Microsoft looks for Xbox love from the ladies

Microsoft recently started recruiting women to throw Xbox soirees as part of a branding effort to get women to start playing the Xbox, according to the Gannett news service.

They got an Xbox party pack of freebies that included microwaveable popcorn, Xbox trivia game "Scene It? Box Office Smash," an Xbox universal media remote control, a three-month subscription to Xbox Live, and 1,600 Xbox Live points (used for game, movie and TV show purchases).

I do think this is a great marketing strategy but as with all Microsoft marketing efforts it feels a bit off. Women have proven to be huge consumers of casual games, and heavily interested in the Wii (Nintendo has been advertising heavily to the ladies for quite a while) but the Xbox feels like a stretch. And, there aren't a ton of Xbox games that are appealing to women--at least not from my informal survey (I asked my wife and a woman in the hotel lobby.)

"We've sold 20 million consoles to date globally since we launched three years ago," says Heather Snavely, Microsoft's director of interactive entertainment business global platforms. "In order to get to the next 20 million, we need to get a new audience of women and teens. We're going after them in ways that are different than ways we've done before."

Good for Microsoft on this attempt and good for the women who want get involved with playing video games.

Of course, the main thing that comes to mind for me with this program is a free episode I downloaded of The Real Housewives of Orange County, where all the snake-skinned ladies got together for a cocktail and lingerie party. Somehow, I just can't see that crew getting together for a rousing game of Fallout 3 or Grand Theft Auto. Maybe if there was a Botox game or something where you drink until you irreparably insult your husband and isolate your children? (Zing!)

[eudefender]

Xbox - the console for girls?

[bakedpatato]

Hey,hey,its a big world out there. One of my friends who happens to be female LOVES Bioshock , Fable 2 and Fallout 3. She has pins with the plasmids on them...Electro Bolt in a button!
But I will admit that those kinds of females are few and far in between.
Perhaps MS should try something with Rock Band. I don't know any women that doesn't like to play Rock Band.

[atomD21]

Dave, be careful, some shovelware development house might just take your game idea seriously. "Inject your middle-aged friends with Botox using the Wii Remote! Using the new Motion Plus Accessory, you can chug that liquor with 1:1 accuracy!"

[missk7]

As a female gamer who has been playing since the first PC games - I think some of your generalizations are quite rude! I already own an xbox360 and quite a collection of games. From my perspective, I enjoy games that are challenging. Simple plot FPS don't really do it for me. My current faves are Fable 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Oblivion. Detailed plot, customizable characters, challenging puzzles and combat, and decent co-op functionality are the go.

[rdnetto]

I think that's more a criticism of the quality of most FPS games than anything else. After all, heaps of guys (myself included) appreciate the same things.

[roachbrain]

It's not a generalization when it's true. My girl plays games like FFXI, WOW, Kingdom Hearts, Crash, LBP....ect
Yet i still say it's far few girls that actualy play. Most think it's an imature way to spend your time and go out and buy the same shoes in 5 different shades of black.

[Dylan_Wisor]

Are you serious? My (hopefully) soon-to-be fiancee plays on my 360 all the time; I finally had to set her up with a Fallout save so she'd stop fiddling with mine. My brother's wife has her own Xbox Live account. I have eleven women on my XBL friends list (one of which is the aforementioned syster-in-law), and there's the entire community of female gamers: GamerchiX.

Yet you're coming across as if there's a need to develop games about makeup and dresses and ponies and "finding your dream man". If there is a market for stuff like that (just admitting the possibility makes me feel like a chauvinist) it definitely won't bring any new gamers to the fold.

But here's a tip: Play UNO at like 3 AM with a camera. You'll find women willing to take their tops off for you every once in a while.

[OmegaCerebro]

To missk7 and Dylan_Wisor: Of course there are some women who play the 360. However, the vast majority of females don't. Stop taking everything so personally. There's always going to be a few exceptions to the rules but the cold hard facts are that most women who do play video games don't do so on the 360 or the PS3 but on the Wii. It always amazes me how people start screaming bloody murder when a generalization like this article is made. I happen to have a good friend who owns a 360 and she and I play Left 4 Dead together and she's not the girly-girl type. However, she also goes out of her way not to be a girly girl, as if she's trying to prove a point.

[Dylan_Wisor]

Whereas Travis was (probably) joking about the pink Xboxes thing, there's probably some marketing exec hidden away in Microsoft's lair thinking that that's a BRILLIANT way to get a woman to buy a 360. And if it's packaged with Barbie Horse adventure, they'll trip over their hoop skirts to get at one.

It's well known that girls play video games a lot less. But those who do do it for the same reason as the guys. The ones who don't aren't going to be drawn in by blatantly patronizing games.

[TravisOwens]

Cue the pink Xboxes!

[Kev_Orng]

They'll probably sell like Pink Zunes!

[Kev_Orng]

My wife really loves Tomb Raider. Most people consider the, er, bounciness of it all to be more geared to male audiences, but what can I say, she just loves Tomb Raider. And I get to watch the digital boobs.

But we don't need to switch to Xbox for Tomb Raider, the latest one was released for PS as well.

[JeniferC71]

I'm female and play quite a bit of xbox, and the only reason I don't play more is because there aren't enough two player games made. Sure there's online co-op, but for many women (especially me) it's about playing together on the same console. I've been playing video games since Atari and I loved IntelliVision. What made those consoles so popular was that you could play with friends and family in the same room, on the same tv and console.

There was an old Gauntlet game that allowed 4 players on the same tv and console. That ROCKED!!! And, none of us had to suffer through the pain of split screens.

Part of the Wii's popularity is the multi-player games. So, if xbox wants more female market share, they should work with the game developers for more multi-player games.

