Women Remain the Ignored Audience In Gaming

[wraggster]

Research firm Interpret has released its new report, 'Games and Girls: Video Gaming's Ignored Audience,' which finds that while the female audience in gaming has grown, games tailored to their needs and preferences continue to go missing. Women represent 50% of the market and their usage of HD consoles like Xbox 360 and PS3 is rising. 'It remains to be seen whether developers and marketers will effectively invest in understanding and exploiting the undertapped female gaming market,' said Courtney Johnson, analyst for Interpret.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/06/22/0322226/Women-Remain-the-Ignored-Audience-In-Gaming

[JLF65]

I know girls are supposed to be a big market, but I personally have never seen it. Seriously - I have never seen a single girl anywhere at any time playing any electronic game. My sister never did, my mom never did, none of the girls I knew in school ever did. I've never seen a girl playing the demo units at the stores, never seen one playing at the arcades, and never seen one playing a handheld at the mall. Where are all these girl gamers?!?!

[b8a]

I know girls are supposed to be a big market, but I personally have never seen it. Seriously - I have never seen a single girl anywhere at any time playing any electronic game. My sister never did, my mom never did, none of the girls I knew in school ever did. I've never seen a girl playing the demo units at the stores, never seen one playing at the arcades, and never seen one playing a handheld at the mall. Where are all these girl gamers?!?!

Really? Girls have never been the "hard core" gamers that guys are supposed to be, but almost every girl/woman in my life (below age 60) plays video games to some degree. My mom would be playing Legend of Zelda when we left for school and still be playing it when we came home. When we would take turns going over to friends houses to play games in elementary school, the girls houses were never left out, and even some who had no brothers would have an impressive library. My sister was the first person I knew to buy a PS1. When I go to look at games at the store, I'll occasionally see a few girls discussing what to buy. Recently I went over to a single co-worker's apartment and was surprised by the number of games she owned. And all of this doesn't even touch the topic of cell phones -- guys are supposed to love their gadgets, but by and large, my own experience is that women are the ones who are completely inseparable from their phones. And even though the majority of the time you're going to catch them using them to talk, text, browse the web, or read books/magazines, you can frequently catch them using them for games as well. Gaming girls are everywhere in my experience.

[JLF65]

Weird... we have exactly opposite experiences with girl gamers. I guess that averages out to what they say it is. :D