Editorial: New Information From Nintendo on What Female Gamers Like – My Two Cents
By Stephany on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 10:10 AM PST In Editorials, Gamer Life, Games
Recently, Times Online reported that the Wii and DS are selling rampantly to women gamers. With 51% of Wii users and 53% of DS users being women, it is no wonder that the gaming giant will be giving its Christmas advertisements a more “girly” feel. With the Wii Fit getting ready to hit stores, Nintendo sees this as a gold mine and a budget buster for women – what with the yoga, balancing exercises and fat-fighting activities contributed to the floor-based sensor.
With this new focus on women, come the cold hard facts associated with the types of games that Japanese women are currently buying for their Wii and DS. Nintendo has found that Nintendogs is a huge hit with women, along with “lifestyle” titles that teach cookery, healthy eating, and make-up tips.With that tidbit of information being said, I will get to the point of this editorial, but before I do, let me clarify a few things before I am called out for having “penis envy”, accused of being a dude, or being overly dominated by male members of my family. First off, I am well aware that Japanese culture is much different from American culture, and what is popular over there is not necessarily popular over here in the States. Secondly, I am also well aware that the majority of female gamers lean more into the casual genre of the industry than men do. This fact has been pointed out to me on numerous occasions; studies have been done on this fact and no matter how much I argue with the findings, it is simply that… a fact.
Most women are casual gamers. Period. Thirdly, before I continue, let me also clarify that I like to cook, I try to live a healthy lifestyle, and I also wear make-up – plus, although it is a bit of an aside to the subject – I love shoes. I have no problem shelling out more than what I should for a pair that I like, especially boots. If this does not prove to you that I am 100% female as well as feminine – you wouldn’t know a female gamer if one walked up and slapped you with a vintage NES controller.
Ok, now that I have given you a disclaimer, I will finally commence with my griping and moaning about this new information from Nintendo.
The obvious thing that bothers me about this information is the fact that it will only provide some ammunition to a particular type of male gamer who love nothing more than to insult female gamers with blatant, ill-mannered, misogynistic, incoherent blabbing. That gets under my skin like you would not believe, but I will forego discussing such uneducated yonkers at this time and save it for another, more fitting venue. Ignorant grade school shenanigans are not my gripe here, it is towards women gamers.
Like I stated earlier, I have accepted the fact that the majority of female gamers are more into casual games. My personal belief is that this stems from the fact that for years it was such a male dominated industry (still is) and a male past time. With gaming becoming as main stream as it has over the past few years, women are crawling out of the woodwork and admitting that they too like to play games, or are realizing that their interest in such entertainment is nothing to be ashamed of.
Granted, it is great for my sex to finally feel emancipated enough to admit that they like to play around with consoles and pc games, but when will the hardcore gamer gals start to surge forward into the battle with the rest of us who have been hacking and slashing with guys for the past 25 years? When are the majority of women going to start pre-ordering games like GTA 4, Resident Evil 5, Condemned 2, and Manhunt 2? Why must the girls who love games like this be pushed into the corner and ignored by statisticians and the gaming industries completely? When are we going to stand up, open our mouths and scream our battle cries to the big boys like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and Blizzard? Since when are women content with being pigeonholed into the “Sex and the City” crowd instead of standing up to the status quo and admitting that we like to log into XBL and start kicking some n00b’s ass at Halo 3?
Are we so afraid of being misconstrued as unfeminine that we keep our mouths shut? Are we so afraid of what other females will think when we admit that we like to blow stuff up or hack limbs off with a chainsaw? What is so wrong with acknowledging the fact that we, too, like to play aggressively and strategically – are we so downtrodden in this century that we have forgotten what the ERA protesters were trying to accomplish?
