Female's and gaming.
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You are joking, yes?ApeShapeDeity said:
I am OBSESSED with gaming.
The reason we wouldn't want to hear about Black ops of Medal of Honour scores would most likely because A) no-one shuts the hell up about them, or B)They aren't very good games.
I play plenty of games, and you can ask any of my friends. I never shutup about videogames. >.< I just play ones alot of people have not heard of.
There are plenty of games that are far from low brow or have badly depicted female characters.
Possibly it's time for you to reevaluate your game collection?
Also, female dialogue in games done badly?
If anything I find the female characters are usually voice acted better than the Males.
Lucy Stillman, Alyx Vance, Female Shepherd, Morrigan from Dragon Age, Faith from Mirror's Edge. I rest my case. There's alot of great female voice actors.
-Tabs<3-
For most of my female friends it seems to be a case of "they'd rather be out hiking/kayaking/biking then inside playing video games. For those I know that don't really fit into that whole 'active' niche they're more interested in social gatherings and parties.
I don't entirely know why more females don't like gaming, I'm female and I love it. Perhaps other females like dealing with reality more than dealing with 'video game worlds'. Probably the same reason more women don't enjoy sci fi.
I don't entirely know why more females don't like gaming, I'm female and I love it. Perhaps other females like dealing with reality more than dealing with 'video game worlds'. Probably the same reason more women don't enjoy sci fi.
Hey, I like harvest moonminakorocket said:
It's cathartik, although the Rune Factory series was just awful.
-Tabs<3-
Totally off topic but the wings are better then the burgers so try them out!LightningBanks said:
Also, if you have a basic grasp on psychology it can be hilarious watching the waitresses use it to manipulate large tips and repeat business without really doing anything special in reurn.
Back on topic now...
I really don't know, my wife doesn't like games very uch but it's mostly because she is really bad at them (because she doesn't play them much) so it's kind of a vicious cycle.
I think maybe parents don't encourage girls to enjoy games but to focus on other things, maybe it's a bit of gender assignment that starts young? I also think starting young with video games is what keeps people playing, I had a learning curve from my Atari day where each new console added a few more buttons which allowed me to adapt bit by bit until my xbox feels natural to me. My wife thinks it has way too many buttons for her to track and makes her frustrated.
Also, look at game types. I'm willing to almost bet real money that games like Farmville, Bejeweled and to a lesser extent The Sims have very large female player bases compared to CoD or Halo.
And now for some rambling, but I noticed the most ladies I've ever gamed with on multiplayer have been playing Gears of War 1-2, so maybe that game appeals for some reason? Women are so mysterious...
I know more than a few female gamers, and some of them are even into what we widely consider "hardcore" games: first-person shooters, fighters, etc.
Typically, I think women aren't into games because of the following:
1. The female brain generally isn't as wired to enjoy gratuitous violence as the male brain. I'm not saying women can't be aggressive or kick ass, but they typically need a decent reason to throw down.
2. Video games- especially big-budget hardore games- are still aimed at a male audience. Whether or not a game has a "strong female protagonist," which gender is always the first to end up in a skimpy outfit? Fantasy games, especially, tend to be bad with this. Just look up the difference between armor for male and female avatars in WoW; the exact same piece of armor typically shows about 95% more skin on a female character.
3. Male gamers are generally assholes. The second a gamer- especially on an online service like XBox Live- is revealed to be female, they are subject to a mix of awkward flirting, crude sexual advances, and insults toward their entire gender. Actually, women pretty much anywhere online seem to face this barrage of testosterone-fueled grunting and pelvic-thrusting. If I was female, I wouldn't think it was worth dealing with that crap just to play a game.
I really don't believe in feminism, so it almost pains me to say this: Males are the biggest reason that more females aren't into gaming.
Typically, I think women aren't into games because of the following:
1. The female brain generally isn't as wired to enjoy gratuitous violence as the male brain. I'm not saying women can't be aggressive or kick ass, but they typically need a decent reason to throw down.
2. Video games- especially big-budget hardore games- are still aimed at a male audience. Whether or not a game has a "strong female protagonist," which gender is always the first to end up in a skimpy outfit? Fantasy games, especially, tend to be bad with this. Just look up the difference between armor for male and female avatars in WoW; the exact same piece of armor typically shows about 95% more skin on a female character.
3. Male gamers are generally assholes. The second a gamer- especially on an online service like XBox Live- is revealed to be female, they are subject to a mix of awkward flirting, crude sexual advances, and insults toward their entire gender. Actually, women pretty much anywhere online seem to face this barrage of testosterone-fueled grunting and pelvic-thrusting. If I was female, I wouldn't think it was worth dealing with that crap just to play a game.
