Comments on: Imagine: A Lynchmob of Female Gamers

By: Feministe » The Trouble with Jade

Feministe » The Trouble with Jade — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:52:58 +0000

[...] her as a pretty face to promote the game. I’ve complained about Ubisoft before–the horrifically packaged line of “Imagine” games for girls, the Frag Dolls. It wouldn’t be a surprising [...]

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:36:52 +0000

Wow. Ok, I find that a little bit creepy. Admittedly I’m sure it’ll appeal to some people, I just happen to not be one of them.

I’m also sick of the gender divide. I’m an rpg gamer, with emphasis on the Final Fantasy series, Magna Carta, Secret of Mana, Kingdom Hearts etc, but I also love to play Soul Calibur II, Need for Speed: Underground, Grand Theft Auto. Harvest Moon, DDR, Dead or Alive, Dynasty Warriors, Crimson Tear, Burnout, The Sims, Civilization, Katamari, Mario Kart, Super Mario, Zelda, Mortal Kombat (old-school pls), Devil May Cry, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot…. etc etc etc.

I just happen to love games, and as long as the game is vaguely good, chances are I’ll play it.

This idea that women are all into pastel-pink happiness with a slice of uncontrollable PMS is ridiculously out-dated. Sometimes I want to build something, sometimes I want to get lost in a beautiful storyline, sometimes I just want to let off some steam and kick imaginary ass. Sometimes I just like the colours of my pretty car in NSU and the fact that I’m not too shabby at drifting.

It really isn’t that much of a big deal. I don’t want to be drawn into the ‘gaming’ culture because my life is already varied enough. I play games to relax, not to belong. I have the strength of character to resist any so-called “shame” about my gaming habits in the same way if anyone tried to make disparaging remarks about any of my other activities (museums, galleries, live music, mills & boons novels…lol)

All I can say is that while gender can and does make an impact on the purchasing tendencies, it isn’t a hard or fast rule either way. It has more to do with the personality of a person.

By: Steven

Steven — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:44:30 +0000

I just played the free demo of Egg vs. Chicken.
God damn. I might buy that game. It was so fun!

By: Imagine…Being Your Husband’s Very Own Baby Machine « The Blog and the Bullet

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:17:45 +0000

[...] by Jack Stephens on August 10th, 2007 Holly, at Feministe, blogs about a new Nintendo DS game called “Imagine Babies:” That’s right… it’s a game about TAKING CARE OF BABIES! [...]

By: Roxie

Roxie — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:47:24 +0000

I love Dinner Dash. I haven’t loved a game this much since Tetris.
Anyway…while I do love the thing they did with the puppies, these, i wouldn’t touch with a 10ft pole. to me it is clear that they do not know what girl gamers want.

By: eriepressible™ » Well, Isn’t That Just Adorable

eriepressible™ » Well, Isn’t That Just Adorable — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:10:11 +0000

[...] read this post on Feministe the other day and haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. It’s bugging me, [...]

By: CBrachyrhynchos

CBrachyrhynchos — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:16:47 +0000

Wasn’t there some big thing about japanese men becoming addicted to tamagotchi back in the day?

By: Rhiannon

Rhiannon — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:49:32 +0000

Speaking of X-2.

It’s the “Charlie’s Angels/Sailor Moon” cutscenes & dress changes that ick me out. But that’s what config is for (dress changes to NO, NEVER!) and you do have the option (usually) to hit start, then triangle to skip scenes without losing story completion pts. (at least as far as I can tell).

By: Dianne

Dianne — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:31:38 +0000

I envision Imagine: Planned Parenthood as more of a PG-13 adventure game. Challenges involve escorting frightened patients through mobs of pro-forced pregnancy fanatics without getting attacked or spit on (bonus points for converting any of the hatemongers en route!), opening the mail without inhaling any powdered anthrax, and evacuating the clinic before the bomb goes off. And, of course, saving the lives and sanities of women who are pregnant and don’t want to be because they have metastatic cancer, or are pregnant by rapists, or are 15 years old, or simply because the condom broke or even (gasp!) because, for whatever reason, they weren’t using birth control when they should have been. Sounds like a fun game…think I’ll go volunteer at my local PP so I can play it in real life.

By: Armagh444

Armagh444 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:03:32 +0000

My daughter is almost ten, which puts her square in the middle of the “target market” for these games. Then again, she’s inordinately proud of her geek status, which she proudly proclaims her love of video games endows on her, so maybe she’s not quite in the right demographic. Still, I’m going to bookmark this post and show her the cover art when she gets back from Grandma’s on Monday. Her reaction should be interesting, especially since this is the same kid who wants Halo 3 for her birthday.

scamps says: How many three-year-olds can work a game console?

So, does this mean that my two-year-old son’s ability to work a Gameboy (though he can’t play his one Sonic the Hedgehog game well at all) makes me a wretched Mommy? ;-)

Megan says: In my experience, video games like the Final Fantasy series get great responses from girl and guy gamers alike.

Well, except for Final Fantasy X-2. Then again, the lamest things about that game (dress-spheres for cripes sakes?!) seem to come out of the same “we can’t aim a game at girls without making it appeal to some horrid stereotype” mentality that seems to have motivated Ubisoft in this case.