The Glass Ceiling--Women in Gaming--Is a Myth
 

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I have to note that I've been saying this for awhile, now. Although I still disagree with some of what she's saying, I think she's completely right about the patronising thing, which is exactly what we're doing now.

I think it has more to do with the next generation of consoles and the need to refocus the market of games. Gamers were more in the past male, but with the more recent non-violent hit games, more females are playing. This has caused some concern for the developers to think more of who the games are made for.

Dude, I had a girl that kicked my ass in Rival Schools. There have been a fair number of women and girls playing games, they just come out on dark stormy nights, eyes glowing red, with demon horns, knowing they'd get the chance to eat babies...

Wait...

Okay on a serious note, I don't think there has been a major surge in women playing. It's just that they're being noticed now because you have more women in editorial parts of the industry.

I really gotta disagree with most of what she was saying. To me, recognizing women who work in gaming industries as a sort of 'special bonus' is the equivalent of the ideas behind Affirmative Action, or the push behind black-, asian-, etc- financial aid funds.

It's just the gaming industry apologizing for years of prejudice, as I see it.

You could go further to say it's the same thing as women's rights, just being extended.

It's patronising though. Why do you think people don't like Affirmative Action? Many black people don't--it's not apologetic, it's almost insulting, and actually does make things unfair. By putting on a pedestal or pitying a gender/race, you are not seeing them eye to eye, you are patronising them.

The point is, it's an "issue," but not like how it's made out to be. It's just a sad attempt to apologise to a populus who in one generation will not have any direct anger over the 'issue,' if there even was one.

Touche'. I suppose at the same time, which is worse?

Sounds like 'this' is the answer.

Ok, now just hold on a second right there. Many black people don't like affirmative action, but then again many black people DO like affirmative action. A matter of fact, you'd find unexpected sources of support for affirmative action such as the United States military. Of course, you'd find unexpected sources of opposition for affirmative action as well. The point is that there are no lack of opinions on the subject and it is something which really does split significant portions of the populous.

Same with efforts to reach out to grrl gamers. I'm sure many feel patronized by it, but I'm also sure that many also appreciate it. Fact is, people like buying products and going to events that are directly aimed at their group. This is especially true with minority and traditionally disadvantaged groups. It is not an attempt to apologize, it is an attempt to make some cash.

What's important to recognize is that there is plurality of opinion, and not to simply impose your view of what is right as being an absolute truth.

Daifan, let's look at E3 for a second. Every five seconds there's another women wearing a skimpy outfit. Lara Croft used to have E-cups and still kept those in place. Now, I'm not trying to say that women aren't objectivized (TM) but seriously, I've yet to see a He-Man game that appealed to women's libido as it does to men and said outfits.

And on your last sentence, it's safe to say that there won't be an absolute truth about games for quite some time.

And no, I don't like Affirmative Action. It isn't needed and I probably won't use it. For more insight put up a discussion about it and I'll post. Here for the games, women ARE in the industry. That can't be changed. Just because they're not always the spokesmodels or the ideal pinups doesn't mean they don't work 72 hours on programming, getting the final shipment out before a due date, or coordinating something such as Sony's Spring Jamboree.

There was a study done. I can't remember the link, gentlemen.

The focus of the study was to see how many women actually 'game.' How many actually partake in video gaming.

Guess what? Women play more video games than men. By a margin of about 30%. But here's the thing, women are less likely to buy video games.

So what does the study actually prove?

The study showed that women play more video games than men, but for the most part these are games that you can play for free online. Boxxol, or Gems, or Tetris. Stuff like that. It is rare that a woman actually buys a game. When they do buy games they buy one. Only one. Usually.

Everquest, or somesuch MMORPG. They play it for the social interaction. But, really, they only need the one game. No real reason for them to invest a lot of money into multiple MMORPGs, is there? Not to them, the study shows.

But if this is the case, that women play more video games than men, how can the industry be in such a boom when they only invest in one game?

Because men buy games. They buy a lot of games. They don't play as much as women, but they buy far, far, far more. So, even though women play more video games, the market is fueled by men.

And the current marketing trends show how certain strategies are working very well on thier target demographic. Tits and Ass sell. Whether the current market, or past markets are/were dominated by male gamers is irrelevant. Fact of the matter is, men buy more games than women. So, marketing will focus their efforts on the male demographic.

Until women start buying games by the truckload, or establish themselves as a large enough demographic to gaming companies, theoretically, then we're going to be seeing more and more T&A being sold.

...That's kind of the problem though.

This is generalizing a bit, but most women's sex drive doesn't work the same way as men's. As men, we're going to be more excited about looking at Lara Croft, than most women will be looking at, say, Duke Nukem.

I like games with pretty girls in them - and many girls like games *coughcough FF8 coughcough* with studs in them. But girls like VG dudes like Squall, or Cloud, Or Tidus. Men with whom their is some more emotive quality or attachment. The hot body is a bonus, not the hook, persay, for female gamers.

But guys? Well... most of us hold our school-books over our pants after playing DOA: Extreme Beach Volley-Ball. If women wanted n4k3d m4n games, they would be out there in a slightly more abundant quantity.

Again, not true with everyone - I dun care for the lovely Ms. Croft or the DOA girls, and some girls probably freak-out over wrestle-mania and its blatent homo-erotisim. But, in general...