Differences between guy and girl gamers examined
by Conrad Quilty-Harper 
{ Sep 22nd 2005 at 4:00PM }
Earlier we took a look at the time old question (naturally with a gaming slant);
what do women want? Joystiq reader and tipster
bandersnatch linked us to a topic he started on a
similar topic over at the Gamer Insider forums, in
which he analysed a few studies about women gamers and their interests. Bandersnatch comes to the conclusion that women
gamers tend to be repelled from the myriad of rules and regulations in games that appeal to men. Instead, they prefer
games that involve a social aspect, which explains why online games with community elements are so popular with
women.
The main quote you need to read is:
"[These studies] lead me to the opinion that perhaps the main reason why girls don't play as much video games as video game publishers wish they did isn't because of booth babes or scantily clad female characters but because their psychological disposition (be it because of nature or nuture) for what consitutes as a fun game doesn't match up with the majority of games publishers are pushing out."
The most ironic thing is that console and computer game developers are missing out on 50% market potential by creating games mainly aimed at a male audience. What's your opinon on the issue? Do you think game creators themselves are more to blame than the superficial lad culture surrounding the games?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Not Impressed (Dmitri) @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
This is dumb. Not every girl is alike just as not every guy is alike. I've gotten my ass kicked by a girl in SOCOM now and then, so does that suddenly make them not lady-like?
Al @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
The Sims (over 50% female) and World of Warcraft (less than 50% but high gross numbers of female players) are signs that PC game publishers and developers are catching on.
bandersnatch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Dmitri,
There will always be exceptions to the rule.
(ie. The Sims 2 is extremely popular with female players, not so much with male players. However, I absolutely enjoy it and play it often myself and I'm the only one out of my 20 gamer friends.)
Anonymouse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Women have already taken over television with this reality garbage and overly dramatic comedies. So I would prefer games being made without having to make considerations like "will females feel this is too bloody" or "i dont think girls want to play a character that swears and flirts with women".
Girl games are important and theyre a big part of the future of gaming. But putting too much thought into what a girl wants just hurts the chances of quality games coming out since its 10x easier to make a "cute and quirky" game instead of a deep action oriented game.
bandersnatch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Correction for my last post.
"I'm the only male out of my 20 male gamer friends"
bandersnatch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Hear, hear, Anonymouse.
32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Personally, I like the theory that we should make more games that encourage group violence - it would, after all, bring about the social interaction component. I'm wondering if people are going to use that as support for theories why female clans do well.
Al @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
To truly create a game for girls, you would have to capture reality tv's strengths - gossip and backstabbings. Maybe a virtual high school where you could win 'popularity points'? Wear the wrong dress - bam - negative points. Steal your friend's boyfriend - negative points. Spread juicy gossip - bonus points. You get the picture.
White Rose Duelist @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
#4, #6 - how is making games that the majority of women want mutually exclusive with making games the majority of men want? It seems like dozens of developers with seven major active platforms to work with could manage some games that men want and some that women want - and even some that both want!
Paying attention to women is not going to ruin gaming, either in general or for you in particular.
My wife and I pretty much like the same things in video games. Katamari Damacy and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City both get regular play time, and that's about as far apart on the spectrum as games get. They're both excellent games, so they both get played by both of us. it;s that simple.
JJ @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Crosspost from other entry on the topic:
"Instead of categorising in terms of gender, how about going with *interests* (which is already the case, but you know, some marketing shitheads have got to justify their salaries by inventing something else)?"
"i think if girl just went and tried the majority of quality games out today, they would be able to enjoy them just as the male population do. It's all a matter of stereotypes."
That's a typical gamer-centric reaction. The comparison to the jewelry market is off the mark. A better comparison would be to the film and television industry, as we're talking about entertainment. The idea of sports, racing, FPS, RPGs, and the other traditional genres of gaming as a wide variety is a mischaracterization, because the spectrum of experiences that the video game industry offers is extremely repetitive and limited, and has been for some time now. From a "marketing shithead" point of view, this is a clear explanation of the market fragmentation, both along gender and age boundaries. It would be like the film industry making only action and adventure films. Yes, there is a wide variety of types of films in those genres, but they're all essentially the same, and there's no comparable parallel when my girlfriend wants to see "Closer" as opposed to "The Island."
To write the problems off as being a result of perception and stereotype is far too idealistic and makes too many assumptions about the universal nature of your tastes.
Movies, television, drama, literature, and games have a lot in common, and finding the experience offered by Metroid Prime appealing is no more universal than finding Pride & Prejudice stimulating. While I can put down the Jane Austen novel and pick up The Mote In God's Eye, the game industry, by selling and appealing to males aged 12-30 almost exclusively, doesn't offer an option for the girl (or gamer, gender exclusive) who wants to change the channel from Monday Night Football to Six Feet Under.
