Games for Girls!?

[SimGrave]

Well it seems that the women in gaming are a huge topic right now. I still believe that most articles on this subject are false debate or wrongly oriented. Just in the last week or so, we have been exposed to comparison to the music business, the female models in video games, the place of women working in the industry and a lot of numbers demonstrating that the women presence is really strong and shouldn't be ignored.

Honestly, I don't care so much about how the gaming industry can be compared to rock star. For that matter it could also be compared to a lot of other industries. Concerning the models, I don't understand why Lara Croft is a worse model than Kratos. Has a heavy guy, I would have just has much reasons to be offended, but I'm not. Also knowing that fashion magazines sell like hot cakes even if they send a bad message about what women should look like, makes me wonder how hot chicks in games can be harmful. Lastly, the place of the women working in the industry doesn't seem to be a stress because there more and more of them joining the ranks every year and their more than welcome to join us!

No, the only thing that really gets my brain stimulated out of all these debates is the impressive numbers showing that girls are a huge part of the gaming community. I have seen numbers saying that there are more women owning handheld console than men. Another number says that more adult women are playing games than male kids and teenagers. These numbers are kind of making the other subjects meaningless. If there are so many girl gamers, the gaming industry is definitely doing something right, something women are interested into.
I can't put my finger on what it is and it's exactly it's the point of this thread. What are women looking for in games? What games they play? What they feel should be improved? What they would like to see more? When they decide to spend money on a game, what motivates their purchase?

I often tried to come up with ideas for a game that would specifically target them. Try to think of something that would make them anticipate a game, the way we are all waiting for the next modern warfare. I'm writing this, because I felt like I couldn't come up with anything interesting. I always end up falling into the stereotypes, which I was trying to avoid; fitness, cooking, fashion, overly cute characters, etc. I would love to come up with a game idea that evolves around social, emotions, intrigue and character development; things I feel they might be particularly looking for.

So, the debate is open. I'd like to hear their voice. And please, no hate here. If I said something offending, there are ways to let me know about it politely. I didn't mean to be offending, but if I did, I'm more than wiling to apologize.

 

[bawkbawkboo1]

games that were very popular with female gamers include:

Okami
Beyond Good and Evil
Dreamfall: the Longest Journey
Metroid series, esp. the Prime games
Eternal Darkness
Zelda Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit tracks.

 

[RoboPenguin]

I'd like to say that any game that focuses more on story and plot instead of "oooo shiny graphics/bewbs" has a better chance of being a "girl" game. For me as a girl, I have a very hard time liking a game if the characters or plot are unbelievable or boring. I also can't stand overly masculine games that ooze "macho-ness" because it feels like they're the games men play to compensate for their own lack of manliness.

Other than that, I think any game could be a "girl" game.

Also: The Sims, Okami, any Zelda game and vibrantly colored indy games with well thought out control schemes and good art direction are personal favorites of mine.

 

[Le_Lisra]

Other than that, I think any game could be a "girl" game.

QFT.

It'll just take a few more years to spread around.

 

[prinxess]

I'm a girl and I have played many different games and enjoyed them. Such as: Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, almost every Mario game, almost every Zelda game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Street Fighter, Sims 3 and tons more.

It really depends on the female.

 

[TPiddy]

I think it really depends on the interests... I have several friends that are girl gamers and they play everything from Left 4 Dead to Beautiful Katamari... It really depends on the person, gender doesn't play as big a part of it as you think.

 

[Tzekelkan]

Why does a game need to target either sex? Sure there are some differences, but an excellent game will be excellent no matter what genitalia you have.

Designing games to cater to either is actually sort of patronizing.

So as for the OP, just good games.

Even so, it's pretty obvious that a lot of games are targeted mostly towards men: the grizzled space marines with a necks the size of minivans, the bikini-clad boob-jiggling heroine etc. I'm not saying girls can't like these games, but like everything video games are a product and they may have a specific target audience in sight.

A good game is indeed a game that will be universally liked, but in reality there are plentiful cases where the producers insert elements that will appeal primarily to the male demographic.

 

[Good morning blues]

Why does a game need to target either sex? Sure there are some differences, but an excellent game will be excellent no matter what genitalia you have.

Designing games to cater to either is actually sort of patronizing.

So as for the OP, just good games.

This is demonstrably incorrect. Just because men and women are both equally capable of playing any game doesn't mean that the content of those games won't appeal to them differently. I highly doubt that you've been playing much Cooking Mama recently, for instance.

 

[Good morning blues]

This is demonstrably incorrect. Just because men and women are both equally capable of playing any game doesn't mean that the content of those games won't appeal to them differently. I highly doubt that you've been playing much Cooking Mama recently, for instance.

Well no, but that's because it's terrible.

I'll happily play away on Peggle, and that seems to be considered a girls game.

That's because Peggle is a game that a lot of girls play, not because its content is female-gendered.

Peggle is not a game for women in the same way that Army of Two or God of War are games for men.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Wanna know a good game for girls?

Spoiler

Why does a game need to target either sex? Sure there are some differences, but an excellent game will be excellent no matter what genitalia you have.

Designing games to cater to either is actually sort of patronizing.

So as for the OP, just good games.

This is demonstrably incorrect. Just because men and women are both equally capable of playing any game doesn't mean that the content of those games won't appeal to them differently. I highly doubt that you've been playing much Cooking Mama recently, for instance.