I am not a hard-core feminist, but neither am I a fluffy little Suzie Homemaker who only wishes for life to be all cuddly and sweet smelling. I like a little edge in my life, and since my life is too important for me to risk joining the French Foreign Legion or my local Guerilla chapter – I like to take my aggressions out on the aliens, zombies, psycho killers, creepy ghosts girls, and egomaniacs with a God complex that come with an ESRB rating of “M”. I like to shoot, slay, pillage, plunder, beat, cut and chop-up my enemies with an almost sycophantic devotion.
I am calling on all women gamers out there who feel the same as me to stand up and speak your minds. You will NOT come across as some burly woman who wears flannel and sports a mullet. Men will think no less of you. On the contrary, the majority will be so turned on by it that you will have gamer boys salivating when you log into your game server.
If you are worried what other women think – who cares. Women will say horrible things about you behind your back regardless, no matter if you play Nintendogs or Doom 3. That is just the nature of the beast – women are evil, and instead of being evil to each other, we should instead channel this natural aggression towards a more fulfilling and sisterly goal – kicking ass on the gaming battlefield. Screw cooking and fashion games, bring on the gore!
Amen !
I love you, Stephany.
I think what also needs to be done to help is the abolishment, or great reduction, of using such…obvious sex in computer games that only guys would like. I reference, of course, the Dead and Alive series here. Why would women want to play a game, which from what I’m aware of isn’t a bad fighter, if they’re only going to be objectified in it? Now I’m not saying that all male players will automatically think “oh my God, girl gamer! Why are you playing with us?” but I think many will. The removal of the dominant sex when playing computer games, global entertainment for all, needs to be looked at before more women will happily go, “you know what, I fancy grabbing my AWP and headshotting a load of people in counterstrike” (why they’d pick that over another game is of course beyond me…I hate it but play it, what can I say).
That and some encouragement. As we’ve seen before, it only takes a few before the many follow. With the interest in games such as WoW and those on the Wii, it’s a good start, but only a start. WoW may be a good game (boring to me) and the games on the Wii are fun, but they’re only the surface of games. With a collection of 2 decades plus of games, Wii Sports and WoW are hardly representatives of games.
So, in short, I agree. Also, thanks for this, helped me break up my incredibly dull essay I’m working on. Which incidentally, has nothing to do with this
Rock on, Sistah!
Okay, I admit to a little giggle thinking about mascara wands being attached to the end of a Wii controller. I see a very funny skit in that!
“The obvious thing that bothers me about this information is the fact that it will only provide some ammunition to a particular type of male gamer who love nothing more than to insult female gamers with blatant, ill-mannered, misogynistic, incoherent blabbing.”
–Because you don’t have the ability to ignore them? My god, stop perioding all over the place and just play your goddamn games. Mature people don’t give a crap what you play.
“When are the majority of women going to start pre-ordering games like GTA 4, Resident Evil 5, Condemned 2, and Manhunt 2?”
–They probably won’t because, regardless of socialization and gender roles, women just are not as predisposed towards violence and aggression as men. Studies have supported that for decades, across ALL (and by that I mean ALL) cultures. Even in recreation, the majority of women aren’t all that interested in mindless violence. Some are, and that’s fine (as long as it’s recreational and not real life).
“Why must the girls who love games like this be pushed into the corner and ignored by statisticians and the gaming industries completely?”
–Well, first of all, they’re not ignored. They’re taken into consideration, just not as much as you want. That’s because they are such a relatively small minority that it’s easier for game making companies to make money focusing on and advertising to other demographics that are easier to sell to. It’s very easy to sell more “casual” games to women because, like you said, that’s what the majority prefer. It’s easier to sell the hardcore blood-blood-blood games to teenage and young adult males because, well, that’s what the majority want. Just like it’s easier to sell Pokemon to children than to market it for adults. It doesn’t mean those games are exclusive to any of those demographics.
“I like to take my aggressions out on the aliens, zombies, psycho killers, creepy ghosts girls, and egomaniacs with a God complex that come with an ESRB rating of “M”. I like to shoot, slay, pillage, plunder, beat, cut and chop-up my enemies with an almost sycophantic devotion.”
