ESA Study Finds Women Make Up Nearly Half of Gamer Population

BurningWyvern90

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valium said:
abominableangel said:
sid said:
I keep hearing that, but where the hell are they?
I think part of the reason a lot of women gamers haven't broken into any communities, speaking from my own point of view, is that men still either 1.) don't believe we know how to hold the controller/mouse properly, let alone how to play a 'real' game, and 2.) treat us mainly like sex objects.
I hope you realize just how bad that is. Women can be sexist too, which is what that quoted part actually is. You are judging the whole because of the actions of a few.
That's why I tried to qualify it; it came across as harsher than I actually mean. I said later that that's still what it FEELS like, not how it is. I'm fully aware that it isn't true for every male ever. But hey, obnoxious teenage boys are going to be the ones most likely to be super vocal, and, well. They're obnoxious teenage boys.
 

mechalynx

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Mar 23, 2008
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Little Gray said:
mechalynx said:
Well, I've seen my mom click away on Solitaire and Bejeweled. I can safely say that she is no gamer.

I say, if you never threw a controller into the wall or smashed your mouse, you are no gamer, just like messing around with fingerpaints in my youth does not make me a painter.

A player, maybe.
So you have to be an idiot with anger issues in order to be a gamer?
First of all, thanks for calling me an idiot with anger issues, I guess? I applaud you for being a pillar of tranquility in the face of, say, losing a lengthy boss battle due to a sudden QTE.

Second, my mom would be the first to say that she is no gamer. She is a player of some puzzle games, sure, but not a gamer. She is not or will ever be any kind of target audience when it comes to games. A gamer to me is someone who devotes him/herself to the medium, someone I can have a lenghty conversation about games as a participant instead of observer. I really don't know how I can explain my view on the term "gamer" better than this.

Third, I don't know why Escapist keeps changing my avatar since I started subscribing, but I can assure you that I am quite female recently celebrated my 30th birthday.

Oh, and let's not act like being a gamer some kind of merit badge. It is simply a title that defines you by your favourite hobby.
 

chikusho

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To claim that these numbers are irrelevant is to say that no person can develop a taste for different genres and different kinds of games and/or experiences.
It's also fairly narrow minded to think that the genres which are currently overrepresented by one gender will always remain that way going forward, especially since society at large is becoming more accepting of games as a hobby.
 

Doom972

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Genocidicles said:
What does it take for someone to be qualified as a gamer though? I mean studies such as these usually consider someone who plays a bit of interactive televison a gamer.

I'm more interested in what percentage of core gamers are female.
I read some academic articles on the matter and it seems that about 10% of core gamers are female. I think that the most recent one was from 2011, so it might be higher than that now, but definitely not anywhere near 50%.
 

mechalynx

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Mar 23, 2008
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Little Gray said:
Well excuse me for thinking somebody who throws a temper tantrum and smashes stuff over a video game is acting like an idiot and has anger issues.
No harm done. I'll just throw in a couple of smiley faces for ya next time, since you seem to be struggling with light sarcasm.
 

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
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Not for nothin' but...didn't we already know this? And haven't we known this for a good long while now? Thus all the rage that often boils up on this site regarding the fact that despite these numbers, publishers STILL cater mostly to the desires of frat boys?
 

Eri

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Feb 21, 2009
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I love people who try to claim that even people who play Farmville for 15 minutes a day are gamers. That's like saying because I cook my own food I'm a chef and I'm a photographer for taking cell phone shots. I'm also a maid because I clean my house.
 

Little Gray

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mechalynx said:
Little Gray said:
Well excuse me for thinking somebody who throws a temper tantrum and smashes stuff over a video game is acting like an idiot and has anger issues.
No harm done. I'll just throw in a couple of smiley faces for ya next time, since you seem to be struggling with light sarcasm.
Ah sorry about that then. Its just that I have known too many people who have smashed controllers, windows, tvs, consoles, etc because they died one to many times and had a hissy fit.
 

