By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

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

Machiavellian on 30 March 2013
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.



Around the Network
Player2 on 30 March 2013
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.

Don't be so sure about that...

When there's no other option, it's a single player game, she's protrayed as extremely capable and looks good, playing with a female character is considered somewhat okay. But if that isn't the case expect a ton of "OMG what's wrong with you, why are you playing with a female" comments.

Edit - But if you defeat a guy with a female character in a fighting game you deal an extra 2x (number of rounds you won - number of rounds he won) +1 points of damage to his ego.



rutea7 on 30 March 2013
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.

I think i know better than you what women want to play, whether the main role is female or male doesn't matter as long as its a good story with an appealing character, good story/character development.

That being said strong female leads are always welcome.



Desertghost on 30 March 2013

No women aren't the new core, MS is just disguising the fact that they are going full on casual like the Wii.



MoHasanie on 30 March 2013

This is a good idea cause well, you don't really associate an Xbox with a girl. Like, most females that do own an Xbox probably just play Kinect.



    

NNID: FrequentFlyer54

Around the Network
HaloFailo on 30 March 2013

The only flaw in that logic is they think "Girl Gamers" are retards and don't like to play actual core games.

I know enough girls and their friends who play BF3 on PC,Starcraft,LoL,Uncharted,Gears,Zelda and everything you can think of BUT they surely would never get interested in Kinect/MotionSensor "games".
Not even my mother would touch that - Every mother of friends i know thinks that.

I don't know which age range they think of at Microsoft but surely not of those who should play games.

MoHasanie said:
This is a good idea cause well, you don't really associate an Xbox with a girl. Like, most females that do own an Xbox probably just play Kinect.

A friend of mine 19 years old now played every Gears since the first game got released..In Gears 2 she had a ~ 9000:0 K/D(it's insane i know)
She never will touch a Kinect cause she likes to play competitive...And as i said i don't know a single girl gamer that is interested in such dancing games.
Of course i don't know what the Justin Bieber Generation of 11 year olds  and that age range likes...But does microsoft really replace their community with them?Cause this will happen if they put their focus and money into the wrong direction



MoHasanie on 30 March 2013
HaloFailo said:
MoHasanie said:
This is a good idea cause well, you don't really associate an Xbox with a girl. Like, most females that do own an Xbox probably just play Kinect.

A friend of mine 19 years old now played every Gears since the first game got released..In Gears 2 she had a ~ 9000:0 K/D(it's insane i know)
She never will touch a Kinect cause she likes to play competitive...And as i said i don't know a single girl gamer that is interested in such dancing games.
Of course i don't know what the Justin Bieber Generation of 11 year olds  and that age range likes...But does microsoft really replace their community with them?Cause this will happen if they put their focus and money into the wrong direction

Well ofcourse there are some girls who do play FPS games, but there are quite rare. Like, most girls aren't in to shooting and violent games. 



    

NNID: FrequentFlyer54

VGKing on 30 March 2013
D-Joe said:
VGKing said:
D-Joe said:
VGKing said:
D-Joe said:
VGKing said:
Can't say I'm surprised Microsoft thinks this way. There is a flaw is this logic though. Even IF women are the new core.....what makes you think they like to play Kinect? I've met some "girl gamers" and they play the same games I do.

Other than OP's picture(and it's not even from the article),this wirter never talked about Kinect

"Women are the new core"

This implies that they'll be focusing even more on Kinect and getting new episodes of Desperate Housewives on Xbox live. That's what it means. 

http://asia.gamespot.com/news/women-are-the-new-core-says-microsoft-narrative-designer-6406037

"A narrative writer for Microsoft Studios has said that "women are the new core" and that creating more diverse stories, including more female characters and ethnicities, will make for better games."

A writer talk about Kinect game?lol

Where is Kinect in the article?well of course,you WANT only read the title because people can start shit on MS as usual

And woman=Kinect sounds so stupid for me since my ex-gf love diablo 2 and play diablo 2 better than me,it also make me never play any diablo anymore

So only women can enjoy female lead characters? That doesn't make sense. Taking a look at Microsofts strategies these past few years, combined with this article(which I read in full before commenting) only leads me to conclude that this is their reason for including Kinect 2 with every Xbox 720. 

If women are the new core, that doesn't mean you need to create new experiences for women since the "girl gamer" out there is happy enjoying Bioshock Infinite or Gears of War just like the rest of us. 

Woman are new core=male are not core anymore?And take a look what's his job:writer,write a story,why would that automatically mean Kinect games?the fact it's it means every type games,that's why the article using Bioshock picture not some Kinect pictures

"If women are the new core, that doesn't mean you need to create new experiences" Oh so while you guys always love to bashing MS only make same shooters,right now you want them only make same shooters?wtf is that?when new experiences=change the controller type?

"Including Kinect 2 with every Xbox 720."

Well maybe according to rumors,but what's the point to bring this in here?including Kinect 2 with every Xbox 720=every game will required use Kinect to play?

 

He just said the audience got wider,not thinner

 

"Abernathy also said that more diverse games would be good for the business of the games industry, because more diversity would bring in a wider audience and therefore generate more money. "But you need to persuade people that it's OK, and won't hurt sales but might help them," he said.

 

"Nobody in the room admits to being against making characters female or nonwhite," he added. "But they're scared because they don't know how to defend that choice to their bosses."

 

"Our industry, our art, and our business stand to gain in every sense simply by holding a mirror up to our audience and reflecting their diversity in what we produce," Abernathy said."

 

 

Btw,for people believe MS will ONLY make Kinect games

http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511206&page=28

Yes. That's how it works. The core gamer is defined by those gamers that make up the early adopters, the ones that buy more than just the yearly Call of Duty. If women are the new core that means that males aren't. Now, if he said that the core gamers are composed of more than just your average male, then that would make more sense, but he didn't say that. He said women are the new core. 

HIs job position is irrelevant as stories are gender neutral. So unless they are planning on making more romantic video games......maybe a sex simulator?



Michelasso on 30 March 2013

Women will never be a core market for videogames. They have to save money first for their shiny shoes...



S.T.A.G.E. on 30 March 2013

Microsoft knows absolutely nothing about core gamers. Core gamers have no gender. Its about dedication to gaming....not Kinect. They're pigeonholding women because they are some of the main Kinect buyers.