Former Burnout producer: we need more women in gaming industry |
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While more and more games are now being developed for girl gamers (mostly thanks to the Wii and the DS), we still can't deny that there's a gender imbalance when it comes to the video game population. The same is also true for the people behind the scenes.
When you think of men in the video game industry, the list can go on and on. There are Hideo Kojima, David Jaffe, Tomonobu Itagaki, and on and on. But when it comes to women in the industry, most would think of Jade Raymond, and then... blank.
This issue was addressed by Emily Newton-Dunn, a former producer of the Burnout series and is currently with EA, working on the Harry Potter series. Her thoughts can be summed up when she said: "itÂ’s crazy that we donÂ’t have more women making games."
At the Birds Eye View Film Festival in London, she was part of the panel of the Women in Games discussion. She remarks that there is a misconception that the games industry is "for males, and by males." Take note, ladies:
Personally I donÂ’t think you have to be a woman to make great games for women, but I think that sometimes women might bring a different sensibility to the table which will enhance or make games more appealing to women.
[...] Like in any other creative media the more diversity you can attract or the more you personally go out and do different things and see other stuff the more youÂ’re going to bring back to your job.
I think if games were only ever made by one type of person youÂ’d get really boring games. You need to bring in some different cultures, different people, different sexes and different interests, otherwise youÂ’re just going to be churning out the same stuff again and again.
There is also a financial aspect to this, which was discussed as the panel went on. By failing to fully tap into the market of female gamers, the industry is missing out on "a sizeable amount of revenue." To read more on the panel discussion, follow the link below.
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Comments [refresh]
I think it balances out the fact that us men have a small selection of clothes in shops... and while I'm on the subject, we also have to sit through a nauseating amount of beauty product adverts on TV lol.
As long as there's no games like Extreme Beach Voleyball with the guys from Dead or Alive.
Yeah sure why not, but there are women working in the gaming industry. I think there were quit a few involved with Bioshock, there is Amy Henning with Uncharted. So there are women in the industry, but they have to get into positions were their roles can compared to the likes of Kojima, Jaffee, Miyamoto or whatever.
I am talking about creative positions, lead designers, creative directors, creators, not producers. To do that, they have to come up with the Metal Gear and the God of War.
Sorry to sound sexist or offensive to Jade Raymond fans, but I think the main reason she even got the attention she did was because she is a woman. Whereas I believe most of the creative ideas for Assassin's Creed came from that guy Patrice.
I'm sure Jade made a lot of contributions in other ways, but probably more in a managerial role than the creative, which gamers think of when they think famous people in the gaming industry.
Otherwise, it's still a handful of men who are considered gaming celebrities, so it's not that imbalanced. But I don't deny that we could do with more women in the gaming industry. Women are supposed to be very creative, and I want them to get into positions where they can create big games and become recognised.
Girl gamers on halo 2
We need more ideas from the opposite sex...there are mostly games that are made for guys on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Nintendo is a different issue...with the DS and the Wii very popular with the women. However, even those games could be created by males mainly, instead of females mainly. We need women to be in the positions of Hideo Kojima, David Jaffe, and the like. Only then will we truly have diversity in our games.
Yes, there are a number of female contributers to video game development but aren't recognized, just like the guys who are in the same position. It's the producers, lead designers and so on (like you mentioned) that get the start light.
It also has a lot to do with publicity and how out spoken about stuff that the said producer (or other title) are. In Raymond's case, she was front row and center in promoting the project her team was working on and in return thats the face gamers saw every time the game was mentioned and thus attached her as the sole brain behind it all.
It's exactly that, the celebrities that make the news. -Jade Raymond became sort of like that with such spot lights on her.
Anyway you put it, gamers should enjoy games, male + female employees should enjoy developing games and we shouldn't think too hard about conforming to any sort of image. Thats one of the problems with these so called "Games for girls" - Hell, even girls know bad games when they see them, these "games" are more insults than a "better suited game".
KQ6
yeah I think that some things just appeal to different genders. Sports, for example, are just like video games where it's a big form of entertainment and there's a ton of money involved, but guys just like to watch it on tv more than women. I think you'll see more women playing video games the same time you see more men at the beauty parlor. It would take a huge psychological change in pretty much every culture in the world for it to happen.
....is pretty fine, judging from that picture. Reminds me of Trinity from The Matrix.