Games made for Girls?
Ubisoft is launching a new line, called “Imagine“, of games intended for girls….and what do these games consist of?
Cooking, Babies, Fashion, Shopping.
Is this really what game designers think women want to do? Honestly….when I was a girl, I rarely played with baby dolls. My mother continues to despair at my complete lack of regard for high fashion. (I’d rather wear a t-shirt and jeans any day.) And, with the exception of the hours upon hours I can spend in a bookstore, happily browsing the shelves, I absolutely cannot stand going shopping….particularly for clothes. And of the girls that really do like those things, well, I imagine they’d rather do it in-real-life than in a virtual environment.
Though, I will admit to spending a few hours, here and there, browsing the auction house on World of Warcraft for the absolutely perfect outfit to wear to an RP gathering.
What game designers need to realize is that there are already girl gamers out there, girl gamers who like the very same games that are currently marketed, almost exclusively, to males. The advertisements are testosterone-filled, dark, metallic, and full of invitations to prove the size of your e-peen.
Why not come up with some ads featuring the strong female heroines that exist in many games (Samus Aran springs to mind)….and not focusing on the size of the character’s breasts, but on the fact that they are out there fighting and saving the world alongside the boys.
Quite frankly, we often do a better job of it.
While I do enjoy simulation games (I am anxiously awaiting the launch of Spore), I love RTS games, am quite fond of shooters, and have spent countless hours playing World of Warcraft.
I began playing video games as a young child, on a Commodore 64 and Atari, and progressing to Nintendo. I played the very same games fondly remembered by many of my male friends. When I was a member of the age-group these Ubisoft games are going to be marketed to, I was particularly fond of Contra.
I have also always been a gamer of another sort – picking up tabletop RPG gaming in high-school and, the moment I got my first internet-capable P.C., gravitating toward MUDs and MUSHes. I played Myst, but I also played DOOM and Duke Nukem and had fun doing so. At some point, someone gave me the Ubisoft predecessor to “Babiez”, Catz, because I’ve always been fond of the little beasts. While I installed it, and picked out some cats that looked much like my pets….I mostly just made use of the screensaver that was included, which consisted of kittens pouncing and playing across the screen. (Just because I’m a tom-boy, doesn’t mean I’m immune to cute…but I’d rather cuddle my real cats than have to deal with feeding a fake one.)
While I’m sure plenty of people, boys and girls alike, will buy and enjoy these games, I do resent the idea that girls only want games that involve shopping, babies, fashion….the stereotypical girl stuff, much of which I, as a girl gamer, do not enjoy very much at all.
Get it into your heads, game developers. Girls like the same kinds of games that boys do, but they get told too much that those games are just for boys. Why not market some of the existing game genres in a way that would appeal to girls as well as boys? Let them know that these games are fun for everyone, that they’re not just a “boy thing.”
Even worse, these stereotypes reinforce the idea to girls that it is their job and purpose in life is to look pretty, cook good food for their man, have the babies, do the parenting, and go shopping…not something I would want my daughter to learn. No, I’d rather have her learn that she can do everything the boys do….but I would also want my son to learn, should I have one, that he can do the things that girls do too.
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