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I think people who think men are better than women are foolish


Totally Julz

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women who complain too much (and I stress the phrase "too much" -- too much stressing in this post) about men and their 'sexist' ways


It's silly to 'blame men' (I don't) just as it is to 'blame white people'on racism, but what you can blame is old-world societies based on racist and misogynistic social structures. That's what I meant. America and western european societies have realized this and changed things intelligently over the last couple of decades-- and benefited greatly! Suffrage is just one example of this.

Places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan are just horrible in this way. I don't blame the people of these countries, or their men, but the social system. Iran used to be totally enlightened and progressive before being taken over by religious nutjobs, and now women suffer under it. Women who were brilliant doctors, lawyers, professors now are forced out of participation in society. That's the fault of a social system. Women in Iran are not any less intelligent than men, but the social system keeps many in the dark. Women aren't even allowed to drive there. A quarter of my family in law is from Iran, by the way, and the Persian people themselves are youthful, progressive and fun-- its just the social and religious system they are forced to live under keeps them down.

BTW the USA has done nothing to help women in Afghanistan and Iraq. In old Iraq women had complete social freedom, now that religious extremism has taken over, many can't even go outstide, like in Iran.

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About story-line based games: Why play them? Just read a fictional novel or watch TV?



Action and sports games are sorts of story line games-- the story is an action story or a story of competition and the thrill of victory or "agony of defeat".. and likewise why play these games when you can watch James Bond or Schwarzenegger movies or a football game on TV? How different is a football match from Braveheart?

The Sims is a story based game where you write the story. Surely the difference between The Sims and (the Excellent show) Desperate Housewives is easy enough to see. They're not the same thing.

Duke Nukem I find very boring, but GTA: San Andreas is a lot of fun and the story really adds to the whole experience, because I care about the characters I'm helping or fighting against. A lot of women find action games boring for the same reason they find mindless action movies boring. The Godfather or The Sopranos have great cross-gender demographic appeal in spite of the violence because the stories are really good.

An excellent article on Idle Thumbs discusses some useful items on appealing to the female gamer demographic: http://www.idlethumbs.net/display.php?id=185&p=2
I've been looking a lot at this information because my game is designed to appeal to both men and women, but leans a little more towards women, like the show Invader Zim. Actually has slightly more women viewers than men!!

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Originality
We need to invent some more genres. If we assume that general male and female tastes in film are analogous to games, then violence, driving and sports are generally out. Puzzles are only a small portion of what will work. How can we translate the preference for human drama to games? Adventure games, RPGs and Sims-type stuff all might work, but all still feel flat. We need more intense interaction that will pave the way for the hallowed Emotion Engine (please step forward, Ico!)



Having mentioned The Sims, I'd also like to say that extended game series aren't really going to cut it. Not for a while anyway. As we're opening up this market to the other side of the human race, most of them are going to start as casual gamers. A lot of girls have played The Sims, but what we really don't need is more Sims knockoffs. They've been there, done that. Let's explore something else. There have got to be other ways to portray social interaction in games (check out our recent Façade review for just one). While a popular licence may be great for brand recognition, each successive game ought to have a lot to offer in terms of different gameplay. More of the same is great for adolescent fanboys, but not many others.



More diverse settings
Lay off Sci-Fi. Easy on the Swords and Sorcery. Modern conflict is a big no no. Bizarre mushroom filled lands with no relation to reality have limited success. Film and literature have much to teach us here too. How about something from the 1920s? Or the 50s (a Grease game anyone?) Then there's the hordes of teeny goth chicks - there has to be more for them besides Buffy games and Vampire: The Masquerade. We need to explore all these subcultures and female interests and bring them to the world of games. There's so much potential here I'm not even going to list any more. Just open your eyes.

The themes that games explore are going to have to get more diverse too. Continuing the appeal for human drama, narratives should include things like more complex portrayals of love, friendship, difficult choices and... well whatever it is that the mountains of "chick lit" is about. I'll leave this area of research to the better qualified among you.



Better Characters
Humans are good, although talking animals are also popular. But we need better writing for characters. This is something that plagues the whole game industry and really deserves its own article, but suffice to say that unless female gamers can connect to the people on the screen, any effort you put into narrative and gameplay and style will be severely hampered.



Art, not Graphics
I've talked a lot about gameplay and hinted at interface, but what about the look of the game? It's still got to look good. Appealing design is important to women, and the art in any girl-friendly game must be carried off with style and flair, created by talented artists, architects and fashion designers. The number of polygons and special effects won't mean a damn thing. Photorealism will have its place, but should probably not be sought after too much - the thing about photorealistic CGI people is that, really, they aren't. A consistently pleasant visual ethic is much more important. Oh, and if there is one area where there is a really good chance to attract women into the development community it is on the artistic side.



Don't Alienate the Rest of the Market
Now, you can make a game that meets all of the above requirements and guess what - it can still be enjoyed by us testosterone victims. Making a game aimed solely at a female market such as "middleaged housewives" or "girls aged 9-13" isn't going to be a huge success. It might pay the bills, but in terms of making a great game I think there's an unwritten rule that says it will stink. Any game aimed at women should be a great game first and a female-orientated game second; and I really do belive that if you add a little something for the mainstream game market (no, not skimpily clad women with guns) then the overall game will be better. Females are a diverse lot, and if you aim too narrow then you'll probably miss entirely.



Finally
I haven't covered things like marketing, and only touched on the recruiting side of the issue, but I hope at least some of my suggestions ring true and set off more ideas because, despite the insinuations of the press at large, male gamers and developers really do want more people to join our livelihood. It would be especially great if more of them were female because I think we would all benefit. The general standard and diversity of games would rise and the industry would finally mature as both an entertainment and an artform.

Thing is, there are already quite a few games that nail at least some of the above points. We need to get more women playing the games that are out now, to build on what we've got rather than try to create something out of nothing. With just a little bit of thought and courage, the next age of video games could happen tomorrow.[/qupte]