Poll: Why do female gamers like the Zelda series so much? *now with more political correctness!*

[MasterChief892039]

It also probably has to do with female gamers being mistreated during online play or getting hit on all the time by basement dwellers.

Eh, not so much, though that is annoying. Let's see where you're going with this though.

Ultimately, female gamers don't enjoy being discriminated. These are fair statements, and I can understand why a lot of you support the idea that female gamers are no different from male gamers.

We're getting closer...

So where am I going with this? Despite the fact that a good portion of the gaming community disagrees on the fact that female gamers are a separate part of the gaming culture (at least on this forum), there are communities out there that believe otherwise. I'm not saying that they're right or wrong. What I'm doing is presenting to you guys that these groups of female gamers exist. A group of female gamers are united by their similar beliefs and opinions of how they believe they are different from other gamers.

It was my mistake for combining all female gamers into the category of which they think they are different from male gamers, and I apologize for being offensive. However, I still acknowledge the fact that the subculture of female gamers that believe they are different from other gamers exists. There is no denying that fact.

You got it!

Let's all celebrate with champagne and lobsters.

 

[MasterChief892039]

...also

I believe gamer girls are tougher, stronger, and better than guys!

these women should be just as ashamed of themselves as any male who thinks they're better than female gamers

 

[BabySinclair]

*snip, snip*

I just threw out UD as there is no academic research behind female gamers and their distinct differences. It's like asking me to find valid sources to confirm the existence of emos.

I've talked to people within the gaming industry, and although there are many similar traits between male and female gamers, there are some traits that separate them. I won't discuss these in great detail, as it will only result in more flame posts and insults that get absolutely nowhere.

Also, there are communities of female gamers and developers that segregate themselves from the gaming culture. There was a recent discussion event about the awareness of females in the video game industry somewhere in my area (Bay Area). If there are female gamers and developers that recognize themselves as a different entity from the vast majority of the gaming industry, why am I being antagonized for having their same opinions and ideas?

Modern western culture does indeed blur many stereotypes and generalizations, but they still exist. What I was going towards with the testosterone is that male gamers tend to be more competitive. Obviously, there are competitive female gamers as well, but the tendency is there.

There are differences between left and right handed people. Left handed people can get scholarships and have products made to cater to them. Are they there own culture? There are studies that indicate there may be differences in how a lefty's brain functions from a righty's. If a few or even a fair number of people inside a demographic follow a perceived difference from others of the same culture, there must be a significant difference to classify them in a sub-group. One or two differences does not qualify someone as a sub-unit and since there is a great deal of variation within the "gamer girls" population then we would have to differentiate between FPS "gamer girls", casual "gamer girls", RTS "gamer girls", RPG "gamer girls", and so forth. Each has different levels of interest in different styles and forms of gaming.

This is evident by the types of games put into the market for the gaming community as a whole. What the game developers are recognizing is that they have a growing amount of women playing games now and must avoid negative the stereotypes that had been once so prevalent to incorporate the growth in demographics. If you want to sell your game to the most people you need to avoid making a game that will alienate or offend a growing amount of the gaming population.

This also goes against the "gamer girl" belief as the argument is based on biological sex whereas it scould be more concerned with the societal constructs of gender.

Ah, I could just give you a big ol' hug. It's nice to have someone in this conversation that has actually has some legitimate education on the subject of gender/sex.

Yea! I have a buddy that understands me! Think it's about time for a sex and gender thread so long as search bar doesn't disapprove of me

 

[Zukhramm]

Because they're good games?

 

[Macgyvercas]

Legend of Zelda = Good

From my experience, gamers of both genders tend to like good games.

