Gamertell

The two biggest stereotypes when it comes to gamers are a) that they are kids and b) they are males. A recent study put out by, IBISWorld, Inc. (one of the nation’s most respected independent publishers of business intelligence research), indicates that the complete opposite it true.

Results of the study suggest that most of the current gamers are older adults and may of those are - you guessed it - women.

According to the study, the average purchaser of games in the U.S. is 39, which means these adults started playing video games when they were teenagers and haven’t stopped. As if that’s not enough,  24% of current gamers today are…

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Ubisoft tried to fill the E3 bases today, batting third in the press conference (2:30 p.m. PT, July 15, 2008) batting order following Nintendo and Sony.

The company trie dto play it a bit more gamer-y, having Ubisoff America’s President, Laurent Detoc, sitting on the stage and playing with his, er, I mean, a Wii. In addition to a couple big action games including Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia and I Am Alive, most of the games seem a bit more geared toward girl gamers, including a new “Ener-G” line.

Here’s a quick recap gathered from a few of the Live Blogs in the interwebisphere…

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EA’s Boogie has evolved from an all ages, whimsical dancing and singing game starring strange characters known as Boogs to your standard little girl’s dancing game with Boogie Superstar. Gone is the character who looked vaguely like Patrick the starfish (Sponge Bob Square Pants) in a disco suit - he’s been replaced by Bratz-esque girl characters.

Boogie Superstar will come with 40 pop songs (not by the original artists) that girls can dance and sing to in order to try and become the best. They also get to create their own avatars from a selection of options, so the character on screen can look (vaguely) like them. It will be out for the Wii in both North America and Europe in October, 2008, and hit Asia soon after. The game will come with a microphone and cost $59.99.

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An interesting article by Jason Hill on Stuff.co.nz presents a bit of a biased and opinionated view of female gamers. Even the title irks me. It starts off as “Game plans for girls,“ which makes me assume it will refer to positive influences in the industry or studios and companies that are focusing on games with everyone in mind. Instead, the first half of the article largely focuses on common misconceptions.

Opinionated statements appear quickly - in fact, in the third sentence. Hill states, “More than 40 per cent [sic] of game players in Australia are female, yet most games on the store shelves are of little interest to them.“ Yet he provides no information on how he arrives at this conclusion. I know when I walk into my local GameStop, there are at least 10 titles I would instantly buy if I had the money. Perhaps Hill should have staked out a GameStop and talked to some customers without Y-chromosomes before writing his article.

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Mobile game Coolest Girl in School has been dubbed a Grand Theft Auto for Girls and has already raised some concern in Australia where its currently being beta tested.

The goal of the game is to lie, bitch and flirt your way to the top of the high school ladder to be the coolest, even if it means experimenting with fashion, drugs and sex. Cut classes, manipulate your teachers to get what you want and spread rumors to get the upper hand on classmates who stand in your way. Above all, do not embarrass yourself. Every interaction with the inhabitants of the school affects your social status in the game.

Although this game is not scheduled to be released until January 2008, a beta test in Australia has already stirred up attention.

“The activities in the game have been shown through vast amounts of research to cause significant, long-term problems for young people,” said a spokeswoman for the Australian Family Association.

Holly Owen creative director of Champagne for the Ladies, feels the attack on the game is unfair.

“We have had a lot of press and, unfortunately the game has been misrepresented in some articles,” Owen said. “It is ... a very tongue-in-cheek look at the perils of the quest for cool in high school. Keyword: irony!”

Owen said the negative activities such as smoking or using drugs “might seem obviously cool,” they can work against a character within the game as they have to deal with the consequences of their actions such as being sent to rehab or have bad breath when a potential love interest approaches her.

Christine Daviault, an expert on female gaming at Montreal’s Concordia University, said she’s not certain that the average female teen playing the game will see the tongue-in-cheek intentions Owen describes.

“I just don’t think most people will see it as tongue-in-cheek,” says Daviault. “(Youth players) are at a crossroads in the formation of their personalities and a game like this basically fosters a warped idea of what constitutes success and how to get it.”

