Games for Women

[Voulan]

As a female I like a little bit of everything. -Lists-

That's a fantastic collection right there. And its a good example, too - I myself like anything, as long as it's a good game. I just had a quick look through my game collection and came across platformers, driving simulators, shooters, RPGS, JRPGS, puzzle games, fighting games, sports games, horror and psych horror games, adventure games, music games and action games. That's almost every genre under the sun.

Have the option of a female protagonist and do not under any circumstances just gender swap the main character and have everyone refer to, or treat her like she is male. Immersion is a big issue with video games and when you don't have a protag you can relate to it can be very disconcerting.

In relation to people saying girls prefer RPGS and the Sims games, this makes a lot of sense. There aren't many games with female protagonists, so whenever there are some or the opportunity to play as one I leap for it. Tomb Raider, Mirror's Edge, American McGee's Alice and Madness Returns, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, even Portal - all these games are fantastic and feature amazing protagonists, but they are a minority. It's not so much that I hate shooters (which I don't), it's just that I'm fed up with playing Mr. White early 30s guy. RPGs are a favourite of mine since I get the best of both worlds - playing as male and female characters. Who doesn't want that?

 

[Barry93]

Games for Women? God of War and Dead Space series.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

The women gamers I know prefer RPGs and games where you build things.

My sister will play a bit of halo now and then(she destroys her boyfriend in it lol) but she never played it with the obsession she gives to games like oblivion.

Course I've encountered plenty of girls on xbox live who play all sorts of things. So this definitly isn't a rule.

But I still think the trend is towards more tactical less reflex based games for women. Plus the women I know love being able to kinda play dress up with their rpg characters so bonus points for something where you can inject your own aesthetic designs.

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

hmm my friend Milissa isn't a big gamer but she's a fan of Mario Kart 64

I had a girl friend that could kick your ass at Contra 3

I work at a gamestore so i know of a lot of girls are buying up the mass effect games. they seem to really be into JRPG's as well

I've had a hand full of friends that like the Halo series

I'm going off of girls of teenage age and above. Little kids just seem to buy what ever the hell they think they want.

 

[bobmus]

My girlfriend and sister have both been into Halo 3 multiplayer, so a good game can appeal to anyone. I do tend to look at games more like Rayman and the ilk for her though as she's not really a big story-following gamer.

 

[onegirlgaming]

.snip.

In relation to people saying girls prefer RPGS and the Sims games, this makes a lot of sense. There aren't many games with female protagonists, so whenever there are some or the opportunity to play as one I leap for it. Tomb Raider, Mirror's Edge, American McGee's Alice and Madness Returns, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, even Portal - all these games are fantastic and feature amazing protagonists, but they are a minority. It's not so much that I hate shooters (which I don't), it's just that I'm fed up with playing Mr. White early 30s guy. RPGs are a favourite of mine since I get the best of both worlds - playing as male and female characters. Who doesn't want that?

I always prefer playing as a female protagonist if I can, it's so much more immersive. I wonder if men have the same issue when playing as a female (as opposed to a male character).

 

[onegirlgaming]

.snip.

Have attractive but not heavily sexualised armour. Women like their characters to look good but not like they have been made that way for the male gamers.

That's actually a really good way of explaining something I've struggled with - I love having a pretty female character to play but it really gets on my norks when every cutscene is filled with lingering pauses on the characters' T&A.

 

[JediMB]

In my experience, women like character-driven RPGs where you can play as a female character.

Just like I do.

But maybe that's just because most of the gaming women I know, I know as a result of our common interests...

 

[Twilight_guy]

What types of games do I think woman like to play? Same types as men mostly. They may be playing in fewer numbers on some games but I don't see a significant divide in interest so far. I suppose more little girls are playing Barbie Horse Adventure then little boys but by the same token more boys are probably playing Alien Booger Eaters then little girls.

 

[Ricky 49]

i agree that women have just a varied taste in games as men and that there should be no such thing as guy gamers and girl gamers it should just be gamers.

i think publishers/developers should embrace the idea that both men and women can enjoy any game genre. example i like games where you can select the gender of your character, fair enough i always pick male (being a man myself) as i can then immerse myself that much more into the story but i always liked the idea a women could play the same game and not have that immersion broken by being forced to play a male charter.

just my opinion i always thought that because women usually had to play male characters it would break their immersion to whatever game they were playing somewhat. (obviously i don't know how true that is) don't get me wrong i don't think all women should be forced to play female charters in games just as all men should not be forced to play male characters in games.

if the gender of a charters is somehow vital to the game (which they rarely are, the gender of the protagonist is usually much less important in games than other entertainment mediums) then i would argue that there should be more games with female protagonists...decent and interesting female protagonists lets not have X blades again. if like in most games its irrelevant what gender you are save for some halfarsed love interest part of the story, then you could easily allow the player to pick a gender and change the love interest's aswell (if scared of being edgy) and preserve that immersion factor.

would be interested on what women think of this if they prefer games where they can pick their gender.

 

[onegirlgaming]

.snip.
would be interested on what women think of this if they prefer games where they can pick their gender.

I absolutely do, it's very difficult to get in to a story if you're some massive man-hunk with a gruff voice stamping all over the place. Though obviously in games like TF2 it's less important .. but I'd still like some playable laydeez.

 

[z121231211]

I blame it on marketing.

