The "Female Demographic"?

[r505Matt]

I find most female gamers I know actually like a wider variety of games than just The Sims or Cooking Mama. Wii games (Mario Kart, Wii Fit, Galaxy) and MMOs are also popular games among my female gaming friends. I don't think this is the case for all female gamers (I have one friend who is SICK at Dota) but girls play games more than ever these days (some 40% of gamers are female? Something like that?).

The female demographic is growing, and developers/publishers want to cash in, so of course these kinds of games (Imagine: Babyz) will surface, but I don't feel they represent the industries view of women as a whole.

Take a look at Bioware, some their games are controversially known for the 'sexual path' (so to speak) a character can take. Last I checked, most straight males, while playing a female character, aren't too keen on hooking up their character up with a guy. It can get kind of awkward (I feel bad for the achievement junkies out there in this case haha), especially if you are really absorbed in the game, and you feel some kind of connection with your main character. Having a guy hit on you must be awkward in that situation.

So it would seem to me that developers are really starting to recognize that female gamers play all kinds of games, like male gamers do, and they are taking steps (albeit some small ones in some cases, and some BAD steps in other cases) to acknowledge that.

Oops, didn't mean to insinuate that you thought female gamers are only into The Sims or Cooking Mama.

I feel bad for female gamers who play Halo/COD. And I quote:
Some girl - "Hi guys what's up?"
Some 14 year old - "OMG, are you a girl? are you hot?"
The girl - *turns mic off*

I think the biggest problem is how male gamers, the ones who still view the gaming industry as a dominantly male-oriented industry, think of and treat female gamers.