27 Responses for "Women in the world of gaming"

1. laura January 20th, 2010 at 2:22 pm 1

   Did you see http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/video-games-by-the-numbers/?

2. Hanna Burrows January 20th, 2010 at 2:27 pm 2

   I’m a teenage girl hoping to get involved in the game industry soon, and I’ve been thinking more about girls and games, and why they’re not interested. Most people seem to think that’s it’s because of the female characters in games and their, ahem, “assets”.

   But then I was reading an article about the hottest female characters, and Tifa came out first.

   This made me think. I’m pretty sure that Tifa is loved by females. I mean, I’d say that Final Fantasy VII is a favorite for females. So, then, the statement that females don’t like playing games with characters with over-the-top hotness isn’t really true.

   So then I was confused.

   So, being the nerd I am, I thought about it some more. Most people think that females don’t like games because of:
   ridiculous female characters, and
   the negative gamer stereotype.
   I disagree with this. I think females don’t play games because they’re afraid of being alienated.

   I mean, this whole “mob psychology” thing. People want to be accepted. People want to belong to a group.

   I think girls don’t game, because they’re too scared of, kind of, leaving their social group to do new things. I don’t think females are comfortable enough to say “hey, no, I’m not going shoe shopping, I have a raid”.

   My experiences also help to reinforce this belief. I don’t know a girl who is against a fun game of Guitar Hero, Wii Tennis, even sometimes Halo, if other people are playing. I mean, if a group of girls are at my house, and if everyone plays, they’re not being alienated so it’s all okay.

   So, for games to be attractive to women they need to be social, so women can get their friends to play to and remain as part of their “group”. I think this is why MMOs seem to have a lot more female players than, say, Call of Duty.

   Anyway, that was quite a long rant.

   The end. <3

3. Veronica January 20th, 2010 at 2:36 pm 3

   Laura – Yup! Although, I find some of those stats questionable.

   Hanna – Totally agree, in fact that’s one of the reasons I’m happy game developers are creating more games for a younger generation of females. It may be too late to change that female mob mentality towards games now, but if we get them early enough it’ll be a lot more acceptable for them to play games as adults.

4. jack January 20th, 2010 at 2:37 pm 4

   I was playing Gears last night and “XxXSharonXxX” executed me like 5 times in a row. Thanks a bunch, Veronica.

5. euphoriafish January 20th, 2010 at 2:41 pm 5

   Ha! And this was *before* Bayonetta and Dante’s Inferno. Hopefully there will be more games that women can appreciate without making the whole game *only* for women (ie, pandering and stereotyping or just painting the box pink), but I don’t see the obnoxiously oversexed heroine disappearing any time soon.

6. MegaMan Gamer January 20th, 2010 at 2:42 pm 6

   please pay attribution to the song you took at the end.

   http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00504/

7. Veronica January 20th, 2010 at 2:43 pm 7

   MegaMan, I didn’t make the video, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

8. Sandra January 20th, 2010 at 2:46 pm 8

   If it weren’t for the fact that the voice on the video was rather dizzying, I would’ve enjoyed it. The topic itself is interesting, though.

9. Mark January 20th, 2010 at 3:06 pm 9

   Great video! I missed that before. It all makes total sense and there are a lot of great points. Now if I could only find a way to get my wife to play LOTRO with me. Or actually… to go along with Hanna, I need to find a way to get my wife and more of her friends online so that it’s as much a social event for her. I think the social side of games is a great part of it and she would really get into it given the chance. But how do you cross that line? I know Text Twist hasn’t led her anywhere near the games so far. Although she did insist on a Wii. Baby steps?

10. Celeste January 20th, 2010 at 3:15 pm 10

    Great video! I’ve always thought it was so weird how gaming is supposedly a “guy” thing to do. When I was little, it seemed like all my girl friends loved to play Nintendo (NES back then, heh), but then suddenly when we got to middle school they almost all dropped it in favor of more “girly” things.

    The part towards the end where he talks about how drawing the gender line is probably contributing more to the problem than helping solve it — this is 100% my view on the topic. Maybe I’m just weird that I never really thought to consider that, as a girl, I wasn’t “supposed” to be interested in gaming or other geeky things, but it seems to me that both guys and girls are just making their lives harder by creating so many limitations for themselves and others.

