Wow, this thread is really getting some good discussion. One observation I seem inclined to make is that women who are already enjoying games are probably not the ones who would most likely appreciate games tailor-made for women. It's rather like a left-handed person (such as myself) who has adapted so well to right-handed controllers and the like that it's difficult for me to work with one made for a lefty. However, I don't doubt that I'd have used lefty controllers if that's what I had been presented with from the get-go.

It also seems ridiculous to think that any game made specifically for women would appeal to all women. Obviously, some would despise the very idea. It's easy to see why: How long would it be before women were discouraged from online FPS and the like and told to go seek out games more appropriate for their gender? Geez, nobody wants that. Finally, it'd seem that guys who keep calling for "games for women" seem to be suggesting that current games have nothing to little to offer women, whereas it's a fact (see the participants on this thread!) that many women are into gaming, despite the supposed bias towards men in today's market.

Meanwhile, I emphatically agree with Didi that nonsense like the Frag Dolls does far more to discourage women from gaming than anything else. I am literally stunned everytime I hear someone making the opposite claim. It's almost as dumb as arguing that Hooters reaches out to female customers by having scantily-clad female servers. Am I missing something here? The "Frag Dolls" are just one more wet dream for adolescent boys. At best, they are a severely unrealistic depiction (I might go so far as to call them a mockery) of the true women in gaming.

The only women who I think would likely be drawn heavily to games made specifically for women would be those women who have been reluctant to enter gaming because of the heavy marketing there towards men. In other words, those women who don't want to try gaming because they see it as purely a hobby for males. It's this market that I think could benefit from a niche product.

The analogy to films and TV shows is a good one. The history of radio and TV demonstrates the viability of a market for women. Sure, both sexes can appreciate shows like the Honeymooners, Patty Duke, Donna Reed, and the like, but that doesn't mean that a show targeted specifically at women won't work. Again, I know very few men who keep up with the soaps, even those these shows are fantastically popular with women. I've watched a few, and it's quite clear that many of these shows make little to no effort to recruit male viewers. These shows seem to have an understanding of the female psyche that most men just can't seem to appreciate. I mean, just look at these recaps. The thrill of these shows seems to lie mostly in the treachery of the women towards each other. Indeed, it seems like the one ingredient for a successful show is to have the most hateful, deceitful, and jealous female characters imaginable. I'll leave it to Mark to psychoanalyze that one. :-)