What Women Want in Video Games

First and foremost, I am a woman. At the base of everything, I have lady parts, look like a lady, and even smell like lady. Upon learning my interests, however, some people seem to not see this little attribute.

I like video games. No, that's not true. I LOVE video games. I own an impressive collection of all types and genres of games, and play them regularly. Does that make me any less of a girl? No, I don't think so. It's a common misconception that video games are 'for boys.' There are plenty of girls who like them! So why do people think that video games are gender exclusive? Let's explore:

- The majority of video game advertisements have people of the male persuasion playing the games. You will rarely see a commercial with a girl on her couch in front of her television, excitedly grinding on a controller.

- Men are way more vocal about their video game playing than women are. Since it's more accepted for them to be into this form of entertainment, they can feel free to talk about it to whomever they like! Some women, on the other hand, feel like they can't discuss it as openly because they will be looked down upon for not being girly enough.

I have talked to a lot of women who play games and the consensus seems to be that the advertising is to blame for less women being into games. After all, if we didn't like the games themselves, we wouldn't play them at all! We like the content of the games, but often feel like we aren't represented in the world of gaming. I have to admit, though, we would like to see more female characters (and more of them covered up with clothes!)

Still, it's easy to feel isolated when all of the game advertising out there is aimed at boys. It'd be nice to see some girl's faces in those ads, or at least make them gender neutral!

Some companies have been working hard to make their advertisements neutral and sometimes even aimed at girls. Nintendo is chief among them. There commercials often just show game play footage of games instead of showing who's playing them. There's also a commercial for the pink version of their popular hand held console: the DS Lite, which some would say are aimed at women just because of the color of the console (although I know plenty of men who would like it!)

Another way that Nintendo is aiming for a wider audience is by showing families of multiple generations playing the games. If you go to the website for their new console, Nintendo Wii, you will see all manner of videos showing families, women, and men, playing the games: www.wii.com.

There has been progress in the girl gaming community over the past few years. More and more websites pop up that are tailor made for girls who game. There are now even female 'clans' that play games for money. Although some of these websites seem to be focused on the "we're cute and play games, come date us" angle, there are still some legitimate ones out there to look for, which I have listed at the end of the article.

Even with this progress, there is still a long way to go. The biggest advice I can give to my female viewers who enjoy shooting to kill or running amok in fantasy worlds in their free time, talk about it! Make it known that you like games. It's nothing to be ashamed of!