The secret to making good girl's games is this: make good games.
Pretty simple. Thats the conclusion I've come to after talking with a few female gamers I know. I will paraphrase a bit of an interview I did with a close personal friend, whom goes by the pseudonym Ruby.
Ruby is an artist, in almost any medium. She wants to convey emotion, meaning, and depth in her work, and from what I've seen, she does a great job of it. She wants to date a J-Rocker, change the world, and look hot doing it.
She does work mainly in drawing, with paints, charcoals, sketches, on the computer. Soon, she'll learn how to do 3d models as well, and use her photoshop skills to great effect. She is also the lead artist of the game we're working on at the moment, and she'll likely end up being the lead writer as well.
She also plays video games, and had some interesting things to say about them. First off, "Girl's games suck." They're made easy, devoid of content and depth, and stereotype. Thats insulting to girls. They are just as smart, talented, and ambitious as men, and often, more so. So why would their game be simpler, easier, and stereotyped?
Yes, having little susie play Dress-up with a virtual barbie is very enjoyable. But as little susie gets not so little, we encounter a small issue: people don't think girls should play games.
According to Ruby, "There are no positive role models, and no encouragement from society." Theres nothing wrong with the games we have today, except for the culture surrounding them. Its as enjoyable for Ruby to snipe someone as it is for me to do so. So then why is it that we think girl's games need to be different?
Maybe it could be due to the over-lying themes in games focusing around masculine concepts, such as women with big boobs. That really does not help the cause any, and it just makes the men playing the games appear misogynistic and perverted.
Another culprit is games marketing. Name three games that used sex to sell the game, that actually had nothing to do with the game. I can: Everquest, Grand Theft Auto, and some random shooting game that had women in Vegas on it.
I'm sure there are a lot more examples out there, but Ruby's point has been made. She feels that the culture needs to change, and be more accepting. It needs to have a female role model, and Ruby is prepared to sacrifice to make that happen.
So, basically, what needs to be done is for game developers to realize how some of their choices are sexist and do not at all contribute to the self-esteem of women. And also, for their to be a push in the culture to be more welcoming. Look at all the articles about how women are treated with surprise and disdain in online games, because "women don't exist on the internet. And they most certainly don't play video games."(source)
So, if you have any comments, flames, threats, leave me a comment.
A few relevant resources:
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