 

[maruimomo]

Well, i am a female and i like most of the zelda series;
the music is good, the plots are cute, the characters are fun, the gameplay is enjoyable, and of course the whole nostalgia aspect (child of the 90s), but why "girls like zelda" i can take a stab at it i guess.
First of all, it never really occurred to me that "girls like zelda" because link is an non-threatening semi-androgynous hero who is friends with girls, but i'm just putting it out there that girls may like the series because it has some non-pathetic/pretty awesome female support characters (midna, the various zeldas, tetra, impa, saria, ruto, the deku princess etc). These female characters are not always heroes themselves (getting kidnapped, nursemaids, princesses obsessed with marriage) but that makes them characters, not victim-females. The fact that the zeldas often are pretty ballsy (helping you out from exile, being leaders of people/nations, helping you fight in final battles) helps, as EVERYBODY ALWAYS complains that there is a lack of strong female characters in games.
Plus, EPONA IS THE BEST HORSE EVER.

 

[MajoraPersona]

-snip-

They like it because it's fun.

 

[Torrasque]

I'd have thought my point was fairly obvious, allow me to try again. Peoples opinions on games, or hell, on most forms of entertainment, has very little to do with gender. People aren't born with a series of likes and dislikes, they aquire them as they grow older, thus gender has very little to do with the way they view things. You can't just simply say that all girls will like a certain thing purely because they are female, that's stereotyping. I'm surprised you expected everyone to accept this idea without question, unless you were simply attempting to be contentious which would make you a troll.
Also your simple, one sentence reply did nothing to adress the points I made in my post, which only strengthens my suspicion that you are trolling. If you are not, you really need to come up with a stronger response to support your assertion.

I don't have time to look through the potential posts that most likely follow this one, but I'll just make a quick comment on what you have said here.
Buoys and gulls are not born with different likes and dislikes, but the media and social conditioning oftenly creates generalities like "most girls like flowers" or "most guys like blowing something up". Of course, the problem with generalities, is you only have to find 1 case contrary to the 'established norm' and it stops being an established norm. I know many girls that hate flowers and love blowing shit up, does that make them guys? Of course not. That would be silly.
Another example would be that most girls like the opposite sex, and the same goes for guys. Obviously, a guy who likes guys, and a girl who likes girls, is not a freak that goes against the established norm (history be damned).

The biggest difference between guys and girls is our different biology, but our likes and dislikes are given to us by our environment, not the presence of a vagina

edit:
Forgot to actually say something on the original topic, lol...
I like LoZ because it is fun, offers a good difficulty curve, and is part of my childhood.
I imagine girls like it for the same reasons.
They might like it because Link is sexy, heroic, and their ultimate guy, but that is a generality that I won't indulge upon.
I don't play Metroid because Samus looks great in her Varia suit. I play because I enjoy the game, and think she is awesome (but that is a secondary attribute that comes from playing the games for so long)

 

[theevilsanta]

My female significant other thought old Link in Ocarina was seriously cute. I guess that something.

 

[RaDeuX]

This is evident by the types of games put into the market for the gaming community as a whole. What the game developers are recognizing is that they have a growing amount of women playing games now and must avoid negative the stereotypes that had been once so prevalent to incorporate the growth in demographics. If you want to sell your game to the most people you need to avoid making a game that will alienate or offend a growing amount of the gaming population.

I remember a bunch of female gamers getting upset when Sony announced that they would release Fat Princess. Sure it wasn't all of the female gamers that got upset over it, but it offended some of them and yet still sold a good amount, IIRC.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

I'll say this

As a guy I can't know for sure, but I'd say probably the same reason so many guy gamers like it. Its damn good.

And also this^

 

[mxfox408]

There's no such thing as a gamer girl. You mean girls who are gamers.

Snip, who cares.

 

[LogicNProportion]

My sister loves LoZ.

I can't stand it.

I watch her play them every time, maybe looking for something I can get into about them, but to me...I don't know...they just put me off.

...And I'M the one who introduced her to the series through OoT...

 

[BabySinclair]

This is evident by the types of games put into the market for the gaming community as a whole. What the game developers are recognizing is that they have a growing amount of women playing games now and must avoid negative the stereotypes that had been once so prevalent to incorporate the growth in demographics. If you want to sell your game to the most people you need to avoid making a game that will alienate or offend a growing amount of the gaming population.

