Agreed. I think a lot of people here don't understand marketing and demographics. Advertisers carefully plan who will see their ads, people!stinkychops said:
Question of the Day, November 5, 2010
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
Why do we have to differentiate between female and male gamers? That's just stupid, sexist and is not exactly helping the gamer stereotype... The female gamers I know play CoD, TF2, Portal and such, just like me (and usually better 
). But I will tell you, the only stereotype about female gamers that I've found true is that they all play the Sims. But that's an awesome game that I enjoy as well.
). But I will tell you, the only stereotype about female gamers that I've found true is that they all play the Sims. But that's an awesome game that I enjoy as well.I am a girl and I was actually quite baffled about all the people complaining about the dragon age 2 trailer with male Hawke
I though it was the perfect manly badass type and that appeals to me fine.
I have no idea how they could appeal to a female market as I get excided over games just fine already. Counting down the days to Dead Space 2 and Killzone 3.
I though it was the perfect manly badass type and that appeals to me fine.
I have no idea how they could appeal to a female market as I get excided over games just fine already. Counting down the days to Dead Space 2 and Killzone 3.
This is all the "advertising aimed at women" I need. If you want more girls to play games, perhaps girls in games should be covered up a bit more. I don't like seeing boobs in video games all the time when I can see them in the mirror at any given moment, m'kay?ZeroMachine said:And stop making women warriors wear chainmail bikinis. Just saiyan.
Yes but doing it right will be really hard.
If they do it WRONG, it could potentially hurt potential in that demographic in the future.
Aka: Don't do the stupid tack on He-Man, She-Ra bullshit marketing ploy. I'd hope people matured past that but the big heads in the corporations tend to be a little dim in that regard. It's like they do it because they think only a handful of women/girls really will buy games, and the rest will go on ignoring it, but are only doing it for equality sakes. When the reality is if you do it right, women will flock to video gaming.
Hell after a year of insisting she'd love it my mum is now an Avid Warcraft fan. (Now if I can just formula-ize just HOW I did it and sell it, I'd be a millionaire)
If they do it WRONG, it could potentially hurt potential in that demographic in the future.
Aka: Don't do the stupid tack on He-Man, She-Ra bullshit marketing ploy. I'd hope people matured past that but the big heads in the corporations tend to be a little dim in that regard. It's like they do it because they think only a handful of women/girls really will buy games, and the rest will go on ignoring it, but are only doing it for equality sakes. When the reality is if you do it right, women will flock to video gaming.
Hell after a year of insisting she'd love it my mum is now an Avid Warcraft fan. (Now if I can just formula-ize just HOW I did it and sell it, I'd be a millionaire)
See, it depends. If you have people who know what they're doing, I say absolutely. Not just at women, though, I mean games that seriously anyone could enjoy. When you have people who don't know what they're doing...
And that's why this is a difficult question.
And that's why this is a difficult question.
Although it's true that there are a lot of female gamers out there, nobody can deny the fact that gaming, as a hobby, is viewed as an inherently male activity by the overwhelming majority of people - and if you tell me that's wrong, well, I'm sorry, but you're full of shit.
Sure, a lot of women play games, but the overwhelming majority of those games fall under the "casual" category. Console games, on the other hand, simply through their association with brand names such as PlayStation or Xbox, are thought of as being a "guy thing". And this continues to this day - remember that wonderful Kevin Butler ad where the woman is complaining about how her boyfriend has stopped paying attention to her ever since he got God of War 3? How old is that ad? A few months? Sure, it has humorous undertones, but it's hard to deny the cultural significance of this ad, and the underlying assumptions which go along with it. Hell, I'd be willing to bet money that the majority of people, as a result of these very same stereotypes being drilled into our heads from a very young age, didn't even give a second thought to this aspect of the ad. I know I certainly didn't.
For whatever reason, although gaming as a medium has continued to change and develop, the people whom society at large associates the medium with is changing at a MUCH slower pace. Hell, the "introverted basement-dweller" stereotype persists to this day. Sure, it's hard to realize this when you're constantly on a site which is essentially on the cutting-edge of gaming culture, but people need to remember these realities when considering questions such as this "question of the day".
I certainly don't agree with the idea of advertising directly to women (I'm not even sure how someone would manage such a thing without coming off as either sexist, or a complete idiot), but I like this idea that was suggested above me of making gaming advertisements more balanced - they don't need to cater directly to either sex - they should cater to both. There is no doubt that there are thousands (possibly millions) of girls out there who are missing out on having a shit load of fun simply because they can't help but think of gaming as being a "guy" thing. Like I said, it's difficult to remember this when the majority of one's exposure to gaming culture comes from this site, but society at large has communicated this exact stereotype, and the
evidence is all around us.
Sure, a lot of women play games, but the overwhelming majority of those games fall under the "casual" category. Console games, on the other hand, simply through their association with brand names such as PlayStation or Xbox, are thought of as being a "guy thing". And this continues to this day - remember that wonderful Kevin Butler ad where the woman is complaining about how her boyfriend has stopped paying attention to her ever since he got God of War 3? How old is that ad? A few months? Sure, it has humorous undertones, but it's hard to deny the cultural significance of this ad, and the underlying assumptions which go along with it. Hell, I'd be willing to bet money that the majority of people, as a result of these very same stereotypes being drilled into our heads from a very young age, didn't even give a second thought to this aspect of the ad. I know I certainly didn't.
For whatever reason, although gaming as a medium has continued to change and develop, the people whom society at large associates the medium with is changing at a MUCH slower pace. Hell, the "introverted basement-dweller" stereotype persists to this day. Sure, it's hard to realize this when you're constantly on a site which is essentially on the cutting-edge of gaming culture, but people need to remember these realities when considering questions such as this "question of the day".
I certainly don't agree with the idea of advertising directly to women (I'm not even sure how someone would manage such a thing without coming off as either sexist, or a complete idiot), but I like this idea that was suggested above me of making gaming advertisements more balanced - they don't need to cater directly to either sex - they should cater to both. There is no doubt that there are thousands (possibly millions) of girls out there who are missing out on having a shit load of fun simply because they can't help but think of gaming as being a "guy" thing. Like I said, it's difficult to remember this when the majority of one's exposure to gaming culture comes from this site, but society at large has communicated this exact stereotype, and the
evidence is all around us.
Yeah, this. This is a good idea. I like this.Aylaine said:
Oh boy, I get to be a couple days late! That's what I get for not having computer access every day. Still, gotta get that opinion in:
This misses the point of advertising. Well, a point at least. If advertising is not tailored to avoid gender bias, then the product may be panned before given a proper shot, written off as, "something for guys" or whatnot. Current female gamers exist despite bias and social stigma, and extending an olive branch will a great deal in making gaming more appealing to said "untapped demographic", to put it so very coldly. Merely eliminating gender bias may not be enough because of the aforementioned existing stigma.