    I agree that it’s sad how such a great character as Lara Croft gets reduced to sex in marketing, and I get that some girls might be intimidated by the sexiness of female game characters, but really, how is it any different from female movie stars or even music stars? Women get catty about them, but ultimately, we look up to them and want to be like them. And, as he notes in the video, the male characters are the same way. It’s not talked about as much, but I’m sure it does make guy gamers feel insecure at least occasionally. =)

11. Lord Rahl January 20th, 2010 at 3:16 pm 11

    Veronica is without a doubt the Queen of gaming. But Rinry is a close second with her amazing vintage video gaming videos she produces. I think she deserves some kudos as well. Watch a few of her videos and I am sure many will agree.

    http://rinrygamegame.blogspot.com/

12. Tracy January 20th, 2010 at 3:20 pm 12

    I totally agree with what both you and Hanna said above. It’s all about girls getting into games at a young age…but at the same time, I don’t know how I feel about wrapping a puppy game in pink and saying girls will LOVE it.

    To me, it seems a little patronizing to young girls. I think the key is creating content that’s really enjoyable across all ages, genders, etc. and get them that way. (as Hanna mentioned above with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc.)

    Personal anecdote – I actually think it was my mom who got me into games at a very young age. She used to tell me how much she played Ms. Pac-Man and Frogger when she was on maternity leave and was completely supportive of my gaming habits growing up. (In fact, I think she actually bought me an NES before I even knew I wanted one…)

    It’ll be exciting to see the next generation of gamers. There’s already a considerable shift in the audience and that’s only going to further influence who’s in the industry.

    p.s. thanks for the shout out!
    p.p.s. my mom is awesome.

13. Frank Delmonte January 20th, 2010 at 3:22 pm 13

    Some time ago I garthered a few friends at my place, the title of choice was soul caliburg for my good old dreamcast while waiting for other friends someone was checking the Arcade mode time records (that should have been all mine) and found an interesting first place with an amazing record that belong to no other than my mother!!, it was crazy I didnt know she was using my consoles!!, well that is to be understand since all the gaming consoles that I leave goes to her room, yes she owns a NES, SNES, DREAMCAST, and GAMECUBE and recently stole my psp, and wants a Wii to play the new Super Mario Bros. well what can I say it , I have created a monster!!! lol but nothing beats the experience of taking a few moments to see her play through a level that for is dificult but for her it’s a piece of cake.

14. Veronica January 20th, 2010 at 3:25 pm 14

    Tracy, I’m right there with you about the puppies. My mom was also very encouraging when it came to my early game habit, and I had a severe NES addiction by the time I was 6.

    Maybe there weren’t a lot of girl-specific games out there at the time, but I was perfectly happy playing Commando, Legend of Zelda and A Boy and His Blob. That’s why I think games like Little Big Planet are important — they get the whole family playing, but they’re not littered with pink puppies.

15. Oz January 20th, 2010 at 3:29 pm 15

    Thx for bringing this to our attention.
    I have a teenage niece great gamer,
    great anime artist, she will love to see
    a posibility of a future in some thing
    she loves. Thx Veronica,
    oz

16. Geno January 20th, 2010 at 4:05 pm 16

    Great video! I always find it funny though when the topic of over sexualized female game characters comes up no one really makes a big deal over the over sexualized male characters.

17. Pappaous January 20th, 2010 at 4:43 pm 17

    I Like to think I am doing my part. I had my Mom playing Diablo and Diablo II. She loved it.

18. A Game Dev January 20th, 2010 at 5:21 pm 18

    Re: over-sexualized male characters: There’s a difference in the way female characters and males are *presented* in terms of *body language*. Male characters may be under-dressed, but their body language says they are ready to fight and kick butt. Female characters’ body language often says they are ready to go to bed with you. That’s a huge difference.

    Apparently, there’s a general feeling of disgust among men when they are shown the equivalent body language in male characters as is used for many female characters. Seeing a scantily clad man giving off all the body language of wanting to hop into bed with the viewer is apparently a huge turn-off for men. So any wonder it’s kind of annoying for a lot of women?

19. Women and Gaming « ShaneHaven.com January 20th, 2010 at 6:03 pm 19

    [...] if you choose to include video games in your free time. I ran across a youtube video featured on Veronica Belmont’s website that gives insight on why females often feel the way they do about video games. I would like to [...]

20. Jeremiah McCoy January 20th, 2010 at 8:01 pm 20

    So first off I loved the video and will be sharing it around.

