Women Gamers: Hello?! We’re Right Here!
Just a couple months ago, we were buried in stories on the mainstream media saying, “Where are the women gamers?” I kept jumping up and down yelling, “Hello?! We’re right here! Can’t you see us?!” Guess what, mainstream media just barely found women gamers.
Games: They’re not just for kids anymore – Games – MSNBC.com
Women outnumber men in online games, survey finds – Games – MSNBC.com
It seems that the Electronic Software Association just released a survey that shows that 38 percent of all gamers are women over 18. Yeah, you know those women that the gaming industry can’t see and doesn’t make games for, THAT 38% of the market. Funny thing, the market that 90% of the games are created for? You know, the boys under 17? Yeah, we OUTNUMBER them.
All along I’ve been saying that there are plenty of women out there wanting to play video games, but Grand Theft Auto isn’t going to do it for us. We really don’t want to hang out with prostitutes, steal cars and shoot people. We want casual little games that we can pick up when we have a free moment. We want games that allow us to create relationships. We want something to turn to when insomnia hits at 3am. I don’t want to shoot zombies at 3am. I have enough bad dreams as it is.
Now that there is a survey showing that women gamers are out there, wishing they could spend money on a video game if only they could find something as relaxing as Bejeweled, I wonder what the video game manufacturers are going to do. And hey, to all you women out there wondering what’s good, here’s a list of games I’ve found to keep my interest and the zombies at bay: