As the study of video games become more popular, we are able to discuss and analyze further some of the main topics and issues that surround it. One of these main issues that has stimulated my interest is gender representation in video games. We briefly discussed gender in our first tutorial on Thursday 5/01/2012 and I thought I will kick start my blog with further discussion on this topic.
Firstly, if some of you think that video games are completely dominated by males then think again. As Mark noted in the tutorial, stats show that the ratio of male gamers to female gamers are 60-40 percent. That is significantly more females than I originally expected and what is more surprising is that games such as farmville have complete domination by female gamers. The question now remains, why is most games still marketed towards a male audience? surely there is enough evidence and a big enough market and demand to create more games that could appeal to female audience. The nintendo wii Zumba fitness is gaming taken to the next level as you get more involved and interact more with the console and dance in highly feminine rhythms. It is clearly targeted towards a female audience as shown on the cover of the game (obviously it doesn't exclude male gamers but targets female gamers.)
Lastly I Would like to discuss the game Tomb Raider. In this game the protagonist is lead by a female, Lara-Croft. The game play itself though is filled with action and puzzles which is a male orientated genre. It is clear from beginning to end that it is targeted for a male audience. Therefore why has the creator's chose to implement a female lead?, well the answer may be that the female character like in the film is there to sexually appeal to the male audience which is evident in the characters dress code wearing a tight high cut short ,sleeveless shirt and boots. Apart from the boots it must be said that the characters dress code has no particular relevance to the environment featured in the game.
Although the large number of female gamers it still seems that Video games is still very much, a mans world!
brendo
You've now got me doubting my figures, I can't remember where I heard them. If anyone finds some up-to-date figures of gaming by gender, I'd be interested!
ReplyDeleteI have up to date figures for the Representing Games and Gamers lecture, and it's actually higher again. The flipside is that women are *not* being factored in anywhere near as much as they should be, but that's an unfortunate pattern repeating across most media.
ReplyDelete