Why do people think games for boys & men

[DukeNukem3DO]

games has been for everybody for years but why do they think its for men

 

[m19]

Because men are the main target demographic for game makers. At least in the AAA space.

 

[Barbas]

They're behind the times, I guess. I used to think it was weird that girls wanted to play games. Girls on the internet? Madness! Inappropriate!

 

[zen5887]

Because a lot of the time games are chock full of hypermasculine machismo, reflect male power fantasies, and treat female characters as passive eye candy.

They are marketed towards boys and men because traditionally boys and men have played them, which perpetuates the image that games are for boys and men. Obviously this has been shaken up in the last 5-10 years and is currently a pretty hot topic.

This is definitely painting with broad strokes and you could find a bunch of examples that don't fit with what I'm talking about, but for AAA games (the ones that get the biggest marketing budget) it's an unfortunate reality.

I definitely don't think that games are just for dudes, but I wouldn't fault somebody for thinking it.

 

[Ninjamedic]

The simplest explanation is that around 1997-2002 there began a shift in the way games were marketed from general audiences (mainly children) to teenagers. This has resulted in the whole "boys toys" thing and has only gotten worse over time as more and more franchises are being created with only one target market in mind. A market that has in fact been getting smaller over time.

Just consider this:

Spoiler: Heres Capcom and Rare in the 90s

Spoiler: And heres some Player Characters from the 2010s

(Though I think it's unfair to have Snake in that last picture since he's been around since the MSX days. And Frank West is a better protagonist than most)

I know I'm over simplifying things here, but that should give you a small idea of how some people feel.

 

[PinkiePyro]

Ninjamedic said it
basically companies feel the need to cram things in gender roles and video games got stuck in the male section ...

there is hope though the idea of boy or girl toys is starting to break down.. there are reports of things like Mcdonalds no longer having their employees ask if you want the boy or the girl toy when they do the two franchise thing. in fact there was a big deal recently when some employees were caught automatically giving kids "Gender related" toys despite the child asking for the other toy

I have also heard rumors about toysRus getting rid of the blue and pink coded isles

 

[BloatedGuppy]

People don't think it be like it is, but it do.

Because a lot of the time games are chock full of hypermasculine machismo, reflect male power fantasies, and treat female characters as passive eye candy.

And this, too. Actually this is far more eloquent, go with this.

 

[MintSM]

Reiteration: That's been the most common demographic, so they provide games for it. Course, if you think this is a chicken/egg concept; males are apparently more tuned towards power fantasies. Granted, I don't believe that it's as simple as what zen above made it out to be, nor as blanketed, but yeah, that's roughly the reason.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Well, for people outside of video game culture there is the stereotype of socially inept males living at their parents house playing video games all day. And of course, stereotypes can often blind people not familiar with said-culture into thinking it represents the majority. So it's pretty much just ignorance in my mind.

Of course anyone who thinks such and actually is involved in video game culture is a fucking fool.

 

[Anyana]

Because most gamers are men

 

[FPLOON]

Because fuck you, evil advertising practices!

But seriously, it's because the first way to be taken seriously, in terms of video games, is to target the male demographic in the mainstream sense, but "pretend" to say that it's catering to the "general" public... except for kids, because kids are never taken seriously... Then again, if you do target kids, in terms of video games, do what the toy companies "started" doing in the 80s... Genderfy your games, son! That's basic marketing 101! If it ain't broke, don't fix it... even if people keep pointing out how fucking broken it is overall...

But, yeah... "Misunderstandings" that then became true down the line... Remember, the more you say it, if it can happen "logically", then it will come true down the line... That's how "pseudo-evolution" works in terms of product innovation in an interactive medium...

 

[Doom972]

For the same reason people think Ballet is for females. Some hobbies appeal more to one gender than the other due to various reasons.

 

[xPixelatedx]

Because the majority of them are still made for men. Men still overwhelmingly dominate the console market.

The sad part about all of this is it didn't used to be this way. Games really did try to appeal to everyone at the start, the whole "play as 30-somthing-white-man" trope only became a real problem just in this last decade.

 

[Doom972]

For the same reason people think Ballet is for females. Some hobbies appeal more to one gender than the other due to various reasons.

Hold it there, ol'chum.

Your comment seems to imply videogames are as male-oriented as ballet is female-oriented, and allow me to say: no.

Interestingly enough, a man who can dance is sexy, sexy, SEXY, and any woman can tell you that. So yeah, say it again, that "ballet is for females".

And all the gender controversies currently surrounding gaming seems to imply that women do care about gaming, so say it again that "videogames are for males".

So your analogy is... well, actually correct. In the sense that the general stereotype is that men do not do ballet and women do not do gaming, but the real truth of the thing is something else entirely.

