Topic: One-third of Wii owners are female?

[Mop it up]

Am I seeing this right? According to THIS article, Nintendo stakes claim to 80% of female console gamers, which would be 9 million:

http://kotaku.com/5411707/nintendo-boasts-9-million-player-advantage-among-female-console-gamers

Well, it appears there are just under 27 million Wii systems sold in North America, which would mean that one-third of them are female. Can I get that pink Wii now?

[Stratos]

Well, half of DS owners are female so I'm not really surprised by this stat.

My question is, who will be the first to make an inappropriate joke?

Firstly, aren't you kinda inviting inappropriate jokes with a thread like this?

Secondly, shouldn't this be in the funhouse if you are fishing for inappropriate jokes?

[Mop it up]

I don't know what I'm doing, it's 3AM and I've been preparing food all day. Pretend I said something more constructive and insightful.

[King of Twitch]

"Pretend I said something more constructive and insightful."

Now there's a custom title

[Mop it up]

lol that would be pretty good for me but I think it is too long.

[Stratos]

lol that would be pretty good for me but I think it is too long.

Shorten it to "Pretend I said something constructive"

[Mop it up]

What do you think this means? That the number of female gamers is growing?
I hate to play into stereotypes, but I can't help but think that the majority of these female Wii owners bought it solely for Wii Fit. They might not have even explored the library, at least not beyond something like Animal Crossing.

Of course, I don't know how they come up with statistics like this to begin with. Is there any way to track what kind of games they've bought?

[King of Twitch]

"I hate to play into stereotypes, but I can't help but think that the majority of these female Wii owners bought it solely for Wii Fit. They might not have even explored the library, at least not beyond something like Animal Crossing."

Well not only that, it is a pretty cute system! Plus, white goes with everything.

[Stratos]

You could look at the Nintendo Channel stats. Isn't there one for each game that shows if users think a gal or a guy would more likely enjoy it?

[Chozo Ghost]

The Nintendo games have cuter characters that are more appealing to girls, than stuff on the other systems. Plus I think Nintendo makes more of an effort to include female characters more prominently in the games. The Legend of Zelda games are named after a female, and in Metroid the actual main character is a female. That can't be said about most of the games on the rival systems.

[Stratos]

The Nintendo games have cuter characters that are more appealing to girls, than stuff on the other systems. Plus I think Nintendo makes more of an effort to include female characters more prominently in the games. The Legend of Zelda games are named after a female, and in Metroid the actual main character is a female. That can't be said about most of the games on the rival systems.

For some reason I thought of Lara Croft and just laughed. Yeah, non-Nintendo companies have a hard time connecting with women.

[SilverGrey]

I think it has something to do with companies seeming to play down to female gamers.  I think games are intimidating to most new players, but for women there's also the stigma of entering a 'boys only' zone.  At least that's how I felt.  I like games to challenge me that I have a good time playing, but I don't feel challenged playing a FPS (and I don't enjoy them) nor do I feel challenged playing puppy sparkle dance party.  I don't envy companies trying to develop for these new audiences of games that they haven't dealt with before.  I think female gamers are harder to compartmentalize, they may want to play just about anything, but I think most of them chafe at feeling pandered to.

[Ian Sane]

Most videogame developers are men and I think one would instinctively design games to appeal to themselves, and thus their own gender.  If it appears that games designed specifically for women feel forced that makes sense because it's a bunch of guys trying to guess what women want to play.

I think ideally female videogame devolers designing games that they want to play would result in more games that appeal towards women.  I don't mean they specificaly approach game development with the attitude "we're going to make games for girls" but that they just make good games and I imagine a fair amount of those would appeal to females.

When a group of guys gets together to make a game do you think they specifically think "let's make a game that guys would like"?  No, they probably just make the game they themselves want to play and it often appeals to males for obvious reasons.

[Chozo Ghost]

I really liked Bloodrayne, and that was another game that had a female lead character. Just like with Lara Croft though, she was sexed up in order to be appealing to men. But that said, maybe it had appeal for females as well... *shrug*

But the thing about Nintendo's characters is they are very seldom "sexed up". Well, Samus was with the form-fitting zero suits, but aside from that, when she is in her armor you aren't looking at her with your tongue wagging.

[Mop it up]

Plus I think Nintendo makes more of an effort to include female characters more prominently in the games. The Legend of Zelda games are named after a female, and in Metroid the actual main character is a female.

I don't know about that, as the female characters in Nintendo's games tend to have stereotypical roles. The only one I can think of which doesn't is Samus... and even that was originally meant to be nothing more than a joke.

I really liked Bloodrayne, and that was another game that had a female lead character. Just like with Lara Croft though, she was sexed up in order to be appealing to men. But that said, maybe it had appeal for females as well... *shrug*

I'm still waiting for a game which stars a shirtless Johnny Depp.

[Dirk Temporo]

Can I get that pink Wii now?

