Gamertell

Halloween just passed us by without a hitch, handed out treats to the goblins and fairies and the occasional witch. But soon Thanksgiving day will be here. So while my other stories are forming and interviews are completed I wondered what I could possibly be thank for this year aside from the usual family, friends and fine wines and elegant turkey dinners.

So what do I have to be thankful for this year? Well here goes, and remember this is just my opinion and do feel free to add what you’re thankful for in the comments below as we celebrate them together.

1. That Uwe Boll has NOT made a movie about my current favorite video game.
2. That my friend (and founder of Gamers Outreach Foundation) Zachary Wigal has finally lived his dream.
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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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Just when you thought the world was turning an evil eye towards video games, accusing it of converting children into violent thugs, rotting their brains and making them fat. Consoles like the Nintendo Wii have opened up a new way for the medical field to use the games to their advantage. With games being integrated into physical therapies that can not only improve a person’s hand-eye-coordination it may just help shed some pounds in childhood obesity.

According to an article published by the UK Press Association video games that engage children in any form of physical activity “may be an effective answer to childhood obesity…“

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As if the hand of Dan DeCarlo was guiding me from the grave, I recently came across another potentially prophetic message coming from Archie Comics.

This instance is in an issue of Betty and Veronica Digest Magazine (no. 125,  Jan. 2002) with a story titled “Game Gambit“ featuring fictional game maker Zapco Games. The company has asked Betty, the blonde-next-door and sometimes gender-bending teenager, to help test a series of arcade games targeted towards girls.

As one of the Gamertell writers recently pointed out in an email, “Is it just me, or does September seem like the month of feminine games?“ Indeed, it appears that way with a slew of demographically-targeted games being released throughout September 2008…

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Check out the gallery: Betty and Veronica no. 125 - Game Gambit

Maybe it’s time to start rewriting some of those rote gamer cliches. You know, like, “Your mom is such a gamer.“ Statistically, thats not so far-fetched.

According to the ESA’s (Entertainment Software Association’s) annual report released during E3 2008, 40 percent of all gamers are women older than 18 and a quarter are older than 50. That’s up from 38 percent and 24 percent, respectively, from the 2007 release (PDF). The average age of gamers also ticked up to 35 from 33.

This is the sort of data that plays right into the…

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The very first thing guys tend to say to me when I bring up my obsession with gaming is always “really? but you’re a girl.“ This isn’t an uncommon response at all, but given that almost half (IDGA says 40% while the ESA puts the figure at 38%) of players are female, it’s pretty strange. CNET editor Don Reisinger things it’s a weird, stereotypical phenomena - and one that needs to stop. He cites the usual stuff - the statistics showing that plenty of women game, the fact that most women in game-design schools feel that male dominance is a huge deterrent to female participation, and the general “girls only play Wii Fit and Bejewled“ attitude that prevails.

From the article:

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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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There seems to be a bit of confusion when it comes to guessing the ratio between male and female gamers. But with more and more women appearing in the gaming industry as well as the gaming scene its no wonder that Sony Online Entertainment, LLC hadn’t come out with this scholarship years ago.

SOE will be offering the G.I.R.L. Scholarships beginning April 1, 2008. Women who are currently attending one of The Art Institutes campuses are eligible to qualify. Female students interested in receiving the scholarship must submit an in-game design, concept art and two essays by…

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As an active member of several women gamer sites, I know there are a lot of women who game online and offline both with computers and consoles. So where does Kate Muir of Times Online get the idea that console gamers are boys and that my console is merely a toy?

This has been the topic of the week in the forums of some women gaming sites and I couldn’t agree with them more as they question where the heck Muir got her information or if she even games or knows what she’s talking about. In her article, Muir writes “Xboxes were toys for very big boys indeed,“ and that men (at least in the UK) are “infantalised by night in a virtual world,“ clinching her stereotypical views with…

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A recent column by columnist Doug Elfman ntitled “Coming a Long Way: Women love violent video games, too” reveals a ‘startling’ truth, women enjoy all games and not only the cute, fluffy, casual games. This revelation came to Elfman after seeing his fiance go crazy over Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii. Throughout the column, Elfman poses the idea that this shift is all the result of the Wii. He also goes on to suggest that Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Anniversary for the Wii is the perfect game to get women into real games.

This news isn’t new though. If you’ve happened by a GameStop or college dorm in the last few years, chances are you’ve seen at least two or three girl gamers who are into more than Diner Dash or Sudoku. Women and girls have been playing games since the Nintendo, but back then it just wasn’t considered news. Now that women are getting more vocal about their gaming habits, people behave like it is an astonishing revelation.

Read [Journal & Courier Online]

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