I really don't believe in feminism, so it almost pains me to say this: Males are the biggest reason that more females aren't into gaming.
In-N-Out only exists in the west coast though, so most people are SOL for the best burger ever.Assassin Xaero said:
Every girl I know is a gamer, just to varying degrees. My best friend enjoys playing shooters, my sister from another mother grew up playing final fantasy, one of the other girls prefers tabletop games but will grab a controller when asked to join in. I myself prefer fantasy-based games, as I don't really like modern weapons. Those are just a few examples of the girls I know, it'd take me half an hour to list them all. Female gamers are out there, we're just hard to find behind the masses of vapid sluts you see plastered all over the tv.
Every girl I've hung out with/dated were somewhat into gaming. They didn't play MMOs or the latest released, but they played some sort of games. My sister plays a lot of WoW, and she used to play a lot of PS2/GC when she lived at home.
I play all sorts of games, everything from casual to FPS's, BioShock was a great title and top of my list when i argue that game mechanics can be just as important to story as a well done movie script, but most of my iTouch is causal puzzle games. I don't hide in corners either, I just went to a gaming through history tournament and got to the finals for New Years Eve. By history i mean, 30 consoles, from ataire to the modern big three. And I don't mind being a dick to people. Anyone seen Yahtzee's review of ACB and their multi-player. I love that i get to piss people off by picking them out of a crowd and slicing their neck with a fan.
For gods sake, when i go on dates i drag my boyfriend into old arcades to kick his ass at Missile Defense.
If you want to know why female gamers are rare and often distant from the major titles, follow the mantra that was presented in 2006 by Game Informer. The article was "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and it was about female gaming. Going onto Xbox Live and kicking ass at Halo or Black Ops with a female gamer tag is allot less fun when hearing "go make me a sandwich". Also its the media in general, or our part of it. I'm the only girl in my computer class and I have the highest grade, but still when i talk to counselors they ask "You're in that class?" and the first day i walk in every year i hear the endless sexist lines like "LOOK a SKIRT" or "the cooking class is down the hall". It makes me mad, way more than the pandering of boobs that lure in little teenage boys. Movies, magazines, books, TV, they all pander sexual images of women to make money but that doesn't mean women leave those media forms behind.
Sex, yeah i'm fine with that. Sexism, not so much.
For gods sake, when i go on dates i drag my boyfriend into old arcades to kick his ass at Missile Defense.
If you want to know why female gamers are rare and often distant from the major titles, follow the mantra that was presented in 2006 by Game Informer. The article was "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and it was about female gaming. Going onto Xbox Live and kicking ass at Halo or Black Ops with a female gamer tag is allot less fun when hearing "go make me a sandwich". Also its the media in general, or our part of it. I'm the only girl in my computer class and I have the highest grade, but still when i talk to counselors they ask "You're in that class?" and the first day i walk in every year i hear the endless sexist lines like "LOOK a SKIRT" or "the cooking class is down the hall". It makes me mad, way more than the pandering of boobs that lure in little teenage boys. Movies, magazines, books, TV, they all pander sexual images of women to make money but that doesn't mean women leave those media forms behind.
Sex, yeah i'm fine with that. Sexism, not so much.
JRPGs seem to be the only game genre that actually gets this. Seriously, look at Sephiroth and tell me he wasn't designed to appeal to a female audience. ;-)meece said:
More on topic, another female gamer here who enjoys everything from the Sims and Peggle to WoW, Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed. Like the others, I also have issues with the idea that "girls don't game" or "the only female gamer is a casual gamer." Having said that, the ubiquitous stereotype of the disapproving girlfriend demanding her boyfriend stop playing Halo has to come from somewhere. Offhand, these are my thoughts:
1) Within the "disapproving girlfriend" scenario, the issue may not be that they dislike video games but rather are thinking about what you could (or SHOULD) be doing instead. For example, if you are currently unemployed, the girlfriend (or significant other, in gender swapped or same-sex cases) may feel that the time you spend on games could be more productively spent in job searching or something similar. Or if both partners are free and could spend some time doing things together but one is busy doing something solo, like gaming... you see where the problems could arise. In these cases, I think video games are simply an easy target to blame, i.e. "My boyfriend isn't doing X thing that he should be doing, he's playing games instead. So gaming is more important to him than X thing. Gaming is causing this problem!"