    I am the Lead Tester on an MMO called Fallen Earth. That means I am one of the folks telling people on which portion they are going to test. I don’t have a huge department only about 14 people including me and my boss. Of that 14, 7 of them are women. Admittedly not every department is as evenly spread but they are not far off either. QA testing is usually the first stop for a lot of folks looking to get into industry. It is there for a good sign we have such an even split.

    One of the things that has made me proud is my boss early on realized he wanted more diversity in the department. It has been an active goal to recruit for that in mind. That said it wasn’t that hard to find women that are more than qualified. Not only did they have the basic skills but the drive and the love of gaming. I freely admit many of them can kick my tale in many games.

    I guess my point is that while the video is very much correct, it seems to be changing. We are getting a more even spread on the guys to girls at least in my little corner of the industry.

    Anyways I though you might like the view of someone in the gaming production side.

21. Nicholas butler January 20th, 2010 at 11:57 pm 21

    If we are going to complain about the ’sexualisation’ of the female characters in games can we at least balance this out with the clear stereotypes of Male Characters in video games. I cant think of many video games which dont feature grotesque caricatures or overly stylized 90210isation of the male leads. Meanwhile Sharon has pointed out that one of the reason you may not see girls lining up outside the shops is that they sent their (boy)friends. My daughter reckons she will lining up outside the shops when she is older but then shes 6 and whilst she loves Little Big Planet and Mario Kart shes yet to realise the realities of queuing for the late night release of Modern Warfare.

    Interesting video though if only because it rehashes perceptions of statistics from the observers point of view.

22. Rob Wilson January 21st, 2010 at 3:32 pm 22

    Very cool, dude. Glad you liked the video. I give all credit to my lady who sent the link to me.

23. jhonny January 21st, 2010 at 7:02 pm 23

    is like shoes to women, there are shoes for men, but no matter what the industry can offer we (the mens) are not going to drive crazy for them in a sale … … … is not our stuff (for the most of us at least), same for the videogames and womens

24. morgman January 23rd, 2010 at 5:21 pm 24

    Very entertaining and thought provoking, but seriously, this guy reminds me of a Twix commercial. I get the feeling his girlfriend just walked into the room and he’s putting on his I’m-not-with-those-drooling-cromagnon-men hat.

    Why? Because its a little too one-sided. Yes, all the women in games looks incredible. Is nothing like the male game figures which of course totally resemble the average male population. Heck, last time I was at a LAN party I looked around and thought, “Gee, we really do resemble the characters in Gears of War here.”

    Ok, so I admit, I am part of the problem. Everytime I’m in a left for dead match making session and there is really a girl playing I get a little confused and I feel compelled to sacrifice my AI at any cost to save her from the zombies.

    Hopefully the next generation of male gamers wont have my hang ups. But until then, we’ll enjoy a few minutes of fantasy game immersion as it should be, far enough away from the scenery at a local walmart that we can enjoy ourselves.

    Taking a bite of twix bar though, I’m now inclined to agree with everything he said and move that we lobby James Cameron to make sure the DVD version of Avatar has some overweight Navi in it!

25. FatTuesday January 25th, 2010 at 9:41 am 25

    Another reason many girls and women get turned by gaming is due to the treatment they get from all the ignorant boys and men that chat with them in game. I played tons of CoD2 and CoD:MW1 and the only servers the females could play on without being constantly harrasses were those run by clans with an older demographic….. The 82nd Airborne CoD clan for example. I’m taking from a PC gaming perspective here. I’m sure the console gaming demographic is much younger, so the harrassment level is most likely worse there.

26. Scoop February 2nd, 2010 at 2:03 am 26

    I’ve always been among the minority of women gamers.. and it does, to an extent alienate you from women in general, which I’m okay with. I’d rather spend my time with my male gaming cohorts.

    Although, I do have a different taste in video games than my male gaming friends, preferring RPGs, MMORPGs, Horror Games and the Tekken franchise… as opposed to the super hero and shooting games that my male friends prefer.

    … Either way, I’m down with the gaming.

27. Ellas tambien quieren jugar « Dosis de Ingenio February 10th, 2010 at 6:18 pm 27

    [...] Aún así, una vez visto el video y leídas varias opiniones, creo que quien aporta el insight más significativo respecto a esos rechazos, hábitos o actitudes distantes femeninas es una lúcida jovencita llamada Hanna Burrows en este comentario. [...]