(no subject)
WARNING: What follows is full of references that many of you may or may not care about.
< begin rant >
Ya know what pisses me off? How game companies are always talking about needing to "attract girl gamers" to their products. Newsflash: we're here. We've been here, and we're not going anywhere. I was just reading a (very interesting) article about the Nintendo Wii, and the only thing that really ticked me off about it (because other than this, I'm excited as fuck for it to finally arrive), was that the article made a comment about how Nintendo is focusing on trying to get women to buy their products, by making games like Nintendogs. I'm sorry, but I bought Nintendogs and the "cuteness factor" is about all it has. Even that isn't enough to make me play it. It was adorable for about 3 days, and then it was just this irritating game cartridge that made me feel guilty for being more interested in Tetris. Worst 30 bucks I've spent for my DS. But I mean come on, a game where you take care of a virtual (albeit "too adorable for its own good") puppy that never gets old? That'll attract younger girls to gaming, sure, but how about something for people who have a 2 in front of the second digit of their age? Now I'm not asking for some "shopping is fun!1 OMGWTFBBQ" game here, hell, I'm totally happy with the current level of gore and violence that is in most games; but how about making a game with a female protagonist that doesn't look like she couldn't exist in real life? How about less Grand Theft Auto games? Sorry GTA fans--I'll make fun of beating up hookers with the rest of you, but where's the balance? Why not a GTA style game where you're a woman and you beat up pimps :-D I know I'd get a kick out of that, LoL.
See, places like ThinkGeek, they get the girl gaming market--there are whole sections on their site with product designed specifically for those of the "having breasts" persuasion--but even that isn't really enough. I mean, there are these stupid stereotypes that girl gamers have to overcome, for instance, that all female gamers are either a) huge, b) have bad skin, or c) have bad social skills. I mean that really just isn't the case! Not to mention the idea that females will only like something if it is pink and covered in adorableness...
I mean the long and the short of it, is that female gamers do exist, we're not some mythological "customer base" that is just waiting to be mined for cash, they already have our money, I'm just asking for some return on that investment. I like the current gaming market, but I just want to see something designed for older female gamers that isn't talking down to us. Who knows, we'll see if that ever happens. Until then, I'll be happy to stick with what I've got.
< /end rant >
Sorry, just had to get that off of my chest. I will now continue my regularly-scheduled not-updating.
< begin rant >
Ya know what pisses me off? How game companies are always talking about needing to "attract girl gamers" to their products. Newsflash: we're here. We've been here, and we're not going anywhere. I was just reading a (very interesting) article about the Nintendo Wii, and the only thing that really ticked me off about it (because other than this, I'm excited as fuck for it to finally arrive), was that the article made a comment about how Nintendo is focusing on trying to get women to buy their products, by making games like Nintendogs. I'm sorry, but I bought Nintendogs and the "cuteness factor" is about all it has. Even that isn't enough to make me play it. It was adorable for about 3 days, and then it was just this irritating game cartridge that made me feel guilty for being more interested in Tetris. Worst 30 bucks I've spent for my DS. But I mean come on, a game where you take care of a virtual (albeit "too adorable for its own good") puppy that never gets old? That'll attract younger girls to gaming, sure, but how about something for people who have a 2 in front of the second digit of their age? Now I'm not asking for some "shopping is fun!1 OMGWTFBBQ" game here, hell, I'm totally happy with the current level of gore and violence that is in most games; but how about making a game with a female protagonist that doesn't look like she couldn't exist in real life? How about less Grand Theft Auto games? Sorry GTA fans--I'll make fun of beating up hookers with the rest of you, but where's the balance? Why not a GTA style game where you're a woman and you beat up pimps :-D I know I'd get a kick out of that, LoL.
See, places like ThinkGeek, they get the girl gaming market--there are whole sections on their site with product designed specifically for those of the "having breasts" persuasion--but even that isn't really enough. I mean, there are these stupid stereotypes that girl gamers have to overcome, for instance, that all female gamers are either a) huge, b) have bad skin, or c) have bad social skills. I mean that really just isn't the case! Not to mention the idea that females will only like something if it is pink and covered in adorableness...
I mean the long and the short of it, is that female gamers do exist, we're not some mythological "customer base" that is just waiting to be mined for cash, they already have our money, I'm just asking for some return on that investment. I like the current gaming market, but I just want to see something designed for older female gamers that isn't talking down to us. Who knows, we'll see if that ever happens. Until then, I'll be happy to stick with what I've got.
< /end rant >
Sorry, just had to get that off of my chest. I will now continue my regularly-scheduled not-updating.