9318 réponses à ce sujet

[aTigerslunch]

I dont know.  If they only play certain games, I tended not to advertise those that they didnt play. However when they talk about certain games, I am like. Well, you might be interested in this, and you can play as a female.  Only if they are into similar type games. Example, one loves playing marvel rpg game on facebook, I mentioned to her about dragon age rpg and its ability to play females. A huge story and your part of it, its not superhero but the MC is or does become a hero, just lacking the "super".  She liked origins but prefers DA2 style better, and I did sell that Inquisition mixes the two in some ways and improves in alot of ways.  However she was already into similar genre, RPGs.

[Tevinter Rose]

 

On this topic, then, do you guys feel that DAI would be an easy game to introduce a "casual" gamer to?  In this context, I mean somebody who is not familiar with RPG systems (classes, stats, levelling, inventory management, etc.).  How would you pitch it to a female gamer who has only ever played Mario and Candy Crush?

 

I've tried to introduce the world of DA to my best friend and she did not get it at all. She said the game looked cool, but she didn't understand the lore, it was too complex, the fighting she understood but the inventory and controlling other companions was too much work for her so she was confused trying to play it. I honestly don't think a casual gamer who plays mario and candy crush would have an easy time playing DAI, it's got quite a lot going on that would fly over the head of someone who isn't familiar with playing an rpg. I'm just basing this on my experience with my friend so i could be wrong. I tried to get her to watch a lore video further explaining DA to her and she said that was too complicated as well. So i've given up on trying to get any of my casual friends to play a DA game.

[Ryzaki]

I do think that's a terminological problem no one has ever addressed. 

*snip*

 

There's nothing meaningful or helpful in parsing the data that way.  It's just stupid gatekeeping.

 

 

That's fair I disagree but it's fair enough.

 

As for introducing it to someone not used to playing those types of games...I got the good old "way too much reading" and gave up. Least that way I didn't have to fight over the PS2. All I had to do was hide my Tekken.

[Lady Nuggins]

Of course, it's only after I posed that question that I remembered Bioware According to Mom. 

 

http://biowareaccord...mom.tumblr.com/

 

If I recall, the author's mom had never played an RPG before Origins.  So she clearly takes a while to figure out things like healing items.  But happily ploughed through the game anyway, because she liked the story and romance elements.  With the right motivation, I think anyone could break into a Dragon Age game.

[AlexiaRevan]

Of course, it's only after I posed that question that I remembered Bioware According to Mom. 

 

http://biowareaccord...mom.tumblr.com/

 

If I recall, the author's mom had never played an RPG before Origins.  So she clearly takes a while to figure out things like healing items.  But happily ploughed through the game anyway, because she liked the story and romance elements.  With the right motivation, I think anyone could break into a Dragon Age game.

That Mom is hilarious ! Thanx for the share !   

[Nefla]

Jeez calm down where did I say that they should stop making stuff for female Inquisitors

I just want it to be equal

Is it my fault that men are favoured in games ? I just wanted to see the Male Inquisitor in action

If you want it to be equal, that would mean MORE trailers with the female inquisitor. As it stands there have been 2 male and two female gameplay demos and only one female trailer where there are at least 4 male trailers.

[syllogi]

How I got into video games: my older brother had been given a Commodore 64 back when that came out, and then an Atari 2800 too.  He lost interest in them fast and sold them for money for Adidases or something.  A few years later, my younger brother got a Nintendo when that came out, and then a Super Nintendo a few years after that, but his main interests were pen and paper role playing and comics, he pretty much wanted video games because all his friends had them.

 

Then there was me, the shy geek who only asked my mom for fantasy and sci fi novels for Christmas every year.  When I was turning 16, I decided to ask for a computer.  I told her it was because I wanted to do homework and get on AOL with it, but really, I would go to Software Etc. every week and look at computer games.  I saw the Gold Box SSI games and the Kings Quest series and knew they were my kind of thing.  I've been gaming ever since, and I branched out from just the fantasy genre, but that definitely hooked me.

