[casual_games] Re: Games for women made by women?

[Tom Hubina]

How about this for a theory:

1. Most women wouldn't be caught dead in an EB or GameStop unless
they're buying a gift for a male friend. Even then, they'd probably
prefer to go elsewhere. Compare this to a man in a lingerie shop, or
even the women's section of a department store (which could be similar
to the gaming section of Walmart).
2. Women don't mind buying online because it's private, they're not
"gamers" nor do they have to deal with the geek behind the counter.
3. Men don't bother buying online because their gaming needs are met by
console games. Also, console games are "gamers games" ... so dat's what
they buy.

Same holds true for older folks, or just about anyone who doesn't think
about themselves as a hardcore gamer. You have to own up to being a
gamer to buy a console game at retail, unless you want to lie and say
it's for your son, boyfriend, or whatever.

You can think of it as the difference between buying your porn in
retail, and getting it online. The stigma isn't as great, but it's still
there.

Where I'm going here is ... the difference between casual and hardcore
is that hardcore players consider themselves gamers. Casual players are
people who play games. Games are not a part of their identity, just
something they do. Buying games at retail (not to mention spending
hundreds on a console) is a "hardcore" experience. Buying them online
isn't. My assumption is that most women don't want to think of
themselves as "gamers", even if they like playing games. As a result,
you get the skew in demographics.

Game style will of course factor in, but I think the above should be
considered as well. I also think that too much emphasis has been put on
the women's games vs men's games thing, and not enough time being spent
understanding what they have in common and doing a better job with that.


Tom Hubina
VP of Studios
Mofactor, Inc.
30423 Canwood St.
Suite 205
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
818 706-1573 (office)
805 551-9645 (cell)


> -----Original Message-----
> From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org
[mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
> On Behalf Of Duncan Gough
> Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 3:17 PM
> To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [casual_games] Re: Games for women made by women?
> 
> What I'm really interested in, then, are those play patterns. For an
> industry with such a female dominated audience, we (myself included)
> seem to be quite vague on the actual details.
> 
> On 6/7/06, Michelle Bushneff <michelle at planbenterprises.com> wrote:
> > It's nice to see both genders chiming in on this subject...
> >
> > The discussions about female vs. male play patterns and creating
games
> with
> > broad appeal vs. (forgive my bad humor) games that appeal to broads
all
> > represent valid perspectives.
> >
> > It's really not rocket science, but a careful balance of creating a
good
> > game that addresses the needs and play patterns of a target
audience,
> has
> > branding/marketing that's relevant to that audience, and
> > exposure/distribution where that audience shops/plays/socializes.
> >
> > As long as the talent and leadership behind the game *gets* the
balance,
> > whether or not they are a member of the target demographic is (in
> theory)
> > irrelevant.
> >
> > Chiming out, Michelle
> >
> >
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> >
> 
> 
> --
> Duncan Gough                    3RD sense UK Ltd
> Lead Developer                  Level 1, Fitzroy House
> m +44 (0) 7740 302 248    11 Chenies Street
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