The article was written to suggest that more non-gaming females have been attracted to “casual” games, recently. Period.

Vabi

I agree with her on the points she makes. Female gamers are stereotyped all the time which gets extremely old. Many of us enjoy a wide variety of games which include all sorts of gory shooters. I belong to an all female gaming group and our common link is fps games. Shocker, eh?

Great comments Stephany.

Perhaps I wasn’t clear. When I only have fifteen minutes, I’ll usually play a casual game if I feel like gaming. When I have a few hours, I’ll delve in to other games.

But sometimes if I’m playing an in-depth FPS like Half-Life with a “complicated plot,” I’ll simply hit the Save Game option any time I want with whatever time I have.

Further, did any of you not read the line which reads as follows:

This isn’t to say that women don’t join raiding parties or play First Person Shooters, of course, but the stereotypes stick.

Just image how many guys you know who play FPS who have no business doing so. Maybe someone should give then a copy of Bejeweled or Diner Dash (one of my favorites) and not laugh at them.

Also, out of the few women I know including myself only one likse FPS and that’s me. Everyone else is playing Wheel of Fortune or something like that on the puter.

The article above simply restates a truth that has been understood in the casual games market for a few years now. While it is true that there is an increasing number of women gamers that fall in the same area as Stephany (and I personally believe women, in general, can understand and enjoy visceral combat games just fine, thanks), the purchase patterns and other demographic numbers are rather overwhelming and cannot be ignored.

Until very recently, the percentage of “casual gamers” skewed heavily female – over 72% – and older – 32 and up. At this year’s Casual Connect conference in Seattle, however, it was revealed that the numbers of casual gamers have gone up considerably, something like 30%. The percentage of female players, however, has gone down to 66%.

What’s interesting about that is not that there are fewer female gamers, but now there are MANY more male gamers in the casual marketplace.

My theory is that more and more people – men and women – are growing frustrated with hardcore titles that require the social orientation and flex-and-twitch skills of a typical 14-year-old boy. As such, more fast-play and “old school” style RPGs and strategic games are and will be appearing in the casual marketplace to serve the interests of those looking for games that are more their speed.

-
Sean Patrick Fannon
Communications Director, FreshGames

Why not when statistically it is true? That doesn’t mean that women are prohibited from playing other types of games. Nor does it mean that all women only play casual games. It simply means that is the type of game which the majority of women who play video games prefer to play.

“considering a large number of men also fall into the same boat.”

Idiot, you are missing the point. Yes, many males who play video games do play games of multiple genres including puzzle and so-called casual games. However, the point of the article and of the useage tracking underlying it is to determine what types of games females play. Of the women who play video games, the majority prefer to exclusively play so-called casual games, and that is not a new trend.

“Honestly, it’s tough to peg or stereotype any group with how rapidly the games are changing. What’s true today might be false next month.”

While games themselves may be changing rapidly from a technological perspective, useage trends are not especially those which pertain to the types preferred by gender. Traditionally men and women simply do not have the same interests in equal numbers and that includes in choice of entertainment. Just as men and women don’t like the same television shows, movies, music, and books in equal numbers, their tastes in video games also differ. Sure from the narrow-minded male’s perspective, the so-called casual games which women prefer may seem frivolous, uninteresting, or unimportant, but that doesn’t make the games any less worthy of development or significance to the market from an enlightened, objective standpoint. The types of games which males prefer to play could just as easily be ridiculed as repulsive, sadistic, and vulgar from the female perspective. Objectively speaking it’s no more of an insult to generalize that females prefer puzzle and card games than it is to say males prefer shooters and sports games.

That’s great, “dude,” but you need to face the fact that you are abnormal compared to most women. However, that doesn’t make you better than they, only different.

“I put partial blame on the women themselves…they are just not woman enough to handle playing something that makes them actually feel something not clothing related.”

LOL! Wow, you are quite the misogynist. I bet you have penis envy too. Your father and/or brothers must have dominated the hell out of you as a child.

“Despite what women want you to think, we like to revel in pretend violence and mayhem as much as men.”

No, you don’t. You personally may, but the overwhelming majority of women do NOT. But, there is not a damn thing wrong with that. Only someone like you who has been brainwashed by a patriarchal society into thinking that traditional male pursuits and interests are superior to traditional female pursuits and interests would be so deluded into thinking that there is something wrong with women who don’t do and like what men do and like.

Just because women as a whole have different interests than men does NOT make them inferior to men. Nor should it make men and you think lesser of women because of it. It’s simply a case of different strokes for different folks. So long as you continue to judge yourself and other women by a male standard of superiority they and even you will always come up short.

They dun studies, it’s science