Well, I think there's probably a difference between "universal" games that girls happen to like, and games that are actually targeted and marketed at girls. I'm not surprised that girls prefer Zuma and Bejeweled to games like Medal of Honor and the like. However, I also notice that "non-traditional" gamers, like older persons, also prefer these games. The very idea of trying to drag my retired father-in-law into a game of Neverwinter Nights seems absurd, but he spends hours playing Bejeweled every day, and my mother-in-law enjoys a spelling game and the little Flash games I send them from time to time.
What I had more in mind with the post were games that were more narrowly aimed at females, like Nancy Drew and the various "Barbie" and "Bratz" style games for younger girls. What I've failed to notice are many successful games aimed exclusively at women (as opposed to girls). As Bill pointed out, many of the most interesting experiments happened early on, but I'm not seeing many bold projects in the works now. Obviously, a few games that did reach out to women (the SIMS) have been tremendously successful, even if they weren't exclusive to women.
I'm somewhat surprised that there isn't a genre of "soap opera" games that would allow women to "role play" in a non-"war" environment. From what I've heard, many women playing games like WoW enjoy the game more for the social aspect than the combat, though I'm still thinking there's room for innovation. What I'm thinking of are games that might be somewhat in the style of a graphical adventure, but with much more emphasis on character development and complex drama. If something like this could be done tastefully (i.e., without the self-parodying melodrama), I think it could be a hit. The key would be making the gameplay extremely intuitive and the characters and unfolding stories genuinely interesting. The tagline, "Star in your very own Soap Opera!" seems to have a certain ring to it. Or maybe several.
About as close to this as I've seen is in the Nancy Drew game "Stay Tuned for Danger." There was definitely some fascinating drama going on there among the various characters, and it added immensely to the appeal of the game.
Well, I think there's probably a difference between "universal" games that girls happen to like, and games that are actually targeted and marketed at girls. I'm not surprised that girls prefer Zuma and Bejeweled to games like Medal of Honor and the like. However, I also notice that "non-traditional" gamers, like older persons, also prefer these games. The very idea of trying to drag my retired father-in-law into a game of Neverwinter Nights seems absurd, but he spends hours playing Bejeweled every day, and my mother-in-law enjoys a spelling game and the little Flash games I send them from time to time.
What I had more in mind with the post were games that were more narrowly aimed at females, like Nancy Drew and the various "Barbie" and "Bratz" style games for younger girls. What I've failed to notice are many successful games aimed exclusively at women (as opposed to girls). As Bill pointed out, many of the most interesting experiments happened early on, but I'm not seeing many bold projects in the works now. Obviously, a few games that did reach out to women (the SIMS) have been tremendously successful, even if they weren't exclusive to women.
I'm somewhat surprised that there isn't a genre of "soap opera" games that would allow women to "role play" in a non-"war" environment. From what I've heard, many women playing games like WoW enjoy the game more for the social aspect than the combat, though I'm still thinking there's room for innovation. What I'm thinking of are games that might be somewhat in the style of a graphical adventure, but with much more emphasis on character development and complex drama. If something like this could be done tastefully (i.e., without the self-parodying melodrama), I think it could be a hit. The key would be making the gameplay extremely intuitive and the characters and unfolding stories genuinely interesting. The tagline, "Star in your very own Soap Opera!" seems to have a certain ring to it. Or maybe several.
About as close to this as I've seen is in the Nancy Drew game "Stay Tuned for Danger." There was definitely some fascinating drama going on there among the various characters, and it added immensely to the appeal of the game.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com