I remember a bunch of female gamers getting upset when Sony announced that they would release Fat Princess. Sure it wasn't all of the female gamers that got upset over it, but it offended some of them and yet still sold a good amount, IIRC.

Nintendogs, most men I know won't go near it and yet it sells fairly well, does that mean it's only made for women? You can make games that will offend women but in doing so you know that you'll lose out on some of the market share, look at R rated movies. People make them though they know many people won't watch it (the Saw series is a good example)

 

[RaDeuX]

This is evident by the types of games put into the market for the gaming community as a whole. What the game developers are recognizing is that they have a growing amount of women playing games now and must avoid negative the stereotypes that had been once so prevalent to incorporate the growth in demographics. If you want to sell your game to the most people you need to avoid making a game that will alienate or offend a growing amount of the gaming population.

I remember a bunch of female gamers getting upset when Sony announced that they would release Fat Princess. Sure it wasn't all of the female gamers that got upset over it, but it offended some of them and yet still sold a good amount, IIRC.

Nintendogs, most men I know won't go near it and yet it sells fairly well, does that mean it's only made for women? You can make games that will offend women but in doing so you know that you'll lose out on some of the market share, look at R rated movies. People make them though they know many people won't watch it (the Saw series is a good example)

But no one felt alienated or offended by the existence of Nintendogs.

 

[Rooster893]

I liked Link to the Past, FREAKING LOVED Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask scared me so I didn't play it, Wind Waker was decent, Twilight Princess was awesome as well. looking forward to Skyward Sword!

 

[BabySinclair]

This is evident by the types of games put into the market for the gaming community as a whole. What the game developers are recognizing is that they have a growing amount of women playing games now and must avoid negative the stereotypes that had been once so prevalent to incorporate the growth in demographics. If you want to sell your game to the most people you need to avoid making a game that will alienate or offend a growing amount of the gaming population.

I remember a bunch of female gamers getting upset when Sony announced that they would release Fat Princess. Sure it wasn't all of the female gamers that got upset over it, but it offended some of them and yet still sold a good amount, IIRC.

Nintendogs, most men I know won't go near it and yet it sells fairly well, does that mean it's only made for women? You can make games that will offend women but in doing so you know that you'll lose out on some of the market share, look at R rated movies. People make them though they know many people won't watch it (the Saw series is a good example)

But no one felt alienated or offended by the existence of Nintendogs.

It wasn't that Nintendogs was offensive, merely that even the majority of the male demographics it has sold reasonably well. A game that isn't bought by a lot of people can still do well.

 

[RaDeuX]

This is evident by the types of games put into the market for the gaming community as a whole. What the game developers are recognizing is that they have a growing amount of women playing games now and must avoid negative the stereotypes that had been once so prevalent to incorporate the growth in demographics. If you want to sell your game to the most people you need to avoid making a game that will alienate or offend a growing amount of the gaming population.

I remember a bunch of female gamers getting upset when Sony announced that they would release Fat Princess. Sure it wasn't all of the female gamers that got upset over it, but it offended some of them and yet still sold a good amount, IIRC.

Nintendogs, most men I know won't go near it and yet it sells fairly well, does that mean it's only made for women? You can make games that will offend women but in doing so you know that you'll lose out on some of the market share, look at R rated movies. People make them though they know many people won't watch it (the Saw series is a good example)

But no one felt alienated or offended by the existence of Nintendogs.

It wasn't that Nintendogs was offensive, merely that even the majority of the male demographics it has sold reasonably well. A game that isn't bought by a lot of people can still do well.

I think Nintendogs was marketed more towards children, if anything. Sort of like Tamagotchi.

 

[LikeDustInTheWind]

I hate ocarina of time (except for the Water Temple)

But... Wah... How...

I am so confused right now. Please explain.

 

[Daedalus1942]

I hate ocarina of time (except for the Water Temple)

But... Wah... How...

I am so confused right now. Please explain.

The Water temple was the most interesting well-thought out dungeon in the entire game?
-Tabs<3-