Female Gamers

Gaming is an industry which is dominated by males. Not only are the majority of players male but also the majority of people who create games. I believe the reason for this is that it is a catch 22.

 Males create the games > Males play the games > Male gamers demand more games aimed at males.

Looking at the list of the current top 40 games can show you that this is clearly in affect. Game like Crysis and Call of Duty dominate the top sellers lists, and because this circle will inevitably continue, I see no reason for this to change in the foreseeable future. The only female orientated game that comes close is probably The Sims, and even that is probably because it is alot of males guilty pleasure. However, other games do signal that the female market is somewhat alive and well as we see games like Nintendogs sitting amongst the top 40 games.

But what does that mean for the female gamers. Do they really want a game like Nintendogs created predominately by males? Wouldnt it be better if female games were created by Females? Well undoubtedly yes.

Many females may also argue that just because they are female, doesnt mean that they should be forced to play stereotypically female games like Nintendogs. Just because a game like Crysis is seen to be in the male domain, im certain that many females enjoy playing it also. So why is it always aimed at male gamers. Probably because males make up the majority, and what the majority wants, the majority gets.

We were asked to look in particular at a game called "Cake Mania 2". The game is about a women working in a cake shop and serving the customers. To succeed you need to take the customers order, create the cake that they ordered, and then deliver the cake to them at the counter. The main problem i have with this game is that you feel like your working. It litrally feels like a simple simulation exercise in customer service.

For me, playing a game is all about doing something that you wouldnt be able to do in the real world. For example, roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland shooting mutated creatures (Fallout 3), or maybe using your high tech suit to overpower your enemies in battle (Crysis), or even using monkeys to throw darts and defend your base from balloons (Balloon Tower Defence). But for the life of me i cant work out why someone would want to take a customers order and bake them a cake unless they were working in a real cake shop and actually getting paid for it.

Although maybe thats the point, maybe males dont understand why Cake Mania is a game females enjoy and thus highlights the need for more females in the games industry.