 

I really don't know how to market games to teen girls who aren't giants nerds who love dragons and robots, but the market is out there.  Look at the success of things like Twilight or the Hunger Games, or even the mobile game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.  Roll your eyes all you want, but a silly little casual game like that made a HUGE amount of money.  If developers could ever catch lightning in a bottle and successfully market a video game to teenage girls, they'd have a devoted, passionate fanbase, with disposable income and fanfiction at the ready.  It seems like a no brainer to want that demographic as a consumer of your product.

[Nefla]

How I got into video games: my older brother had been given a Commodore 64 back when that came out, and then an Atari 2800 too.  He lost interest in them fast and sold them for money for Adidases or something.  A few years later, my younger brother got a Nintendo when that came out, and then a Super Nintendo a few years after that, but his main interests were pen and paper role playing and comics, he pretty much wanted video games because all his friends had them.

 

Then there was me, the shy geek who only asked my mom for fantasy and sci fi novels for Christmas every year.  When I was turning 16, I decided to ask for a computer.  I told her it was because I wanted to do homework and get on AOL with it, but really, I would go to Software Etc. every week and look at computer games.  I saw the Gold Box SSI games and the Kings Quest series and knew they were my kind of thing.  I've been gaming ever since, and I branched out from just the fantasy genre, but that definitely hooked me.

 

I really don't know how to market games to teen girls who aren't giants nerds who love dragons and robots, but the market is out there.  Look at the success of things like Twilight or the Hunger Games, or even the mobile game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.  Roll your eyes all you want, but a silly little casual game like that made a HUGE amount of money.  If developers could ever catch lightning in a bottle and successfully market a video game to teenage girls, they'd have a devoted, passionate fanbase, with disposable income and fanfiction at the ready.  It seems like a no brainer to want that demographic as a consumer of your product.

I think emphasizing the story, romance, choices, drama/emotional moments and customization in certain advertising and trailers would really bring in a lot of girls and women. Most women aren't intrigued by random killing and explosions like you see in way too many game trailers.

[Grieving Natashina]

I think emphasizing the story, romance, choices, drama/emotional moments and customization in certain advertising and trailers would really bring in a lot of girls and women. Most women aren't intrigued by random killing and explosions like you see in way too many game trailers.

I couldn't stop nodding at this.  I really enjoy this point of view.

 

You know, I wouldn't mind one trailer with a lot of random killing and action scenes featuring women, to be honest.  I guess, if a marketing team is going to insist on a trailer that is heavily action orientated, I'd love to see a lady PC take the lead, sword/gun/bow in hand.   Not just waggling fire from her fingertips and/or staff.

 

However, you do bring up an excellent point.  Having trailers and ads showing the RPG element would be nice.  I would wish for some caveats though.  For instance, if someone makes a trailer featuring the male and female PC, it would be nice if the women didn't get the default romance scene.  While BioWare is pretty good about this, I still see trailers from other games where the only time you see the lady version of the PC or female companions...is when they are showing a possible romance scene.  I roll my eyes very hard every time I see that

 

The problem for me with those kinds of random action trailers is more to do with media saturation.  The Michael Bays' of the world, if you will.  It's just boring in trailers by now, doubly so for games.  It doesn't tell me what the story is, it more screams, "Look how pretty I am!"  Sure, I love a good looking game as much as anyone, but it's far from the most critical element for me.  Otherwise, I wouldn't stay play and love my 16 bit games on my Gameboy Advance.  Yet, I get instantly cautious at a game that relies too much on action sequences rather than trying to portray any story elements.  I've been burned too many times by games doing that in the past, only to find that my personal gaming experience utterly sucked. (shoots her copy of FFXIII an extremely dirty look.)

 

If you want my attention as a gamer, and as a woman, show me a way to introduce your stories.  Show me if you can customize characters by showing more than just one type of man, or just one type of lady for a PC in the ads.  If there is multiple races, try to find some way to show them off (er, without spoiling anything major about the game; I've seen bad trailers do this) If the intent is a fantasy game, then don't be gunshy to show us that.  

 

Also, don't be scared to show a woman that doesn't have the usual willowy body of an elf/slender human without going completely in the opposite direction.  For a warrior, a build like Cassandra's a good start.  I think that's why I'd love to see a dwarf in advertising.  There's a couple of body types taken care of at once, and truthfully, I think the dwarven women of Thedas overall are very beautiful.

