The Needles: Lose the Dude

[Normandy]

I think his point was that casual games tend to be marketed towards women. And that casual games make up a much larger and faster growing market segment than what we call "core games". So he's taking that straight and asking why casual games aren't marketed towards men, especially 'gamers'.

In other words, there exists games outside of the Halo archetype. Consider them for a moment or two when making generalizations about the gaming industry.

 

[mattaui]

I'm pretty sure he's talking about a huge slew of mystery adventure games that are, by and large, bought and played by women, so it's not so much satire as picking a subset of the available gaming marketplace and looking at it from a male's perspective. That's kind of like wanting more romance novels written from a male perspective (even though I know some of them are written by men, but they're still written to a very particular formula and for women).

This does show that trying to shoehorn a broad spectrum of interest into every game is going to fail, just like trying to do it with books or movies is the same. You'll have a middle ground where there's a lot of crossover, but at either extreme you'll have media that appeal more to women and on the other end to men.

It doesn't mean you don't try to make your games appealing to as broad an audience as possible, but is also means that people should be realistic when they address a hobby as broad as gaming and not expect everyone to enjoy everything out there. Usually we hear about this from the other end, so this is a clever way of presenting the argument.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I wonder how many people are going to read this and not realize it was a work of satire illustrating the opposite premise. Quite funny though, and I think more effective (for those who grasp the real point), as an article asking why there aren't more women in games has the pitfall that it will come across as preachy, while this is funny and thought provoking, conveying the same message by making you fill in the substitutions for yourself.

 

[manythings]

I believe the message is that video game companies create characters and settings for what they think their core demographic is.
Where shooters are almost always guys, puzzles tend to be female characters (think Portal).
This stereotyping is wrong on a lot of levels and I would love to see more change.
Bring me more female action stars (female Sheppard should have been the lead rather than male Sheppard), and I wouldn't mind more puzzle games being played by an Indiana Jones-type character.

Neither gender Shepard takes the lead? If you mean Shepard on the cover it's Stereotypical Soldier Shepard, he exists to be the simplest and blandest action hero.

I merely meant that its male Shepard that is marketed in the trailers, ads, and box cover.
And I agree, its because he is the simplest and blandest action hero, which for Bioware meant Male.

Well if we're going to play this game there are a very specific set of reasons why militaries are predominately male and the higher up you go into the likes of commandoes and spec ops the more the percentile tips away from women.

 

[carpathic]

Not sure I agree with you.

I don't think the problem is the characters, or even the story. Video games seem to constantly be retelling the story of Ulysses - and this has nearly universal appeal for men and women.

The problem is more marketing than the games themselves I think.(ha. a groundless assertion!)

 

[Monster_user]

So you guys feel emasculated by a girl character?

Recently I've been choosing female characters in my games, when given a choice. Sure I don't play with the volume up, but... If I'm going to be staring at something for a while, why should it be a guy? That would be just as awkward IMHO, and a chic is much easier to explain (ie. "Lara Croft").

I started doing this with KOTOR 1. I'm glad I did, the romance between Revan, and Carth Onasi was much more entertaining. Carth's winy spurts were quite funny, reminded me of a lot of overheard phone calls (and a one of my own). What is so interesting about how easy Bastilla Shan turns out to be?

Speaking of which, it made the Bastilla Shan battle much more interesting. My health low, extremely low on supplies, and the Big Bad coming up, and I'd already died five times. I tried to talk Bastilla out of it once, but no go. I just wasn't willing to risk another 20 minutes to "possibly" save her, now that I finally had her beat. I mean, the fate of the galaxy hung in the balance! So I struck her down via a cutscene option.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Okay, first and foremost, thanks to all for pointing out that I am, at last check, XY. Not sure how that one slipped through, I'll talk to someone in the morning about changing it.

Second thing, the point: I don't know. Take from it what you will. There have been several different suggestions posted, all of which bear some merit. The debate about gender inequality in game characters was obviously inspired by Activision's alleged "lose the chick" comment (and obviously, if you're unaware of that then the none of this will make much sense) and while there's no doubt an imbalance there, I don't think it's particularly relevant.

And seriously, do any of you guys play HOGs? It's all chicks, all the time.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I don't want a two-tier system like we have in Hollywood, where you have gung-ho action movies for the guys and "chick flics" for the girls. We ought to be able to meet in the middle and create something like, to pick a relatively inclusive franchise at random, Firefly.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it's a bit late for that. If you think the chasm between PC and console gamers is yawning, you should have a look sometime at the divide between casual and core. A dozen Evel Knievel's ain't jumpin' that shit.

And there's a reason for it. There's going to be crossover, sure, but by and large it's the Jets and the Sharks. Your average Gears player has never heard of Alawar or Gogii; your average Unsolved Mystery Club fan probably doesn't even think of herself as a "gamer" at all.

And dude, seriously, your beloved, "inclusive" Firefly managed 14 episodes. That's not a good place to argue from. It's time to let go.