–What’s stopping you? Oh right, not a goddamn thing. Play the games you want to play.
“I am calling on all women gamers out there who feel the same as me to stand up and speak your minds.”
–Why? Why not just play the damn games and be happy that such games exist? You don’t need the industries’ validation, they already know you exist. They just don’t care because they’re in a business to make money, not shape societies views on such-and-such.
“Men will think no less of you. On the contrary, the majority will be so turned on by it that you will have gamer boys salivating when you log into your game server.”
–The same men you were scared of/pissed off at earlier? I suppose getting them turned on, yea, that’s something to be proud of. Mature boys and men aren’t going to care if you’re a woman or a dude anymore than a mature girl or woman will. If you can play the game well, that’s pretty much all real gamers care about.
There you go again, Stephany. Will you ever learn? Maybe this time you’ll read my comments below and finally get a backbone and some good sense.
[QUOTE: The obvious thing that bothers me about this information is the fact that it will only provide some ammunition to a particular type of male gamer who love nothing more than to insult female gamers with blatant, ill-mannered, misogynistic, incoherent blabbing.]
Your immature thinking on this is just astounding. You’re supposed to be a grown woman. Start acting like it. Why the hell should you feel insulted by some misogynistic ignoramus who doesn’t respect the entertainment choices and preferences of most women? The fact is that you shouldn’t, but the problem is that YOU are also a misogynistic ignoramus because you don’t respect them either. If you did, you would have the courage and good sense to realize that criticizing a woman for liking a traditionally female oriented game such as Nintendogs or The Sims is no real criticism at all. There is nothing wrong with liking those games regardless of what some misogynistic ignoramus thinks about them.
[QUOTE: Like I stated earlier, I have accepted the fact that the majority of female gamers are more into casual games.]
LOL! And yet you spent not one but five successive paragraphs proving exactly the opposite. You have obviously NOT accepted it. The fact is that women in general do NOT have the same tastes as the overwhelming majority of men, and that includes their tastes in entertainment. The fact that you, despite being a woman, don’t share those tastes does NOT make men or you any better than those women. And, it also doesn’t make those women better than you. It simply makes you DIFFERENT. Learn to live with it and respect the differences in taste between the sexes.
[QUOTE: Granted, it is great for my sex to finally feel emancipated enough to admit that they like to play around with consoles and pc games, but when will the hardcore gamer gals start to surge forward into the battle with the rest of us who have been hacking and slashing with guys for the past 25 years?]
The fact is there will be no such surge because females as a group simply don’t like those types of games and never will. Male and female tastes generally differ in all other forms of media including music, books, magazines, and movies. Why would you expect video games to be any different? They aren’t in that respect. Sure, more girls and women are playing video games, but that has to do with the fact that game developers are finally targeting them and creating games that they actually want to play and enjoy.
[QUOTE: Why must the girls who love games like this be pushed into the corner and ignored by statisticians and the gaming industries completely?"]
First, they are ignored because their numbers are insignificant in relation to the whole. And, it’s the same story with men who enjoy and participate in traditionally female activities like quilting. It’s simply not enough of a market segment/demographic to target specifically. Second, targeting these small abnormal demographic groups specifically is not necessary because they don’t differ in taste from the larger whole who enjoy the same content. From the perspective of a quilting products purveyor, how would targeting a man who likes quilting be different from a woman? It wouldn’t be significantly different. It’s the same with male-oriented video games. Placing ads in “Ladies Home Journal” isn’t going to reach those relatively few women who like Resident Evil. Those women will see the advertisements for the game in the same places that men do, i.e. gaming magazines.
[QUOTE: "What is so wrong with acknowledging the fact that we, too, like to play aggressively and strategically?]
