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[The_Flying_Dove]

I don't know whether to applaud Silicon Sisters, or not. Right now, we still don't know enough about what kinds of games it will be working on. And sadly, even if this game developer does come up with some very incredible, meaningful, and innovative ideas, it will likely disappear from the news rather quickly. We hardly ever hear anything about gaming that is different. Obviously, those games which are marketed the most will continue to be heard way more than anything else.

Oh, it'll be a long time before this industry is a mature one and more than just a place for young boys.

[Oddball]

All the women I know play video games and non of them have ever complained that there aren't enough games that cater to their tastes. In fact most of them have larger game collections  than me. I don't even think that the majority of games that are released are macho FPSs. I think it just seems that way due to the mainly male orientated gaming press/marketing dept. focusing on those games.

you do realize that your anecdotal experience is quite atypical, right?

Why is my experience atypical? Or are you just plucking that out of thin air? I have no official stats or figures so I'm just basing my opinion on what I see around me. And all I can see is women playing their DSs, Wiis and Xboxs, or sat in front of a PC for hours at a time playing Zuma, Tetris, The Sims, WoW, etc, etc. If you have some research to show me that says otherwise then I'll gladly change my opinion.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

from http://twitter.com/bbrathwaite

People will only perceive things as they appear.  Maybe her behavior is passive, not assertive.  /speculation.
[/quote]

possible but it's still kinda sad that the first thing that comes to your mind when you see an overt example of sexism in the industry is the blaming the victim 'maybe she just sees what she wants to see' thing

[Ntero]

All the women I know play video games and non of them have ever complained that there aren't enough games that cater to their tastes. In fact most of them have larger game collections  than me. I don't even think that the majority of games that are released are macho FPSs. I think it just seems that way due to the mainly male orientated gaming press/marketing dept. focusing on those games.

I'm going to back this up.

It's old info from 2008, but it's still pretty relevant.

http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2008.pdf

As of 2007:
the Male to Female ratio was 60/40 (Page 3)
It's also 56/44 for online games (Page 9)

On Page 5, Shooters made up only 12% of games sold.

And yet, looking at Gamespots Games of the year Nominees for 2007
http://shiben.blogspot.com/2007/12/gamespots-best-of-2007-game-awards.html

We get:
Halo,
Crysis,
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,
Bioshock,
Orange Box

That's 5/11 are Shooters.
If I can gather stats for other years I don't think it would be too far off either, but that's far too much work.

http://gigaom.com/2010/02/17/average-social-gamer-is-a-43-year-old-woman/
is interesting as well but it's more social game specific.

It's not so much that games are macho, but it's that game advertising and news is focussed on the macho games.

[Gimym JIMBERT]

The first thing: Pinky game should be shameful? more than blowing stuff? I bet raising a child and bonding with friends is things which are "not cool in real life"...

Second things: http://www.herinteractive.com/About_Her_Interactive

Our vision is to be the undisputed leader in creating high quality, fun and inspiring games for girls of all ages. Our philosophy is to create an environment that fosters excellence through the art of creative collaboration. We strive to create high quality synergy between game play, story and aesthetics that result in a fun and engaging experience.

OMG sexist game company 

Whenever i look at big REAL game chart i see their game, wow, the sims and some nintendo game.  and they never ever drop off




...



But yeah animal crossing selling 11M is not a big deal, but assassin's creed only selling 1 is party time. Hardcore culture and mainstream is totally fucked up about realities.

[Oddball]

I'm going to back this up.

Thanks Ntero, that's useful info. 60-40 is fairly decent split.

[moi]

Did she have to dress like a slut?

[SirNiko]

All the women I know play video games and non of them have ever complained that there aren't enough games that cater to their tastes. In fact most of them have larger game collections  than me. I don't even think that the majority of games that are released are macho FPSs. I think it just seems that way due to the mainly male orientated gaming press/marketing dept. focusing on those games.

I was originally going to say something in support of this, as I have several female friends who have very nearly identical tastes in games to me (with perhaps slight shifts in that they seem to tend towards avatar customization and roleplaying over crunchy problem solving etc.). However, I'm not sure if this is the result of guys and girls naturally having the same interests, or girls just having no choice but to play the same games as the guys and they got used to it. If somebody had produced a series of Legend of Zelda style games where you play as a female hero rescuing a prince, with production values equal to Nintendo's series, would my friend prefer those? I think it's possible they would.