 

[oktalist]

I don't want a two-tier system like we have in Hollywood, where you have gung-ho action movies for the guys and "chick flics" for the girls. We ought to be able to meet in the middle and create something like, to pick a relatively inclusive franchise at random, Firefly.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it's a bit late for that. If you think the chasm between PC and console gamers is yawning, you should have a look sometime at the divide between casual and core. A dozen Evel Knievel's ain't jumpin' that shit.

Oh, so casual = for girls, while core = for boys. Glad that's cleared up.

And there's a reason for it.

And the reason is...?

There's going to be crossover, sure, but by and large it's the Jets and the Sharks.

I'm guessing they are sports teams of some description.

Your average Gears player has never heard of Alawar or Gogii; your average Unsolved Mystery Club fan probably doesn't even think of herself as a "gamer" at all.

And she is right not to. Casual games don't factor into the discussion of gender inequality in core games. I said that already.

And dude, seriously, your beloved, "inclusive" Firefly managed 14 episodes. That's not a good place to argue from. It's time to let go.

I picked Firefly at semi-random, as an example. I could have mentioned Heroes, or Lost, or any of thousands of other shows, but I didn't, because I'm not personally a fan of those, but they have managed more than 14 episodes (due to not being on Fox).

At the end of the day, there's nothing really wrong with your article; I just don't get it. Sorry. Maybe I'm just out of touch with the context in which it's meant to be read. I wouldn't have posted my comment, only I just thought I ought to balance out all the sparkling praise of other comments.

And yes I played a hidden object game once. My brain nearly tried to escape down my oesophagus.

 

[SamtheDeathclaw]

Woo satire that if it wasn't satire someone would get their throat ripped out!

 

[tendo82]

There is of course one video game genre under whose banner the sexes unit freely and openly - online gambling!

Honestly, I think gamblers are like the pariahs of the video game world. And really, they're the most hardcore players of all. Like, "oh sorry it really sucks your KDR dropped from a 1.12 to a .08. You know what sucks more? Try losing your rent money in online Texas Hold Em." That's hardcore. Or, "What's that? You played REO Speedwagon's HOG for twelve hours straight? Well I just played online black jack for 24 hours straight and crapped into a waste basket I keep next to my computer rather than get up." HARDCORE.

 

[Tears of Blood]

Oh, I think I see what you did there.

I was expecting, though, for you to go "Okay, things aren't really like this, but do you see how absurd it is? This is what it's like now for the opposite gender."

Then again, maybe that wouldn't have got the same effect.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Oh, so casual = for girls, while core = for boys. Glad that's cleared up.

This is where the discussion really begins, isn't it? Because while I detect a certain degree of snark in that comment, it's true. We all know it. How we feel about it, why we think it came about, what we think can be done about it or even should be done about it, on that we may differ, but there's no denying that it's true.

I'm not sure that I'm up for a "nature vs. nurture" argument at this hour.

And if casual games don't factor into a discussion about gender inequality in core games, then fair is fair and core games don't factor into a discussion about gender inequality in casual games. So once again I ask, why are nearly all the lead characters in videogames women?

I'm guessing they are sports teams of some description.

The Jets and the Sharks, son. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story]

I just don't get it.

That's cool. "Getting it" is why we're here. If we all got it, we wouldn't have anything to talk about. The fun part now is figuring out what "it" is.

 

[Labyrinth]

I do complain and this has made me, and my alternate universe female counterpart, feel superior to everyone else. Thanks!

I read it as a comment on broader gender stereotyping than just to say that games made for women aspire to the 'feminine' icon. Sexism works two ways. Women MUST be.. whatever, and men MUST NOT portray any of those characteristics or they're not men. This is of course the same, from a different bent as the idea that whatever is 'feminine' is that which is not 'masculine'. In short it's a bullshit system of social order.

Excellent satire and a very amusing article. Well done.

 

[Metzeten]

Hidden meaning is hidden.

Love the satire, and very true. Now I just need the right girl and we're set for paradise.

 

[Nova5]

Great article, Andy. Here's hoping there'll be someone who steps up and releases some decent titles with female protagonists. Ars did a piece [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/08/girl-gaming-company.ars] on Silicon Sisters [http://www.siliconsisters.ca/], and I'm hopeful that some of their titles finally provide some decent content (their COO seemed to know her stuff in the Ars interview), but I'll be skeptical until we see a release.

 

[Michael Ellis]

Some people should really just be fired from The Escapist before they spout any more nonsense...

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Ha ha, my sides.
Not to be a downer or anything, it's well-done satire, but just exactly what are you trying to say with it?

 

[Dodgy]

Unfunny satire and zero content. Sorry but I expected better.

 

[crotchdot]

If I'm playing a third-person game of any kind, I'd much rather stare at the arse of a cute girly for the length of the game than some muscle-bound meat head. That may be completely missing the point of the article, but I'm not sure what that was exactly.