What is so wrong with acknowledging the fact that most women don’t like to play like that? Stop judging women by a male standard of what is desirable or favorable. A man’s way of thinking, living, and even playing isn’t and should not be the superior standard by which all people should aspire and conform. Real equality between the sexes is not about elevating women to the level of men by trying to mold and encourage them to be like men. Despite their differences women are already equal to men as human beings. Men and women just need to realize and recognize it. Real equality between the sexes will only be achieved when men and a few misguided women like you learn to truely respect and value as equal women’s preferences, opinions, and activities which are distinct and different from men’s.
[QUOTE: Women will say horrible things about you behind your back...women are evil]
Therein lies the problem. Do you still want to deny that you are a misogynist? Despite your past objections, you words in their entirety paint a much more accurate picture of the hostility you truely feel towards your own gender.
[QUOTE: I am calling on all women gamers out there who feel the same as me to stand up and speak your minds.]
And say what when they do speak their minds? Given the fallacy of your repeated rants on this issue, it appears that what you are simply looking for is validation from your few like-minded sisters that you are not alone. And, sure even the video game companies themselves would agree that there are a relatively small number of women who do prefer and play male-oriented video games. Just stop expecting them to single you out and target you differently from the men because in that respect you are not different from the men.
Stephany, you are just going to have to face the fact that you are rare among women in that you like the types of video games which simply don’t appeal to the overwhelming majority of women and never will. It’s like men who like watching so-called “chick flicks” or who like reading romance novels. Sure they exist, but it’s ludicrous to think that they constitute a significant enough target market on which a major company like Nintendo should focus its efforts, or that reaching them is significantly different than targeting the main female demographic for that content.
I don’t get up in arms when I see men being generalized and marketed to as crude, Nascar-loving, hunting, wrestling-watching fanatics by entertainment companies and neither should you when you see video game companies target the female demographic with games they traditionally and overwhelmingly prefer. Just accept the fact that you have abnormal tastes from most others of your gender and go on living your life doing what you love. You don’t need the validation of your sisters for doing what you enjoy, and you shouldn’t feel insulted when you are criticized for it.
[QUOTE: I think what also needs to be done to help is the abolishment, or great reduction, of using such…obvious sex in computer games that only guys would like.]
You are an idiot. First, like every other entertainment medium such as books, movies, and music, video games should and do have targeted content. Some movies are made to appeal to a traditionally male demographic. Other movies are created to appeal to a female demographic. Video games are and should be no different. There is plenty of available content for all to enjoy. The notion that girls and women must play the same games as men to be validated as video game players and consumers is ludicrous. That would be like saying that men who don’t like “chick flicks” aren’t real movie lovers. There is no need to neuter the appeal of video games targeted at a male demographic to try to attract female players any more than there is a need to remove the gender-appealing qualities of games targeted at females. In the misguided attempt to neuter games to appeal to both genders, all that will result is that the games will appeal strongly to neither one.
Second, your notion that physically attractive female characters and images in games are offensive to girls and women is specious in the extreme, and it is the kind of pedantic drivel that comes from men who have no real knowledge of women’s media and entertainment tastes. If you want to know what women as a group like to do, try reading some women’s magazines. They are written by women about women and purchased by women, and they give a much more accurate picture of what women really like instead of your chauvanistic egalitarian notion of what they should like. It’s the same thing with female fashions. If you want to know what visually appeals to women, look at what women are designing and buying for themselves to wear. If the sight of beautiful women or the exposed female body was offensive or unappealing, you wouldn’t see beautiful, exposed women ubiquitously presented in women’s magazines, television shows, and reflected in female fashions. Men and women may not be drawn to images and portrayals of beautiful women for the same reasons, but the notion that women as a group are repulsed by the sight of beautiful or scantily-clad female images is ludicrous.
well, I do think that they over sexed up Samus for SSB:B
“Irregardless” is not a word.
Robert: Tell that to the editing team – please note that it has now be fixed, thanks.