 

Nope, not biased at all.  Why do you ask?   

[thehomeworld]

So I bumped into this article. www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137348-NPD-Survey-Shows-Core-Gamers-Are-Male-Casual-Gamers-Are-Female
It puts to rest the myth that 49% of gamers are female. The study in the article has found that only 1/5 gamers are female. So no, there's no conspiracy to put down female gamers; They are merely a small fraction of AAA publishers' potential audience, that's why there are fewer female protagonists and fewer ads targeted towards female gamers.

Wait you mean the study that got a M/F split of 51/49 which is pretty muchwhat the latest ESA study showed? But this split was for PC and Mac only which when you refer to AAA core market most gamers say that is console and PCs don't count.

 

But a few fun facts for PC while we're at it in studies find women are only 2% more likely to play casual then men its practically even men play just as many casuals as women do, but women play for longer hours and are more brand loyal to the games they play particularly because mobile and some PC games don't actively try to alienate or offend them but the core AAA console games are still growing with women players even if they are offending some women, these women just find other things to love about those games.

 

And speaking of consoles:

 

In 2011 women made up 40% of the traditional console gaming market http://www.statista....sers-by-gender/

 

20% of known COD players are women. And we could have more who fly under male profile tags and gender coding

 

The top 15 games in 2013 by gender on XBL were:

 

Speaking of da Box 40% of known women are also xbox users

 

In 2012 a man wanting answers to the validity of sexism in gaming did his own poll onto various forums and social sites. He asked two interesting questions 1. Have you obscured your sex to avoid harassment? 67.5%F/5.8%M said yes. When asked 2. have you avoided playing on public servers to avoid be a target of sexism 50.6%F/10.3%M said yes. Another fun fact about this study he got a M/F participation split of 57.1M/40.7F. http://blog.pricecha...ames-study.html

 

Nice try in keeping the status quo standing.

 

Now back onto the ACTUAL TOPIC

 

 

I think emphasizing the story, romance, choices, drama/emotional moments and customization in certain advertising and trailers would really bring in a lot of girls and women. Most women aren't intrigued by random killing and explosions like you see in way too many game trailers.

 

I think so too but I'd be a bit worried about the romance simply because that's cliche women characters get shown with the romance items way more then men. They'd have to be careful how they present it maybe do it in a light that she's the one in charge and also the one whose taking the initiative? I'd still like to see her slice up large impressive (clothed) monsters and so in awesome fashion showing shes not just a pretty face or a nice pair of legs or boobs walking. Random acts of violence I agree can be a turn off in LA Noir that was an issue the police calls while free roaming made sense, the small violence in death scenes and or the leads chasing down mooks worked usually, the ones that didn't work were the shoe horned in shooting galleries like at the theature when there was literally no reason for them that was useless killing for the shooter crowd and one thing that game annoyed me with alot. ME2 had so many mindless shooter moments I almost quite it was the worst of the series and everyone rages forever about it being nothing but linear corridor shooting galleries!

 

For the most part though I don't think DA has too many hack n slash for the sake of doing so generally it was well played. Gore isn't a problem unless again it has no sense to it like I stab you with my knife in the shoulder I expect you to bleed a good amount but bleeding like you're the walking Niagara Falls is over doing it as well as if your arm falls off because of my 4 inch blade. Now If I take my sword and strike you in the shoulder more blood maybe a good bucket worth and maybe your arm would fall off from that they just need to make it make sense then its good.

[AlexiaRevan]

 

I think emphasizing the story, romance, choices, drama/emotional moments and customization in certain advertising and trailers would really bring in a lot of girls and women. Most women aren't intrigued by random killing and explosions like you see in way too many game trailers.

But that's alot of spoiler there . And right now , from what I saw (since ME3 femshep trailer)..what they have been doing , is make a male trailer then....do the same trailer with a female . 

 

 

Most women aren't intrigued by random killing and explosions like you see in way too many game trailers.

