist things. This is a complete swing in culture from over a hundred years ago when it was the women who had little or no grasp of "reality."
I am talking cultural stereotypes now so please don't dive on me. Look at the amount of adverts showing men as useless idiots! So we have games marketed to us because were the most psychologically predisposed to purchase them.
Also what about a game where you get to gore zombies with a talking unicorn? It's a win win situation!
To be honest, I think that's half the point of this thread - there have been threads bashing games for not catering to female gamers but no-one seems to have an idea of what would cater to female gamers, which is ironic since presumably female gamers are playing from the same damn library of games as male gamers are, and if they can identify themselves as 'gamers' then at some level they must be enjoying the same material, stereotypes and expected gender-appealing archetypes aside.azurawolf said:
Everyone gets sick and tired of the same damn stereotypes dragged out for the same damn fps over and over, it's not particularly gender discriminative - the whole industry just needs to write more mature, non-cliché characters and plot lines.