Voulan

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Well, the response here is extremely embarrassing to read to say the least. Today I've learnt that we have an entrance exam for people to gain the oh-so exclusive title of 'Gamer' with strict guidelines and rules, such as having played at least one well-known AAA title and having broken at least one controller - hours or money spent are irrelevant. I've also learnt that as a female that has not played 'casual games', I'm a statistical anomaly, and therefore don't count at all when it comes to marketing decisions. Because that 45% also includes hard-core female gamers, not just casual ones, but that's irrelevant. I mean, it's not like constant sexualization and targeting towards teenage boys (in an offensive way, I believe) might alienate these people from going into these games, right?

By the by, if a male owns an Xbox but has only one copy of COD for it and only plays it once every few weeks, is he a gamer? I mean, he's playing COD, a real game for real gamers, so he must be! But a woman playing Bejeweled every day and putting money into the game does not count, because it isn't an actual game.

Women gamers are definitely out there. Me, for one, including many people in this thread alone. Then there's the whole fake-gamer-girl test, but that's a whole other issue.
 

mechalynx

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Mar 23, 2008
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Little Gray said:
mechalynx said:
Little Gray said:
Well excuse me for thinking somebody who throws a temper tantrum and smashes stuff over a video game is acting like an idiot and has anger issues.
No harm done. I'll just throw in a couple of smiley faces for ya next time, since you seem to be struggling with light sarcasm.
Ah sorry about that then. Its just that I have known too many people who have smashed controllers, windows, tvs, consoles, etc because they died one to many times and had a hissy fit.
Yeah, that seems a bit silly. I did hurl a controller at the ceiling once. It wasn't in anger though, but due to a jump scare in one of the Resident Evil games.

Sorry about getting snippy in the later comments.
 

grigjd3

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sid said:
I keep hearing that, but where the hell are they? Correct me if I'm wrong, but most communities are composed primarily of guys. Same thing with the industry itself. I keep getting told every user has just under 50% chance of being a chick but it doesn't really seem to apply when you look at the users, does it
Question asked and question answered. How many women do you really think want to hang out with guys who refer to them as chicks and see them as numbers? Ever think there might be girl gamers out there and you are simply isolated from them? I know I married one. I know my best friend is dating one (she plays in our DnD group). I meet girl gamers all the time. What's your problem?
 

Mr Cwtchy

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The point to make about this is that while having a large chunk of female gamers being 'casual' does not make them irrelevant, it is something to take into account when you're chewing out publishers of AAA games for not catering to females enough, like people are so wont to do on this site. Those same AAA games that evidently the bulk of females have little interest in playing to begin with.
 

Deshin

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IndomitableSam said:
Sigh.

Really? This is turning into a "well, girls aren't hardcore gamers so they don't count" argument? Seriously? If it's not the women part, it's the credibility of gamerd based on what they play. Why so elitist? It just makes you sound like a jerk. Even if someone plays Bejewled or Peggle or Farmville, they're gamers, because they're spending money in the industry. Is their money less important than COD or Halo or RPG players?
faefrost said:
Isn't the core definition of gamer someone who spends disposable income on games they like and then plays those games? I don't think our little club has an entrance exam? And believe it or not Words with Friends is just as valid a type of gaming experience as Call of Duty.
Stevepinto3 said:
The reactions to this in the vein of "well yeah my mom plays Bejewled but that doesn't count" probably speak louder than the results themselves.

It shows that 1) We've still to break this barrier where you either play casual facebook games or are teh hardcorez and there is little to no gradient and 2) Just how bad of a job the AAA industry is doing at reaching out to anything besides 15-25 year old males.
Ronack said:
"Ah, but they don't play REAL games like we do." - Thread comments

Classy, guys. Extremely classy.
And you all missed the point completely. (incoming long tirade)

This isn't even elitism, or a "CoD or gtfo" type of thing. But what I AM saying is if the extent of your video gaming extends to a couple of facebook games then sorry but you're not really "into gaming". That's it in a nutshell, you're not "into gaming", not going to use the word "gamer", you're just "not into gaming". I played football during breaks at school, that makes me a sportsman? No it doesn't and I should not be included in any demographics pertaining to it.

