Girl Gamers

[Editor: hmm, I think I need to watch out for this one]

hile not quite as mythical as many of us seem to think, girl gamers are a minority. [Ed: aye, but watch youre back! Theres more of us every day!] They are often overlooked when it comes to making a game [Ed: SO true] and those that are made for girls, such as the various Mary Kate and Ashley games, do not actually appeal to most girls. [Ed: *pukes*] This is probably because when people started making video games, it was a couple guys in their parents basement thinking about what they would like and what other guys their age would like. This means that from step one no one was thinking about what girls liked or wanted in video games. This doesnt mean that girls didnt like them, though.

One of the earliest games, Pong, appealed to everyone regardless of gender. This was a very simple game, and like other early games it was more about thinking ahead instead of quick reactions. Both guys and girls were able to enjoy this because it had nothing that appealed to a single audience more; such as massive amounts of blood and gore. Though the creators probably never thought about it during the creation of the game, they made what may be the first game that appealed to both genders.

Amazingly, girls arent driven off by the FPS games. This may be one of the biggest areas of gaming dominated by male players, but it still appeals to those females that like to shoot things and watch them bleed. Half-Life 2 or Halo 2 are probably the 2 games in the FPS category that appeal to women the most. Both of these games are a lot of fun and packed with both action and forethought. To be good at either, you need to think ahead, not just carry the biggest gun, (though the bigger guns can always be useful). [Ed: Size does matter!]

One game group that no one will be surprised by is the Puzzle category. These include things like Tetris and even Alleyway. These games tend to require a lot of thinking and also tend to do fairly badly with the male audience. This is probably the only genre dominated by girls. I am not saying guys dont like to think, [Ed: Don't like to or can't? hehe *ahem*] I am just saying that most guys prefer blowing their friends to pieces than besting them in a round of Tetris Attack. It is very likely that if you have a sister, a mother, or know any girls at all, that they have all played at least one puzzle game. [Ed: Ya got me there.]

MMORPGs are amazingly well balanced as far as the Guy to Girl ratio. Though it is unlikely that there will ever be a 50/50 balance of girls and guys, this is one of the ones that comes close. It seems odd, but it is the simplicity that seems to draw many of the girls to these sorts of games. You can just pick it up and play it most of the time, and it really is quite fun. These games sprung from Dungeons and Dragons, a game that many girls used to see as geeky and very taboo. [Ed: Umm... I played DnD... argh! I'm a girl geek!] Just by playing it you were doomed to a life of acne. It is strange that from this game, something many once saw as taboo and even evil, has come an industry that is appealing to girls more and more.

While I am not a girl, [Ed: Suuure you're not!] I think it is at least somewhat safe to say that when it comes to a game, girls look for a game that will make them think while still being entertaining. This isnt true of all girls, but it is for most that I have met or talked to. The only possible problem girls seem to have with many games is the fact that in most games girls tend to be nothing like real life girls. Everything from enhanced bosoms to wearing nothing besides half of a metal bikini [Ed: whaddya mean? I SO look like that!] seems to have gotten into games and this may be stopping a lot of females from really getting into gaming. It may sound far fetched and even stupid, but when it comes to games, girls do not want to be looking at half naked girls anymore than guys want to be looking at half naked guys. In most games there are normally alternatives to playing as a scantly clad mammary machine, but that doesnt stop others from using the character. There will always be a gap between what girls want in games and what guys want in games, but luckily most games are trying to cater to both more.

[Ed: Otay, not too bad. You can keep your job.]