As a female gamer, I often get singled out in my classes and at work. I’ve heard comments such as, “It’ll be great to have a female opinion on this,” “I’m so glad to see that you’re here,” and “What kind of games do girls play?” I have a hard time with the issue of appealing to girls, as I have had a lot of traditionally nerdy male hobbies, from reading comics to collecting action figures.
I was surprised to see this article on Gamastura, claiming that parents are more hesitant to let girls play “hardcore” games (as opposed to casual games). I think that one of the only reasons why I got into games was the influence of my dad, who never had a son. He introduced my sister and me to games and never made us feel like it was odd. For a long time, I knew no other girls who played games, but I was encouraged by my family to follow my passions.
I have begun to wonder if it’s the parents who are keeping the girls from the hardcore games or if it’s the girls themselves that are avoiding games. If all the games I had seen were Halo and Madden on a brother’s console, I probably wouldn’t be too excited to play. Gaming is an expensive hobby, from steep PC requirements to the fact that most consoles cost over $100.
Even as someone who loves gaming, I have had a hard time finding a game that I could really sink my teeth into lately (until the arrival of Eternal Sonata and other great games for the holiday season, it had been a dry spell for me). Aside from the DS, a lot of games require a decent time commitment and knowledge of previous games can give you an incredible advantage. I took a break from gaming in high school, and found that I needed a good few months to reeducate myself before I could call myself a gamer again.
While I do enjoy working in a male-dominated industry, I find it sad that many girls are so averse to gaming. Women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan encourage girlfriends to allow their male companions time for games, even if it’s hard for them to understand it. I hope that someday girls can realize that games can be a great hobby as immersive as a love of fashion or gourmet food. While there are fewer games that appeal specifically to females, I believe that it is only a matter of time before women realize what they’re missing.