This isn't even a "women don't play games" thing. That's bullshit. I know full well a lot of women play videogames, hell I play on an MMO with one of my best friends and she's a lot more hardcore about it than I am. But to come out and say "oh yeah women easily make up half the gamer population" is pr spin at best and flat out bullshit at the very worst.

What I don't get is why do people feel angry when people call it out as being false information? Do they feel somehow part of a new age movement? Do they feel it somehow takes away some form of vindication? Is this a reverse-sexism thing? Go into any game store and what do you see? Majority of men buying video games. Watch any gaming tournament and what do you see? Majority of men playing video games. Men are the majority and not 55% either but by a long shot. Do I like it? Not really, I'd prefer if more women played video games. I honestly wish that the ESA study was true, really I do. Nothing would make my day more than knowing just as many women play video games as men do, but the fact of the matter is they do not and that's something we all have to bottle down and accept.

I'm not proclaiming there's some mystical entry exam to be a gamer. I'm not saying "must have X number of games across Y consoles" as a qualification. Honestly to quantify the whole thing is far beyond my abilities at this hour of the morning but what I will say is the ESA's attempt at it is laughable. Women playing games is a thing, it's a good thing, but it's not a 'big' thing. Should the industry do more to cater to women? Honestly I think the idea is bad because it should cater to "gamers" not a specific gender; the odd title or two sure but not wholesale saturation. Do I think publishers not wanting to put women as leading roles or on the boxart to be bullshit? Absolutely bullshit. Do I think how most games portray women to be unrealistic and demeaning? Absolutely, which makes these numbers WORSE and downright harmful because any publisher looking at the numbers and say "well women play games so we must be doing it right, carry on with the skimpiness and perpetual 20 year old looking women!". But I'm not going to bury my head in the sand and go "well the ESA said it's all ok so nothing to care about here folks!" and ignore the real problems.

And you know what that real problem is? Social Stigma. That's all, as stated earlier video games are still seen as "toys" for kids or neckbearded manchildren. The only *real* hurdle we have to face is getting women around to the idea of "that seems fun, I wanna try it". Some have, which is great, but the MAJORITY of women will just think (or say) "you play video games? what are you, 12?". Idk about you guys but I'd like to see some REAL effort put into breaking down the gender barrier and not just relegate myself to thinking Bejeweled and Farmville are our saving graces that will make the problem go away.
 

blalien

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Jul 3, 2009
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sid said:
I keep hearing that, but where the hell are they? Correct me if I'm wrong, but most communities are composed primarily of guys. Same thing with the industry itself. I keep getting told every user has just under 50% chance of being a chick but it doesn't really seem to apply when you look at the users, does it
I've read a statistic that about two thirds of women who play games online pose as men to avoid harassment. That should give you an idea of how messed up the video game community is at the moment.
 

Formica Archonis

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Nov 13, 2009
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Well, the entire first half of the PDF is certainly a nice collection of unsourced infographics. Other than the ESA's insistence that they bankrolled "the most in-depth and targeted survey of its kind, gathering data from more than 2,000 nationally representative households", there's not one jot on methodology or sources until they hit the "units sold" section.

Nope, sorry, I don't believe senators who go on about video game violence yet never provide concrete sources, I'm not going to let the ESA have a free ride either.
 

GAunderrated

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Jul 9, 2012
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This just in, ESA manipulate "statistics" in order to make the gaming industry look better! Also in other news, gamers of both genders rage over the article in a completely unconstructive manner.

All jokes aside the article is misleading and many posts are just flame bait. Sadly this is what happens when you try and label everything. No one should have to prove that they enjoy video games by stating what they do and don't play. The more people that enjoy the medium of all categories is a good thing.