 

[AngleWyrm]

The very idea that there exists a valid generalization is the source of the problem, methinks.

That is the kind of ignorant, sexist crap that screws women up.

Look here for some "valid generalizations." [http://videogames.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=003627]

 

[Ricky 49]

I absolutely do, it's very difficult to get in to a story if you're some massive man-hunk with a gruff voice stamping all over the place. Though obviously in games like TF2 it's less important .. but I'd still like some playable laydeez.

yeah it would seem easy enough to implement a gender select or a selection of characters 50% of which being female in most games (it been done well in games like mass effect and is easy enough in games where you don't have a face like halo reach) so it strange that publishers and developers don't add a select gender feature more often. as evidently it would helps more women get into games (i think most gamers are still male sadly) it would be an easy step towards involving the other 50% of the world into the demographic without any real repercussions on the current model. it just makes sense both in terms of the medium and marketing to do it.

 

[Phasmal]

Most other girl gamers I know are into MMO's. (In fact a few of my friends who wouldn't even identify as a gamer/nerdy in anyway kick ass at WoW).

I'm very into WoW myself, but I also love things like TF2, L4D, Dragon Age, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Batman, Bioshock and many more.
I've got pretty much the same taste in games as my boyfriend (almost, I don't like Halo).

Problem is, though if I am asked I will always say that I am a girl, I don't go around annoucing it (those who do are generally not actual girls ) so people can be playing with me for some time and still not know that I'm a girl. So people think girls don't play. It's annoying. I can't go around telling everyone without looking like I want attention.

 

[Erana]

My gaming choices are made because I am me, not by my vagina.

If voicing my preferences are just going to go into enforcing some sort of gender stereotype in one of the situations where gender arcetypes are as pointless and nonconstructive as giving people fodder on an internet forum, I'm not doing it.

I just want to be viewed as me, not as a woman. Being female is just a part of what contributed to making my personality, just like my growing up where I did, my being a younger sibling, or my father being a douche.

We all know the stereotype of men preferring ShootyShooty and women preferring SimSandwichMaking but I'm aware there's also a high amount of individuals for whom this just doesn't fit.

That stereotype is bullshit. Not because of what it says about the sexes, but that it exists at all. The only thing such a stereotype does is give people fodder for insulting another for their choice of games.
As people who love video games, what we should be doing is encouraging people to play good games, without heed to these gender stereotypes.
Guys get to play Kirby, girls get to play God of War, and no one says anything, because they're both good series.

 

[Kermi]

My wife is currently playing Silent Hill 2 HD after playing loads of Mass Effect 3 for the last month and before that she wrapped up her Insanity difficulty playthrough of Mass Effect 2, and before that her third playthrough of Skyrim, which we held off on buying until she was done with Saints Row the Third and Assassin's Creed Revelations. We're hoping Silent Hill Downpour also arrives this week.

Next month she's looking forward to Prototype 2 and Mass Effect 3 DLC. Later in the year we'll be picking up Lollipop Chainsaw, since Grasshopper Manufacture really struck a chord with her with Shadows of the Damned in 2011.

Probably the big games for her this year will be Borderlands 2 and Bioshock Infinite - she was looking forward to Metro: Last Light but with THQ in trouble we might never see it released.

I was surprised she wasn't really interested by the demo of I Am Alive which all my friends seem to love, but maybe it's just not high on her priority list right now. She did finish her Nightmare difficulty playthroughs of Alan Wake and American Nightmare right before ME3 came out so maybe it was too similar and she burned out on it. Hard to say.

So... that's what kind of games I think girls like. 27 year old girls with a lot of free time, anyway.

 

[onegirlgaming]

.snip.

We all know the stereotype of men preferring ShootyShooty and women preferring SimSandwichMaking but I'm aware there's also a high amount of individuals for whom this just doesn't fit.

That stereotype is bullshit. Not because of what it says about the sexes, but that it exists at all. The only thing such a stereotype does is give people fodder for insulting another for their choice of games.
As people who love video games, what we should be doing is encouraging people to play good games, without heed to these gender stereotypes.

Yes, I agree it's entirely bullshit but it still exists (as far as I can) see which is why I'm interested in various opinions. Do you think the people who go around insulting others would just pick on something else if gender wasn't an issue or is it more that gender elicits the reaction?

 

[onegirlgaming]

Most other girl gamers I know are into MMO's. (In fact a few of my friends who wouldn't even identify as a gamer/nerdy in anyway kick ass at WoW).

I'm very into WoW myself, but I also love things like TF2, L4D, Dragon Age, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Batman, Bioshock and many more.
I've got pretty much the same taste in games as my boyfriend (almost, I don't like Halo).

Problem is, though if I am asked I will always say that I am a girl, I don't go around annoucing it (those who do are generally not actual girls ) so people can be playing with me for some time and still not know that I'm a girl. So people think girls don't play. It's annoying. I can't go around telling everyone without looking like I want attention.

I don't really thing being a girl on games like WoW garners that much attention either positive or negative. Not so sure on TF2 etc though I use "onegirlgaming" as my gamer tag for everything and really don't cop any less grief for it thankfully, it would annoy me to be given an easy ride based on gender.

 

[DSK-]

I've seen a few girls play Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004 in my time. They certainly weren't any slouches, either.

It's those, and a few of the girl gamers of the Escapist that made me appreciate I was a bit naive in my beliefs with girls and video games.