I grew up being forced to play Nintendo 64 by my older brother, and ALWAYS losing, but even he wasn’t much of a gamer, though. That 64 is still the most recent game console he owns. Not having any knowledge of –and certainly no skills for– video games, the whole thing is a little overwhelming.

I feel I’m mostly put off by video games for a few reasons:
-I suck at them. Every one of them. No matter what. Lol
-I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything worthwhile afterwards.
-They’ve caused problems in my marriage.
-I don’t know where or how I could start.

I find Wii obnoxious. I have played hours of it with friends at parties and such, any have never once enjoyed it.

I’m also not much of a girlie-girl, so as someone mentioned prevoiusly, I’m not drawn to the pink-and-glittery campaign.

This is a great article and I really liked reading the responses. I’m thrilled to hear that there are people and companies that are working to promote gaming to people like me, who are willing to try it out, but completely lost. :S

Also, if you have any suggestions for me to try, please, please let me know. Haha!

I can say that I do love a game that is geared at women as the protagonist, I.E. Tomb Raider and Blood Rayne, but certainly don’t base the majority of my gaming money on the female targeted content. I haven’t had a hand held gaming system since the Sega Game Gear, my HTC Touch Pro 2 can play enough games (it has flash too) for on the go.

I am a bit tired of every game lately, PC, Console or otherwise, being just a shooter or WOW ripoff with different guns or wands. RPG, Strategy & Adventure are my speed now- the genres that require more of the mind and less of the thumbwork- hell I’m getting old and the carpal tunnel is setting in.

Nintendo has a great brand for kids and getting in motion, but what it truly lacks that my X gen Peers want is RPG, Strategy and Adventure titles. I was disappointed in games like Opoona & Zelda for the Wii and have stuck more to my PC and PS3 for heavy purchases.

Games like Dragon Age Origins have really drawn me in. Dragon Age has great personalization immersion and story variations that prompted me to play it over and over AND buy expansions- something I rarely do.

IMHO if brands like Nintendo want to grab more of the Gen X & Y Women that will pour money in they need to focus on:
-Phone Apps, not the DS, I don’t want to game on something that can’t answer my work email.
-Gen X/Y Daughters of highschool+ age (which Nintendo does to an extent)
-Create some good/beautiful thinking RPG style games with multiple personal interaction levels that immerse the user in a different life, because really, at the end of the day we all just want a place to get away to.

Of the girls I know who routinely put money into the gaming industry, I cannot think of ever hearing one say she liked a game because it was aimed at girls, or because it had X thing which could be considered stereotypically feminine.

We like games that are good! What good is varies from girl to girl the same way it would from dude gamer to dude gamer. Some of us like storylines, some of us like neat ways to smash zombie skulls, some of us like shooting things with better graphics than the last things we shot. And so on and so forth. If anything, games seem to fare better with girls not when they try to include us, but when they don’t try to exclude us. As in, don’t give us female characters who are basically one dimensional idiots! Don’t treat us as if we are only interested in shopping and and lipstick, and don’t treat us as if we’re all the same, either in game or in marketing.

And then there’s the other thing.. some people (some females and some males) just aren’t video game personalities. My sister, who is also my life-long partner in crime, is just not. She listens to my babble about it but only holds fondness for Space Quest IV and Mario. And its not because she’s uncomfortable bending gender roles… she hates talking about feelings and loves drinking hot straight Jose Cuervo. She just doesn’t have the personality type to really enjoy or spend money on games.

There are just some people who will never be gamers because gaming doesn’t appeal to them. Why aim marketing at the small percent who are very far from being gamers and try to convince them gaming is something different than it used to be? Don’t put out “girly bait” to try to hook the girl who stereotypical girliness apeals to.. instead lure in women who already have interests that are gateways to gaming… there are actually a ton of them out there.

That said, its nice when the gaming industry aknowledges women. It just seems sometimes thier attempts at it reinforce or are based on outdated gender stereotypes and expectations.

The other side is what Sylvie mentioned. I have to add, too, that girls play with boys and the guys “take it easy” on her ’cause she’s a girl. I got it even with my guy friends back in high school, and I played games with them all the time!

I don’t know many non-gamers, guys or gals, since its just a big hobby of mine so my close friends are even casual gamers.

I grew up with it. My parents played Coleco when my mom was pregnant with me, so I never had my parents telling me I couldn’t play because I wasn’t a boy. (I think that could also be a reason too, why lots of girls stray away from it.)

Good article by the way, its interesting to see how gaming companies are dealing with getting more girls into gaming.

Isn’t it so funny how boys’ opinions change as they grow up? I got made fun of, too, but now my friends think it’s cool that I play video games.

I also agree with you on that second point – I think younger girls are getting into games without the same stigma that existed in the 80s and 90s.

And i totally agree with Dope Kitten’s comment, back then you were looked at odd, i grew up being called a lesbian because i did what they catagorized as “male” and people always used the gender role against me – extremely funny because now i’m a girly girl who owns a makeup site and who still does guy like things, i still game and i’m still willing to get dirty and now men find it sexy, go figure!

btw doll of war, excellent excellent site. i commend you for you work!

lol

I feel like the divide between gamer girls and non gamer girls is closing, and mostly relegated to older generations. Young teens these days seem to be picking up on a wider variety of non-gender specific hobbies that, back when I was growing up, were much more clearly divided. I grew up interested in video games and ice hockey, and I was looked on as an odd-ball quite a bit. Now it’s a bit more natural, though the divide is still there.

I think it will keep closing though, or at least we can hope!

Great article!