Video Games and the Female Audience
I recently spotted this video over at GTR, and was pleasantly surprised. Not to sound overly cynical, but there is a lot of girl-gamer drivel out there. Daniel Floyd delivers what appear to be the notes of Gamasutra’s Leigh Alexander (formerly of Kotaku). I like what they have to say, and if you can’t spare the ten minutes to watch the snappy little vid here’s your summary: Women aren’t in constant state of taking offense at breast physics, we just know they’re not for us.
Addressed is the recently reported increase in “female gamers”, which most of us recognize as a reported flux not of gamers as we know them, but of women that bought Wii Fit, or play Bejeweled to kill time at work. I don’t like to play into the hierarchy of gaming, and should make clear that I agree that casual gaming is fun, has its place, and may be a valuable gateway drug to the harder stuff. Where I do make the distinction is briefly touched on in the video: the ability to talk, and identify, with other women who game.
Conversation is, after all, as necessary as breathing for most of us ladies, and while I enjoy discussing food, travel, politics and even the mundane hilarities of marriage and child rearing with my lady friends gaming rarely comes up as more than an idle point of fascination. It is a social anomaly, even to the most well-intentioned, and while they work hard at taking an interest I labor through explanations ranging from “No, I don’t review Tetris” to “Well you see, you enter what is called a ‘game lobby’…” It’s not pretty, and it is discouraging. While the average guy tends to be fascinated that there is a career in games, women tend to say things along the lines of “You don’t seem like a girl gamer”, which is about as backhanded as it gets. This social alienation is difficult to forbear, and may be enough to unwork the magic that casual games have wrought upon the average woman.
Alienation – or at least aliens – are something girl gamers are all too familiar with. The premise of the average game reads like a summer blockbuster with enough explosions built in to send us all to the moon. Most women just don’t feel the same inner stirring at the prospect of blood, guts and guns galore and I know that there has been the occasional game I play through enjoying the gameplay and turning a blind eye to the unappealing dialog and excess boobies. Certainly I have even enjoyed some of those games, but were they as rich an experience for me as for a male friend that soaked up every testosterone-happy moment? Probably not. Yet most of us girl gamers play games that the average woman would classify as a “guy thing”, and what’s more, we like them. Those of us that don’t relish playing the gorilla that was the female avatar in Fable II look past these largely aesthetic distractions and enjoy the real game underneath – now doesn’t that make us pretty hardcore!
Obligatory disclaimer time? Maybe. Alongside every top-heavy, under-dressed game chick is a male game character so horribly inflated that were they translated into real life counterparts no good person would pass them on the street without genuine concern for what must be a grossly debilitating defect. Neither men nor women are so fragile that we are shaken to the core by these comic idealizations, what does strike a deplorable blow is when these already ultra-feminized ladies, certainly powerful in their own right (for the most part they fight half-naked without armor!) are used as Playboy bunnies, promising men plenty of sex for their gaming buck. So while well-muscled male characters can serve as boyhood heroes with traits like courage, strength and fortitude; overtly sexualized women are reduced to naughty playthings, not role-models.
So why is it that these ramped up testosterone puppies featured on game boxes scream “I’m a guy game!!” just as much as the butt-clothes lacking cover of X-Blades? What games do we think are “girl” games then, Nintendogs and Bratz, candy colored goodies that look like they could be in a bulk bin at Claire’s? Simply, yes. Those are “chick games”, right up there with the training bra that is all things Pop-Cap. Again, not to be wholly dismissed, but I look forward to a time when in addition to the heavy handed pandering of Babyz the industry is producing more games with universal appeal, and women are a part of that equation. Gaming is still a boy’s club, but it is no longer the entertainment equivalent of Hooter’s. We are welcomed into the clubhouse, even if the club still meets every other Tuesday to dream up the next Lara.
Bomberman Ultra
Pairing classic gameplay with modern accessibility is a winning formula, and Bomberman Ultra delivers an addictive game that will take you back decades to a simpler time of fuse-based destruction. The right mix of fun and frivolous, at $10 Ultra’s retro charms are a must have for any Bomberman fan.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
A multiplayer component wasn’t on my Uncharted 2 wishlist, and to be honest after the initial “wow” wore off I was just left with that unsettled feeling that comes about when I see a precious single player experience in danger. The Multiplayer Beta hasn’t done anything to allay those particular fears, but it has shown me how very “Uncharted” the multiplayer experience is – and that’s a good thing.
inFAMOUS
Whew, after some crazy travels I’m finally back and internet-enabled. This hit ZTGD and N4G last week:
The first offering on the PS3 from the Sly Cooper developers, inFAMOUS arrives with a bang. Humble and gravelly-voiced bike messenger Cole McGrath makes an explosive delivery killing thousands and transforming the city into an apocalyptic wasteland. A plague follows, people are running out of food and hope, and most law enforcement has given the city over to gangs with some of their own powers and plenty of guns.
World of Tunes
World of Tunes is a charming rhythm game from Com2Us in which you tap “tuneys” in time with the music. The story goes that the tuneys’ World of Tunes is threatened by a menacing invading force that has stolen all the music. You get snippets of the story in comic style screens and cut-scenes, and while the tale is not captivating it is a pleasant backdrop for some idle mobile gaming. The tuneys – which look a lot like Slimes – are so darn cute and musical you want to help them, even if they don’t make it easy.
Cameltry
Cameltry was originally released some years ago for the SNES (On the Ball) and arcades and it promptly fell by the under-advertised wayside, a pattern Taito seems to be repeating with its current release on the iPhone. Playing like a traditional wooden labyrinth game in which you manipulate the board, not the ball, the simple objective is to arrive at the Goal at the other end of the labyrinth before the clock runs down – and if you play with only that in mind the experience is a short-lived one.
Hands on with Inside Xbox 360
Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Brad Dobbs of Zumobi, a mobile media company focused on delivering smart phone applications. For the avid Xbox 360 gamer, Zumobi brings the Xbox Experience to your iPhone. An app made for the 360 gamer that fears leaving their console behind, Inside Xbox 360 keeps you connected to the community.
Texas Cheat ‘Em
Love poker but never been able to (legally) exercise your cheating ways? Wideload Games and D3 Publisher bring you Texas Cheat ‘Em, a game that encourages you to swap cards, steal chips and have a peak at someone else’s hand. With all these dirty tricks in play this is not a game for hold ‘em sticklers and aficionados, but a game of twists to draw a new crowd to the hold ‘em table.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
Galactrix is space-bound: Earth is ravaged, “mega-corporations” have seized power, and mankind roams the universe using or blowing up everything in our path. The universe is our war-torn oyster, and hundreds of years after mankind makes its first foray into the alien realms Galactrix begins its story. Like its predecessor, Challenge of the Warlords, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix melds casual gaming à la Bejeweled with some RPG questing. What Galactrix brings however, is a new universe, cast, zero gravity and an amplification of those classic addictive elements: leveling up characters, forging items, missions and quests – and matching countless gems.
Geomex
When I was asked to review Geomex it was described to me as “Tetris+Bejewled+Awesome” and many hours later I can safely say that yes, yes it is. From indie developer Caffeine Monster the $1.99 app has you matching shapes of different colors to clear them from the board in a fight to score big while the clock runs down. The simple concept packs a lot of variety with fives different game modes: Arcade, Chain, Mono, Puzzle, and Clear!.
About
I am a News and Forum Admin on N4G and write for ZTGD.
CatPlaysGames is a blog in its design infancy and under construction. Pardon my mess.
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