EA: "Games industry is failing women" |
David Gardner, chief operating officer of games publishing giant Electronic Arts, has lashed out at the games industry for "failing women" at a conference in Edinburgh. Gardner said "We have all been talking about this for a long, long time." EA's own research has found that 40% of teenage girls played video games versus 90% of teenage boys and most girls lost interest in games within a year.
He also said that women are somewhat an undiscovered market and that if EA cracked the problem they "could add a billion dollars to its sales." Mr Gardner said one of the biggest problems was that the content aimed at women gamers was not appealing. "They don't want 'pink games. Thy are not trying to play girly games where Paris Hilton and Britney Spears go shopping and put make-up on. Those kind of things have not been that successful."
As you may know, Sony have just announced the Pink PSP and PS2 for European gamers. If EA's David Gardner is correct, their new move into the female gaming market will fail. If EA's figures are correct, this undiscovered market could double the gaming economy, boosting sales for all. Let's see how Sony's pink additions to their console line-up go when they are released; the PSP in October and PS2 in November.
Via BBC News
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Comments [refresh]
Pink PS2 WTF. 1st post
A pink PS2! Sony doesn't know what the hell they need to do. What the game industry needs to do to appeal to women is stop objectifying them in video games! it's as simple as that. Girls don't want to see girls in games that have giant breasts, tiny waists and small brains. They don't want hentai-like games where a bunch of girls are playing volleyball in bikinis and saying cute things like "I don't know how to read." Also, characters like Lara Croft isn't a female role model (hell, she isn't a role model period). If you want a female Indian Jones then make her look like a female Indian Jones. Don't give her unrealistic measurements. She's an archeologist: she should have dirt under her fingernails and not wear makeup when she's in some f_cking island.
This is the same reason many girls don't read comic books. The exact same reason. I'm glad a giant like EA is actually being vocal about this but Sony's pink PS2 is just a slap in the face of any progressive thinking this kind of dialog is opening up.
Wtf is this peice of crap it looks barf inducing sick i nearly had to go to the bathroom after seeing that bull crap what the hell is sony doing i sgree with op!
The industry needs games where the female characters aren't there only to be looked at or rescued. Nor does it need supermasculine heroines who are basically men in pretty wrappers. In other words, we need some real women in games. Get it straight, fools!
Hahahah!
They are dumbasses..they would copy Britney Spears and go shopping and put make-up on. No wonders, they are lesbians and love for Birtney Spears. *ROLL EYES*
How come they didn't post my initial? Huh? Why?
Arguably, Lara Croft is a positive role model. She's both independent and strong. I agree though regarding unrealistic measurements!
My girlfriend plays Half-life 2, hell, she's the one who's so desperate to buy Episode 1 (she's just managed to lose her Steam password, d'oh!).
I think the game industry needs to pull in various psychologists to analyse the "problem". I'd certainly enjoy to see more girls playing games!
Someone like an actual woman who has weaknesses and problems and isn't invincible, but is still a badass at the same time.
This news is BBC's property. You sent it to QJ, big deal. You didn't right it or interview the EA officials. Now just by forwarding news here from other news sites you think you should get 2 minutes of fame??
But I don't think that women are going to get a videogame system because of the color and ONLY the color of the system. The games MIGHT play a part in it... but who knows.
hey if sony wants to have a pinks ps2 and psp let them gay stuff like that usually sells to people that think pink is sweet personally i think they should have just made a white ps2 to go along with the white psp
Nintendo is coming out With the Wii and its gonna rock you.
Wii will get girls adults and anyone els who isent a gamer and make them into a gamer ^_^.
How about EA starts by putting out some womens sports games. WNBA '07 with Lisa Leslie on the cover. I know there is a womens tackle football (not futbol) league here in the U.S. Womens soccer (futbol) seems to be growing in popularity here as well. How about some LPGA '07 with Anika Sorenstam or Pat Hurst on the cover.
Like most guys I enjoy looking at females, but I don't understand the gaming industries attempt to sell sexy video game characters to kids. Most of the females I've seen in games don't look realistic. Maybe it's just me but women in real life who are surgically enhanced with huge breasts and fake noses and lips just are not attractive. I live in a city full of that garbage and they all look like wannabe porn stars. That is sad, to me.
