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Video games. It's a pretty good guess that despite the title of this article, right now you're picturing some teen boy clicking away at a tightly clutched controller. Girls might play on the Neopets website when they're 10, you figure, but after that, games are the things young women play on the sports field or in social circles.
But all of those assumptions are false.
Women have been a part of video gaming for a long time. Their influence is stronger than you think. And their numbers are growing. These days, 43% of the gaming world is made up of the fairer sex. And as far as that teen boy notion is concerned, the truth is that there are far more women over 18 playing video games today than there are guy gamers under 18.
Of Centipedes and Bubbles With Bows
It's quite true that in the great unwashed yesteryears of gaming, almost all of the participants were dudes. Most of the early programmers were from the male ranks, and so the little blinking-light sports and shooting titles they created did tend to appeal to scratch-and-spit sensibilities. I come by that bit of information firsthand since I was in that crowd—scratching, spitting and mashing buttons. But then something interesting happened.
Right around 1980, Centipede was released. And when girls spotted it—perhaps while accompanying their boyfriends to the local arcade—they started playing. The game became a massive hit with both guys and gals. Why? Most folks just said the game's squiggling antagonist and pink-and-green color scheme was more appealing to the sugar-and-spice set. Little known was the fact that the game's creator was one of the first female arcade game designers.
Another arcade mega-hit was Pac-Man, a title that everyone remembers and even your kids know about. The story goes that the game's creator, a guy this time, was looking around at the more typical male-oriented activities in the game rooms and purposely decided to create girl-friendly fun. So instead of a button-mashing shooter or blasting-tank title, he devised a clever bit of maze madness with colorful bug-eyed critters playing what amounted to a big game of tag. And what was this super-hit's even bigger sequel? The pink-bowed Ms. Pac-Man, of course, a game that even let Mr. and Ms. marry and spawn a junior Pac.
Casual Is the New Console
Development companies quickly created something of a formula designed to maintain a general appeal for girl gamers. It wasn't about raining Pac-Men. Rather it was games you could step up to and play quickly. And added to that were interactive titles that had a bit more thoughtful approach—complete with puzzles, falling blocks, more mazes and, yes, even shopping. Some women looked down their noses as such "pandering," choosing shooters and sports titles right along with the boys. But just because something's a salacious stereotype doesn't always mean it's not true.
Think of the Sims games that splashed on the personal computer scene at the beginning of the last decade. Those were games about building houses, communities and relationships. In an industry considered to be dominated by bloody blasters, Sims became the biggest selling PC game of all time—proving that if you can create something that guys and gals can both enjoy, you've got a winner.
In fact, today's Wii-triggered and Kinect-copied casual gaming can be linked directly to a desire to create something women can sink their controllers into. It's a family-friendly trend that has taken the video gaming world by storm and doesn't look to be letting up anytime soon. Of note: Designers have tried to create M-rated titles for hard-core guy gamers on the Wii—and they've pretty much tanked every time.
Girls in Games
The women portrayed in video games have come a long way, too. And some have even gone the distance in style. I recently had a discussion with Megan Gaiser, president and CEO of computer game publisher Her Interactive. Her creates titles based on the intrepid girl detective Nancy Drew, who has represented the female adventuring spirit in books and games for some time now. OK. A very long time now.
"For our audience, we picked up on their preferences early," Gaiser said. "And they told us from the very beginning that they don't appreciate being portrayed as victims or victims of violence, and they don't appreciate characters with exaggerated body parts."
So she and her company generate games that are filled with mild mysteries and puzzles. And at the same time they give gamers a gutsy, smart, resourceful, spunky and independent Nancy Drew-next-door heroine to guide and be, in turn, inspired by.
"I believe that games have an impact. We have the ability to impact a generation and future generations," Gaiser continued. "We take that seriously and so create games that are inspiring. And we're all about empowering women and girls."
A Woman's Word for the Wise
Let's face it, though, ever since the hot pants loving tomb raider Lara Croft spelunked her first cave and the raven-haired Jill Valentine blasted her first zombie, female characters in games have often tended to be either put-upon victims in close-fitting scanty outfits—or backside-kicking, hyper-sexualized vixens in close-fitting scanty outfits. When guys play these kinds of games, issues such as titillation, debasement and misogyny rear their ugly heads. When girls play them, they're soaking in not-so-subtle and not-so-moral cues about how they're supposed to look and act. Nancy has one message. Lara and Jill have quite another.
"They say you are what you eat, what you consume," Ms. Gaiser told me. "That's kind of the way I look at it. It's really important that parents are aware of the content of games. It's forced us to take a more active role in engaging with our daughters and sons, to understand where they [game producers] are going with these games."
That is indeed a wise word from a female gamemaker to parents. But it may actually mean more for the women making games now and the girls who are playing them—and will make them in the future.
-- PluggedIn Online
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BLOGOSPHERE 
Those are the ESA numbers from 2009...haven't seen the 2010 report. Despite those facts most game developers seem to act as if their largest target audience are still teenagers. Which is odd considering they should be looking at where the money is coming from. The top 20 games for 2009 would be appealing to mixed demographics--and females--, not just male teenagers.