Expanding the Market

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If you build the perfered style of games, they will come (you'd think), so the industry needs more puzzle games, dance (DDR style), and Sims style games. Granted I have known females to like all styles of games, but the sterotypical (and majority) female likes the listed games. Older women like Final Fantasy (of which there is no lack) and Mario... basically they just like games that aren't extrodinarily high impact like Street Fighter.

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[NeoZeedeater]

The Sims is certainly a milestone in attracting new gamers. Although I have no interest in playing any of Will Wright's games, I have to applaud the man on creating unique and successful ones.

[Sqoon]

To expand the market, I think developers need to try to make some intelligent games. Have well written stories that rival those of novels or books. Actually say something about the human condition instead of trying to impress the same teenage japanese kids over and over again. Grab the attention of the nation with something besides how shocking the game is or how many units it sold.

Trying to do something like that will be detrimental to gameplay.

I would like to see the market expand but video games don't deserve to be regarded on the same level as cinema or literature.

[amerlop]

Originally posted by Rich
All my female friends are big fans of GTAIII. Maybe they should try and target the female audience with GTA:VC..

Maybe that is an example of the classic Freudian "Penis Envy" theory. In a literal sense, it states that all female want to possess their own male genetalia and, in a broader sense, all females subconsiously wish to be male/masculine.

It's one of those theories that sits REEEEEAAAAL well with Betty Friedan and the NOW.

[Tracer]

I think I'm torn between what NeoZ said and what sqoon is getting at.

Games are about gameplay - The Sim's did a great job of expanding the market for a variety of reasons, but it is a game with no story - it is, in its rawest form, a world with a set of rules and it is up the gamer to decide what they do within it (which isn't a bold concept, it's actually very typical of western games, some have story some don't).

I would love to see the worlds greatest story tellers tell thier tale through games, but I often find that once it starts telling a story it stops telling a game. I think a game like Morrowind has perhaps the best potential (along side shooters, which have controled pace allowing for a great story to be told with out much interuping the flow of the game) to weave complex characters. However - if your interaction with them and the world around them doesn't change what they do or what they 'think' or how they act then they are simply props (ala Final Fanatsy or other games of its ilk). A great game story IMO, has yet to be seen. Besides the obvious appeal of sports games, one thing that is seldom mentioned is that you ultimately decide the outcome by your performance. The football season is crafted in ways that you intended and did not intend because of your actions. In Final Fantasy however (I love picking on it it would seem) your interaction and your choices have little bearing on what happens in the end. A great game story is not the same kind of story that is told in movies or even books.

Say there is a character in a town who works as a shipwright, and I come along and become fast friends with him. I decide that I want to leave and do something exciting, that NPC (depending on his inclinations and affinitys and so on) will also make a decision. Wether to follow me or whatever. If I killed his parents, he could try to kill me - and not in the traditional way of simply outright attacking me - but meticulously following (stalking) me and training to one day kill me (or die trying). Better yet, there could be a quest that one could take to attain great power and that NPC would take it to avenge his parents murder. This NPCs interatcion with other NPCs could change the way those NPCs think or work and so on.

I think that would be great and a good story could come of something like that. Imagine something like Morrowind with more quests and NPCs who are dynamic in thier actions (all simply based on certian rules that character is ste to obey by the developers). I don't know if any thing has the processing power to crunch numbers like that right now though.... it's the equivlent of a HUGE and very robust dynamic database where one changed value changes the valuse in many many colomns.

Just an idea.

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[burgundy]

There are girl games, and then there are girl games.

Games that specifically target women are bound to fail. Not enough women own consoles to make a Barbie (or a Cosmo makeover) title worthwhile, and male gamers aren't going to to touch them. And women won't rush out to buy a handful of girl-centric games.

But beyond that, there are genres and games of general interest, but which appeal to women more than others. Centipede was a huge success in the female market, and puzzle and rhythm games generally interest women. Cute mascot-type games are as likely to attract women as men, as opposed to sports, GTA, RE and Quake type games that, although a few women might enjoy, most won't look twice.

I think the problem lies with marketing. While there may be games that appeal to all ages and both genders, advertising is keyed to either children or the adolescent male. In the latter case, the tits and potty humor focus in most game mags and ads reinforces the female's belief that gaming isn't for her, IMO.

[Yoshi]

Originally posted by EThugg
NOOO! You should only be allowed to be a gamer if you own 20 systems, love Treasure, hate Sony, and was and still is obsessed with GameFan!

As much as I hate to agree with EThugg, I am on board with this one.

[Ranji]

Expanding the video game market is not going to significantly improve the quality of the games produced. The industry is already big enough to give us an indication of how uninterested developers are about creating artistic masterpieces.

Still, the video game industry isn't at a much worse state than the other mass forms of media and entertainment, right now.

[NeoZeedeater]

I still don't understand why Centipede was popular with females. I know one of the game's designers is a woman but it's not like the general public would know that.

http://retrogames-r-us.tripod.com/EG...ges/EG8205.htm

[Kinopio]

I'd say that the percentage of females that play videogames is higher than the percentage of females developing videogames.