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Sparkle (0)
Ever since I was young I can always remember those rainy days when mom would let us stay inside and play video games all day. We would pop in Street Fighter, Mario Kart, and Mortal Kombat just to name a few. I always was one character in those games, and one character only.....the only girl ever in the video games. Chun Li, Princess Peach and Kintana became my alter egos, a recent revelation of mine that has made complete sense but also confuses me about the video game industry. Why aren't the video game makers filling the need for more bad ass females in their games and marketing that to the hugely growing female demographic?
A recent study revealed that 88.5 percent of game developers are male, tested by young men and marketed to young men. So why does the "recession proof" video game industry give us ladies what we want more of? In my opinion I believe they do. There are dozens of games out there that I would go buy, become a hermit crab, beat the game and not come out for days but not regret a second of it because of the gameplay. Problem is, I have to go HUNTING for those games because the females gamers are not taken seriously in this industry.
Along with having to hunt down quality games, when I get into a game that I love, there are no bad ass females to pick, and if there is, its usually only a few (if we're lucky). Studies show that the ladies like to work in groups, which would be perfect for games like Halo and Rainbow Six. When doing research for this article I did find a very intriguing game that seems fit this bill, the game is called "The Agency" and is due out in early 2009. The Agency is a James Bond/Splinter Cell type game but all the agents seem to be women. "FINALLY!", was my first thought when I ran across some other new "games". How about these joke-of-a-game titled Adventure Riders, Dance Squad and Gym Rockets. Those titles right there is enough to make me throw my DS through a wall. Write a cheer for that....
Women today are screaming for representation, from the presidency, to business, and on down to gaming. Marketers are missing out on a HUGE piece of the pie. A recent Gaming survey from comScore gathered that gaming has become nearly universal among all teens. Better start dusting off your marketing plan Xbox & Playstation.
So listen up top-dog video game developers, you've given me my Chun Li and Princess Peach for 15 freakin years, I want something new to play with!!
