65% of women, 35% of men aged 25-34 play games

by Vladimir Cole { Apr 17th 2006 at 5:10AM }

According to the New York Times' interpretation of this study, 65% of women between the ages of 25 and 34 play video games while only 35% of men in that same age bracket play video games.

The big difference is that women choose to play so-called "casual games" that are commonly found on portals such as Pogo.com, MSN.com, and Yahoo.com (and Xbox Live Arcade, too) while men favor games that are sold at places like GameStop. There's no hard data on why the sexes have such different gaming preferences, but many believe it's because women favor less competitive games that lack the violence and complicated control schemes so prevalent in "hardcore" games enjoyed by men.

While there are plenty of companies serving either the "hardcore" segment or the "casual" segment, only a few companies are serving both well. EA's one such company. Through their Pogo.com subsidiary, EA snagged one million gamers willing to pay a monthly rate of $2.49 to $4.99 per month. Three fourths of these customers are female. Microsoft also chases both hardcore and casual gamers via software that runs on the Xbox, PC, MSN and mobile phone platforms.

Nintendo's recent strategic shifts towards simpler control schemes and mass-appeal subject matter (Nintendogs, for instance) indicate that there's more than one company in Redmond chasing after the casual gamer.

Tags: casual games, casual gaming, ea, msft, nintendo, nintendo revolution, pogo.com, revolution, xb360, xbox 360, Xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sabre @ Apr 17th 2006 5:19AM

Those numbers (for both sexes) will incread dramatically in the next 10-15 years. I just barely fall into that age bracket (25) but since our generation basically started with electronic gaming it may not be as popular as it will be for the current middle/high school students.

gonzo @ Apr 17th 2006 5:49AM

"There's no hard data on why the sexes have such different gaming preferences"
War, fighting, weapons and powerful cars. Men competing trying to get more respect. Games are made with teenage boys in mind. It's not so strange that the sexes have such different preferences.

designerwhite @ Apr 17th 2006 6:57AM

Minesweeper!! My expert record is 99! And I'm a boy, HUZZA!! Any minesweepers in the house?

Concerned @ Apr 17th 2006 8:11AM

" ... rate of $2.49 to $4.99 per month. Three fourths of -"

_QUARTERS_

Teddy N @ Apr 17th 2006 8:26AM

Women are better at Sudoku... My younger sister plays lots of Neopets online... My mum loves puzzle games (the last PC game she played was called 'Pandora's Box'... My father has never even gotten close to playing any games on the computer...

Maybe womankind is closer to being an open gaming population then everyone thought?

In my opinion it comes down to the fact that many women enjoy puzzles and mental challenges like Sudoku. Games are a perfect medium for providing that kind of enjoyment, only the fun and mental challenge has been implemented into very few games (and I am NOT talking about lame puzzles in FPS's.)

shivr @ Apr 17th 2006 9:45AM

Anecdotes:

Myself and my suitemate both play games and we're both female, ages 19 and 20. We both don't play this yahoo-games type stuff (besides solitare at work but hey, thats like 100% of everyone ever :), both sort of 'grew up' with nes and snes. We're also both nintendo fans, with an interest in some playstation games (guitar hero!!!!) but not enough to buy the system (ps2) as of yet. I'm the more 'hardcore' of us, as I play a wider veriety of games for longer periods of time, spend money on games and systems, and spend a lot of time of joystiq, kotaku, ign, 1up, etc.

For her, its almost... hit or miss what games she'll like. She loves platformers, 3-D and 2-D, like mario 64, mario sunshine, crash bandicoot, donkey kong country, etc. As a general rule she doesn't like anything with too complicated of controls, too much storyline (cut scenes and fmvs must be kept to a minimal) and, she admits, bright colorful graphics and a 'cute factor' are a huge plus. She dislikes FPSs and RPGs and RTSs pretty much universally (much to her boyfriend's dismay), though she will play starcraft if coaxed. Doesn't like competition that much... but also doesn't abhor it. I've played maybe 100 matched of mario kart ds with her and she's done 20 or so online wifi matches too. I think she doesn't have a problem with competing as long as she has a chance at winning, i.e. is good and confident at the game being played.

Some games you'd think she'd like she doesn't: like the 3-D zeldas (doesn't like the no-jump-button thing), viewtiful joe (combat system too complicated), and nintendogs (just... not interested). While other games you'd think she hate she loves (Ikaruga). For her, one example of a casual female gamer, the most important aspects needed in a game are simplicity of controls, the ability to fully explore the environment, and clairty of graphics.

While I play more games than her, there are still some genres I steer away from (taking into account 90% of the games I play are console games, mostly nintendo consoles at that). While I did play and enjoy and buy starcraft and warcraft, I'm not really interested in EoW, C&C, Civ games or most RTSs. I used to play counter-stike all the time and I love the metroid prime games, but me liking an FPS is also more of an exception than a rule (especially dual analoge console FPSs). MMOs are also un-fun, probably because I'm antisocial and frugal with the monthly fees, and also the ones I've tried have been boring and tedious >_>. I do like competition in the games I'm good/have a chance at. I was really into CS when I played it, and I play on Wifi with mario kart ds now (though not lately because I burned myself out a bit on the game). For me, competition elements in games are not turnoffs (I'm very excited about nintendo wifi for Revo). I will admit also the 'cuteness' factor has an effect on me (love pokemon, nintendogs, pimin), but it holds just as much sway as the 'gratuitous violence' factor (RE4 :3). I suppose I also like simplicity in controles, e.g. I hate almost all fighters for the string-of-button-memorizing thing, but I love smash bros.

