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

[Adam Martin]

k f wrote:

> I think the problem definition is a bit skewed. We shouldn't be asking 
> "What games do women like?"
> but instead "What are the games that women DON'T like?",and that should 
> answer the first question.
> Let me start with my conribution to this elusive question:
> 1) Women do not like games with acts of mindless violence.
> 2) ....

As a gross generalization, IME women do not like games that require 
intimate familiarity and/or years of mild practice in order to interact, 
control, or interpret them.

i.e. (picked deliberately from FPS's - these are the *actual* reasons 
women I've talked to have consistently cited for not playing them; note 
that "violence" doesn't normally show up)

  - if you need to be aware of (even if not yet good at) techniques such 
as strafe-circling
  - if you need to fit your fingers into the near-physically painful 
configuration of WASD
  - if you need to know controller conventions, such as mouse-wheel 
cyles through usable items
  - ...or have some prior experience with them (because to people who 
only ever user LMB and occasionally RMB, targetting a crosshair whilst 
simultaneously flicking the wheel two clicks and holding down RMB is 
like rubbing your belly and patting your head - practically anyone can 
do it, but most people have trouble doing it for the first time)
  - if a PC game is really best played using a gamepad or joystick

Most of the women I know who can be tempted into playing games at all 
soon find one or more to play in a very hardcore, addicted way. My 
understanding is that women are not innately non-hardcore games players, 
they're just unable, or believe themselves to be unable, to play many of 
the games that are currently around.

Finally...

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051129/phillips_01.shtml

Glancing through that article after writing this email, I noticed that 
one of her comments is, indeed:

"I've personally tried and abandoned any number of games because I can't 
be bothered to master the interface, and I'm by no means alone."

But thats not so surprising, since Andrea's one of the women I've spoken 
to a lot about gaming, and played games with a lot, so my opinions above 
have already been shaped by her experiences :).

Adam

-- 
Adam Martin
CTO, Mind Candy Ltd

tel: 0207 501 1904 - fax: 0207 501 1919
www.perplexcity.com - www.mindcandydesign.com