but it is mostly talking about Australia...wow...Australia... just love saying it again...

This debate has been done before... personally, i dont think games need to be made to cater for women...

im not into the whole casual gaming thing but i feel thats an awesome intro for girls, and nongamers, but its not something they must stop at... they must really venture into 'proper' gaming'.

though 'coolest girl at school' mmo game?
damn, women can really be airheads at time... lol

My wife (41 years old..lol) loves Silent Hill games, shes played them all. Also just started playing COD4.
Maybe it's her age, but she can't stand girlie type games, ie..The Sims

What do developers make instead of the games they are making now? Certainly a respectable female character would be good, but honestly, does anyone care what the gender of their character is when they're playing a good game? Women need a character they can "identify" with... Why can't they identify with a male character? Do we need a character who fixes her hair after every battle?

To some extent, the goal of a developer should be to create a story in which any player of any race, gender or age can identify with. GTA IV nailed this. I'm not a russian immigrant, I'm not 30 or so years old, I have never even witnessed gang/drug related violence, I grew up in white, middle class, republican suburbia, and yet Niko's story really spoke to me in a way that the stories of most games have not. Another game that did this was Mafia. In both games, women are portrayed realistically and equally. While women are not the main characters, it stands to reason; how often would you expect a woman to be involved in the sorts of activities that go on in these games? I don't mean to say anything about what a woman's rightful place should be, just that in the context of our society, women are not involved nearly as heavily in the activities portrayed in most games.

Let's talk recent games. Halo would not appeal to women. There are what? Two women in the entire trilogy? I don't know, but it's not many. You're killing aliens, and while a work of fiction in which one kills aliens can certainly be appealing to women (thank you Sigourney Weaver and Alien), the way in which Halo attacks the subject definitely makes it a man's game. That's ok, though, it's like Barbie games, but instead of riding horses, you're kicking alien ass. There's nothing wrong with making a game that will appeal to a specific demo, I loved the Halo games. That said, what about Mass Effect? Your character could be a woman, and there were plenty of women in the game. On top of that, it has a story that's somewhat universally appealing, if you can deal with the sometimes painfully long cinematics. And guess what, Mass Effect is about killing aliens, too.

The idea, I think, is to create games that are not just endless killing sprees. Make a game with an appealing story and a diverse cast, and your game should, presumably, appeal to anyone. I remember having my best friend and my ex over one time. My best friend was playing The Darkness, and my ex was trying to read, but continually found herself entranced by the story of The Darkness, such that she gave up on reading and just watched him play.

On top of that, what about sexless games? Strategy games, city builders, racing games. I don't think there's anything wrong with the way the industry is approaching development and target audiences. Plus, as more women begin to game, more will become interested in the industry, and more women will be making games. This will, undoubtedly, lead to an evening out in the number of games that are seemingly made for either gender.

thats gr8 women also love games

I hope it’s better than that Prime series… woof.

Looks like everyone is a miscast :)

I would like this.