If you keep doing the same thing you've always done, you'll get the same results you always have. If you have any question as to the viability of this concept, take a guess as to the most successful single game launch ever to come out of the Electronic Arts behemoth. Yes, that's right, The Sims 2. Go figure.
CtrlAltDelete @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Yes, they shoot themselves in the foot by creating games catering to a certain market, or even worse, paying more attention to the market than the gameplay, i.e., making some game EXTReME because that's the current trend.
Make the game GOOD, don't just put tits and vulgarity in for shock value for some free press from the fundie protests; if you're going to use that sort of content, do it WELL and you'll find the girl gamer market is much larger than you anticipated.
KD @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
I've got an idea hire females as developers to develop games or just ask Nintendo they seem to have figured out what females want with the DS.
Google Nazi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Obviously T&A doesn't make a game good (look at BMXXX for example) I believe that it isn't that girls are not interested in games, but they haven't had time to properly play them. I strongly believe that the nitnendo revolution will change this and invite more girls into the gaming world.
Even though I cannot personally wait for the majority of players to be a battle between males and females, but I also don't want the games to have the "female appeal" although chick flicks in games would be alright so long as it is as their own genre and i have no part on playing em lol.
SeaHen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Re #8: For gossip and backstabbing, see Trust & Betrayal: The Legacy of Siboot; Gossip; Excalibur. (All Atari, out of production, but described in Chris Crawford on Game Design, New Riders Press, ISBN 0-13-146099-4) For popularity scoring and fashion challenges, see The Urbz (EA, in production).
Badison @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
I'd like to think there are probably a lot of social and cultural reasons (which some readers here already talked about) that exist, instead of making wild assumptions about genetics. I mean didn't Nintendo in their presentation on the Revolution have a break down of their consumer base on a few bar graphs? The distribution in sexes for gamers from Japan looked different than the impression im getting from some info on westerners.
Also, has anyone seen or have links to any thorough studies on just the statistics of how many of each sex are playing what games? What about age groups? I'm sure different generations were influenced in different ways, no?
Google Nazi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
I don't have any links on statistics and looking at those aren't ever legitimate as bassing a group study of about 1,000 people is not the entire population of gaming. However the trends of girls playing videogames are increasing every year and If i'm not mistaken the female population is at 43% right now in video games which is pretty darn great seeing as 57% is male population (only 14% difference). I assume that after the revolution we will start seeing bigger and better trends related to girls and will have to be looking towards the % of girls who play in a country instead of the comparisson between genders.
startled @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Publishers are cowardly ("risk-averse") and stupid ("shareholder-driven").
A dev/pub can score huge benefits by properly targeting a larger audience: witness Myst and The Sims, not to mention the indie dollars in endless Mahjongg clones.
However, making things outside of their little derivative circle scares them. EA tried to can The Sims numerous times before launch, and it would have been canned without Wright. Sure, there are 50 million sales just waiting out there, for someone who can try for it and hit it again. Actual dollars spent chasing that audience are pathetically low.
Eventually, someone highly driven to exploit this audience will present an extremely strong case to a slightly less risk-averse publisher, and there will be another Sims-level hit. Until then, publishers will continue to wring blood from stones.
shidoshi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Threads like these are great to see the difference between guys who have no decent experience dealing with women, and those who do.
I love how some guys get so threatened when "OMG companies are going to make more girl games!" 99% of the games right now could be considered "guy games" - you don't have to worry about your precious games where you get to kill everybody and blow up everything.
The point is, the game industry need to be more creative in making games, and release games that appeal to both sexes - not just "girl games" that are so clap with a Barbie or whatnot liscence slapped on them. There is a long list of games out there that appeal to and are enjoyable for both sexes.
As well, look at the movie industry - there are "chick flicks," and yet there are still the manly man movies for guys who just like that. For those of us who can enjoy ANYTHING, as long as it is good, the idea of seeing a far more diverse video game market is a wonderful example.
"Guy" games aren't going to be ruined by having more games that also take into account female gamers, so don't be so threatened.
woohoo! @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Girls can't play fps (battlefield 2, etc.), 2d fighting games (sf3rd strike, etc.), and racing sims (gt4, etc.)
Jez @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Nice troll, woohoo! -- now did you have anything intelligent to add?
CherryMay @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Whenever I see these kinda topics, I can't help but comment, no matter how many times I read the same thing. Firstly, it's not the developers that are missing out on 50% of the possible audience, it's 50% of the possible audience that are missing out on the games. You can't convince someone who prefers other hobbies, to suddenly get into games... it's like trying to convince Jack Thompson to take up ballet classes purely as a personal hobby.
