Question of the Day, November 5, 2010
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
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I don't trust publishers and marketing to target women properly. I predict that they will miss the mark and alienate more people than they draw in. The women I know, who are into games, are drawn towards games with better narratives and characters that are not cookie cutter archetypes. They don't want uber feminist protagonists; they don't need gushy romance. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you want more women to play your games, then just make better games. If you build it, they will come.
If the fairer sex wants to play a game, they'll play it no matter how you advertise it. Marketing a game directly to them is just going to isolate guys who might want to play it and runs the risk of insulting the audience (and making women have second thoughts about purchasing their game).
If they want to get more women to play games, they need to make games that women will want to play, advertising isn't going to help.
That being said, I am a woman, and I only play games that are interesting to me, be them with male or female protagonists. Fact is: video games, at least those that aren't designated as "party games" that groups of people will play together, are mostly played by males. "Girl" games have never done well enough to really branch out into their own genre. If girls want to play games, they will. Most just don't feel the need to. *shrug*
Advertising targeting women isn't really going to change much. Companies need to either quit advertising (my choice) or advertise a bit wider than just during sporting events on tv or in print ads.
(Tho, I suppose, by saying that I could be misconstrued as suggesting that they "target women" by product placement. blah)
That being said, I am a woman, and I only play games that are interesting to me, be them with male or female protagonists. Fact is: video games, at least those that aren't designated as "party games" that groups of people will play together, are mostly played by males. "Girl" games have never done well enough to really branch out into their own genre. If girls want to play games, they will. Most just don't feel the need to. *shrug*
Advertising targeting women isn't really going to change much. Companies need to either quit advertising (my choice) or advertise a bit wider than just during sporting events on tv or in print ads.
(Tho, I suppose, by saying that I could be misconstrued as suggesting that they "target women" by product placement. blah)
Oh god no! NO! I am a female gamer and I am rising up to say NO!!!HankMan said:
Yes I'm a chick. Yes I play games. I agree with what others have said, girls who play games are not swayed ANY differently by game adds than guys are. You want to get non-gamers into games? Tough. Luck. Your best bet to pull in "female non-gamers" is to advertise in Cosmopolitan... 'cause I can tell you, every female gamer I've ever met (including myself) does not get into the 'fashionista' BS. We're just like the guys! We might have ever so slight difference in game-tastes - I enjoy Cooking Mama for DS, my bf doesn't. But I also enjoy the shooters I've played, the dungeon crawlers, RPGs, MMO's, fighting games, tactic games, etc...
Game companies need to STOP thinking "oh we need to target women" because I know they just want to bring in more business, so they think to bring in women who don't play games. Well here's the problem: women who don't play games... don't like games. They like doing their nails and their hair, shopping, gossiping, and... god knows what else, I'm not like them.
Gamer girls don't generally fit into the 'target audience' to acquire new women gamers. And while I'm at it, I'm not a 'girl gamer', I'm just a gamer. Stop treating me like some mythical magic retail dollar.
games are advertised, period. i don't understand how one would "advertise to women" specifically-it's not as though women inhabit a separate world with different ad media. we're reached by the same ads that reach men.
What does that even mean? Should they include makeup and lipstick in the videos border, and advertise fashion concerts? (Im not trying to be sexist, but that is literally the ONLY way i can think of it could be done)
Enlighten me if im missing something here.
Gamers are gamers, and no matter how you advertise something, it does not change the product.
Its ADVERTISING. Not game design. Though if it was game design that would just be stupid
Enlighten me if im missing something here.
Gamers are gamers, and no matter how you advertise something, it does not change the product.
Its ADVERTISING. Not game design. Though if it was game design that would just be stupid
The nintendo ads in the UK do this quite well already. You can tell that they see women as an untapped market since a disproportionately large number of their DS ads seem to focus on women playing the games, both on TV and in other places. With the Wii they obviously have the whole "family gaming" thing going on so women are included if not the focus.
As for Sony and MS? I don't know where they should go. Lets say they play a cool montage from CoD: Back Ops in an ad. If that doesn't already appeal to a particular woman then it would probably be very hard to change that.
As for Sony and MS? I don't know where they should go. Lets say they play a cool montage from CoD: Back Ops in an ad. If that doesn't already appeal to a particular woman then it would probably be very hard to change that.
I don't see how you would target women with advertising. My gf loves survival horror so i guess you could make games with emotionally stressing stories but i believe that its all more of a preference thing. I mean when you talk about chick flicks we talk story emotional relationships and there are games that do that but when you put those lovey dovey relationships at the center it makes me go wtf? I want some gameplay with my characters and not something mundane.
I would say yes, because many women (at least the ones I know) pay zero attention to the ways games are currently marketed. A female friend once said to me: "Damn LBP is great, why have I not heard of it?"
There also needs to be more girl friendly games not made by Nintendo on that are shovelware. Games that are more like [insert teen drama] in terms of emotion and pacing and less slabs of beef with guns. That is not to say girls cannot like a game like halo or GOW, but in my experience they are not as appealing as a game like LBP or the mario games.
There also needs to be more girl friendly games not made by Nintendo on that are shovelware. Games that are more like [insert teen drama] in terms of emotion and pacing and less slabs of beef with guns. That is not to say girls cannot like a game like halo or GOW, but in my experience they are not as appealing as a game like LBP or the mario games.
