Mod The Sims - vB Journal: feyerin's Journal

A few days ago, I read an article by a feminist gamer, professionally aligned with a feminist organization, who voiced her disappointment at the lack of female protagonists offered by the latest version of whatever gaming platform (can't remember). It makes sense that a feminist gamer would be disappointed, right? It also made sense to me that she would discuss this disappointment to a gaming forum/site. Predictably, the several of the responses ranged from C*** to "It's cause girls don't play games" to "STFU and don't post this on gaming forums." I read these comments and rolled my eyes. I realize that some of those commenters are young, live in isolated worlds of their own, or were just trolling. Maybe a couple of them were actually female. Others simply have skewed views when it comes to what modern women/girls are/do/want/like etc. And then this morning, while reading a different article, I come across these links to some interesting recent figures:

From 2012 Sales, Demographics, and Usage Data; Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry.

Of the most frequent game purchasers, 52% are male and 48% are female.

Women 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the
game-playing population (30%) than boys age 17 or younger (18%)

From http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/.../videogames.asp

As of 2011, the average age of a video game player is approximately 37 (ESA, 2011), with 29% of players being over the age of 50.

The gender gap in video games has also shifted to approximately 42% of video game players now being female, a 2% increase from 2010 (ESA, 2010; ESA, 2011).

Aaaannnd requoted from The State of the Video Gamer by Nielson (2009)
Breakdown of WOW players by gender and age:
Male 12-17: 11.37%
Male 18-24: 10.71%
Male 25-54 : 27.30%
Female 12-17: 4.38%
Female 18-24: 3.73%
Female 25-54: 24.94%

So: Males = 49.38 %
Females = 33.05%
(I assume the 21.3% left over is of unknown gender or not in the listed age ranges)

****Sorry, Gaming Boys' Club, what did you say? I couldn't hear you over the guffawing of my AWESOME GAMING GIRLS' CLUB!!! ****

Also from http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/.../videogames.asp
The video game industry has certainly taken notice to the growing number of female video game players. Some game companies (e.g., Nintendo, Zynga) have started to develop and publish more video games and video game-related products specifically targeting female players. Unfortunately, when companies develop video games and products with females in mind they often base their game designs on stereotypical gender roles. For example, many game companies believe that female players are attracted to games with the color pink; fashion, shopping, and dating games; and that they dislike games with violence, gore, and complex scenarios. This thinking is likely to be oversimplified, misleading, and reflects the stereotypical beliefs of the male dominated gaming industry and not necessarily the true interests of female game players (Stredder, 2001; Jenson & de Castell, 2007).

I Buy.
I Game.
I Mod.
Stop Stereotyping.
Start Listening.

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