2) Sexualization in games is definitely a turnoff, but sexualization within the gaming community itself is also a problem. Even that Extra Credits video fell into it with their pictures of a "girl gamer"... namely, that every one of them is beautiful or at the very least attractive. A lot of men say they want more women to game, but in my experience, what they REALLY want is more *attractive* women to game. There are plenty of girls who game but are not traditionally attractive... plain hair, overweight, bad teeth or skin, whatever. But rather than the community embracing them as equals, they're either ignored altogether (i.e. "They don't count!") or made into objects of scorn and derision ("LOL FAT ACNE-RIDDEN FANGIRLS LOL LOL"). This sort of attitude of exclusion and ignorance is a turnoff both for "non-attractive" AND attractive women, because who wants to be in an environment where they'll be picked apart for their slightest physical flaw?
3) It's been touched on numerous times that part of the problem with many female characters is that they are obviously meant as ideal sex objects for the men (ie they exist to please male players). But I think there's also a little bit of that in the male characters as well, that they are idealized and designed to please men. When I look at the protagonists of a game like Army of Two or Gears of War, I think, "This is the man that male gamers (sort of) want to be." Gruff, stubbled, badass... I don't know, maybe it's just me, but there's something about these characters that just seems tailored to hit upon what men idealize and revere, (or, perhaps, what developers THINK men idealize and revere). Nothing wrong with that, but it adds another level of alienation for women, I think. Not only are we confronted with female characters who are obviously only there to appeal to men, we have to deal with male protagonists who are also only there to appeal to men. The message seems to be that, yeah, these games were made for men. I'd prefer to see more games which handle the male and female characters in a more gender neutral way, presenting them less as fantasies for men (or what they think men want) and more as characters everyone can like. Good example: Assassin's Creed II. Despite being amazing and sleeping with tons of women etc etc, Ezio never comes across as pure wish fulfillment... or if he does, it's not the super "macho" kind. He's not awesome because he throws off oneliners and grows stubble you could light a match on, he's awesome because he's thoughtful, charming, funny and elegant... all things that men and women alike can appreciate. Other good examples would be Heavy Rain (Ethan and Jayden are not ALL THAT IS MAN but are just regular guys) and every JRPG ever made (the male characters are not BUTCH AND MACHO but still appeal to guys and girls alike). Honorable mention goes to Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect, which do feature stubbled badass soldiers but often subvert expectations about their macho nature (Snake is troubled and vulnerable, while a Paragon Male Shepard is usually about four interrupts away from breaking out the tea and crumpets... and is AWESOME for it.)
4) OK, this is where I start running the risk of hitting on female stereotypes, so take it with a grain of salt.... but sometimes I wonder if women are turned off of hardcore games because of how ugly they are. Not in terms of the polygon count or rendering or anything, but... well... BROWN. And grey, and black, and rust, and muted green... basically, colors with less saturation than a dry teabag. If I were a girl who'd never touched a game before and I saw someone playing, say, Call of Duty, my first response would be, "Ick. Brown walls with brown doors and brown ground. Even the trees look brown. Looks boring." Whereas if I saw, say, Super Mario Galaxy, I'd think, "That looks colorful and dynamic. It looks ALIVE. I want to see more!" That may be less of a girl thing than a "new gamer" thing in general, but I think we underestimate how appealing and engaging color can be to a medium. It's not always *necessary* (Citizen Kane is an amazing movie without color, after all) but it's something to consider... I know lack of vibrancy is a turnoff for me when looking at games.
Perhaps girls would play more games if female game characters were not constantly overly sexualised.
Games based in Swords and dragons settings nearly always have men with cool looking armour, but when you take that armour and put it on a female character, she becomes some sort of Pole dancing, stripper, scrap metal hybrid.
A lot of women in games are sexualised to have enormous breasts, pouting backsides and have a massive tendancy to flirt with everyone who looks at them.
Female characters can be based on other archtypes you know.
But unfortunatly, untill games designers get it through their heads that creating games where women are little more than just giant tits on legs, Insults the dignity of women everywhere, they aren't gonna be interested in an industry where they are all portrayed as sluts.
Obviously my view doesn't apply to all women averywhere as I know three who can.......and constantly do kick my arse at Call of Duty black ops.
Games based in Swords and dragons settings nearly always have men with cool looking armour, but when you take that armour and put it on a female character, she becomes some sort of Pole dancing, stripper, scrap metal hybrid.
A lot of women in games are sexualised to have enormous breasts, pouting backsides and have a massive tendancy to flirt with everyone who looks at them.
Female characters can be based on other archtypes you know.
But unfortunatly, untill games designers get it through their heads that creating games where women are little more than just giant tits on legs, Insults the dignity of women everywhere, they aren't gonna be interested in an industry where they are all portrayed as sluts.