I'm not so sure about this part . I mean , I though (personaly) the point of a female trailer..is to show that a women is just as capable as a men and to show that there is the option to be something else then a male . And Mass effect/Dragon Age are all about shooting and killing stuff..be it with a gun or a blade . 

 

This is the 1st time I followed any marketing and trailer . heck I didn't even knew they made a trailer for Femshep in mass effect 3 lol Just found out about it a couple of months ago 

[aTigerslunch]

Alexia, you proving why they need more marketing for women.     I wanted to like some posts, Natashina and thehomeworld. I ran out of likes right now to do so.  

[Nefla]

But that's alot of spoiler there . And right now , from what I saw (since ME3 femshep trailer)..what they have been doing , is make a male trailer then....do the same trailer with a female . 

 

I'm not so sure about this part . I mean , I though (personaly) the point of a female trailer..is to show that a women is just as capable as a men and to show that there is the option to be something else then a male . And Mass effect/Dragon Age are all about shooting and killing stuff..be it with a gun or a blade . 

 

This is the 1st time I followed any marketing and trailer . heck I didn't even knew they made a trailer for Femshep in mass effect 3 lol Just found out about it a couple of months ago 

Just look at movies that are popular with mostly women vs movies that are popular with mostly men.

 

I'd like a trailer that shows a mix of different elements. Combat should be included but it shouldn't be the only thing (like in the sacred ashes trailer for DA:O). Nothing turns me away quicker than pure combat and violence with nothing else shown. It makes me think the whole game is like that which would not be appealing to me in the slightest

[Lady Luminous]

(I was always a girl who played games growing up. Started off with mario and banjo kazooie, then moved up to pokemon, zelda, and animal crossing/harvest moon. I basically levelled up my gaming experiences as I grew up. But what always dragged me in was the story line.) 

 

Long rambling back story to how I fell in love with DA:O ->

 

After l stopped playing Titan Quest (which was a single player but closer to LoL or Diablo) and I'd been looking for something to occupy my time I stumbled across DnD Online and adored it (then lost my save file with a transfer over to a new PC. BooHoo).

 

Then my friend was selling off some xbox games at the office. I bought them for my bf to play, since I didn't have an xbox. We started off with Oblivion, but I didn't like the learning curve or the CC, so we popped in DA:O. 

 

I fell so hard for the game that it took me 3 playthroughs and 6 months to give my bf back his xbox. 

[thehomeworld]

This is the 1st time I followed any marketing and trailer . heck I didn't even knew they made a trailer for Femshep in mass effect 3 lol Just found out about it a couple of months ago 

Don't feel bad they only released the trailer on the web so there are a lot of people who didn't/and still don't know about her. I can say play mass effect and they go 1. Is that the game where you can play as a chick? 2. It looks cool but I don't want to be a man 3. I would play it if I could be the girl for the entire trilogy right now you can only be it in ME3

 

BW in general needs to announce their fem lead just as prominently as their male lead in all areas of advertising, in interviews, and on products. DAI is really putting fourth the effort to get the word out so I really hope when I tell  women gamers to play DAI they don't ask me those questions they did for ME3 I want them to be aware of femInquisitor and either already on the buying list or saving up for it.

 

One positive thing, I single handedily got my local play N trade to take the pre-orders for DAI they weren't doing it and actively turned a few potential buyers away to GS and EB instead! While I was waiting for him to get it accepted into the data base I made sure to talk to him ( at a  bit louder volume so the line could hear too) about the plot and fem lead and how awesome she's going to be and now they've got it in their logs and can accept the orders and tell people about the ability to switch protagonists.

 

On an advertising note how effective do you girls/guys think games advertising in women's magazines would be? For women who don't always pick up the gaming magazines first in the waiting lounge or office but for social reasons will pick up the fashion magazine to avoid being seen as a weird girl what if full or partial ads for games (like DA and ME) would be placed in those with articles as well that highlight the game and the fact you can switch to be a she the ads would also communicate this by say showing fshep in the ad prominently as opposed to male shep.

 

Also how effective do you think advertising using the fem leads as number 1 would they be on TV and internet shows and time slots on women friendly shows or shows that have higher split gender audiences be?

