female-gamers
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Women are a major marketing target for Ever, Jane
Maybe you're not quite the target market for Ever, Jane. You may not like the works of Jane Austen, for example; that would be a major deterrent. But according to project head Judy L. Tyrer, one of the major areas she wants to target is the women's market, which she feels is neglected by companies as a whole. She feels that one of the major failings of game companies is failing to realize how large the game market is for women. Tyrer goes into more depth about the game's mechanics, noting that what appealed to her as a designer was the rigid stratification of social classes in Austen's work. Social movement is a major element of the gameplay, with most of players' time devoted to attending balls and gossiping about one another. No word on endgame raids against Mister Darcy or whether or not wit will be seen as an overpowered stat.
Drama Mamas: More unwanted sexual attention
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Female gamers in the wrong guilds can have a really rough time of it. Dear Drama Mamas I am hoping that you can help me break a pattern that has been occurring for quite a few years across many MMOs. I have tried everything I can think of but every time I join a guild, the same thing keeps happening again and again (with some slight variations). In the last three years, I haven't lasted longer than three months in any guild nor in any MMO!
E3 2011: Conquering the world with World of Tanks
The free-to-play MMO is making great strides across the world. And if you were to ask the CEO of WarGaming.net, Viktor Kislyi, he'd tell you his F2P game World of Tanks is bigger in some countries than World of Warcraft, particularly his home nation of Russia. As he told us when we talked to him at E3, "[It] beat the crap out of WoW in Russia." He backed that statement up by saying there are over 155,000 concurrent players in Russia daily for his MMO. With the introduction of Clan Wars earlier this year, World of Tanks appears to be quite literally conquering the world. Kislyi boasts that the Russian server has over 6,000 active clans, and over three million players are actively playing world-wide, which he claims is better than the stats of most of our favorite MMOs. He says if you combine the peak hours of all the servers across the globe, World of Tanks hosts 300,000 concurrent players. That's a staggering number. Pop past the break as we dig deeper into the discussion with Kislyi and find out why this game is storming the world.
EVE Online contest asks how CCP could make the game more appealing to female gamers
In co-operation with CCP Games, our friends at CrazyKinux's Musing are running an interesting contest. In the latest edition of CrazyKinux's monthly EVE Blog Banter, he's asking players to write blog posts on ideas to make EVE Online more appealing to female gamers. The best ideas will win EVE store credit, with a total of $200 up for grabs. First place will receive $75 worth of store credit to spend on EVE merchandise and second place wins $50 of credit. The next three runner-up entries will win $25 of credit each, giving everyone a total of five chances to win. Entrants have until Monday April 26th to make their thoughts on the issue known. EVE Online is something of an oddity in the MMO scene, with an almost entirely male playerbase. While some MMOs have a roughly 40% female playerbase and others are closer to 16%, less than 5% of EVE Online players are female. With Incarna set to introduce more avenues for social gaming, now might be a good time to start finding out what barriers prevent girls from signing up to EVE. Whatever the reason for EVE's 95% male-dominated playerbase, CCP seem interested in balancing that figure by drawing in more female gamers. If you have an idea that you think would help, enter it in the EVE Blog Banter for a chance to win some EVE swag.
15 Minutes of Fame: The Frag Dolls' Valkyrie
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. "I can't handle it when people say, "It's only a game,'" says Amy "Valkyrie" Brady, a WoW-playing, card-carrying member of Ubisoft's well known Frag Dolls all-female gaming team. This all-business gamer has helped create and lead the a multi-platform clan of more than 300 gun-toting women who compete across five FPS (First Person Shooter) games in 10 separate divisions. In December 2006, Valkyrie was part of the four-member Frag Doll team that took first place in the Rainbow Six Vegas tournament at CPL in Dallas. Rainbow Six 3, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Halo 2, Final Fantasy XI ... On top of considerable hours spent on weekly practice for the Frag Dolls, she puts in some 50 to 60 more in personal game play -- and among those games is World of Warcraft.
