'Women are the new core,' says Microsoft narrative designer

[Scisca]

The statement is pure BS. Women as a group are not the new core or any type of core. I think that forums like this one show very well what the core looks like. Are there girls among us? Sure! But are the proportions between males and females roughly balanced? I think I don't need to answer that, and it's exactly the same when it comes to the core. The core is not purely male or closed to women in any aspect. It's just that most women aren't interested in core gaming.

What he really meant was probably that women as a group (so those of them who aren't traditional core) have joined the general gamer hoard and are currently a big demographic of well... milking cows (brutal, but true). They pay money for games, but in no way are they a real core. Still, calling them "the new core" is better from the marketing point of view than "milking cows". Women will never be the driving force behind the sales of consoles. It won't be these "new core" women standing in lines to buy PS4/X720 on the first day this Christmas. It will be the real core comprising men and women in a ratio similar to the ratio in this forum. The women they are talking about spend money, more and more of it, but that doesn't mean they are core. I somehow can't imagine random women at a hairstylist or at a manicure place this autumn gossiping about PS4 or X720. I work with 2 guys and 8 women (we're all under 30) and I can always talk about games with the guys, but girls don't like this topic. A few of them have only played "some kind of a dancing game on X-box" when they were on a house party. Do such games generate income? Sure - the money is the same as that coming from any other core game. Does that make them core? Nope. I have no doubt that this statement is a sign of a big Kinect 2.0 push, which surely is inevitable. They want to get all the casual gaming women to play on the next X-box and not Wii U or PS4. And I think they have a good chance at succeeding.

Women used to be the extra cheese in our gaming burger, but are now turning into the extra bacon, to say it in American ;) An awesome part, but still not the burger itself :P

If I'm wrong and they actually plan to change the games and turn them into more politically correct and watered down crap, then it's yet another reason for me not to buy the next X-box. Halo with Mistress Chieftess? Flirting with Cortan? Damn...

The more I hear about the next X-box, the more I think it's a console that's made with everyone in mind, except for the true gamers. Wonder if all this will turn out true once they reveal the console.

 

Machiavellian said:

rutea7 said:

enrageorange said:

rutea7 said:
Funny... Women have been accounted as core market in Asian countries since like always. There hasn't been exactly a lack of strong female leads. There could be more but I don't feel there's a lack.
Ubisoft did great with Aveline in ACIII: Liberation, Lara Croft just got "reborn", Lightning is a strong character and there's plenty more.

Is Microsoft just opening up to this? Maybe they have a new IP with a female protagonist. Let's hope its not kinect yoga.

You  named 3 female lead games. Now think of all the male lead games. I could name 10 new games that came out in just the last 2 weeks. Obviously we can't expect an even 50/50 ratio. That simply isn't the ratio of core female gamers vs male gamers. But it needs to be better than 95/5 which it currently is.

No it doesnt cause women dont need to play female characters just like men dont need to play only male characters.

I would counter your point in stating that only playing male and white male characters limits the creative story parts of games and make them very stereotypical.  I would believe that women would like to see portrayals of women with strong leads that express a women point of view instead of a character swap where you could put a male character in the same role and you would not know the difference.  

Case in point would be a game like God of War.  How exactly would a game like that be made if the lead was a women.  How would the story change and plot points.  It would actually be very interesting if we could see such a game.  There are a lot of very good women writters who I believe would love a chance to create such a character in a game but the chances are slim the way the industry is right now.  Thank goodness CD made Tomb Raider lead a women but even they still protray the character mostly male, at least the previous games I have not played the latest one to make a determination on that one.

Ever heard of Bayonetta? One of the most critically acclaimed games this gen? How well did it sell? It wasn't a launch title, it was multiplat, it was AAA and it was awesome... So what went wrong? And why do so many people think it was because the lead character was a woman? And this game was 100% designed aroung the fact that the lead character is a woman, she's not interchangable with a dude character, so you can get the answer to your question there. If you really care about having an even ratio of characters, go out right now and buy Bayo. Or maybe even better - get a Wii U and buy Bayo 2. You'd do 3 good things in one move - buy a Wii U, buy a core 3rd party game, buy a game with a female lead. Also buy a Vita while you're at doing good things ;) You can guy Gravity Rush and Assassin's Creed III: Liberation to support female characters there as well :P