Obviously my view doesn't apply to all women averywhere as I know three who can.......and constantly do kick my arse at Call of Duty black ops.
Most girls who party a lot tend to like mainstream first person shooters...most girls have played Cod before and get this some girls even "enjoyed" it. The ones who play other games either like there basements a lot (like male gamers) or just keep it secret for stigma...well thats what I think at least.
I'm a girl as well and have the same thoughts about the FPS genre too, I don't like aliens or giant guns that shoot lasers (mostly) or big spaceships, basically futuristic stuff. I'm into more Medieval fantasy, like the Zelda series, or games like Dark Cloud, Odin Sphere and Skies of Arcadia. Realism = boring to me, at least sometimes. There are good games that have realism out there I've played. I did grow up with the super nintendo, but never became a real game till almost 11 years ago.Iznat said:
The main problem id say with female gamers is the fact we keep saying Girls dont like/play games or exist in them as is said about MMOs
If people actually realised females do play games and included them if they wanted to play then maybe we wouldn't have this problem (if it even exists among certain age groups)
If people actually realised females do play games and included them if they wanted to play then maybe we wouldn't have this problem (if it even exists among certain age groups)
While it makes me glad to know that there are people who think like you do, I still think that it's the exception rather than the rule. I have no statistics or anything to support it, and I'd love to be proven wrong, but I still strongly believe that certain subjects appeal more to males while others appeal more to females.Screamarie said:
I'm not saying that girls look at movies or games with weapons, spaceships, jiggle physics or explosions and say "that is not a thing for girls, and therefore I am not interested", but regardless of the reason they do seem to (generally speaking) stay clear of it. At least that's how it's looked wherever I've been. Maybe I've been around the wrong crowds or maybe things will look different once I get older, but so far I have seen very little to make me believe that the content of most videogames appeal equally to both genders.
I think its because as a kid, girls are encourage to play with dollhouses and dolls, and to think that video games are "for boys" or not girly. The stereotype of boys playing with GI Joes and girl with Barbie comes to mind.
When they grow up they already don't like video games so why would they play them if they don't like them? Of course not all girls are like this so that's why they're a minority. I hope what I'm trying to say is clear. Basically I think that the way you were raised plys a big part on deciding if you game or not.
My little sister is growing up with games (because of my influence she plays consoles going back to Sega and SNES) and she'll probably play games in 10 years.
When they grow up they already don't like video games so why would they play them if they don't like them? Of course not all girls are like this so that's why they're a minority. I hope what I'm trying to say is clear. Basically I think that the way you were raised plys a big part on deciding if you game or not.
My little sister is growing up with games (because of my influence she plays consoles going back to Sega and SNES) and she'll probably play games in 10 years.
*I'd like to apologize beforehand for jumbled thoughts and sentences in this post. Sorry.
There are myself, my mom, and my older sister as the females of the family. My whole family (5 people) played Everquest so much that we had to get multiple computers so that we wouldn't complain about not being able to play. That's about as non-casual as my mother and sister have played. My sister actually doesn't like video games, but she played WoW a lot, and my mom only plays browser-based puzzle games or Wii Sports nowadays.
As for me, I moved onto more MMOs as I got a little bit older.. I suppose MMOs are gateways for female gamers; Easy to get into (I believe), and social.. Then onto FPS' when I was 13.. And have been playing since then. Maybe it's something in the brain, maybe it's from social factors. The way I view myself, the line between genders is blurred to the point where I don't even give a damn; Girly or manly games, I can play, if what I mentioned is even a factor in that. But in addition I grew up with video games, and ended up with some sort of social anxiety through school.
I think if I were more attractive, more social, and all-around a more friendly person I would hardly play video games beyond the "casual" point..
There are myself, my mom, and my older sister as the females of the family. My whole family (5 people) played Everquest so much that we had to get multiple computers so that we wouldn't complain about not being able to play. That's about as non-casual as my mother and sister have played. My sister actually doesn't like video games, but she played WoW a lot, and my mom only plays browser-based puzzle games or Wii Sports nowadays.
As for me, I moved onto more MMOs as I got a little bit older.. I suppose MMOs are gateways for female gamers; Easy to get into (I believe), and social.. Then onto FPS' when I was 13.. And have been playing since then. Maybe it's something in the brain, maybe it's from social factors. The way I view myself, the line between genders is blurred to the point where I don't even give a damn; Girly or manly games, I can play, if what I mentioned is even a factor in that. But in addition I grew up with video games, and ended up with some sort of social anxiety through school.
I think if I were more attractive, more social, and all-around a more friendly person I would hardly play video games beyond the "casual" point..