Designing Video Games for Women

Since it began the video game industry (including PC games and consoles) has been targeted at a largely male audience. As such, there is a depressingly small and biased selection of video games that are attractive to women, or at least don't put us off.

The character design in many games, especially RPGs, seem based on the idea of the chain mail bikini. If you're playing a female character it becomes difficult to find an outfit that clothes her modestly, which means you have to spend the whole game watching your character bounce around and flash her skin.

This is a shame, because half of the population is female and they are the members of the family most likely to decide which games are suitable purchases for other members of the family, particularly children. The game designers out there need to realise that, and make their games more appealing. There are a large number of female gamers out there that are hungry for more games, and will not be satisfied with stereotypical 'homemaker' games like the Sims and nintendogs.

There are some games out there that manage to avoid being offensive or childish whilst still being attractive to a broad audience base. The Legend of Zelda series is a fine example. The main character is cute but neutral to look at, the levels are diverse and require problem solving, and most importantly players aren't encouraged to fantasize about the heroine or other female characters.

Unfortunately for those like me, games such as Zelda are few and far between. There are a few precious gems out there that are much used and loved, but not enough!

What Women Want in a Game:

Of course there are no two women in the world that want exactly the same thing when searching for a game, but there are a few general points that the majority of women will agree with.

- No gratuitous cleavage please. We have our own; we don't want to stare at an animated pair in a ridiculous outfit for an hour at a time.

- Nice male characters. If you're going to have an attractive female for men to look at, be fair and give us an attractive hero too.

- Character interactions. We women are largely social creatures, if you can't manage a storyline at least put in some connections between characters.

- Good special layout. On average women have better special reasoning than men, and poorly considered layouts will frustrate us faster.

They are simple points but so often not considered, thus making a game extremely discouraging for women. It's a shame because this is a large loss of revenue for the gaming industry that could be fixed so easily, producing larger profits and more quality games.