Comments on: Just stop it already: Women do play video games

Don Reisinger is here to correct the same old stereotype. Believe it or not, women do play video games, and they might even be better than you.

[newbiiz]

Yes, we do believe that more and more women are stepping up in the gaming industry. We are starting to realize that and we have created a Girl Geek section on our website, specifically for women who love gaming. We already have a list of female gamers which we will feature on our website, we encourage those who would like to speak up and tell the world that it's ok for a girl to game.

http://www.ewiz.com/girlgeek.html

[AlanPDX]

Not only do women and girls play video games, but they are probably better at it than you are. When my daughter beats God of War and platform games like Ratchet and Clank in almost record times, it is hard to say they don't play. My wife and daughter both enjoy video games to the point that I rarely get to watch TV anymore. They both played through all of the Ratchet and Clank games, the God of War series, Conan, Oblivion, and a bunch more. Maybe one of the reasons that people don't believe that girls play games is that most of the games made for girls and women are so incredibly awful. What defines a "girl game" anyway? Barbie's Horse Adventure?

The women in my household want the same things that men want in games. They want them to be challenging and fun and not insulting to their intelligence.

[sgabarik]

As a woman who loves to play video games, I believe more games need to be geared toward women. My favorite game of 2007 was Heavenly Sword. I loved playing as a woman. It's as simple as that.

[Solaris_User]

Oh common now.. stop all the jokes and lets be serious.. we *all* know those are just guys in drag. No women play video games. They just say.. "All you do is sit there? What do you accomplish by playing that *thing*?" then they go read romance novels all day.

Ok, .. hehe.. I'm totally kidding.. my girl can whop me on most games.. kinda sad really..

[Zero187]

They aren't made specifically for men, but obviously the majority of people who play them are men. It's actually quite a shame more women don't play video games, as they are a great way to enjoy your time!

[Kev Orng]

My wife loves video games. Her favourite is Tomb Raider. She likes the problem solving, the adventure, the story, and I like the realistic bounce. Everybody wins!

I'm just kidding about that, we mutually make fun of Lara Croft's impossible physique.

Seriously though... In sitcoms and commercials, it has become fashionable over the past decade or so to generally portray most men as raving buffoons who need their highly competent wives next to them at all times to say things like "pants first, honey, THEN shoes". Total overcompensation for years of sexist portrayals of women, I know, but this is the 21st century, why haven't we learned that respect is a two way street? And then my wife tells me about her co-workers who project this male TV buffoon image onto their husbands, deserved or not.

I hear you on the video game thing, I'll back you up as soon as I can sit through an hour of TV without being told that I'd end up eating the cat if my wife went away overnight.

[Kev Orng]

Sorry, my sarcasm overcame my actual sentiments. I do and will fully support what you're saying on this. But it's not the only problem on this front.

[cporpheus]

"Just stop it already: Women do play video games" Tru dat. 'Nuff Said.

[yermom]

women on the development side of games? two words: Jade Raymond
unfortunately, similar to sound engineers and people even further back on the back end of game design; most people have no clue who's hands are actually making things happen. people know names like kojima, miyamoto and sakaguchi, and i think it's great to see ms. raymond getting some of the spotlight. of course, it doesn't hurt that she's terribly easy to look at (quite frankly, that's a fantastic pr move for the industry as a whole, even if it does generate more 'she's hot' at first than 'she's doing fantastic work').

[highlander2000]

Women do play games... with my heart. </3
Quit playin' games with my heart!

[SGranerRay]

While it is true that women are playing games in higher numbers than ever before. Be careful with the statistics. It does not mean that 40% of the players of GTAIV are female.

The IGDA says approx 40% of all game players are women, but that is because approx 70% of players of "online casual games" (Bejeweled, etc) are women (re: IGDA Casual Games SIG), When you average that with the fact that less than approx 20% of the traditional game audience is female then you come up with the " 40%.of gamers are women."

In other words, women do not make up 40% of the audience for GTAIV and men do not make up 60% of the audience for Bejeweled. Additionally, the non-casual genre that has the biggest percentage of female players is the MMO with self reported numbers of between 20-25% female audience.

Why is this a problem? Because if less than 20% of the audience for the biggest budget titles are female, then it is obvious there is alot of money being left on the table by the games industry. This does not mean publishers need to put a mini-game about how to put on lipstick into GTAIV, but perhaps they should begin to look at what barriers are keeping women out of those games such as tutorial style, character representation, etc..