Daviault said just being called a Grand Theft Auto for Girls will certainly draw their attention to the game, but predicts that the same gamers will quickly lose interest in the game and move on.

“The tween and teen girls who don’t already engage in this type of behavior may think it’s an interesting fantasy for a short period of time, but I don’t think it’ll keep their attention for very long,” Daviault said. “For a fantasy to be successful, it needs to make you feel good. And I think this game is too corrosive to have that effect.”

Read [Game Politics] Read [Canada.com] Site [Champagne for the Ladies]

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The highly controversial, first ever Miss Video Game 2007 took place in Montreal, Canada, this past weekend. The finals of the event were held at Festival Arcadia, a Canadian gaming event, and organized by Edmond-based Titan Gaming.

The five finalists in the competition were Adelle Moore (Syracuse, NY), Lauren Berggren (Mandeville, LA), Tiffany Greene (Simpsonville, SC), Héléne Bronnec (Chateaubourg, France) and Yvonna Lynn (Dallas, TX). On November 9, 2007, the five women competed against one another Mario Kart 64 and Counterstrike. Berggren took an early lead with first place wins in both games. On day two of the festival the women competed against each other in Guitar Hero and Brain Age II. During breaks between matches, they will be greeting and taking pictures with fans. The final challenge was in Nascar 2008.

Mark Donovan, Titan’s representative describes the competition as being “...designed to help create a supportive community for female gamers.”

On November 11, 2007, Berggren, a 20-year-old from Louisiana, was announced as Miss Video Game of the year after winning four of the five challenges. As such, she gets the title of Miss Video Game 2007, a seven-day/six-night trip for two to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, $1,000, and a Wii console. Greene took second place and Bronnec was third while Lynn was the first runner up and Moore was the second.

The Miss Video Game 2007 competition has been a controversial competition ever since it was first announced in the last quarter of 2006. Many Girl Gaming sites, like GamingAngels.com, message boards, like Not Addicted and communities including Girl_Gamers have debated the authenticity, credibility, and motivations of the competition and Titan Gaming.

The debate was mainly due to two reasons. The first was when representatives from GamingAngels began asking Titan Gaming questions about the nature of the competition and how it would be run. Initially there were few responses, the methods seemed unprofessional and investigation revealed that, while the contest had been announced, there was no information on the parent company Titan Gaming anywhere. Another reason was the requirements offered by Titan Gaming for contestants and the way they would later be judged:

Be Miss Video Game Requirements:
1. Must have Personality
2. Must be a female? (No wigs and makeup guys)
3. You Play Video Games like it’s your job.
4. Loves the beach

Many female gamers found the criteria offered by Titan Gaming derogative. While it may have been a lighthearted attempt on Titan’s part to be humorous, it instead made many woman gamers hesitant.

The questionable actions on Titan’s part continued, with an online voting portion which began January 20, 2007. All female contestants would have their profiles and pictures online at an official site. Rather than competing against each other to determine which is a better gamer, it became a beauty pageant. Visitors to the site would look at the brief profiles and pictures and vote based on that. The online gameplay competition wouldn’t actually begin until three months later, on April 30, 2007. In the online gaming portion of the competition, the women faced off against each other in Counter Strike.

The five finalists were chosen based on their performance in the online gameplay, but also by which were found to be more visually appealing by website visitors. The finalists were chosen May 26, 2007. The contest began with 500 women entering, then narrowed down to 48 finally to the last five.

It is nice that these five women are getting recognition as real gamers, but I have to question if this is the proper manner to find approval. The whole competition was conducted more like a beauty contest rather than an official gaming competition. Do you think a Mr. Video Game 2007 would have a photo round where they would have fellow gamers voting online based on whether their profile is appealing and they look nice? I think not.

They probably also wouldn’t have to “love the beach” as one of their entry requirements. Perhaps Titan Gaming is hurting women more with Miss Video Game 2007 than helping them.

Read [Canadian Press] Also Read [Comic Book Bin] Also Read [Not Addicted] Via [The Average Gamer] Also Read [GamingAngels] Site [Miss Video Game]

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