Game Developers' Conference to include iPhone Games Summit track
Macworld reports that the 2010 Game Developers' Conference will include an 8-class track on iPhone games. The iPhone Games Summit, which takes place over two days, replaces an older format where panels on the iPhone were mixed in with those on gaming for other mobile platforms or independent development. Classes appear to be aimed toward niche development ("A Big Dash of Success: How to Capture the Female iPhone Gamer") and utilizing social networking and multiplayer capabilities for iPhone games. The two most interesting classes to me is a case study of one company's year in the App Store and a class aimed at covering the finer points of the iPhone contract. Given that this is their first year, it'll be interesting to see how these are attended and what changes they make next time around as well. The Game Developers' Conference will be held March 9-13 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
15 Minutes of Fame: Amazon grace, how sweet these guilds
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Why would players want to play only with others just like themselves? Members of special interest guilds tell us their groups allow them to play away from others who either inadvertently or purposely seek to harass or offend. GLBT guilds, Christian guilds (scroll down to Recruiting) and similar groups offer a haven for players seeking a peaceful place to hang out with like-minded souls. This week, we look at a new group that offers not one, not two, but three special interest guilds. The Goddess guilds of Nesingwary and Winterhoof, along with a brother guild also on Nesingwary, welcomes females - actual, physical females, not female characters - with a friendly, events-focused environment. We visited with long-time gamer and Goddess guilds founder Myredd to find out why so many women appreciate playing in a females-only environment.
Nintendo Wii has lion's share of female console gamers
Nintendo's been doing a bit of digging and it turns out it's already won the console wars. If we're only talking about the ladies, that is. A whopping 80% of American female primary gamers (the person who primarily uses the console rather than the occasional dabblers) do their thing on the Wii, which we see as a clear indication to the graphics-obsessed Xbox 360 and PS3 developers that women prefer their games to be fun to play, rather than just look at. Maybe if we also stopped dressing female characters in swimsuits, they'd find non-Wii games relatable too -- that's just a guess though, probably wrong.
SOE accepting applications for G.I.R.L. scholarship
If you're one of the ladies currently in grad school pursuing your dreams of getting into the gaming industry, then this is definitely something you want to know about. Applications are now open for Sony Online Entertainment's 2009 G.I.R.L. scholarships. The one lucky (and talented) entrant will score the ultimate prize; $10,000 for their tuition and expenses for attending college, and may additionally be offered an up-to-10 week paid internship at SOE to work on Free Realms. "There are a significant number of women who are gamers, but not enough working in the video game field," said Torrie Dorrell, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for SOE. "With the application process starting today, we're taking a concrete step toward opening the door a little wider for women who want to go into game development."So if games designing is something that really drives your interests and you think you've got what it takes, head over to the official G.I.R.L. scholarship site and check out all the details. Good luck to all who decide to enter! Hopefully we'll get a chance to work with you on one of your future game projects.
Carbine Studio's Victoria Moran discusses the MMO industry from a female perspective
Zomg! A reel grrrl! How many times have we heard that in team chat or Vent? The stale joke that girls don't exist in online games (at least real ones) is becoming a thing of the past as the ESA reports that in 2009, 40% of all gamers are female. That percentage is considerably lower for women working in the gaming industry, yet the road has been paved and the stage is set for more women to break into the industry. So how does a person actually "break" into the industry, anyway?Over at Killer Betties, they caught up with Victoria Moran, Associate Systems Designer at NCsoft's Carbine Studios. In this interview, Victoria discusses her history as a gamer and how she landed her job at Carbine. She also talks quite candidly about misconceptions she may face, as well as advantages or disadvantages of being a female game designer. There are even some little tidbits of info in there about Carbine's new MMO project!
Ubisoft says Wii a 'female-driven platform'
Gaming is becoming more and more popular, thanks to ever-increasing sales of the DS and Wii, and that means new gamers. A large portion of these gamers are of the female variety, and Ubisoft says a lot of them are flocking to the Wii and DS. "What's driving the Wii sales is the use of Wii by women, girls and families," said Ubisoft's senior brand manager, Ann Hamilton. Hamilton says that the number of girls who game has significantly increased over the past two years, jumping from 50% in 2006 to 57% in 2008. But are they solely responsible for the Wii's success? We'd say not, but it's important to note that female gamers probably take up a notable chunk of the overall casual audience that has been so responsive to the Wii. In our experience, however, we've found that a game's ability to be fun to play overcomes all obstacles, including the huge chasm between us boys and the fair sex. [Via Endsights]
NPD: Girls increasingly becoming gamers
NPD's new study, Girl Power: Understanding This Important Consumer Segment, finds that girls between 2 and 14 years old are increasingly wasting spending their time gaming. The gaming disease apparently strikes between ages 6 and 8 and finally metastasizes in the brain between 9 and 12, when girls begin "migrating to computer and video games, especially virtual world online games."NPD's industry analyst, Anita Frazier, says that 50% of girls between 2 and 14 years old still play with "traditional" items like "dolls, plush, and arts & crafts" in this digital age. She notes that the growth in use of social networking and virtual world sites by women should be recognized by manufacturers who, you know, want money from the ladies.