What's wrong with Cooking Mama?

 

[Zoedelyce]

If there are so many girl gamers, the gaming industry is definitely doing something right, something women are interested into.
I can't put my finger on what it is and it's exactly it's the point of this thread. What are women looking for in games? What games they play? What they feel should be improved? What they would like to see more? When they decide to spend money on a game, what motivates their purchase?

I often tried to come up with ideas for a game that would specifically target them. Try to think of something that would make them anticipate a game, the way we are all waiting for the next modern warfare. I'm writing this, because I felt like I couldn't come up with anything interesting. I always end up falling into the stereotypes, which I was trying to avoid; fitness, cooking, fashion, overly cute characters, etc. I would love to come up with a game idea that evolves around social, emotions, intrigue and character development; things I feel they might be particularly looking for.

So, the debate is open. I'd like to hear their voice. And please, no hate here. If I said something offending, there are ways to let me know about it politely. I didn't mean to be offending, but if I did, I'm more than wiling to apologize.

The only thing that gets at me is that you make it sound like women/girls are a different species and you want to understand why they like games so much and what is it about games they like. When was it that it was decided that games were just for men/boys??? I mean come on it's not like tits really get in the way of handhelds or PC screens XD

 

[Guy32]

It really depends on the person, gender doesn't play as big a part of it as you think.

I think this pretty much sums it up.

 

[Fenwolf2003]

Leisure Suite Larry?

But I agree with the above, really any game could be considered 'for girls' just depends on what the girl in question likes. I played games of Smash Bros all the time with groups of girls in school, most were pretty bad at it but they still liked playing it. Played a good few games with girls at Halo too, and my brother tells me there are girls on WoW to, so theres three big hitters that girls seem to play.

 

[Good morning blues]

Wanna know a good game for girls?

Spoiler

Why does a game need to target either sex? Sure there are some differences, but an excellent game will be excellent no matter what genitalia you have.

Designing games to cater to either is actually sort of patronizing.

So as for the OP, just good games.

This is demonstrably incorrect. Just because men and women are both equally capable of playing any game doesn't mean that the content of those games won't appeal to them differently. I highly doubt that you've been playing much Cooking Mama recently, for instance.

What's wrong with Cooking Mama?

Nothing's wrong with Cooking Mama. I'm just pointing out that it's very clearly a female-gendered game.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

The sims and final fantasy both do very well at drawing in a female audience

 

[SimGrave]

The only thing that gets at me is that you make it sound like women/girls are a different species and you want to understand why they like games so much and what is it about games they like. When was it that it was decided that games were just for men/boys??? I mean come on it's not like tits really get in the way of handhelds or PC screens XD

Sorry if I made it sound that way. It wasn't my intention. I guess, what I was trying to say is that it seems "girls in gaming" is a hot topic these days. I'm far from trying to differentiate guys are girls... I have been reading so many articles in the last week about how games are not developed with the girl gamers in mind, that I was wondering if it's really the case, or just another occasion for journalist to create a false debate. I tend to lean towards the journalist effect.

In the other part of my post, I was simply asking what games that girls usually like. In no way I'm saying they can't play the same game as guys do, but can we just admit without being offended that mostly the points of interest differs between the genders. It's not a bad thing to say. Starting from there, I wanted to know what were some specific points girls are looking for in a game. Nothing wrong with that. I would believe these are fact... just like saying that cars are a guys interest doesn't mean girls can't be.

And that's another point I'm trying to make, with the recent numbers it seems like it's 50/50 between girls and guys now and was wondering what has changed to make it happen... and believe me, I think it's a good thing.

 

[Seldon2639]

Realistically, couldn't we just use the same distinction manga has used for a good long while? Not to sound like a Japanophile here, but the difference between shonen and shojou manga is pretty much the distinction between a "male game" and a "female game" we're discussing.

The former is about action, about men doing manly things (or boys doing awesome things), and straightforward stories of good versus evil, heroes and villains, all that good escapism stuff. Not as much by way of deep stories, but fun stories centered more on awesome people doing kickass things. Not necessarily immature or silly (Hellsing and Cowboy Bebop would both be in this category), but just more about looking cool and showing badass people doing badass things. Big guns, more dakka, breasts, and muscles. It's all escapist fantasy of the "I wish I were that cool/badass/strong, and in a situation where I get to show off my badassness"

The second category is much more focused on relationships, on interpersonal relations, and our individual place in the world. Much less about badasses and big guns. Some are about philosophy, some are about politics, but all of them are fundamentally about how characters interact with each other/nature/the world. Most RPGs contain at least some element of this.

The issue, of course, is that even games which usually focus on the latter are either dating sim type games (which are aimed at males to begin with) or contain enough of the "big gun action" to make them lose the impact of the depth of characters. Aeris dying in FFVII is a good example of the type of emotional connection forged by shojou manga and anime. Persona 3 did this as well, focusing on the characters themselves within the schema of fantastical happenings.

That rambled a bit, but I guess my point is this: instead of trying to define "games for girls", why don't we just define games in terms of their main focus? If the main focus of the game is action and badassness, call it that. If the main focus is relationships and deep characters, call it that. But let everyone decide what they want. I'm male, and I've always gone in for more of the "girl games" and "girls anime". I've also known women who really just want to play something where you shoot people gruesomely.