As for how it is possible that only 13% of the workforce is female. Believe me, that is a big improvement over the less than 3% is was only 10 years ago. The biggest areas of improvement are in art and business roles. Probably the best and most promising growth area we've seen is the increase in the number of women in producer roles. The growth in the number of women in programming and design, however, has lagged far behind.

However, the reasons for why the numbers are this low are far far more complex than simply the perpetuation of stereotypes. They involve everything from industry culture to hiring practices to game content. I would be happy to talk about in depth about this with you, if you would like.

On a positive note, the game industry is making progress. Women are playing games in greater numbers - even if not on par with men in the traditional games - and we are seeing an improvement in the number of women enrolled in the various game development programs around the country. However, at the various non-art specific programs, the number of women enrolled is very small to none. (I personally advise a number of these programs in their quests to improve the number of women enrolled.)

But make no mistake, today it is still a male dominated industry making games for a traditional audience of white males ages 12-25 and that is where the biggest money is spent and where the best jobs are. Unfortunately, if you don't fit into that category (young, white and male) than, while not impossible to get into games, there are certainly more barriers to entry.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about the state of women in the games industry today and would love the opportunity to talk with you about why the numbers in the industry are so low compared to the percentages playing the games and what is being done to help that.

-Sheri Graner Ray
Executive Chair
Women in Games International

[MommyDX]

YES! We DO play games! (...and we like GTA IV too) :)

[HVO-Jetfire]

SGranerRay:

re: "Unfortunately, if you don't fit into that category (young, white and male) than, while not impossible to get into games, there are certainly more barriers to entry."

I find it difficult to believe that the video games industry as a whole is predominantly geared towards young white males when it finds its strongholds in both North America, but also in Asia, and to a greater extent depending on what aspect you are talking about. Millions of commuters in Japan own a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, and the gaming culture in South Korea has reached a mainstream presence unlike anything seen in North America. To say that the video game world is too focused on white males is grossly inaccurate.

As for females' interest in gaming, it is hard to generalize. Some of my female friends are gaming enthusiasts and I can talk and debate about games on end. On the other hand, other female friends simply brush off all forms of video games as "silly guy stuff." This stigma certainly isn't helped by a male-centric advertising bent for games (this doesn't apply to all gaming culture, but louder voices like Spike TV certainly do not help), but a large proportion of women are not facing barriers in the gaming culture and community; they are creating the barriers themselves. Again, this is not all or even most females, but to paint the picture in an over arching light will not help the situation.

[SGranerRay]

I'm interested in your response. What do you mean by "but a large proportion of women are not facing barriers in the gaming culture and community; they are creating the barriers themselves." ?

-S Graner Ray

[HVO-Jetfire]

It isn't overly complicated or even unique to gaming culture. A fair number of females I have encountered or discussed the topic with do not see gaming as something that interests them. They see the mainstream face of video games and dismiss it as guys' stuff. They end up missing other games that may interest them because by seeing the most dominant images or commercials (GTAIV and Halo 3 as an easy, but general example) and think that this is all there is. If I were to make a reverse comparison, I could say how a male may dismiss fashion and fashion culture as just "for girls and gays." It's just as dismissive and ill-informed, but then again I *am* uninformed in that topic, so I'll leave it there. Again, this is just one aspect that I have encountered; I have several female friends who either consider themselves gamers, or simply enjoy playing video games.

Admittedly the gaming scene in North America has lightened up and broadened its scope, thanks largely (though not exclusively) to efforts by Nintendo's Wii and DS products, as well as the recent explosion of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. When one talks about movies and film, he or she will talk about liking action films, comedy, or drama; they will likely not say "I don't like movies" without qualification. It is more likely to hear someone say "I don't like video games" while holding a narrow view of what the medium really is. This is a barrier that gaming is slowly unwrapping, but it is still not entirely free of.

[jonathan_a]

Sorry if this sounds sexist, but from personal experience, ALL gamer girls that I know, became gamer girls because of their husband, boyfriend or brother. Very rarely will I find a girl who can admit she begged her parents, as a child, to buy her a video game console, then grew up as a gamer on her own... like most men do.

Not that this is a bad thing, or is relevant to anything... but i'm just saying.

Gamer girls exist... but most exist because a guy got'em interested in it. I guess I'm just writing this because I've tried several times to get a girl I like to become interested in video games, and I failed everytime. Hence the reason I dumped her cause I hate when a girlfriend tells me that "you play too much video games" .... *sigh*

[TomatoDreams]

Umm. Me? When I was a little girl, I begged and begged my dad for an N64, as well as a GameBoy. I still beg my dad for video games and such (even if I can buy my own...). When I started Day Care when I was a bit older, I'd play video games there too--and kill the boys I played against (most of the time).