Don't get me wrong, plastic surgery does have its bennifits. I have had many plastic surgery operations due to an incident that ripped my face open (and shattered part of my scull) when I was young. Thanks to plastic surgery and the age at which the incident occured, few people can even tell that anything ever even happened to me.
It's just that the entirety of entertainment is too caught up in selling something that is free, sex.
I gotta agree with you, Hunter. Wii is looking to be a major player in the gaming market when it comes out. Literally the next step of gaming that'll get _everyone_ to have fun playing games. I get excited just thinking about playing WarioWare on Wii, and my whole family would have fun with that. It's gonna be badass.
All my missus needs now is a hairdrying course that works with an eyetoy type device, a chicflick on UMD, a barbie game and a fluffy pink case - and hey - she'll really feel the sexual stereotyping coming together nicely!!!
All we need now is a yellow one for the chinese people and we have a full set - no offence meant...but it really annoys me.....
SONY - STOP PI$$ING ABOUT WITH GIMMICKS AND RELEASE SOMETHING WORTHWHILE FOR EVERYONE
females are too "cool" and too "mature" to play video games.
I argee with #2!!
Look at the way women are portrayed in many fighting and action games. Images like those are viewed as nothing more than grotesque and shallow to many well-mannered females. and then what does Sony do? they produce a pink system telling all the women of the world to come and play these games! Not even including the fact that women are being singled out by these things. This seems to be nothing but a crappy attempt to make more money on Sony's part. Great job on weakening my support for you Sony
2. » doy
A pink PS2! Sony doesn't know what the hell they need to do. What the game industry needs to do to appeal to women is stop objectifying them in video games! it's as simple as that. Girls don't want to see girls in games that have giant breasts, tiny waists and small brains. They don't want hentai-like games where a bunch of girls are playing volleyball in bikinis and saying cute things like "I don't know how to read." Also, characters like Lara Croft isn't a female role model (hell, she isn't a role model period). If you want a female Indian Jones then make her look like a female Indian Jones. Don't give her unrealistic measurements. She's an archeologist: she should have dirt under her fingernails and not wear makeup when she's in some f_cking island.
This is the same reason many girls don't read comic books. The exact same reason. I'm glad a giant like EA is actually being vocal about this but Sony's pink PS2 is just a slap in the face of any progressive thinking this kind of dialog is opening up.
by op (Unregistered), at Aug 21, 2006 at 12:48PM
yo, girls could just ignore those games, I've seen barbie games, but never thought "oh those dumbasses made those stupid games", I simply ignore it, what they need to do is to make some game that are compatible to girls, not taking away "boy games"
fluff likes pink right? fluff would like this! lol just a thought
15. » Wow - a pink one
All my missus needs now is a hairdrying course that works with an eyetoy type device, a chicflick on UMD, a barbie game and a fluffy pink case - and hey - she'll really feel the sexual stereotyping coming together nicely!!!
All we need now is a yellow one for the chinese people and we have a full set - no offence meant...but it really annoys me.....
SONY - STOP PI$$ING ABOUT WITH GIMMICKS AND RELEASE SOMETHING WORTHWHILE FOR EVERYONE
by Deany (Unregistered), at Aug 21, 2006 at 02:49PM
OH YEAH ... and gee where's the white ones for americans? we all been using "black" PS2 and PSPs...
lol just a joke, no offence
I haven o problem with pink, aside from the fact it looks incredibly tacky.
anonymous stranger: you're missing the big picture. In order for all women to feel comfortable in the gaming environment the whole industry needs to change. Women are pretty much excluded from the whole industry. Look at E3. The only contribution given to women ("booth babes") there are as speechless eye candy - as if that's all they have to offer. It's pretty much a boys' club with all the trinkets and pleasures straight guys would want. But E3 isn't suppose to be a boys' club, it's suppose to be a trade show but as you can see its been very male exclusive.
For this to change women need to feel like they're welcomed, not like they're freaks who need their own pink PS2. Like anything else the color doesn't matter, it's the content. And if that content is nothing but CGI girls in skimpy outfits fighting some giant panda bear, then it's only going to alienate them further.
gay dudes are gonna buy more of those pink systems than girls.
the only female i know that buys things that are pink also likes kitty bags and *****, japan will have a hayday though...
Im surprized that it doesn't have a hello kitty picture on it too... couse thats what girls like right?? NOPE
The problem the industry has is that they think of female gamers as a seperate entity from male games. Both male and female gamers all enjoy different types of games, be they RPG, FPS or a simple puzzle game, there are games to fit everyone's taste, there's no need to "think about making games specificially for females".
