"Girl Games"?

[BoxCutter]

I was browsing reddit today and stumbled upon an article from Wired about "girl games". And how offensive they are, what life lessons they teach to girls, and why they are wrong. It got me thinking. First of all why are there "girl games" in the first place. It was my understanding that most games are unisex. I don't see Halo 3 or Fable 2 as "boy games", so why do people feel the need to give little girls these stupid little games made just for them? And are they really offensive? Assuming that all little girls love the same damn thing.

I don't know if I have one question to ask you kind members of the escapist forum, but I would like to ask your opinion on this matter.

Link to the original article: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/07/games-for-tweens/

 

[Dr Ampersand]

Games have target audiences. The games that are geared towards the stereotype of a girl gamer are labeled girl games.

Though I do think that gender plays little part in the games a person would play apart from the general differences females and males have such as the brain.

 

[Count_de_Monet]

I think I just lost sectors of my brain permanently...

I think most of these games are ridiculous but they are trying to pull in a new market of gamers who have been traditionally anti-video game. How many females have we all known who called video games "childish and boring" during our grade school careers? I'd say about 95% of the girls I knew shared that opinion when I was in grade school. Nintendo will either make another billion or it won't catch on at all. It helps that the DS and Wii are already the hip alternative to real games, I wouldn't be surprised if a large percentage of teenage girls already had a DS, I see them all over the place in female hands.

 

[Sigel]

I was raised by a feminist, who did not believe in labeling activities(surprise,surprise). I find a lot of things considered "feminine" offensive(but I am not a raging, bra burning, hate all men feminist), including, yes, that title "girl games". wtf? I think it just re-enforces negative stereotypes and further sets back not just woman but both genders.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

tbh Cooking Mama was probably a bit too much.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Well those games are certainly targeted towards young girls, and they worry me a lot, although they don't really surprise me.

What's a femenine sixth sense?

 

[squid5580]

I think the operative word here is "girl". Barbies Magical Island or My Horse and Me 2 (yes so good it deserved a sequel) or any of those DS games that end with Z (like Petz) or that babysitting game (I can't remember the name) are made for GIRLS. Not WOMEN but GIRLS. Why aren't we going after Mattel for marketing a product designed for girls? Barbie isn't made for your average boy. Gi Joes aren't made for your average girl. Sure some might cross the line and think the other is cool but that is not who they were designed for. There is nothing wrong with that. I have never seen a game that said BOYS ONLY NO GIRLS ALLOWED. Sure online may make it more difficult for a female gamer to break in. That though is a human problem and not an industry one.

And where is the rest of the mediums that teach girls these exact same things? Why aren't they getting thrown under the bus along with those games? I can point out twice as many books, TV shows and movies that all have little educational value and if a person were only exposed to them as teaching tools would come out quite messed up.

 

[Xvito]

The games in that article were really terrifying... My Boyfriend? Seriously!? How fucking prejudice is that?

Also, the girl in the first picture kind of looks like a doll... WTF?

--Xvito, hoping he doesn't have to father a girl...

 

[Clarkarius]

Your essentially refering to companies targeting an audience based on a stereotype; allthough there are many who will comply to a stereotype, their are many who will be insulted because of it, as is often the way.

Oh and many 'Girl games' are offensive depending on your point of view, I had to help my sister on such a game a long time ago and it was insultingly easy...

 

[Flying-Emu]

tbh Cooking Mama was probably a bit too much.

Cooking Mama was awesome. That was less a "girl game" and more a "Japanese weird" game.

 

[Halfbreed13]

tbh Cooking Mama was probably a bit too much.

Cooking Mama was awesome. That was less a "girl game" and more a "Japanese weird" game.

yeah.......


OT: I hate anything aimed at the female audience. Just because it is usually shit.

 

[Satin6T]

less aiming at an audience, more generally good games

which is why I still play pokemon
...DON"T JUDGE ME!

 

[Kuchinawa212]

I'm still not sure what those "Imagine______ (doctor, vet, runway model, etc) games are for.

I mean really. A girl should buy a game because she likes it not because the developers decided it was for girls

 

[Haydyn]

I remember watching my sister play "My Dream Life" or something like that. Basically, she got hundreds of dollars a day doing simple household chorses that only required a single click to do, shopped around for the best deals on clothes to look good for everyone else, made friends witha all the pretty girls while insulting the ugly ones, and hit on multipul guys.

So basically, the game wants you to be Paris Hilton. It's no wonder I've never gone on a date with any girls from high school. My nerdiness was protecting me, not c*ckblocking me.

Until there is another selling method better than target market, "girl games" will never change.

 

[historybuff]

If I ever had a female child, I think I'll just give her Silent Hill and let her whack some monsters oldschool.

 

[Halfbreed13]

If I ever had a female child, I think I'll just give her Silent Hill and let her whack some monsters oldschool.

Amen. Being scared shitless builds character.

 

[Srcruls]

Wow

I didnt even know they made games like this!

Well whatever floats your boat i guess. Its still up to the parents who buys their children these games to decide its suitibility. So if theres something wrong with a child (caused by a video game) then theres something wrong with the parent too.

 

[Laura.]

Ignorance strikes back. Screw them. I'm gonna go play some UT3. ¬_¬

[sup]I mean, "Princess in Love"... are you fucking kidding me?[/sup]

 

[Sissas]

I think people over react at the whole games for girls thing. There are games aimed at little girls, games aimed at little boys and games aimed at little people; little girls and boys are open to choose. Little girls play little girls games because their parents buy them because, y'know, they're little girls. When children start caring about the games, boys or girls, they start choosing - and some choose the girly games, some choose the boyish games, some choose gender-unrelated games.

The only bad thing about gender related games is that uncult people assume only girls want to play girlish games and only boys want to play boyish games, or even that girly games are to be played by girls alone and boyish boys to be played by boys only. I know girls that like to play violent gory games. And boys that like sweet games. AND THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH NEITHER... But it IS important to have a choice; I don't feel threatened just because bratz and barbie games exist - I know what I like and pink covers are not scaring me

 

[Susan Arendt]

You know, people frequently say that girls shouldn't be forced to play so-called girl games, or be shoehorned into some stereotype about ponies and pink sparkles, and that's certainly true, but here's the thing: some girls like ponies and pink sparkles. Some girls enjoy games about shopping and makeup and boyfriends and all the other things that those of us who grew up killing aliens find vapid and pointless. They're not wrong for liking them, they're just different from the rest of us.

There's nothing wrong with "girl" games except for when they're the only option -- but that's true of any kind of games.