Sony Wants More Women Interested in PS4

[balladbird]

while I understand the logic that goes behind the people who argue that "women want good games, the same as men", Women and men are both people, after all, and while the subject of how gender shapes one's way of thinking is a flamewar waiting to happen, I feel I can safely wager that people of both genders prefer to purchase products of quality.

Still, that argument is a bit overly simplistic regarding the current gaming atmosphere. It's not as though we want for quality games in the current or past generations, yet while female gamers HAVE increased with time, they're still a niche of the fandom at best. Clearly SOMETHING other than quality is needed to attract more girls into the gaming world, so I personally don't feel that Sony is misguided in feeling that something special should be done to court the female demographic, at least until they're in a position they can appreciate quality games (that's to say, someone who will actually try said quality games)

now, having said THAT, this little announcement does anything but instill confidence in Sony trying to appeal to the female demographic competently. I mean, it's great that you at least understand that simply coloring your console pink is as insulting as it is ineffective, (we laugh, but you may not realize exactly how big it is that a corporation is aware of this fact), but would you mind giving examples of how you DO plan to go forward? I love you Sony, we've been friends for years, and all that, but you're the guys who gave us ghetto dust bunnies selling PSPs and a woman with breasts on her back. you'll forgive me if I'm skeptical of your ability to handle a gaming minority tactfully, especially when I can't name any female parties involved in your press conference.

 

[Pixie79]

If Sony wants to appeal to women, especially women who have not played videogames previously, it would not hurt to tone down the blatant sexism used when marketing certain games. If a girl walks into a game store and sees a bunch of scantily clad pieces of meat on the cover of a game, she's most likely going to stay away from it.



I've been playing games since I was 9 years old (starting on my old NES) and it seems like female characters in general have become hypersexualized creatures who exist for the sole benefit of titillating the male audience. There are of course exceptions to this, so it would be nice to see more strong, idependant female characters as main protagonists in videogames. Videogames that show intelligent, thoughtful women who are trying to save the world/civilization/universe (think Jane Shepard) in command of a situation in which they give and receive the respect of fellow gamers/NPCs without having to wear skimpy outfits, or focus on winning the love/adoration of a male character is what we need more of.

As in real life, women are 3 dimensional characters, and believe it or not, our lives don't focus around boysboysboys! how do I get a boy to like me?? omg a boy likes me, let's get married! boys! so why should videogames depict us like this? (JPRGs, I'm looking at you).

Another thing that really annoys me when playing games is how many times women are not taken seriously, not treated like an intellectual equal, and are treated/spoken to disrespectfully by male characters. As if to say "hey this is the norm, this is ok!" Trust me, it's not.

All that aside, cover art depicting strong, non sexualized female characters in a game will definitely make girls curious. Maybe cut back on the CGI eye candy and focus more on the story driven aspect of games and this will also pull in more ladies. Also, having strong, complex women characters will NOT drive away male gamers. I have found in many conversations with these guys, that they are just as annoyed with the simpering, vapid, empty headed female archetype and really enjoy either playing or interacting with intelligent female characters.