Perhaps the problem with the industry is games like DOA beach volly ball or rumble roses, games that use the ol sex to draw in more male gamers and at the same time turning of some percetage of female gamers.
kinda odd, EA bashing the industry...
spend millions on making games for girls, or buy exclusive rights to a few sports leagues.... i know which one EA chose.
i'm sure i don't have to tell everyone, money follows money. if there was that much money in girl games, they'd be all over the place.
besides most girls enjoy doing things that wouldn't translate well into games. ie: "Hello Kitty : socializing evolved", "BoyBand May Sing", "Super Smash Bros: MakeUp", etc....
practice what ya preach, fools...
I throw this example around a lot, but it's not hard to see why it seems relevant every time a discussion arises regarding the direction of the gaming industry. Have a look at the E3 tech demo video for the PS3 game "Heavy Rain" (http://www.playmagazine.com/index.php?fuseaction=SiteMain.showGamePage&Game_ID=267).
This is the kind of female lead I can respect in a video game. The actress' performance makes the character much more real and interesting than your typical over-endowed, depthless, and boring digital heroine. This is exactly the sort of thing I meant by my previous comment about putting "real women" in games.
The video also demonstrates how expressing the depth of human character can improve the plot of a game by leaps and bounds. The character's emotional genesis from the opening of the video to the conclusion is much more powerful and compelling than the flat one-liners turned out by most game writers.
"Perhaps the problem with the industry is games like DOA beach volly ball or rumble roses, games that use the ol sex to draw in more male gamers and at the same time turning of some percetage of female gamers."
if a girl can't get past the fact that their character looks better than they ever will (as most guys have), they miss out on a truely entertaining experience. their loss not ours...
all things sold have target demographics. seeing barbie and spongebob games doesn't turn me off to the games i want to play.
i've been hearing the same tired crap about girls and gaming for over a decade.
if you build it they will come... the devs need to get off their asses and make girl games. but then again investors don't like new things they like "sure things".
Ok, guys is not sony its EA..... Sony is just following EA (i think) Pink PSP????? now thats not normal, the black PSP its fine...
Heh amen roly poly. I haven't heard anyone here complaining the fighters in tekken don't look like fat nerdy 40 year olds.
First off. This is pretty much a double post. They are just expanding on the post right before this one. Maybe waiting a day or so before stating the same thing they just posted. Do they filter these posts?
Secondly. Most of the "girls" I know who are old enough to either play a PSP/PS2 or buy their own would never even touch a pink one. Especially that shade. It's disgusting.
Some people meaning that the pink ps2 & psp is the ideal console for gay gamers like me, but thats not true, real gays like me prefer the black consoles. I think its an attempt to sell these systems to girls.
Its cool that EA is supporting females in gaming. I'm female and I love games and gaming systems and all that stuff. But what I don't like so much in the gaming industry is all the disrespect towards women in games for example like GTA, hentai games and fighting games with girls with big boobs. Don't get me wrong, I love these games, its just that they get a bit offensive. So yeah I'm glad EA is thinking about coming out with games that appear to females but also to males too. I agree with some of you guys are saying that games should have real females and not fake ones.
The problem the industry has is that they think of female gamers as a seperate entity from male games. Both male and female gamers all enjoy different types of games, be they RPG, FPS or a simple puzzle game, there are games to fit everyone's taste, there's no need to "think about making games specificially for females".
Perhaps the problem with the industry is games like DOA beach volly ball or rumble roses, games that use the ol sex to draw in more male gamers and at the same time turning of some percetage of female gamers.
...........oh yeh, women are only good for
.
.
.
............O
.............|...___O
............/\../\.../\
.
.
AND COOKING/CLEANING
YO HONEYZ IS ONLY GOOD AT BEIN LESBIANS
www.milfnextdoor.com
DATS IT
OUT
if i even saw a women LOOKING that, i would break it in half using her head, then give her a good seeing to I HATE GIRLS UGHHH GIRLIES HAVE COOTIES UGHH, i'm 35 years old........minge?
wow!
some actual intelligent discussions happening in the QJ comments, including unregs!
(with the usual smattering of wankers, or couse)
I dunno, I like seeing female characters in video games and I enjoy choosing the female characters in fighting games and the sims cos I like having something "attractive" to look at as my character in game...
