NuclearKangaroo said:
if we want the stats to change there must be more games designed for women, and i dont mean simply having a female protagonist, kinda like otome games in japan
hell certain kinds of casual games might be just that
btw im not implying that girls cant enjoy "hardcur" games as well, of course they can, im just talking about tendencies.
In my opinion at least, designing games specifically for a female target audience would have pretty terrible results in terms of inclusivity... Sure, this might get a wider number of people interested in playing them, but in the end, that's still basically seeing girls as being a separate demographic from the bulk of the industry's target. People (usually) don't design games, even the ballsiest of shooters, to be intended to be played by men. ... Outside of this side of DoA, at least.
Now granted, my own attitude towards gaming might influence my opinion. I've never quite recognized myself in the "girl gamer" image, be it as a positive or a derogatory one. In all my years of playing games, I've never really cared about the fact I was kicking a** with a dude or a lady as a main character, as long as it's a well-written one. I've been quite intent in supporting the people who
do suffer from their demographic being quasi-absent in the industry, because I understand that those people need representation, and I believe that diversity is a good thing for gaming in general. But if it has affected my own gaming experience, it's only marginally. Which is why the very idea of being singled out for my gender makes my hair crawl, even if it might seem like a good idea.
(besides, otome games are hella cheesy. I'll admit to having played some titles, liked them even, because they can provide with some great laughs... -and I encourage everyone, men and women, to try one on a rainy day-, but it's the Baywatch of video games. It's formulaic, and while there are some people -more power to them- who love it to the point of spending entire afternoons watching reruns, most folks see it as temporary distraction.)
Re : this survey as a whole. Several commenters to this thread have already pointed out how nonsensical the criteria for separating causual and core gamers were - and they
are. What to make of the dude that spends 3.5 hours a day playing Bejeweled online? Or the girl that sucks at one particular game, but made it her life goal to beat it, and clocked several hundreds hours in that alone? Are you less of a core gamer if you're playing a console? A bad PC port?
Some people make time a criterium, other go by type of game, equipment or achievements... By this survey's logic, and some other factors too, I surqualify, although I never considered myself "hardcore" by any stretch of the imagination. Point is, imo, there is no clear and stable distinction between one thing and the other - you'll always find
more hardcore than you - or, conversely, more casual.
The industry nowadays is huge, and these distinctions tend to become more and more blurry. Individuals and companies will keep on doing them and relying on them, because people need to identify themselves to such-and-such groups, and the human brain is so that we identify by categorizing... but with more and more people playing, it's becoming more and more of a formless blob by the decade.
Of course, the inclusion of new consumers, and the will of certain companies to "cater to a larger-scale demographic isn't without its own risks. I pretty much understand @List's reaction, for instance, given that I shared their fear to some extent (though right now I'm more worried at the sudden success of [Blank] Simulators and the mass appeal for games that are crappy by design as possible cause of drop of qualities in gaming...). But as far as I'm concerned, any kind of catering that distracts from putting effort into a game, its writing or its gameplay is a bad, especially when it touches already-established franchises. And catering is already a thing. The recent acknowledging of a "causual" demographic, and its newfound visibility on the market, might worsen the trend (because it makes that much people to cater to, with interests that may not be the same as those of the "established" gaming scene), but the trend sure isn't new.
Me, I've got beloved series. I've got favorite types of games, even if I played and enjoyed a wide array of games in my life, and will hopefully keep doing so. I really don't care if one specific genre is more popular than others
as long as game diversity is maintained and everyone, hardcores and casuals, can play what they want. Publishers ought to understand that "more consumers" doesn't necessarily means "more people to sell the same uniformed one game to" but "more possibilities". And I choose to believe that we, as fans, have a role to play in that too, by responding to them or simply continuing to plesbiscit what we like.
Now, female gamers (That was the topic, right? Sorry for the huge derailment...). Even if the survey's criteria are dumb, the fact that women tend to game less than men I'm pretty sure is still true. I think more girls and women should be gamers ; not for parity's sake, but because video games are pretty sweet, period, and the more the merrier.
Because of that, I feel girls that play video games shouldn't be treated as an oddity. We're neither cosmic exceptions to be celebrated, nor priviledge-smugglers meant to be targeted. In fact, we've got absolutely nothing special.