Women in raids
Epic Dolls recently gave a woman's perspective to the Ten Ton Hammer article on women in raiding. Essentially the original article brought up some extremely valid points about females in the raiding sphere, and Leala took the time to respond to some of the statements made in the article, explaining them from a female point of view. What I love about this is the fact that what we have here is an intelligent dialog. In no way is the Epic Dolls response claiming that Ten Ton "doesn't understand us" and that they write "biased work because they hate women," both of which are common misconceptions on either side of the gaming gender divide. Leala first begins by explaining that the article on Ten Ton was well written and interesting, and then proceeds to respond to some issues brought up in the article.
The E-Ho game
Today, on WoW Insider, we stalk the ubiquitous "E-Ho." We've all see the night elf female with white hair dancing in her Black Mageweave armor for "donations," or laughed at the forum threads involving girls (who are usually guys) that cyber in unfortunately public areas. Everyone pretty much takes these as part of WoW. But what about that girl who's always in private chat with the raid leader and tends to get more raid invites than the other hunters? Or the priest who's last on the healing meters, but first to have half the guild pass on items for her? Or the drama-prone tank who's gquit five times over "people being mean"?
Girls 'n' Games event: this news is so old
While E3's keynotes were kicking off last week, several academics, developers and advocates of women in gaming gathered at UCLA to discuss girls, games and everything relating to the two. However, from Gamasutra's account of the event, nothing new was really discussed. Some of the key points brought up: Girls play games. (Well, duh.) Developers shouldn't try to focus on "girl game design" -- stereotyping game design by gender leads to missteps. Player-generated content is popular amongst girls, as is social gameplay. "Cuteness" in games, like anime and manga culture in Japan, encourages girls to get involved in gameplay. Women gamers and girl gamers are different; women and teenage girls have different demands on their time. Girls and women shouldn't just be gamers, but developers too.
Female at E3: a look back
Being a female attendee at E3 puts one into an interesting niche. The number of women present at the show this year was surprisingly high -- a quick non-scientific headcount showed about 3 in 20 to be female. However, booth babes flashed their wares from a number of stands, gleaming cars and trucks advertised games with no cars in them, and Paris Hilton trundled out to wow the crowds.With all this advertising clearly targeted at guys -- and, by the look of the crowds, working well -- it's easy to believe the "neglected demographic" hype.
Girl gaming clans as next-gen booth babes
The idea of booth babes who are fanatical gamers isn't a new one, but the booth babe cliché tends to overlook the fact that becoming a babe is one way for gamers to get into E3. With a clampdown on the amount of flesh on show at this year's E3, companies are looking for a few other ways to give their booth -- and its attached babes -- the edge.An interesting marriage of ideas is to employ girl gaming clans as "totty with triggers" -- a booth attraction that appeals on multiple levels. Arguably, that's what Ubisoft's "Frag Dolls" team is all about, but the Dolls won't be alone at E3 this year. g0d (girlz of destruction) will be bringing their VIA-sponsored "home of chrome" to the show floor, and the PMS clan will also be sending members to E3 to work for various sponsors.There is a difference between groups which were set up specifically by one company, or which formed in order to seek sponsorship, and those which came together naturally -- though on the show floor, that's less apparent. Clans like g0d and PMS are becoming famous, and attracting sponsorship now, but they formed for fellowship rather than financial gain. With professional gamers in general getting more exposure these days, it seems that the gender of all-girl gaming teams makes them an immediate hot prospect to replace the stereotypical eye-candy booth babes.
Girl gamer recruitment good reality TV?
Recruiting a new member for a sponsored girl gaming team can't be easy. When Eekers (one of Ubisoft's Frag Dolls) left the line-up last summer, a nationwide search for her replacement rolled into motion, requiring everything from a gaming CV to glamour shots. Months later, when all but the hopefuls have forgotten the empty space to be filled, the shortlisted candidates have been announced and the final selection procedure outlined.All eight of the finalists will be flown to San Francisco to "join the existing Frag Dolls in a weekend of playing games and interviewing", a party that sounds like good fodder for frazzled nerves -- especially when you add in the filming. For this is no ordinary interview -- instead, the whole thing will be covered by Internet TV site GameTrailers, providing a reality TV glimpse into the mysterious world of girl gamers.