I don't have much of a problem with the portrayal of femal characters generally, but sometime its seems like some character designers can go a bit too far in one aspect or another and it just ends up kinda ruing the game
my girlfirend like to game it up alot and I've never seen her play anything thats so-called girl oriented she loves Shadow of the Colossus, Burnout series and all the SSX
She'd never be caught bying a pink PS2 or PSP
I get the impression that Sony's true intended target audience for neir new pink releases are JAPANESE girls/women. whether or not the rest of the world buys it appears to be of little concern IMO since i believe to see a definite trend in Sony to cater to the Japanese audience first and foremost before any other region - not that this offends me either
its kinda like FUBU i guess
Perhaps the problem with the industry is games like DOA beach volly ball or rumble roses, games that use the ol sex to draw in more male gamers and at the same time turning of some percetage of female gamers.
If a women has time to play video games than she has time to cook my dinner and clean my house as she is meant to do..
Besides everyone knows women cant handle too much information cause there all stupid thats why men are kind enough to allow them to do the simple tasks which dont require intelligents such as vaccuming or polishing my boots.
Look how stupid they are as soon as you re-release something but make it pink they will buy it. When will people learn that women are a danger to society and should be chained up as the romans did to their women
Tests have proved that women cant handle complex tasks such as video games or maths.
Well Done!
If you're joking, I salute you!
If not, please die. Soon.
*chuckles*
All I can say is "Nausea, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea..."
what i find funny about a lot of the comments here is that Sony is being demonized for releasing a Pink PS2 in the UK only(they've released multi-colored versions of the console before with no such criticisms. but god forbid it's *PINK* then the masculine posers get up in arms about it), when Nintendo releases eleventy billion different colored versions of their consoles, *ALL OVER*, and most of these same people rush out and purchase them, because, "Hey, I just *HAVE* to get the Fuschia Game Boy Advance, because, hey, it's Nintendo!"
you people are pathetic hypocrites.
as for making headway with the female gamers....the main problem is that games aren't *MARKETED* to women. they are marketed to boys and men, and in boys and mens forums.
let me illustrate my point: some women complain that video games objectify women, and that video games should have strong, independent, intelligent, resourceful female leads, instead of the buxom, scantily clad, psuedo-whores that grace our typical games starring and co-starring a woman. but that's not entirely true of all games.
Exibit A: Beyond Good and Evil. this game is exactly what the female audience was clamoring for. it stars a realistically proportioned female lead, who is strong, resourceful, intelligent and independant, but not overly butch and masculine, like most female leads are protrayed in film and television (i'm looking at you Alice from the Resident Evil films). anyway, this title bombed badly commercially, despite intense critical praise. why? simple: some men didn't want to buy it because of the female protagonist and her lack of...assets. females didn't buy it because, well, some casual female gamers (such as my fiance), don't have a subscription to EGM, Gamepro, OPM, PSM, and the like. that was the only venue where anyone would have seen an advertisement for Beyond Good and Evil.
it was *NO WHERE ELSE.* because female gamers didn't even know the game existed, they didn't know to buy it. they may not frequent gaming stores as much as some males do. and sales clerks are more inclined to suggest Harvest Moon (a good game in it's own right, but that's beyond the point) to a female gamer, than something engaging and mature (like Beyond Good and Evil).
if the publishers of games such as Beyond Good and Evil want their target audience (which wasn't just females, but i can see how it could have majorly appealed to them) they have to shell out the extra dough and *SPEAK* to them. word of mouth can only get you so far. without marketing, you'll wind up with more situations like BGandE and my fiance: she didn't even know about the game until i told her about it during one of her rants about female leads in gaming, and i played a bit of it for her. she thinks the game is great, but she didn't know about it at the time it came out.