Only girls like pink/girls only like pink: CONFIRMED

[SilverGrey]

At the risk of offending the gross majority of the people who post here, I think it's easier to make games that appeal to guys.  Girls are notoriously fickle (we'll deny it, and kill you if you say it, but we are) so who knows what we want to play?  If you make it pink it's probably your best bet, but then again, there's loads of girls who don't like pink.  I'd be thrilled with a blue Wii or a green Wii but not pink.  Shirtless Johnny Depp could work if you find a girl who likes Johnny Depp (what sort of game would it be exactly Mop_it_up?)  I feel like the games I end up playing are the fringes of 'boy' games but then again what makes a 'girl' game?  Besides pink....

[BlackNMild2k1]

Maybe that's why the 3rd parties say it's hard to nail the Wii demographic.




pun may be intended

[Mop it up]

At the risk of offending the gross majority of the people who post here, I think it's easier to make games that appeal to guys.

The only thing which might be offensive about that statement is that you called the majority of people here gross.  I wouldn't think people would disagree with that because, well, look at what Ian Sane said. The majority of game designers are male, and they create mostly games which they themselves would want to play.

Shirtless Johnny Depp could work if you find a girl who likes Johnny Depp (what sort of game would it be exactly Mop_it_up?)

I'm not sure, something similar to Tickle Me Elmo perhaps? I'm not a game designer, it isn't my job to come with a concept which would suit him. Put him in Tomb Raider as an alternative character choice, perhaps?

what makes a 'girl' game?

It's a question I've had for a while, and I haven't really come up with any answers. Truth to be told, I don't think I'm one to really prove the stereotypes wrong...

[BeautifulShy]

As a male this may not be the best perspective to be answer what is the type of game a girl would like but here is what I think.
There isn't one type of game that suits every girl. Some girls like games that are fun and relaxing. Mario games and Animal Crossing for example. Some like challenging games to try and match their skills of the opposite gender. As a way of saying "yeah I can play as just as good as you or even better"

Some like games that are fantasy type games like the Final fantasy or Zelda games. There is no 1 type of game that every girl will like. Just as there is typical "boys" games that boys don't like.

[Chozo Ghost]

One third is actually not as much as it should be, if you think about it. Females are at least 50% of the population, so something isn't right if we look at one third of a console's owners being female and consider that a lot. It may be a lot compared to other consoles, but it shows not as many females are playing video games in general as they could be.

[Mop it up]

There is no 1 type of game that every girl will like. Just as there is typical "boys" games that boys don't like.

Good point. And I think it raises the question, why does every game need to target one sex or the other? Why must there be a divide between the two?

One third is actually not as much as it should be, if you think about it. Females are at least 50% of the population, so something isn't right if we look at one third of a console's owners being female and consider that a lot.

What needs to be looked at is if that's an increase over previous console generations, which I think it is. As long as the percentage keeps increasing, it should be equal at some point.

[SilverGrey]

From my perspective, I'm used to being the only girl I know who plays games.  Now granted, I have several friends who own Wiis who are girls, and much as I love Wii Fit, I do like to play other stuff.  I got one of my girlfriends who loves zombies to play Eternal Darkness and she did alright but then was like 'no this game is too intense, I can't believe you like it'.  So I mean, seems like it would be something she could handle more than my girlfriends who just love the frisbee puppy in Wii Sports Resort, but still struck out.  I think it's a very intimidating hobby to pick up.  I still get intimidated walking into a Gamestop.  I don't race Mario Kart online or let people visit my Animal Crossing town, and I hate when people say 'ooo what are you playing?  can I watch?' No, you may not watch, because you make me nervous.  Now I think this has a lot more to do with my own insecurities of my gaming skills than it necessarily being that I'm a girl, but I do feel that the vast majority of people I know who play are guys, and they've all had systems for years and they're very good at games and so to have them let you play and you spend half your time dead (don't even start me on what it's like to watch me play Goldeneye, even though it actually is pretty entertaining to other people).  I'm rambling, I know, but I think that games need to lose the stigma of being a 'guy' thing before you will ever hope to see that ratio evening out to 50/50.

[Mop it up]

I think I know how you feel. I hate it if somebody would want to watch me play a game because I feel like I'm on display. I also have a dearth of gaming skill, so I can't really prove that stereotype wrong. I was very hesitant to mention on this forum that I was female, it took me months before I had the courage to get it out and I'm very disappointed in myself for how I handled the whole thing.

I think that games need to lose the stigma of being a 'guy' thing before you will ever hope to see that ratio evening out to 50/50.

What can we do to help change things? It's pretty difficult to get people interested as they are going to need to be eased into it. I try to encourage my friends and family to try my new games, but... sometimes they just flat out refuse. And my sister doesn't have a lot of perseverance if a game is proving challenging.

Also, why won't you let me visit your Animal Crossing town? I'm really nice... and I bring presents!

[Chozo Ghost]

There are a lot of guys who suck at games, so it isn't a gender thing. The more you play, the better you get... the first game I ever played was the original Super Mario Bros. way back in the day when I was like 7 or 8 and I couldn't even get to the end of the first level. Even now I know I'm not the greatest player, but I get by. I'll never be the top score in any game, but as long as I can complete a game that's good enough for me.