The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Anyway, forementioned column was lamenting the fact that (and I quote) "girls and gamers don't mix"! My first point was that being a girl and being a "gamer" (whatever that is, maybe I should say "playing games" instead) do not exclude each other. I would love to get a chorus of support from female contributors to these columns, but I feel my chances are slim, so I'll accept that they are perhaps a rare breed. But it was a bit of a patronising generalisation (don't get many of those these days) to infer that there are none.
Anyway, that was my initial rant, my warm-up for the main point, which is this. The vast majority of games players, and more importantly games buyers, fit into a single category, young and male. I think the breakdown of the posters in these discussions will probably reflect that, although anyone who isn't please let me know. The future of gaming holds in store a battle between four players, each of who will be trying to sell more units than the others. I presume this battle will be fought over the same set of buyers - young males. I wonder if any of the contenders has given much thought to capturing new sections of the market? And I don't mean by releasing things like Barbie's fashion studio either...
What do you reckon? Is it possible to expand the market at all, or is it a lost battle? If it is then HOW?
I suppose girls prefer games without violence and action, and we prefer them. I expect someones already said this so I'll shut up now.
I enjoy playing fighting games and racing games, I'm pretty good at Soul Calaber and Tekken, but don't really think that games are my life. I'm not saying it's wrong, I just don't do it myself.
Anyway, forementioned column was lamenting the fact that (and I quote) "girls and gamers don't mix"! My first point was that being a girl and being a "gamer" (whatever that is, maybe I should say "playing games" instead) do not exclude each other. I would love to get a chorus of support from female contributors to these columns, but I feel my chances are slim, so I'll accept that they are perhaps a rare breed. But it was a bit of a patronising generalisation (don't get many of those these days) to infer that there are none.
Anyway, that was my initial rant, my warm-up for the main point, which is this. The vast majority of games players, and more importantly games buyers, fit into a single category, young and male. I think the breakdown of the posters in these discussions will probably reflect that, although anyone who isn't please let me know. The future of gaming holds in store a battle between four players, each of who will be trying to sell more units than the others. I presume this battle will be fought over the same set of buyers - young males. I wonder if any of the contenders has given much thought to capturing new sections of the market? And I don't mean by releasing things like Barbie's fashion studio either...
What do you reckon? Is it possible to expand the market at all, or is it a lost battle? If it is then HOW?