Am I Missing Something...? (A discussion of female gamers and the Zelda franchise)

[TheLazyGeek]

I have not noticed this, and can't agree with it because of all the women I work with, none are fan-girls of Zelda in the slightest sense, though they all have played most of the games. And one of them pronounces Mario with a long, but that's beside the point.

@xXxJessicaxXx I would agree more with that than Zelda, but still, of the same group of wonderful people I work with, one hasn't touched a BioWare RPG, which I constantly bring up with her, And a the rest just enjoy them like every other person.

I don't think there will ever be a mono-gender fanbase of anything.

 

[MetalMagpie]

I'm female and not a Zelda fan. (Only tried playing one of the series and just couldn't get into it.)

But to give an actual answer: I would assume it's because games of the "light and colourful" variety often do appeal to women more than men (who prefer more realism and violence).

That said, I don't actually know any Zelda fans (of either gender)!

 

[Shinomori]

Yes it is incredibly ignorant to generalize like that. Unless you have met -/ talked to every female gamer.

 

[Fappy]

I've played Zelda since the NES but I wouldn't say I'm a fangirl. In fact I will openly criticise the games in the series that I don't like. (Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass)

@Fappy I would like to see your Zelda offer and raise you Bioware RPG's in my experience woman really like those. Bethesda RPG's too. They seem to have a large amount of women in their fan communities and forums.

I think those games offer a more female centric gaming experience (without it being male fan service) and that is why they are appreciated by women gamers.

You may be on to something here. Believe it or not I know more than a few girls who are huge Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Knights fans.

As far as non-Bioware/Bethesda titles go I have also noticed women make-up a prominent share of the Atlus fanbase... which I would attribute to something a lot of posters have already mentioned: gender neutrality. Social aspect helps too I am sure.

Its a fair point and I think I have to agree with a lot of you in that regard.

 

[Palademon]

I've met few girl gamers.
Most play nothing but RPGs.
I forced one who had never played Zelda to play Ocarina of Time 3D.
After 5 minutes of accidentally jumping off ledges in the kokiri forest she quitted claiming "This game is too technical!".

So no, I haven't noticed this.
However there's no shortage of zelda fangirls on the internet.

 

[PureChaos]

never noticed anything like that, seemed as though both sexes can be pretty big fanboys of the series

 

[Nimcha]

Only thing I've noticed is that most girls that game (including me) play RPGs. And if they do, they play healer.

But noone I know really likes Zelda...

 

[LobsterFeng]

I've never really noticed this. My sister loves Zelda, and so do all her friends, but I never really thought about it in those regards. Personally I think she got into Zelda with Twilight Princes, because she's one of those girls that's obsessed with wolves for whatever reason.

 

[Fappy]

Only thing I've noticed is that most girls that game (including me) play RPGs. And if they do, they play healer.

But noone I know really likes Zelda...

Back in my WoW days almost every girl I played with was a healer. Among those that I can remember only one mained a dps (Rogue) and she was better than 90% of the (nonbad) rogues I had ever seen. What's weird is that, while I am sure plenty of women just like to heal for whatever reason, I always got this vibe that a lot of them were coxed or pushed into that role and just never explored any other options.

 

[Nimcha]

Only thing I've noticed is that most girls that game (including me) play RPGs. And if they do, they play healer.

But noone I know really likes Zelda...

Back in my WoW days almost every girl I played with was a healer. Among those that I can remember only one mained a dps (Rogue) and she was better than 90% of the rogues I had ever seen. What's weird is that, while I am sure plenty of women just like to heal for whatever reason, I always got this vibe that a lot of them were coxed or pushed into that role and just never explored any other options.

That might be a reason. Another notion I had is that female gamers might not be able or want to see themselves be in the thick of the action. Maybe they project themselves a bit more on their character. Perhaps.

I myself played WoW for many years, first as a dps (hunter) and then a long stint as a tank.

 

[TilMorrow]

Evidently, I've not seen this phenominon crop up at all. The only fangirl of the Zelda franchise I know of is that one that plays the fiddle on youtube. And she can play a mean tune.

 

[Fappy]

Only thing I've noticed is that most girls that game (including me) play RPGs. And if they do, they play healer.

But noone I know really likes Zelda...

Back in my WoW days almost every girl I played with was a healer. Among those that I can remember only one mained a dps (Rogue) and she was better than 90% of the rogues I had ever seen. What's weird is that, while I am sure plenty of women just like to heal for whatever reason, I always got this vibe that a lot of them were coxed or pushed into that role and just never explored any other options.

That might be a reason. Another notion I had is that female gamers might not be able or want to see themselves be in the thick of the action. Maybe they project themselves a bit more on their character. Perhaps.

I myself played WoW for many years, first as a dps (hunter) and then a long stint as a tank.

That is certainly a possibility. I've played a lot of tabletop games with women (DnD/Star Wars/Pathfinder/etc.) and noticed that they generally favor the role play aspect of such games over the encounters (which I do as well). Though, this evidence is primarily from the same group of girls I mentioned love old school Bioware games so take from that what you will.

 

[Risingblade]

Because link is cute? or maybe they are just good games :/

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I don't think there will ever be a mono-gender fanbase of anything.

Yeah I meant more that those games seem to have a larger proportion rather than they are the only ones girls like.

That's what I seem to have experienced anyways.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snips

Wow really nice view of women's intellect there. /sarcasm.

:|

If anything Link's blank slate persona is nice for women because we can forget that he's a guy almost and become more immersed.

Skyward Sword has been the only Zelda game I've seen that has outright suggested romance. Hell, for a while I thought (erroneously) they were brother and sister in OOt due to the start sequence.

I suppose it's completely unthinkable that we would actually like and enjoy the games rather than be fakers or have some sort of crazy fanfiction attachment...