There are males who take part in ballet and there are female gamers (I know a few myself, including my girlfriend). It's obvious that most ballet dancers are female and that most gamers are male. That's because that there are some things about them that make each of them more appealing to a certain gender.

If you go to a typical video game forum such as this and ask why aren't there more girl gamers, people (most of which are male) will start talking about sexism and games being made only to satisfy male gamers. If you talk to an actual non-gamer girl (or males who aren't into video games for that matter), they would just tell you that it just doesn't appeal to them to sit in front of a screen and press buttons (or something along those lines).

We just have to accept that in the same way many hobbies we never tried and never will are not appealing to us (due to being gender-oriented or for any other reason), gaming is not appealing to many people who never tried it and never will.

 

[verdant monkai]

Love the broken English!

Games (on consoles) are designed mainly for men as they are still the main console demographic. No idea whats happening on PC (indie games and shitty simulators still most likely).

However on mobile and IOS devices there are a lot more female users. Some have translated this into "There are now more girl gamers than guy gamers CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE AND JOIN US IN 2014 YOU SEXIST WHITE BOYS!!!". I like that opinion as its a lot of fun, but the fact remains people who buy hardcore or triple A games are predominantly dudes, there are girls who play them too but 9/10 your speaking to a guy over xbox live.

 

[Doom972]

There are males who take part in ballet and there are female gamers (I know a few myself, including my girlfriend). It's obvious that most ballet dancers are female and that most gamers are male. That's because that there are some things about them that make each of them more appealing to a certain gender.

If you go to a typical video game forum such as this and ask why aren't there more girl gamers, people (most of which are male) will start talking about sexism and games being made only to satisfy male gamers. If you talk to an actual non-gamer girl (or males who aren't into video games for that matter), they would just tell you that it just doesn't appeal to them to sit in front of a screen and press buttons (or something along those lines).

We just have to accept that in the same way many hobbies we never tried and never will are not appealing to us (due to being gender-oriented or for any other reason), gaming is not appealing to many people who never tried it and never will.

This is your opinion and it might be true. I however just hold a different opinion on this.

My opinion is that the only reason for ballet to be "feminine" and videogames to be "masculine" is cultural stereotying. First off, you'd be surprised to see that men love dancing as much as women do. The difference is that instead of ballet they will do things like break-dance and hip hop and stuff. But there are as much men who love dancing as women do, even if women may turn to ballet much more often than men, while men will often turn to other forms of dancing. So is dancing feminine? No, even if ballet is more feminine.

That's why I specifically mentioned ballet and not dancing in general. I never said dancing in general is considered feminine. I picked it because it's a hobby/pass-time/profession that's considered to be female oriented similar to the way gaming is male-oriented.

So let's look at videogames. You'd be surprised to see that women love playing videogames as much as men do. The difference is that instead of gritty first-person shooters with manly males or games with sexy skimpy women, they prefer plot-driven rpg who lets you be a female or videogames that do not appeal only to male fantasies. Men will turn to FPS much more than women do, while women will often turn to other videogame types. So is videogaming a masculine thing? No, even if the kind of triple A videogames we see are more male-oriented (GTA5, Call of Duty...).

Again, that's what you read in forums and articles on gaming sites. I find that girls (either gamers or non-gamers) in real life to have a very different view on it, as I stated in my previous post. I already said that I personally know female gamers so I really don't know what you're trying to say by "You'd be surprised to see that women love playing videogames as much as men do", as something that I'm already familiar with couldn't possibly surprise me.

 

[Suhi89]

The simplest explanation is that around 1997-2002 there began a shift in the way games were marketed from general audiences (mainly children) to teenagers. This has resulted in the whole "boys toys" thing and has only gotten worse over time as more and more franchises are being created with only one target market in mind. A market that has in fact been getting smaller over time.

Just consider this:

Spoiler: Heres Capcom and Rare in the 90s

Spoiler: And heres some Player Characters from the 2010s

(Though I think it's unfair to have Snake in that last picture since he's been around since the MSX days. And Frank West is a better protagonist than most)

I know I'm over simplifying things here, but that should give you a small idea of how some people feel.

Weren't video games still stereotyped to be for boys before 1997 as well? It seems to me that boys started playing video games more than girls, and then slowly but surely the games were made more and more to cater to the demographic that developed.

For example, I imagine that most of the people playing Pong or Space Invaders or Pacman in the arcades were young males. These games don't feature characters at all, let alone macho ones (come on, Pacman isn't a character), so the idea that the only reason women and girls aren't into games as a demographic is because of the over-saturation of grizzled white protagonists (seriously though, why is that a thing?) seems to be getting things the wrong way round. The idea that games are for men/boys came first, the grizzled white dudes attempted to target that already existing demographic.

I'm happy to be shown data that I'm wrong, and that more females played games back in the day than I realised but I can't find good data on the subject. (Anecdotes about how "I'm a woman and I loved Pong" don't count).