News Why girls and games are a good mix

Also from the Beeb this Ante Meridian:

Anna Larke works for games developer Argonaut and has worked on titles like Croc, Buck Bumble for GameBoy, and the Harry Potter games.

Here she tells BBC News Online where video game makers are going wrong in their attempts to appeal to women.

Many people, not just women, may be put off by the common "geek" stereotype gamers have.

But it does not bother me, because playing a huge variety of games is something I enjoy doing and no "geeky gamer" image is going to put me off.

That is not the only stereotype that persists in this business.

Some people believe that women only like role playing games, puzzles or adventure games.

Others suggest that women do not like playing computer games at all and that games are just for boys.

In reality, it is down to personal preference, just like a person's taste in films, the books they like to read or TV programmes they enjoy.

Full interview here

What do you girls think? Stereotyping has long been an issue in the Games industry. What's the solution?

 

My g/f loves games.. Mainly FPS/RPG. She even plays planetside with me.
She has also been part of a quake3 clan I was in. I think girls can be some fo the best gamers becuase they tend to think a little more before rushing into situations

 

My girlfriend likes The Sims...

 

In my experience it's pretty much equal apart from 1st-person shooters. I think it's different for consoles and pcs tho, like it is for men

 

So does mine

 

Same here.

 

Mine likes The Sims (seeing a trend here) and CrashBandicoot... she thought MetalGearSolid II was cool but it was "too hard"

 

yeah mines into the sims aswell , not only has it infected my pc but its also got to my ps2, least she likes other games aswell though. mainly racing games and tomb raider. still tryin to get her to try out FPS's. There is some good news with her likin games though, she says that my pc has to be able to play the sims2 which means i can still upgrade it without gettin evil eyes and be nagged at

 

Old thread... I'll correct my statement. My ex-girlfriend likes The Sims.

 

Can't believe I missed this thread!

[rant]
I think it's a shame that everything about the Games Industry, especially the marketing, is so stereotyped. I think the reason I'm classed as "blokey", got into Maths, Physics, Metalwork, etc... at school, play FPS, became a gadget-geek is mainly down to my parents wanting a boy. Up until 10 I was treated like a boy and my Dad took me to Bike/Car Shows, took me to Shooting Clubs, etc...

Now I'm pretty grateful for that. Even though we're now in the "naughties", girls don't get the choices in life boys do. Right from the off girls are still taught to stay home, cook, clean and look after kids. Whilst boys get to play football, play with computers, etc...

It's something I still see in the workplace as women aren't helped along with their careers because "oh well, they'll be off having kids soon, so there's no point promoting them". Yeah, I actually heard that said. Pretty disgusting, no?

I've had to work far harder at proving myself in the IT sector than the majority, if not all, of my male colleagues. Some people still won't come to me for help because I'm a girl.
[/rant]

I don't get a lot of the games classed as "girly", I'll play them if I get the chance, but I'm more into Racing Games & First Person Shooters. I still can't get the hang of Arena style games though! Give me Doom/Quake any day

 

Mine too. She's going nuts about the Sims 2. Guess who had to pay...

 

Mine too although i dont think she has it

'doc

 

My girlfriend likes The Sims also (hmmm).

But probably not as much as, say, Tekken or Soul Calibur. Or Zelda: Wind Waker. Or Final Fantasy VII. Or Call of Duty. Or RTCW. etc.

 

Its true tho.

 

Any girl that likes to play Soul Calibur is a keeper.

 

Well as much as people refuse to admit it, mens and womens brains are wired differently. The fun comes from the news I heard this morning saying that scientists (yes, them again) reckon about 1 in 5 men have a 'womans' brain and 1 in 10 women have a 'mans'.

 

To be honest, the difference in the physical structure of the brain is very little different between a man and a woman, it just looks like subtle inflections on the same things, the maternal/paternal instincts, agression/emotion, multitasking, also men tend to be better at depth perception (from hunting it's though) which some arguee is to do with gaming, but on a 2D monitor, you can judge depth effectively anyway. How much is nature, and how much is nurture is a big question though.

A little off topic, but i have to argree, in secondary school all the lads did resistant materials (wood/plastic/metalwork), systems and control (electronics (and box building)) and all the girls did child devolpment (how to have and look after a baby), home economics (how to cook, clean and shop). When it all ends up as clear cut as that, it certainly makes you wonder.

 

My sister plays cs for about 6 hours every day

 

and she pwnz you as well

cheryl plays loads of games

mostly fps and rpgs

 

Then there's us poor dyslexic people who's brains are just wired up wrong anyway.