What do women want in their games?

[YukaTakeuchiFan]

I was reading a thread here- www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.273674-Why-are-people-so-against-feminism-in-gaming - and however tangentially my topic is related to it, reading a little about feminism in gaming made my male self think.

For all we talk about how female characters are treated in games, for all we talk about a lot of things relating to women and gaming in general, really- there is one question that I don't think has really been asked. Sure, we know that games are often pretty tailored to a specific demographic, that's how marketing works, and that a predominantly male industry may or may not really know what to do with the burgeoning 'female gamer' demographic...

But it's stuff like this makes me think- I don't recall it having ever been asked directly what kind of game in general that women may PERSONALLY want to see, instead of how existing games could be changed or what-have-you. I'd simply like to hear some sort of game ideas or concepts thrown out by whatever women may be here. Maybe you like games these days the way they are, and maybe you don't- but in either case, I thought it might be fun to hear the specific responses and ideas, instead of generalities.

 

[firstxaidxkit]

I'm a woman and I'm really pretty satisfied with a majority of games out there..
Call it weird but I wouldn't want to see a radical change because if women were the protagonists in games, I probably wouldn't be interested. Since most, if not all, video game characters are designed by males, they almost always get the female character wrong. It's always going to be about how females are overcoming stereotypes and trying to be badass in a "man's" world, and I don't buy it. I'd just rather play as a neutral male in a story in which gender really doesn't matter. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening with a female character.

That being said though, if females were put into games more and more, I'd like them to be neutral and not overly sexualized. Not every female wears clothes that adhere to every curve in her body. Not every female has DD boobs up to her chin. No matter how "badass" she is.