[Deviija]

 I told her it was because I wanted to do homework and get on AOL with it, but really, I would go to Software Etc. every week and look at computer games.  I saw the Gold Box SSI games and the Kings Quest series and knew they were my kind of thing.  I've been gaming ever since, and I branched out from just the fantasy genre, but that definitely hooked me.

 

Oh my goodness, I fondly remember Software Etc.  I would go every week to check out their new computer games.  In Ye Olden Days, there wasn't much in the way of easily accessible gaming reviews, so a lot of it was 'hmm, this box summary sounds interesting, I'll take it!'  And hoping for a good game.  They were such hole in the wall shops at the malls in my area, too.  All these nerdy game things stuffed into a tiny nook.  I could barely walk through a store because it was so tightly packed.  Which I actually kinda loved since it was a huge feeling of being surrounded by nerdy gamey things I adored.  I had entire rows of games fall on me from the top shelves that went up to the ceiling, and this in the era where games were huge boxes with cardboard and disks and cd cases and novel-long manuals inside, but who cares.  Raining games?  What's not to like.  

 

 

If you want my attention as a gamer, and as a woman, show me a way to introduce your stories.  Show me if you can customize characters by showing more than just one type of man, or just one type of lady for a PC in the ads.  If there is multiple races, try to find some way to show them off (er, without spoiling anything major about the game; I've seen bad trailers do this) If the intent is a fantasy game, then don't be gunshy to show us that.  

 

Also, don't be scared to show a woman that doesn't have the usual willowy body of an elf/slender human without going completely in the opposite direction.  For a warrior, a build like Cassandra's a good start.  I think that's why I'd love to see a dwarf in advertising.  There's a couple of body types taken care of at once, and truthfully, I think the dwarven women of Thedas overall are very beautiful.

 

I'd really love to more trailers with story, customization of the protagonist, customization of the keep/weapons/clothing, of mechanics of the War Table, and so forth.  Those would have much more impact on me than random acts of violence, explosion, and evil creatures slithering around on the screen.  The latter doesn't tell me much at all beyond 'look at these things you need to kill, look at these explosions in blue ray high definition prettiness.'  What game doesn't have that nowadays?  If you want to stick out, show the other aspects just as much (and as trailers, not as Convention Demos).  Show what kind of options and choices the player has at their disposal with races, classes, et all.  

 

Now all that said, I still like my violence and explosion trailers.  I still like to see a woman being a badarse and absolutely shredding everything in sight and leading armies and being respected and physically powerful, because it fills a wish-fulfillment and power fantasy for me.  I don't want them to disappear.  I just want more from column B.  If you can only make 4 trailers, split them into 2 power fantasy (one per gender) and 2 about content and customization and story and, well, just plain fantasy fun.  

 

As for physicality of women, I'd be thrilled to see more women looking like Cass and Aveline.  Quite honestly, I find their builds to actually be pretty conservative in shape.  They are athletic, but still not what I'd think of for a very muscular strength-based powerhouse/hold-the-line defender.  They're still pretty lean.  One reason I loved Fable II is because they went very outside the norm for women in games and introduced Hammer, a big-figured lady with a huge weapon.  When she smashed enemies into paste, or held off bosses, I believed it wholesale.  I like my waif superhumans, like Buffy and Faith and any action movie Milla is a part of, etc., but I really enjoy seeing a diversity in bodies and shapes and height (why not women taller than all the men?).  

 

A fantastic reference for women's athletic bodies and shapes can be found in the amazing work Howard Schatz did for his 2002 book, Athlete.  He photographed and interviewed hundreds of athletes for the book, and the photographs show an awesome diversity in women's shape, form, strength, and outlines.  Here's some of the contrasting examples in a line-up.

[Verly]

My mom has always been more of a puzzle gamer.  She really liked Tetris and Bust-a-Move (a bubble bursting game that was on the ps1 or 2).  She started playing similar games on facebook and now frequently buys disk versions of the kinds of puzzle games she likes. (either match 3, bubble shooters, and hidden object games (her favorite).  She wasn't even into Mario or Zelda games back in the day. I just find it odd that my mom has been playing these so called "casual" games just as long as I've been playing every kind of game under the sun, but somehow I am a "real gamer", but she is not. 