But I think in the end, for me also, less complex controls, solid gameplay, and a high immersion factor are the most important aspects of games. Whether this is a female thing or an everybody thing, I don't know, though personally I've seen evidence to both points. It may have more to do with upbringing, personal tastes and experiences than purely gender, though of course gender does heavily effect upbringing and experiences so.. gender does effect preferences in a sort of roundabout way a lot.

Oh and for the record, my suitemate and I both dislike 'the sims.' :) Don't even know what sudoku is but I guess I'll find out if/when I get Brain Age.

Also my DS is 'candy pink' :0 lol

Mike Ray @ Apr 17th 2006 9:53AM

"Nintendo's recent strategic shifts towards simpler control schemes and mass-appeal subject matter (Nintendogs, for instance) indicate that there's more than one company in Redmond chasing after the casual gamer."

Don't forget Brain Age!

thispaceforsale @ Apr 17th 2006 10:16AM

It would be nice to read the original study, I wonder if cell phones game are included (they should) as the percentages seem low.
It is not shocking that most of the traditional console video games are made by guys, for guys and so the audience is guys. It is also not surprising certain types of games are more popular with guys or girls.
Games like Paperboy or Bubble Bobble are almost universally loved by any girl who has played either. If 99% of games were Bubble-like, guys would be gaming hardly at all. And it's not the medium, it's the message. If most movies were the Titannic, guys wouldn't be going to movies.

Netherfiend @ Apr 17th 2006 10:18AM

designerwhite, 99 seconds on expert Minesweeper is my record as well :) Though I believe my wife has scored an even better time in the low 90s. That game is such a time sink.

GOD @ Apr 17th 2006 10:18AM

My sister kicks my ass at minesweeper...

striegs @ Apr 17th 2006 10:53AM

So, apart from Nintendo, there's more than one company in Redmond chasing after the casual gamer? If you're referring to EA in that statement, there's no studio in Redmond to speak of (try Redwood, CA). If, however, you were referring to Microsoft, then I find it hard to believe that people are investing in a PC and a copy of Windows solely to get their Minesweeper on.

Though I must admit, Minesweeper is a prime example of a simple game concept enduring for decades. No ambient lighting, real mapping, particle effects, physics engine, or lens flare, and it probably took the guy less than a day to program, yet I'd venture to guess that people have logged more hours in that single application alone than in all the versions of GTA combined. Good stuff.

Johnnyoldagegamer @ Apr 17th 2006 11:51AM

well i feel not wanted -thats how they do you get pass 45 they forget about you what about us lol
i'm 53 and i was playing games on my first tandy computer when windows did'nt exist..
let me tell you it does not stop ....you are just like that bunny it keeps going and going and going
i'm a hardcord old gamer from way back.. i love battlefield 2 and a good FPS..
i tell you one thing its good for the brain,keeps it active and eye and hand cordination is at its best.. so let me hear it all you 50+ gamers out there... lets show these young whipper snappers a thing or two ,i say put gaming computers in all the senior centers so us pops can get some bf2 going on.... -lol

designerwhite @ Apr 17th 2006 1:02PM

sweet - yeah, the key is to just stop when you hit a 2digit score. Otherwise you have to join a minesweeper community and read minesweeper blogs, write minesweeper fan fiction, and post on minestiq.com

save your wife before it's too late.

TheBlunderbuss @ Apr 17th 2006 2:23PM

I play Minesweeper so fast, it crashes.

Nugget @ Apr 18th 2006 12:11AM

I never liked minesweeper... I am very weird like that in many ways. Everyone at my high school played minesweepers, while I had stupid flash games that I brought in to play that I liked. I like the casual games and I play them alot. I like RPGs and storylines too, mario games, and the cute games I guess people would say. I'm not that big of a FPS guy, and I kinda like RTS games I played warcraft and I liked it. I like animal crossing, only on the DS though, and stupid little games like that. I'm not into the violent games, I think GTA is pointless and should never had been made because I feel it adds nothing to society, but I'm not going to say other people can not play it. So I guess I'm a male gamer by gender, but I do play so many of the "women" games as they are put in the article. I love nintendo, but I do like the PS2's RPG selection, and DDR.

J @ Apr 18th 2006 6:21AM

I'm not a huge fan of minesweeper, but I had a roommate who was. An interesting little fact is that the minesweeper highscore table is just a text file (text-search for the highscore username). Find it and change the top entry to something like 6 seconds below your friend/wife's best. Then sit back and watch them go crazy trying to beat it, if they do simply add a new entry 2 seconds lower a day or two later. When asked, shrug and state that you find the game a bit dull but gave it a go since they play it so much, if pressed give cryptic responses like 'What start pattern do you use?'