[casual_games] Gender and casual games research

[Colin Cardwell]

I wrote a bit about this in my blog a while ago (www.thelittlegamer.com for
those interested). Thinking about it more though, I think 'culture' has a
lot to do with it. 

Video games and core games have a culture associated with them and there is
a lot a people who actively don't want to be associated with that culture
and all that goes along with it. They still love games though, so they
either play games like The Sims or they play casual games. Simply put, they
don't identify with shooting other people or things and they don't identify
with the generally dark atmospheres of many of the 'core' games. 

Furthermore, there are two cultures which have developed in the casual games
arena over the last 4-5 years. Firstly there is the web game culture which
tends to be a young audience, both male and female, but probably mostly
male. These are often small games written in Flash, often funny and topical,
usually short and usually free. 

The other culture that has grown up is the download, try and buy, games
players. These are mostly women and largely from the USA or Western
countries. They enjoy puzzle games and similar genres. It is this group of
people that the casual games industry is largely making the big money from
at the moment.

There are huge generalisations in all of this and  I'm sure many exceptions,
but I do think we need to understand how much each of these groups like
identifying with each other, communicating with each other and following
each other. If you can reach a tipping point in a community/market/culture
the rest will often follow. I think one of the greatest challenges over the
coming years will be to get wider markets than the current buyers of Casual
games to start to feel that it is ok to spend money (in one form or another)
on casual games.


Cheers

Colin
 

Colin Cardwell
The Person in Charge of Great Ideas
m +61 (0) 401 888 322
p +61 2 8923 1200
f +61 2 8904 9966
 
3RD sense Australia Pty Ltd
Unit 8.04
6a Glenn St
Milsons Point, NSW 2061
www.3rdsense.com
 
 
 
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Allan Simonsen
Sent: Tuesday, 18 July 2006 2:44 PM
To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [casual_games] Gender and casual games research 

Actually, I'd say totally the opposite. Traditional media for females
(books, film, etc) has always been extremely character/mood focus, while
male-oriented media has been more action/violence/sex focused (this holds
true from the Illiad and Norse Sagas, to Dead or Alive and Doom).

Women do care deeply about story; but not necessarily about the 'epic'
nature of it; a personal crisis can be as interesting as The Doom Of Mankind
As We Know It.

If you look at the Casual Games that are doing well recently, many of the
features a strong lead character with an back-story (usually not involving
the Pit Of Doom), and a problem to solve. They also feature a really nice
ambience/mood. 

What does seem to be different is the level of involvement; while many
'hardcore' users like to approach their gaming as if it was a sport (highly
competitive, highly engaged, mono-focused), many casual user seem to
approach their games for more of a Zen-like relaxing experience (like a
book, perhaps).

My wife (our #1 beta-tester) usually plays our games while watching TV,
pausing for a minute or two whenever anything interesting is happening on
screen (and going back as soon as adverts resume). I can't quite imagine
doing the same kind of gaming if I was playing Halflife2.

Random thoughts,

Allan

> >
> > Perhaps because Women and older people don't get
> the same immersion
> > effect as young males do, they don' t care about
> "characters" and
> > "story" and controlling a single entity, that
> casual games fit them
> > better?
> >


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________
Casual_Games mailing list
Casual_Games at igda.org
http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/casual_games