 

 

back to inquisition. What I would really like to see is a TV ad with the female inquisitor in it and before anyone claims otherwise I would want one with a male as well. I would like to see them given the same amount of air time, not like the ME3 femshep ad that was only available online. 

[aTigerslunch]

I don't know, thehomeworld, if advertising in those magazines is worthwhile.  Mens fashions or womens fashions equally, is questionable. I don't look at mens magazines much with hairstyles and clothes, they have at least the hair thing, if they have it in mens, it should be in womens catering to females then.  Other magazines, guess depends on if they are already in those types. *shrugs*  

 

I say it would be good if catered to females, especially if the men's have their own.

 

GameInformer is the only one I get, all the rest of the magazines make good stuffing for shipping boxes. 

[Lady Nuggins]

How I got into video games: my older brother had been given a Commodore 64 back when that came out, and then an Atari 2800 too.  He lost interest in them fast and sold them for money for Adidases or something.  A few years later, my younger brother got a Nintendo when that came out, and then a Super Nintendo a few years after that, but his main interests were pen and paper role playing and comics, he pretty much wanted video games because all his friends had them.

 

Then there was me, the shy geek who only asked my mom for fantasy and sci fi novels for Christmas every year.  When I was turning 16, I decided to ask for a computer.  I told her it was because I wanted to do homework and get on AOL with it, but really, I would go to Software Etc. every week and look at computer games.  I saw the Gold Box SSI games and the Kings Quest series and knew they were my kind of thing.  I've been gaming ever since, and I branched out from just the fantasy genre, but that definitely hooked me.

 

I really don't know how to market games to teen girls who aren't giants nerds who love dragons and robots, but the market is out there.  Look at the success of things like Twilight or the Hunger Games, or even the mobile game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.  Roll your eyes all you want, but a silly little casual game like that made a HUGE amount of money.  If developers could ever catch lightning in a bottle and successfully market a video game to teenage girls, they'd have a devoted, passionate fanbase, with disposable income and fanfiction at the ready.  It seems like a no brainer to want that demographic as a consumer of your product.

 

Seriously: why are things like Twilight and The Hunger Games so popular with teenage girls?  Because they're fantasy/sci fi stories starring teenage girls.  Girls love action and adventure and genre stories as much as boys do--but since those things usually star a huge cast of men and one token lady, of course they'll gravitate towards the only thing offering them something similar with girls in mind.  Anybody who wants to know how to market to teenage girls needs to look at the explosion of the fantasy/sci fi young adult genre.  Heck, The Hunger Games series is easily as dark and bloody as Dragon Age is, moreso in the books.  

 

Emphasizing the story, characters, role playing, and character creation are all a good way to go.  Not that many women aren't interested in combat and gameplay mechanics, but I don't know if that would be the first thing that catches their attention.  And, like Natashina said, combat-heavy trailers tend to have the effect of seeming very generic and not telling you anything about the meaningful parts of the game.

 

I wouldn't necessarily consider, say, a fashion magazine the best place to advertise the game.  But anywhere that you'd find existing fans of fantasy and sci fi would definitely be a good start.  Have trailers running during all the prime time fantasy shows that are big right now--Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Sleepy Hollow, etc.  

[AlexiaRevan]

 

Alexia, you proving why they need more marketing for women. I wanted to like some posts, Natashina and thehomeworld. I ran out of likes right now to do so.

Yeah , although my case is a bit different . I stopped willingly watching trailer for the simple reason....I was so sick of seeing another dude plastered in it . It wasn't fun anymore . After watching Neverwinter Night 2 trailer.....I gave up . Enough was enough , these games where I have the option to play as a female...and I'm not even in a trailer . Not once . So when the Mass effect serie and Dragon Age serie..rolled in...I didn't even bother since , I knew that it be the same anyway . 

