I''ve got little idea about the peer presures that women give each other so i won''t comment on that and i''d like not to be connected to such issues until i''ve given it more thought and spoken to some female gamers in person about this issue.

I''ve spoken to women i would never have thought play games and realised that they crave pretty similar things that men crave in games. I''ve also learnt that they like to talk about them and their experiences playing games in the same way i do (a male). All i know is that more and more people are starting to play games and that a lot of them are female. This will hopefully lead to more women getting enthusiastic enough to make games. This will be very interesting and i for one am looking forward to seeing these changes in our industry!

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!

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I''ve got little idea about the peer presures that women give each other so i won''t comment on that and i''d like not to be connected to such issues until i''ve given it more thought and spoken to some female gamers in person about this issue.

man, I was trying not to screw that part up too much. Sorry if I offended anyone out there.

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\\// live long and prosper; \||/ die short and rot.
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Not even a woman would buy a game advertised as fluffy, pink and feminine. Look at the many barbie-game failures.

I just used that as an extreme example. I agree that pink fluffy ads are universally hated .

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The problem remains that Computer Games are a fundamentally geeky activity with very little connection to real life. Somehow, for a lot of women, that seems to put them off, they have better things to do with their time, like phoning their friends.

True. I''ve noticed that games like EverQuest seem much more popular among females. I''d near half the players in everquest are female -- not a shortage there .

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How is any of that different from Hollywood at all? I mean, I see what you''re talking about with the press, but the industry is exactly the same. If you consider this to be a problem, then it certainly isn''t limited to games as some people imply. Sex sells; often more easily to men.

I''m not sure how hollywood ties into this. Can you elaborate a bit more?

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Sex sells; often more easily to men.

I don''t think that''s always true -- I''m not going to buy a game just because it has scantily clad women on it. In fact, it probably will reduce my chancess of getting it since it lowers my opinion of the game.



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"Before criticizing someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
Then, when you do criticize them, you will be a mile away and have their shoes." -- Deep Thoughts

Yes finally a whole topic with only women...eh...wait a minute...where are all the women?

Goddamn. Ya''ll might as well go back and read my other posts, ''cause I got nothing new to say. This is such a moot point.

Moth: Right on man.

Senshi: Hate to break it to you, but chances are about 50% of that 50% are actually guys... at least if EQ''s statistics are anything like a good old-fashioned MU*. And probably a few of the women are playing male characters, too... but overall, I really doubt it''s 50/50.


-Moth

targeting females...

I''m sorry if i spout another of my dumb opinions here, but
isn''t targetting (or demographics) a job for marketing people?

Your task is to write a kick ass game. The best game you can
write is the one that appeals to YOU the most. If you like
car racing games, then write a car racing game. Don''t try to
incorporate a stamp collection element because you don''t have
the proper insight to make it a GOOD stamp collection element.

So code whats most natural. If you do it well, then other people
with similar interests will play, male or female. Let the
marketing department suck everyone else in...

*NEW* Tomb Raider 57 can actually help you LOSE weight in just
a matter of days!

its all in how you sell it...

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Erick: i think that all this talking and such is paining my head to astounding annoyance
Disco Love For Everyone

spazboy, that''s a killer phiolosophy, literally. Making a game that YOU like can only go as far as the genre you''re going to make it in. You''re right, "targeting" is a merketing term, but making a game that appeals to the market should be a major concern. If you make the mistake of making a game you like all the way through, why should anyone else want to buy it? I can accept the fact that you''d be more comfortable developing a type of game you like to play, but if the game doesn''t appeal to anyone except you, then it won;t sell.

so by asking what girls like in games, I''m wondering what else you can incorporate into gameplay to increase your chances of selling a game to a more varied audience.

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\\// live long and prosper; \||/ die short and rot.
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I dunno, Gaii. I''m with Spaz on this one. Nothing is limited to the genre it''s in, because if you''re making what you truly want in a game it might not apply to a genre. Plus, most games are made through compromises between one or more people, so market appeal tends to evolve naturally out of anything good.

If you''re designing a game for the purpose of selling to a particular market, you''re a shallow corporate whore.

OK, I''m not an expert on the fairer sex... but, I am the father of two daughters... They are 11 and 10, 13 months seperate them and just about everything else. They are completely different. One is the "Tom-Boy" and the other is the "Barbie."

But, they both love to play computer games... Their favorites at the moment are (in no particular order) The Sims, Frogger and Prince of Perssia 3d.

My ex-wife had never played computer games... I would come home from work to find her playing The Bards Tale (1 and 2), SimCity and some game I can''t remember the name but it was something like Dracon (an early 3d RPG on the Amiga). These games were written for guys... but she played them (hmm maybe she was a guy LOL, at any rate good riddens to her ).

From what I can tell if the game is written well, they will play it.

What does this say about the difference between guys and girls... I don''t think there really is one. If we do our jobs right and make a game that is fun to play... everyone will play it.

Dave
"Dak Lozar" Loeser

GreatShot.com