Electronic Arts VP says women 'too big an audience to ignore' |
Ó
Electronic Arts, the same micro-transaction advocates who love going multiplatform, also sponsored the recent Women in Games Conference that is being held this April. Electronic Arts' VP of Europe Online, Sharon Knight, said in that same conference that ignoring the female gaming audience is "a great waste." And before you get any bright ideas, she's addressing that to all the game publishers out there, and not you, bub.Considering Electronic Arts had realized the potential growth of the female gaming bracket last year, this new comment by an EA exec is a big step up from saying that the games industry was "failing women." But consistent with their views, Knight's stand on game development was similar to COO David Gardner's: make games that cater to both men and women.
Now we've said it's all about catering games to gamers, and just not males in general. So it's fair to say that catering games to women only is also a definite no-no. Creating "pink" games still leaves the concept of female gamers open to stereotyping and that's not healthy. Knight reiterated Electronic Arts' stand on the matter:
If you look at how other media forms have tapped into women, for example, you don't see movies and music being exclusive to men. Women enjoy all forms of entertainment. We [at EA] want to avoid making 'pink games.' Women enjoy many of the same features in gameplay as men do. The way EA sees it is there's a lot of untapped potential out there.
Take for example, The Sims: Sims creator Will Wright never developed The Sims with women in mind. In fact, it was supposed to cater to the "core" of gamers at the time: males. But when it came out, look who ate up all your afternoon gaming pleasure. Women are slowly crawling in to gaming, and not just on the casual side.
EA seems to be advocating that developers should contribute to the growing trend, introducing new ways of getting girl gamers hooked to the concept of gaming. Soon enough, they'll make great deathmatch opponents, RTS allies, MMO guild mates and a fresh breath of air in gaming-related conversations.
Start making small ripples, and soon enough, all those tiny ripples will make bigger waves. Make enough waves, you brew up a storm. So it's not a surprise that Nintendo's broader market crusader, the Wii, gets another special mention. Knight commented:
The Wii levels the playing field. You don't embarrass yourself--you can grab it and right away start having fun. ... [Wii games] don't require the same investment to learn and to master how to pick up and play [as other consoles' games].
Via GameSpot
Contact Us:
The QJ.net Network |
 |
| Site | Feed |
| QJ.NET | RSS |
| Nintendo DS | RSS |
| PlayStation 3 | RSS |
| PSP Updates | RSS |
| Wii | RSS |
| Xbox 360 | RSS |
| MMORPG | RSS |
| Personal Computer Games | RSS |
| iPhone - iPod Touch | RSS |
| QJ.NET Forums | RSS |
Add QJ.NET
User Favorites - December
User Favorites - December
Categories
Archives
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
Comments [refresh]
FINALLY. someone who gets the femalegamer thing correctly.
PINK IS THE NEW GAY!. no pink games xD
cooking,cleanin g,having babies
why are womens feet smaller than mens,so they can
stand closer to the stove.
haaaaaahaaaaaa
Who cares. BYE!