Hugh Jas: You always make me laugh. Thanks for the posts. I love nothing more than to be insulted and chastised for the way I feel and constantly reminded of the feminine studied courses I took in college. Where I live, I have a multitude of female friends are not into so called “ladies” games, and the female gamers that I chat online with on a daily basis feel the same as I do. Also, if, presuming you are a female, you feel the burning desire to go onto gaming websites and start lecturing others for their opinions, you are the one who comes across as a misogynist and a intellectual snob. But who knows if you are female of not. That is the beauty of cyberspace, Mr. Phil Migrowen. If you cannot take the post for what it was – humor – then you entirely missed my point and read more into it than your intelligence should have allowed. Plus, no one likes being called an idiot, like you are so fond of calling anyone who posts on or writes for this site. I actually pity you, because all you really do is make us laugh whenever you post and apparently have nothing else better to do than troll websites and prove to the world that you are nothing more than an angry, spoiled child . Again thanks for visiting.
oy vey: Maybe next time I am trying to be humorous I should stop by your place first and borrow some of your Midol – which by reading your post sounds like you have an abundance of. See…. humor… look it up in the dictionary. Thanks for the laugh and stop by more often I kind of like you!
[QUOTE: Where I live, I have a multitude of female friends are not into so called "ladies" games, and the female gamers that I chat online with on a daily basis feel the same as I do.]
And yet you persist in continually needing and seeking validation from other women for your choice of video games. If you truely already have these multitudes of like-minded female supporters, then shut the hell up already about it and just play your damn games.
[QUOTE: If you cannot take the post for what it was - humor - then you entirely missed my point]
The only thing humorous about your repeated posts on this subject is that you continue to make them despite the fact that your comments are neither reasonable nor intentionally funny. I agree that after considering my replies you probably do consider your posts to be ridiculous, but you, I, and anyone else who has read your repeated remarks on this subject knows that your actual intention was not humor. Otherwise they would just be one long-running bad joke.
[QUOTE: I love nothing more than to be insulted and chastised for the way I feel]
First, you can’t have it both ways. You either truely feel what you expressed in your posts or you don’t. If you don’t, you shouldn’t be insulted by criticism of them, and if you do believe what you wrote, you should learn from the criticism.
Second, if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Don’t publicly opine if you can’t tolerate public criticism.
[QUOTE: Plus, no one likes being called an idiot, like you are so fond of calling anyone who posts on or writes for this site.]
You should have noticed that I didn’t label you as an idiot above (although I am beginning to reconsider that position). You simply come across as a woman with an inferiority complex rooted in the insecurities you feel about your own gender.
[QUOTE: if, presuming you are a female…But who knows if you are female of not.]
Although you intended that statement as an insult given your misogynistic feelings, I take it as a tremedous compliment that I have enough understanding of and respect for women that you think I might be one.
[QUOTE: because all you really do is make us laugh whenever you post]
I can tell from your other remarks such as your disclaimer above that you don’t actually believe that. But, even if it were true, that would still put my posts head-and-shoulders above your failed attempts at humor in yours.
Once again, thank you Phil for posting. Your opinions and insulting remarks to readers and writers on Gaming Today are much appreciated.
[QUOTE: oy vey: Maybe next time I am trying to be humorous I should stop by your place first and borrow some of your Midol - which by reading your post sounds like you have an abundance of. See…. humor… look it up in the dictionary. Thanks for the laugh and stop by more often I kind of like you!]
Ah, the resort of an idiot who’s been called on his or her idiocy is to summarily dismiss those who disagree with you. I guess that’s easier than addressing why they disagree with you.
*** AKA Oy Vey ***
Who is the girl in the photograph? Which incidently is both sexy and amusing.
I feel weird because some of my favorite games are casual, like Puzzle League and Dance Dance Revolution.
OH, and BTW, I’m a manly man.
I’m with Hugh Jas. He’s got balls.