Primal is another example. surprisingly good game, great, average looking female lead. poor marketing and word of mouth = $6.99 bargin bin title (which is how much i paid for the title at my local Blockbuster video).
these developers are acting like it's a big frickin mystery roping female gamers, when the solution is really rather simple: more titles like Beyond Good and Evil and Primal (title that are more than just T&A, though Lara Croft, i think, is a very positive and excellent female lead despite her voluptuous form; and i'd much rather have my daughter idolizing Ms. Croft than, say, Paris Hilton), and a broader range of marketing for those titles; ie, Billboards, TV Spots, spots in magazines like Cosmo, Vogue, In Style, etc (i'm only generalizing, but the magazines i mentioned are typically read by females, and are in a lot of establishments where women would be and, in a bored, time killing state, may flip through the mag, and could potentially see an advertisement for a game like the two mentioned above. i'm by no means saying all women read the above magazines).
well, that's *my* take on it anyway.
and im sure you all are but I only read up to two because i dont care. Girls with huge breasts is not the reason why girls arent big gamers. With 8bit graphics when girls couldnt even look like whores girls were not gamers. Gaming has always been a male thing. Make-up for women, gaming for men. And im not even trying to sound sexist. Its not us that prevents them from playing games, its other women. They look down on it. If yourea female gamer other women will make fun of you.
i think i should also note that my fiance is addicted to City of Heroes/Villains, and that she creates predominantly female superheroes. she loves the idea of being a superhero and kicking ass and looking hot. i think more games like that could broaden the market. also, when playing a game like CoV, it'd be nice if the male gamers, upon finding out she's a female, would stop acting like douchebags and either, 1.) condescending to her like she's never played a video game before, and 2.) actually thinking that she has any interest in seeing your "giant rod." anyway, she also slides the chest bar all the way to the right, so here heroines have the biggest possible boobs available. so it's not always about the T&A that turns off potential women gamers.
she's funny like that.
also, a lot of females that *aren't* gamers look down on the females that *do* game. unlike a lot of us males, who were probably shunned and outcast by our peers for loving video games, the popular, trendy females aren't used to being ridiculed for something they may love.
for example, if you just loved Nintendogs, but your male buds thought it was the gayest thing on the planet, you would probably be reluctant to discuss your labrador's cute tricks with them when hanging out.
for a female gamer, who's friends may be more into "The Simple Life," than "The Sims," it may be hard for her to easily embrace that part of her personality when her friends are around, so she may opt to shut it out of her life, possibly even viewing a love of games as "childish," and not "womanlike."
what game developers also need to consider, is that there are internal and external factors in a woman that may be keeping her from playing games, as well as lack of marketing that may appeal to them. and a halfassed game like "Desperate Housewives" is not going to be as effective as the suits who greenlit it think it will be.
Most girls like things to mach there style. It works with pink cell phones. I see more girls with pink razors...
As a female, I do not care about the color of my electronics. I care about the functions, gaming options, etc. The color Pink is not going to help the so called "feminine market". Better games without stereotypes is a start, games about tough women and storylines, and games that appeal to us without going "over the top", like the idea of shopping with Paris Hilton. How about a game where we kick Paris's butt? Girls would dig that!
Ohh Finally a PSP for Gay people... I Love it!
wasnt final fantasy X-2 basically a female game? had dancing and clothe trading and all that? also look how popular the sims agmes are with them. WHy doesny sony make or push for thos ekinds of game sor ports for the psp?
girls suck
if us men are atrracted to games by hot looking women, then y not atrract women with hot looking men?
man+pretty lady= man likes
lady+handsome man=woman likes.
simple math coming from a 12 year old.
Cool, a pink PS2 for the ladies out there. And what sup with all the woman hating comments? Probably some loser who can't score. Anyway, girls are interested in playing video games too. One of my girl friend has a PSP. I am pretty sure that if Sony had release a pink PSP earlier, she would have bought that pink PSP instead of a black one. So enough with the Sony and woman hate.
i would like a pink ps2, but my husband keeps me locked outside in the doghouse most of the time. he is kind though, he sometimes takes me for walkies, and feeds me out of a bowl twice a day if i have been good. Pink or brown u say? pink definetely (in this case) i'm usually a dirty b*tch who likes being treated like a dog.
I get it. You forgot the letter "G" to go with that handle you chose.
Flaming homo.
#48 - I guess that works...
Console colour is a pretty bland way to target the female gamer segment, as it only focuses on the physical and stereotypical aspect of the colour pink which is associated with women, and is therefore supposed to somehow attract women to buy a PS2/PSP. Men didnt start buying PS2s because they were black, so why should women start buying them when because they're pink?
IMO, it's out of Sonys hands, but the real way to target women would be to alter the games, altering the physiological aspect, by perhaps making games with less violence and more interactivty or plot. The difficulty could be stepped down a notch to accomodate the more novice females and the theme could be more domestic and calm than actively militant or aggressive.