HylianSwordsman said:
If I'm being completely honest, I don't really see it as a big problem either, I was just pointing out that while I agree that the "make more characters from x demographic" side of the argument doesn't make sense (I find it disturbingly stupid, honestly), the other side does make sense in that it would be a real problem. The debate should be about to what degree it actually is a problem. I would agree with you that it isn't as huge of a problem as it's made out to be. That said, you bring up another issue, the issue of gender socialization, the way we teach girls and boys what they're "supposed" to like. And while I suppose it is "fine" that women are less interested in gaming, I think a large part of it is the culture of gaming itself being a turnoff to girls. I know it is for my girlfriend. The toxicity of the culture, especially after Gamergate, made her not even want to try gaming, and I have to coax and beg her to play Mario Kart and Snipperclips. I'm slowly getting her into games, after the damage that the culture did. I find that pretty lame, as she's otherwise a huge nerd that I have tons in common with. It seems less that girls inherently like games less than men and more like it's just because we've made it a place where they don't feel welcome. If there were any barrier to entering the industry, it would be the whole culture itself convincing girls think that being a game designer isn't for them, though obviously on the industry side it's less of a problem than on the consumer side. But for there to be a barrier to entering gaming culture at all, I mean, I suppose it isn't some horrible injustice like Kim Jong Un enslaving his own people or something, but it's still just unacceptably lame to me. It frustrates me to no end that I can't get female friends to try games just because society raised them to think it isn't for them. Like you said, you gotta fix all the gender bullshit that pushes people into being stereotypes before you can make any real progress on that front. |
I can say that my wife although never having faced the "it is only for boys" and playing some with her relatives as a child doesn't like to play VG at all even after several invites... but she likes to play phone games. Tastes are more personal than obligated. hormones and everything else that biologically diferentiate men and women are also inside mechanisms of pleasure we have and the type of game/entertainment we would prefer.
duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363
Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994
Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."