 

I mean the last time I saw something female oriented (and no stopped watching Tv and movies for ages now)...was the announcement of The Tv show Buffy the Vampires Slayer . I remember bouncing all around because the main hero was a women ! and it was midnight...couldn't sleep afteward 

[thehomeworld]

I don't know, thehomeworld, if advertising in those magazines is worthwhile.  Mens fashions or womens fashions equally, is questionable. I don't look at mens magazines much with hairstyles and clothes, they have at least the hair thing, if they have it in mens, it should be in womens catering to females then.  Other magazines, guess depends on if they are already in those types. *shrugs*  

 

I say it would be good if catered to females, especially if the men's have their own.

 

GameInformer is the only one I get, all the rest of the magazines make good stuffing for shipping boxes. 

 I'm just trying to think outside the box I know I order game informer but how many women sign up for and use it? I doubt they could tell did the women who put her name on it do it for herself or as a surprise for her insert relationship here? Utilizing magazines not commonly used for game ads could get the other part of fem gamers who either don't buy the informer, aren't in a prime location to buy the general gaming mags like waiting for appointments, ect

 

It doesn't have to be fashion per say it would require polling of female gamers maybe get GS to help with their fem user base ask question what magazines do you read? Include a list of fashion and non fashion pure gaming and then leave a comment box so they can expand upon their reading habits this way you can get them where they are especially if you combine that question with what do you play console (pick all systems and handhelds that apply) or PC or Mac then fallow up what are your genre preferences list them all even x/x ones and dead genres to get an idea of this demographics gaming habits then use all that to see is it viable that we utilize non gaming magazines to get the word out even more like the occasional mens magazines actually do or should we keep it as is in the gaming magazines just make sure to proclaim in our ads and interviews you can be a woman too in our x genre game!

 

 

A fantastic reference for women's athletic bodies and shapes can be found in the amazing work Howard Schatz did for his 2002 book, Athlete.  He photographed and interviewed hundreds of athletes for the book, and the photographs show an awesome diversity in women's shape, form, strength, and outlines.  Here's some of the contrasting examples in a line-up.

 

 

Wow its very interesting some of those women look like they're 12 they're so small when compared to the others. It really does help in seeing the potential for different types or maybe have two types to pick from a muscular taller type or a thinner but average height body then the player can customize the head.

 

Just a few types that would be neat to see in future gaming titles across the board IMO

 

Tank, breaching, heavy armor/guns class - Kim Chizevsky, Dawn Ellerbe, Connie Price, Cathy Sassin, and Cheryl Haworth would be few from that list.

 

Mages, rouges, archers, paratroopers, infantry light to medium armor/gun classes - Jennifer Parilla, Amy Acuff, Olga Karmensky, Annika Sorenstam, Staciana Stitts, and Stacy Sykora

 

Average Jane - Tara Lipinski, Cheryl Haworth, LeShundra Nathan, Jessica Howard, Tabitha Yim, Danielle Scott, Stacy Dragrila, and Annika Sorenstam

 

Regardless of all the ones I didn't name this photo would be excellent in helping designers find a body type fitting their heroine so she's not either very skinny with bone arms or wasp with huge breasts. If they had one for the male athletes that might be good too to give the male heros something realistic to aspire to Mshep, Ryan, and Snake do good jobs of being sort of normal but then again if they made a male photo like that would we think those characters were average or unusual compared to actual men of top fitness? 

[thehomeworld]

Yeah , although my case is a bit different . I stopped willingly watching trailer for the simple reason....I was so sick of seeing another dude plastered in it . It wasn't fun anymore . After watching Neverwinter Night 2 trailer.....I gave up . Enough was enough , these games where I have the option to play as a female...and I'm not even in a trailer . Not once . So when the Mass effect serie and Dragon Age serie..rolled in...I didn't even bother since , I knew that it be the same anyway . 

 

I mean the last time I saw something female oriented (and no stopped watching Tv and movies for ages now)...was the announcement of The Tv show Buffy the Vampires Slayer . I remember bouncing all around because the main hero was a women ! and it was midnight...couldn't sleep afteward 

 

I barley watch trailers once I see the male hero being cliche/typical or its too much testosterone and explosions now that I'm out of my teens its like...yawn come on guys really? That's all you got to show me? explosions and manly men? I was made to watch the latest COD trailer by my friend and was rolling my eyes for 95% of the trailer I only paid attention when the girl bliped on after watching the 3 minute or so trailer I went cliche, boring seen most of that stuff in other games years ago, why can't I be the girl or that girl?