As for the comment by 'woohoo!', whilst I personally can say I'm awful at FPS games, I can sure hold my own in fighters, and used to rock the Initial D arcade games. Whilst it's true that most girls don't care about playing the 'army guy' in all these history-based WW2-themed FPS games, you'll -always- get exceptions. Just like you get all those DDR guys who are skilled freestylers on songs like 'Blondie Girl', you'll get girls who pride themselves on slaughtering the masses.
Jez @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
The thing about gaming culture is it's so diverse, and with modern technology so many genres are possible, it's closer to comparing it to film or TV than to strict single-genre hobbies like ballet. We don't have people saying "girls don't watch enough TV", or "we need more women working in film". (At least, not that I've heard.) Yet if all TV programmes were Top Gear and Topless Darts, and all films were Arnie-esque muscly blockbusters with hugely over-breasted women in tight costumes, then I'm sure we'd hear the same complaints. As far as I see it, it's a chicken-and-egg situation -- girls don't play games because girls don't make games, and girls don't make games because girls don't play games (see my previous comments about not being taken seriously when I say I do -- I play FPSs for 4-6 hours a day). While the lack of fame and fortune associated with the makers and (human) stars of games is a big difference between the industries, there are a lot of comparisons to be drawn.
Voodoo M @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Hmm, lots of interesting comment.
Not scientific, but looking at the games my girlfriend loves and hates, I've made some interesting observations:
My girlfriend enjoys games with *lots* of detail, and complicated options, such as Sim City (and to a lessor degree The Sims). However, the detail is not prohibitive, ie you can pick up and play without having to understand the detail, and discover it on your own. She has also just developed a newfound interest in RPG's , and *loves* Fable. However, she has exactly *no* intrest in taking part in the fighting component of the game, which she finds tricky and counter-intuitive, and quickly gives up on. Whilst she is not against violence per-sae, there is something about having to make quick open ended decisions with too many options which she finds very frustating, hence no interest in FPS's etc. However, she is happy to play *action* puzzle games or racing games which require quick reactions, so long as the options are limited and explicit, and with a very short learning curve. There seems to be less interest in learning tricks or techniques or button combinations, particularly if these are required to even get going. She is also a particularly sore loser, but I think that's just her! :-)
32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Wait, being able to full combo WWW.Blonde Girl on Heavy makes me feminine? I better inform my wife she's become a lesbian.
I'm personally wondering if stereotypes are hurting this as well. If women feel that video gaming is centered around misogynist idiots, you wouldn't blame them for wanting to stay away.
Party Girl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
My husband forwarded me this and I just have to make a comment. As a female gamer/marketing professional for the last ** years, well, since I first played "Carnival" in the arcade, I know exactly what works and what doesn't for me - "The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time" was my ultimate favorite game ever. The part that was the most fun for me as a woman (and lover of violent guy/action movies - I DON'T think we should make movie comparisons) was the freedom to roam within a world and take a mission as I felt ready. And it didn't hurt to have an overall feel-good mission of saving the world and the people. And just as Voodoo M's comment was so right on... I have no interest in all the violence, even though I'm not against it.
So Many games have come sooooo close to something interesting for me but always screw it up with making it way too hard or way too scary. I loved Turok, but it got too hard. I loved Tomb Raider (I don't mind the "scantily clad female characters"), but I started having nightmares from the animals jumping out at me all the time.
My husband and I agree, a Grand Theft Auto engine minus the violence! Replace the violence with fun and interesting puzzles, actions and racing! Think of it, you could visit the zoo or an amusement park. Each location would have fun 'Zelda-like' side-games like catching the big fish. And then with the online portion I could meet my girlfriends to go shopping and it would be SUPER cool if we could actually buy things for reals!!
I just wish game developers would understand that a game doesn't have to be hard to be fun. I don't have the time to make the 'jump' from one stump to another falling to my death 50,000 times before I get it right, just to have fun!!! I want more world-exploring, more puzzles to solve, more characters to meet, more cool tools/clothes/accessories, more control over what my character looks like, more rewards, more helping people! I want less violence, less difficulty, less scary, less dangerous.
And as Shidoshi said, going after the female market doesn't have to change games as we know and like them. The games for women should be an entirely different industry altogether and maybe, like KD said - they could hire some women to run it!! What a concept!
kate @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
I game and I am a girl. I love CS, Resident Evil, the old doom and duke nukems were what i grew up on. I also like mmos and rpgs. I like to play racing games too. The problem is girls get made fun of if they play games. I dont tell anyone about my secret hobby. Im 23 years old for god sakes and Im worried that my friends will call me a nerd. Even though that is supposed to be shek right now. I dont think girls will play "reality tv" games. I HATE reality tv. Give me good ol violence anyday over that crap. Anyone with a brain who is worth a damn knows that hardcore gamers will never defect. They are looking to get some of the fringe people, like the sims and CIVIII people. They don't care what we think because they know that we will play anyways.