I'm currently impatiently waiting for the release of RE 5 (yeah, it's two player and I love shooting zombies), so I can tell you with certainty what I will be doing on Friday, March 13th--provided I'm not in a debilitating accident.

[laurajhm]

Me, I'm way out of the demographic; a woman, a baby boomer, an executive. I love video games; problem is, far too many seem to be created for 15-year-old boys who like to shoot things and fight wars. One of my favorites, Civ4 (PC), has to be set up in a special way to NOT end up having war declared within the first few turns.

We just tend not to be so violent, and shooting people for the fun of it is less likely to be what interests us in a game.

I asked for an Xbox for Christmas so as to play Fable II. Had played Black & White, also from Lionhead, and I knew the game would be graphically beautiful, intriguing, intelligent, and involve occasional violence that makes sense with the story line. What turns me on in a game is a bit of complexity, well-developed characters, well-designed use of strategy to carry the story forward, and a way to win that doesn't necessarily mean you beat everybody else up.

Microsoft--don't just send us flowers and chocolates; get the game studios to design games that appeal to women who have some time to kill and like competition. DO NOT go with Dave's Botox Adventure. Please.

[mischiefgirl]

I think gaming has expanded beyond the stereotype of the 20 yo white, geek male still living in his parents' basement. I think being a female, an ivy-league graduate and 2nd year med student makes me the antithesis of the stereotype demographic. I love my Xbox 360 and frequently play on XBL. My favorite games are all 3 Halo games, Call of Duty 4, and Gears of War (1 was better than 2 in my opinion). What people don't realize is that it's not necessarily the violence or the gore that makes a game fun, it's the competition. Microsoft doesn't need to make games like Barbie Horse Adventures to lure in the female gamer, they just need to make games that are fun to play. As the stigma disappears, you'll see more girls on Live.

[meg859]

As a female gamer, one of the major things that bothers me is the lack of female character options. I was very excited to be able to play as a female in both Fallout 3 and Fable 2 (although my character in Fable stopped looking like a girl after a few hours of gameplay). Though I will play a game like Gears of War, it sucks that even when you aren't in story mode (where it would make sense to play as Marcus) you don't have the option of being a female. The same was true with Halo.

I don't mind a game being nothing more than a simple FPS, even girls can be in the mood to shoot the hell out of something from time to time. It's just frustrating to see game commercials trying to attract women with games that are suited for a 7-year-old. I don't want to create an avatar and go shopping with it or hand raise some pinatas. We're women, not idiots.

[Dylan_Wisor]

Hey, don't diss Viva Pinata. My girlfriend and I love that game. :)

[shaynemarie]

As a female gamer, I'm absolutely disgusted that microsoft backs up the stigma that women don't/can't play video games.

Anyone want to buy a Halo 3 Edition Xbox360? I'm not so sure I want to support this company anymore.

[Payperbiz]

I'll support this one because I'm one Xbox addict. I was converted by friends last year.
http://www.apachelocksmith.com/

[appleeggby]

***!! It's exactly this kind of misogynistic, ignorant thinking that prevents most studios from creating games that would appeal to the majority of women. (Yes! Ha ha - a botox game - that's what chicks are into! Hilarious!)
As an avid gamer, and an actual, real-life housewife in Orange County,(true!) I am continually sickened by this conversation. Studios see the potential to expand sales by appealing to women, but because of their own internal demographics (i.e. very few women in the industry, let alone in creative decision-making positions) they have no clue how to make it happen.
I think Microsoft actually is on to something - stop trying to think up chick games, and instead figure out how to market to women. I don't think it's so much the games that are out there, but instead the widespread perception of gaming as this exclusively male world.
The same way sports titles have helped open a market beyond hardcore gamers (a/k/a "nerds"), the industry needs to expand that to women. Deride it all you like, but the Wii is making great progress on this front.
If you serious gamers really long for higher quality, more diverse titles and continuing leaps in tech development, the industry needs to make money. The best way to do that is to expand the market. Personally, I wouldn't play Madden NFL or Cooking Mama, but they introduce more people to gaming and some of those will migrate to more "serious" games. In any event, it's more money to the studios, keeps more developers employed, and ups your chance of better games.

[mynameiscoffey]

I think a lot of the people in this post are missing the point or misunderstanding his tone. He is saying that people interested in trash like The Real Housewives shows are the ones they are trying to target and just how silly that is in the first place.

"Women have proven to be huge consumers of casual games, and heavily interested in the Wii"
This is a true statement. It does not mean YOU or ALL women, but the vast majority of female gamers are more casual. My wife loves playing games like Animal Crossing and Tomb Raider. She is also a fan of the Gears of War and Halo series. I agree that pink ponys and chocolates are not the way to garner a larger female population. Honestly a better advertising of the social interaction that is inherit with XBL could do well with female gamers. The female gamers in my family tend to enjoy playing games with greater social interaction and/or deeper more dynamic stories than most of my male counterparts (call me as you will I prefer thse things too). I know Microsoft has some GamerChix group specifically for females to find other females to play with, but I only know about it from seeing it on my dashboard, I have never seen this talked about or advertised. As appleeggby said, there isn't a lack of quality games that are interesting to women available, its a poor job of marketing said games to said demographic.

I agree with JeniferC71 above, the xbox is sorely lacking quality single-console multiplayer games. When I have family/friends over we generally have to flip over to the Wii to have fun together in the same room.

@Meg859 - part of the problem with female player options that can arise is that because of the smaller models used game balance could be an issue on online play as you have a smaller hitbox and are more difficult to shoot. Not that this is a good excuse by any stretch, just something that came to mind when I read it. Also if you have ever played World of Warcraft for more than five minutes you will quickly see that most women are men anyway.

[swordfish1174]

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