Also it's possible I'm friends with them simply because they do like the same games as me. Possible observation bias maybe?

I could see some minor things that would be "girl friendly", such as more focus on female avatars and avoiding typical "Man saves damsel" plotlines that permeate a lot of top titles (Such as nearly the entirety of the Super Mario Bros and Zelda series, two of my friend's favorites).

For the most part, though, I agree with the sentiment that the idea of "Making games for girls" is needlessly locking yourself into a smaller market when most gamer trends are gender neutral (or appear to be so). But, Silicon Sisters thinks they know a part of the market is underserved, so let them at it. We'll see what they devise and then see whether or not it is successful.

I'd like to see a Duke Nukem style game with a cocky egotistical female hero who regularly exploits half-naked males while she makes witty one-liners. If nothing else, it would be absolutely hilarious.

-SirNiko

[Paint by Numbers]

Seriously, I wish everyone would just stop talking about sexism in games. There should not be companies opening to cater to female tastes. There should not be discussion about this. There should not be complaining about how certain characters are sexist and show how sexist their creators are. If there are not enough women in gaming, don't whinge about how games are sexist, go talk to some of your female friends and show them how awesome games are! If you don't like how many female characters in games dress or act or whatever, make some games of your own with "nontypical" women! If you're sick of burly muscular men doing manly things, go make a game where a woman does womanly things, or a game where a woman does manly things, or a game where a man does womanly things!

It's not that hard! We are indie gamers, and we are of both genders, and all of one species. We should not be giving a single shit about sexism.

[Geti]

This annoys me at a level that's half-way between "completely non-annoying" and feminism.

What the fuck do you mean here? O_o If you mean that feminism annoys you, what the hell sort of person does that make you.

Feminism refers to political, cultural, and economic movements aimed at establishing greater rights, legal protection for women, and/or women's liberation.

HOW COULD THAT ANNOY ANYONE?!
Feminism is about equality, not taking rights away from men or whatever. As you haven't clarified, it makes it look like you're one of the many, many people that see giving power to any oppressed group as taking power away from the group that isn't oppressed. It shouldn't even be an issue, but because of the ridiculous sexist legislature people have to wade through and the idiotic labels of "controversial" from people who don't even understand what they're opposing (like you seem to be doing here) the pathetic excuse for a debate or whatever has continued for >40 years in the public eye, and for centuries beforehand. The mainstream oppression of women should be what annoys you, not feminism, and the fact that you're saying things like that without thinking is exactly the problem.
Go and read some feminist literature and educate yourself on the matter before you come off like you just have. Heck, go read some blogs on it. Just please, ffs understand why people take this kind of thing seriously.
Beh I'm starting to blah, it just seems sad that you'd say this kind of thing and mean it.
[/rantrantrant]

I'd like to see a Duke Nukem style game with a cocky egotistical female hero who regularly exploits half-naked males while she makes witty one-liners. If nothing else, it would be absolutely hilarious.

I agree with this, if only as a social experiment to see how many people decided it was inappropriate. Duke is barely witty though

"nontypical" women!

I totally agree with your sentiment, but this struck me as odd. We already have games with nontypical women in them, flaunting their micro armour and tiny waists and massive breasts. I feel we need more games with typical women in them, and move away from the whole boobs and hips thing.
Unless you meant nontypical in the way that link isn't a typical man, or mario isn't a typical man, or feel like the word typical is scorn or something. Maybe I'm interpreting it wrongly.

Arne brings up a really good point in the second section of this, about realism | It's kind of irrelevant to the current discussion though, but it came to mind when I was writing the above.

[Paint by Numbers]

I totally agree with your sentiment, but this struck me as odd. We already have games with nontypical women in them, flaunting their micro armour and tiny waists and massive breasts. I feel we need more games with typical women in them, and move away from the whole boobs and hips thing.
Unless you meant nontypical in the way that link isn't a typical man, or mario isn't a typical man, or feel like the word typical is scorn or something. Maybe I'm interpreting it wrongly.

Excuse me. By that, I meant nontypical in terms of video games. So, "if you don't like the fact that dressing skimpily (is that a word?) is the norm for video game women, go make a game with some women who don't have any sexuality to them, or whatever you feel like." Basically, I just want this thread to be closed and everyone to ignore what gender anybody is.