 

It's getting to the point I saw the army trailer for Beyond two souls and went, " I'm in love." or I saw a youtube commercial for a fantasy RPG that was going for the emotional response the whole trailer in one scene a woman was on a hill sustaining a portal so others could go through they were asking the player if they would be selfless (like this woman was) sacrificing themselves for others she's holding open the portal and its obviously war and an army  are coming to kill those people who she's helping escape a younger person looks at her and smiles their thanks to her and she smiles back once they go through the portal shatters and she drops dead  it was a very powerful moment and I actually got a little misty eyed seeing it combined with the music, the word choices, and the scene too bad I only saw the spot once and so I can't give you the name it was a likely a Japanese game and probably something like FF tactics in gameplay style.

 

Funny thing about dragons dogma though you go through all that effort to make your character and you have to play the first 10 minutes as a Frodo clone and I was so confused going what's up with this guy? Then I made the Frodo connection and couldn't stop snickering everytime an npc would call me but I also spent the whole time being anxious when was I going to be my character? They did the same in haunted demon forge you pick the she-elf only to have to play as the male for 5 minutes during his dream, I literally quite and restarted the game twice thinking I'd made a mistake then decided screw it I'll stick this out but again I was upset where's my girl! Then I found out it was his dream and went OK but why couldn't it be her having a dream so I could play as her doing the same stupid stuff?

 

Thankfully DA and BW don't do such bait and switch heroing but if they ever wish to do something like that just be aware that sucks.

[aTigerslunch]

@thehomeworld, I only know a couple, others have different interests of things to read. If the article says, yes can play female, might help. If I followed men's magazines and saw the game articles in them, I would consider doing the same with women's. Alas, I don't really care about reading magazines much less I really really get bored.

 

I do like that, find the biggest magazine sales one, see if it can be added. Definitely not against advertising.     They do need a female trailer that is an obvious female inquisitor and not questionable of the sorts sent out along with the male ones. The one could be considered just a companion talking by some people.

[AlexiaRevan]

And it isn't just the trailer . If you go on website that give a review (gamespot , IGN) and such . (Although , I rarely go look)...but when they make screenshot . It is usually a men . Even if the game give you the option to be a female . They still put a dude up there . 

I'm not saying make it all females , but how about a mix ? one shot show male shep...another femshep . 

 

So yeah...until they get around it..I'm not watching  I mean , I just saw someone the other day put all 2 trailers for DAO and DA2 . And both were males . Thats sad...seriously . 

[Lady Luminous]

How I got into video games: my older brother had been given a Commodore 64 back when that came out, and then an Atari 2800 too.  He lost interest in them fast and sold them for money for Adidases or something.  A few years later, my younger brother got a Nintendo when that came out, and then a Super Nintendo a few years after that, but his main interests were pen and paper role playing and comics, he pretty much wanted video games because all his friends had them.

 

Then there was me, the shy geek who only asked my mom for fantasy and sci fi novels for Christmas every year.  When I was turning 16, I decided to ask for a computer.  I told her it was because I wanted to do homework and get on AOL with it, but really, I would go to Software Etc. every week and look at computer games.  I saw the Gold Box SSI games and the Kings Quest series and knew they were my kind of thing.  I've been gaming ever since, and I branched out from just the fantasy genre, but that definitely hooked me.

 

I really don't know how to market games to teen girls who aren't giants nerds who love dragons and robots, but the market is out there.  Look at the success of things like Twilight or the Hunger Games, or even the mobile game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.  Roll your eyes all you want, but a silly little casual game like that made a HUGE amount of money.  If developers could ever catch lightning in a bottle and successfully market a video game to teenage girls, they'd have a devoted, passionate fanbase, with disposable income and fanfiction at the ready.  It seems like a no brainer to want that demographic as a consumer of your product.

 

Well Marvel has done a great job of convincing non-comics people to come see all the movies. After each show I hear all these comments of "Oh, well I'm not really into comics, but that was so good!"

 

So maybe we just need to market like Marvel.