No one but myself got me into videogames (well, my dad helped by buying my N64). Now, that doesn't stop me from admitting that there are plenty of women who started playing videogames because of a guy they know, and that there are women who just find games silly. There are such women.

I just though I'd let you know at least one girl (and thousands of others, too) begged their parents for their first console.

[TheOdyssey]

I find that odd because every girl gamer that I know (including myself) started off as gamers on their own, and only ended up meeting their significant others through a common interest in video games and gaming culture.

[pixeldaisy]

I started playing video games when I was a little kid. I begged my mom for a NES, then a SNES, then a Sega Saturn, a Dreamcast, a N64, a Playstation, and games games games. Needless to say, she ended up spending a lot of money on my gaming over the 15 or so years that she was still supporting me. There was no boy that got me into gaming. I still have all my old consoles too, and they work. I can't afford to buy the latest and greatest systems anymore, but I get to play on my friend's systems all the time. And it just so happens that my boyfriend works for Gamespot, so have access to anything I want. I couldn't be happier, both in my relationship and in my gaming, and he loves that he found a hot geek chick that shares his interests.

[AbsoluteTara]

My dad bought our family an Atari when I was 4 and every Nintendo after that. When I was 17, I begged for an N64 but he said I was "too old". I never did get my N64 *sigh* Now I'm 28 and own a 360, a PS3, and a Wii.

And since I grew up with all women that all played games...I honestly didn't realize there was a big deal about "female gamers" up until 2003 or so when I joined Xbox Live. I agree there is a different perspective between lifelong female gamer and females that are newer to the hobby...But the more gamers, men or women, the better.

[stepyourgameup]

I want to meet a nice girl who loves to play video games instead of watch mindless crap on tv. Unfortunately, they are rare indeed.

[vuacnet]

LOL. If that 40% statistics is true then I would love to sit down and play TDU/GTA... with my wife and sisters and cousins but unfortunately all they say is "what a stupid and silly game! All you do is just driving around and round. Don't you get a headache driving around like that?" There are about 20 girls in our family and none (that's zero percent) of them even wants to spend 5 minutes just to LOOK at us playing the games!

[GoblinGirl]

I've been playing PC games, and later on, console games, since the early 1990s. I like to do the same things in a game that guys do--kill things! However, I'd prefer to do it with a female protagonist.

[HioMrSan]

Oh please. Get off your soap box. If those stats were true in the way you presented them, both my 80 some year old grandmother who plays online Chinese checkers, and my mother who plays Peggle Deluxe off Steam could kick our ***** in Call of Duty 4. Even my wife who actually does play games doesn't play along with the likes of GTA IV and MGS4.

Fact of the matter is that most games are aimed towards young males in this country and Japan. It's simply the target audience for which the majority of games are developed for. I don't see why it's sexist to say that these games will not attract a large female audience. I'm sure there are females out there that will enjoy them, but no where close to the numbers you're misleading readers with. I'd be a happy man to find out that plenty women think it's awesome that I'm an adult who has regular D&D groups and wants to hear about my rogue on Neverwinter Nights 2, but that's not going to happen is it?

Games like "The Sims" and "Spore" have shown that yes there are a large number of female gamers willing to play, but could it possibly be that they were developed for that type of audience in mind?...

[_Mike112]

"So next time you hear someone say that women don't play video games or listen to some uninformed loon try to tell you that the video game industry is for men, make them realize that women play video games, too. And just in case they don't believe you, have them log on to Halo 3--I'm sure a woman would be more than happy to frag them into oblivion."

Uninformed, huh? I've spent quite a bit of time playing Halo 2 and 3 online. Maybe not as much as some hardcore Halo players, but enough that I've got an idea of what type of people I'm going to be playing with. I play team games with a head set so it's easy to distinguish the gender of those I'm playing with. I've heard a total of two women in all my time playing both games. One of them wasn't even playing. She was on with her boyfriend and they were both just trying to annoy people through voice chat. On the other hand, several hundred vocal players have been male. Either these women aren't talking, or they aren't playing, from my experience.

I know Halo isn't specifically a focal point of this article, but I think it was a terrible example to use. Over 99% of the vocal Halo gamers I've played with online are male. I wonder how informed this author really is, to make a suggestion that you log on to Halo 3 as a way to show that women play video games.