the play girlz gaming blog

What Women Want

by Erin on September 19th, 2005

Consider this my take on the topic that was neatly introduced by Ingrid a few posts back.

In the movies, men are constantly having epiphanies on the proper way a woman should be treated, usually after years of caddish behaviour and a string of nasty breakups. Near the end of this movie, he realizes that women hate being ignored, like to be catered to every once in a while, and really are important to him, despite his original playboy “I don’t need her to survive” attitude. So off he runs after his maligned true love to prove to her that he really does care, and that if she’s kind enough to give him another chance, he’ll set things right.

Although it sounds like your latest romantic chick flick, the situation is one that I predict hitting the gaming scene before too long. Women gamers have been the oddities, the curiosities, and the hidden demographic for years. In a recent Newsweek article, PC Gamer editor-in-chief Dan Morris states that [he] “can’t think of another entertainment sector that’s systematically freezing out half the potential market”. When thought of in purely business terms, failing to take into account 50% of your potential market is ludicrous. While one need only lurk about the chat interface on Gamespy Arcade for a few moments to realize that the stereotypical adolescent boy gamer does prowl his fair of virtual entertainment, a growing number of female gamers are making their presence known loudly, and proudly.

Take this blog as a key example: A new blogging network starting up, and it wants to have a gaming blog, but a gaming blog with a lil’ bit of something spicy to attract audiences in an area where everyone and their dog seems to be blogging these days. They call for applications from female writers, wanting perhaps to access the opinions of the other half of the human race, and provide a broader look at the gaming industry. Fab. Female game blogs have been popping up in rapid succession, as women realise that their voices are often muffled beneath those of their male counterparts and as large blogging networks realise this potentially lucrative opportunity. It is a niche blog, where the niche is half of the population. That is simply unheard of, and is a veritable goldmine just waiting to be dug up.

Some have started to pay serious attention to this gap. Ubisoft, of Tom Clancy game fame, have sponsored an all-girl team of elite gamers, called the Frag Dolls for entry in gaming competitions. Doll squads currently exist in both the US and UK. It’s very gimmicky and ironically geared towards males, with its persistent presentation of female gamers in tight shirt, low jean photo shoots, but it’s smart business. A very, very clever marketing ploy to enhance their brand visibility. I am concerned that the industry will latch on, like Ubisoft, in a male-oriented way, with a strong need to show females as sex kittens able to ‘rock the gaming world’ of male gamers. The identity of female participants is still being viewed through the wrong goggles. A lot of us don’t care to be sexy, we’re not trying to appeal to the males we play against, we’re trying to destroy them. We want to be praised for our skill, not our skin, and earn the respect of the entire community through contributions made at the playing and production levels.

What really strikes me as sadly funny, is that this whole concept seems to be seen by the industry as a tremendous “philosophical leap” (according to Ankarino Lara of Gamespot.com). Apparently up until this point game designers, programmers, and marketers thought the gaming gene to be on the Y chromosome. What they now realise they’re missing out on is, in particular, teenage girls, who are known to the rest of retail industries as the demographic to target, what with their relatively large disposable incomes, and their eagerness to spend. In a survey conducted by America On-Line, it was found that females over 40 spent the most time at online games, a fact that I can personally vouch for. You have no idea how difficult it is to get my mother off the computer when she’s clicking furiously away at her card hand. Why then, is this such a revolutionary idea? And for goodness sake why are the industry people that are dealing with this issue and commenting on it…male? If you want to call it infiltration, call it infiltration, but there needs to be integration of women in all aspects of gaming, from concept to console, if the industry is to continue to expand. With competition between developers becoming fiercer in an environment bloated by excess, I must agree with Lara’s statement that the company that is able to harness the immense power of the fairer sex, is going to be the company that sees itself at the top of the gaming heap. What do women want? Just ask. We’ll tell you.

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POSTED IN: Musings