The evolution of girl gamers
Boy gamers are so self-centered they act as though women haven’t been playing video games for decades, and then act horrified when the female gamers who have always been there actually become visible and vocal about the rampant misogyny that has infected the gaming world.
Like seriously, how entitled do you have to be that women saying “it sure would be nice if I wasn’t treated like shit while enjoying the games I play” translates to “I must be catered to” when video games have LITERALLY been catered to men for decades?
More like:
- 1993 - 64% of girls reported playing video games
- 1996 - “home use had increased for fourth grade girls”
- 1998 - “both male and female adolescents play video games on a regular basis.“
- 1999 - “88% of the female college students … surveyed were video game players.”
- 2007 - 20-47% of adolescent girls play video games
- 2008 - “94% of girls play video games”
- 2010 - “Forty percent of all game players are women.”
- 2012 - “Women 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30%) than boys age 17 or younger"
- 2013 -“adult women are nearly half of all video game players”
I didn’t get all the dates, but I think you can get the point.
Also considered posting my own personal gaming history, but I would’ve had to go back to the 80s for that. e_e
I remember the bullshit OP image years ago but it didn’t have the beautiful carefully sourced history lesson at the time.
I think it’s amusing that OP thinks gaming history started in 1993. The rest of it is just hilarious.
(via sigmabunny)
Why Marketers Fear The Female Geek
Here is the reasoning, that drive execs and marketers to pro-actively exclude women from their audiences and to pro-actively encourage a culture in which women do not feel welcome. This is why we can’t have nice things… or can we?This is an excellent piece, by someone inside the industry, outlining quite clearly how and why so many games all but refuse to acknowledge women gamers even exist.
And it really is tough sometimes, in games. Perfectly good, reasonable people just succumb to the prevailing wisdom, feeling helpless. I’ve written female characters in games with attitude and agency, then been required to tone it down for fear of offending male players.
In one (unreleased) game, I was told to change a cut scene because “the woman NPC can’t try to save herself, the male PC must save her.” And the number of times I’ve had to remove snarky comebacks from a female NPC (“the player won’t be attracted to her”), I can’t even count.
And these were not horrible, raging sexists. But they were following market wisdom, doing what they knew publishers would require of them.
(I should add that these are all AAA games I’m talking about. The indie/mobile space I’ve worked in is so, so much more progressive.)
(Also saddening: almost exactly the same reasoning applies to the comic market’s obsession with superheroes.)
Anyway. Great article, well worth a read.
Interesting!
Game makers: “We have never really tried to market games to women. Let’s not bother with them at all.”
Women: Buy and play games anyway.
Marketing department: “Lets ostracise women and exclude them from gaming. That is sure to increase our revenue.”
Male gamers: “Fucking fake geek girls won’t jump on my dick when I aggressively quiz them about nerd trivia.”
Female gamers: “Uh. Just so you know, this is a really hostile environment. How about letting a few ladies play the lead?”
MRA: “FEMINAZI TRYNA RUIN OUR FUN!” ::Bushpig noises::
One Game Developer: Makes a game that does not sexualise, infantilise, or ostracise women and puts a girl in the lead role.
Women: SWARM TO THAT GAME LIKE NOTHING ELSE EVER.
Game makers/Marketing department: “How the hell did THIS become a breakout bestseller? There’s no boobs/sex/violence!”
Male Gamers: “Girl play game? That’s unpossible! Must not be ‘real’ game.”
And the cycle continues…
(via betterbemeta)