Interesting Research: "Sexist Games=Sexist Gamers?"

[Exhuminator]

I'm not saying all video games should be violent, I'm just saying there is a real and legitimate reason for violent video games to be in the place that they are.

There's some logic to what you're saying, and I don't disagree with you entirely. At the same time there are a lot of video games that are not necessarily violent inherently. Puzzle games, most sports games, trivia games, many vehicle simulators, most adventure games, party games, music rhythm games, business simulators, pinball simulators, edutainment, exercise gaming, most racing games, various strategy types, and whatever other genres I'm forgetting at the moment. Despite those myriad non-violent genres the biggest sellers are still violent video games overall. And that says something about the human spirit I believe.

Also I think the capability of video games to tell an engaging story has come a long way compared to where it used to be. Especially when convincing tech is coupled with competent writing. Thankfully we are beginning to see this match up happen more and more often lately.

[pepharytheworm]

I'm not saying all video games should be violent, I'm just saying there is a real and legitimate reason for violent video games to be in the place that they are.

There's some logic to what you're saying, and I don't disagree with you entirely. At the same time there are a lot of video games that are not necessarily violent inherently. Puzzle games, most sports games, trivia games, many vehicle simulators, most adventure games, party games, music rhythm games, business simulators, pinball simulators, edutainment, exercise gaming, most racing games, various strategy types, and whatever other genres I'm forgetting at the moment. Despite those myriad non-violent genres the biggest sellers are still violent video games overall. And that says something about the human spirit I believe.

Also I think the capability of video games to tell an engaging story has come a long way compared to where it used to be. Especially when convincing tech is coupled with competent writing. Thankfully we are beginning to see this match up happen more and more often lately.

Human spirit or mostly the male spirit?

[Exhuminator]

Human spirit or mostly the male spirit?

Do females not play violent video games?

I have it on good authority they do.

[the7k]

Like I said, I'm not saying all games should be violent, and I'm aware that a very large chunk aren't (especially ones where you aren't taking direct control of a character) but I'm just saying that the depiction of violence in a subpar video game is always going to be stronger than even the most expertly crafted books, movies or comics. It's a strength of the medium, can anyone really deny that?

[BoringSupreez]

Human spirit or mostly the male spirit?

Do females not play violent video games?

I have it on good authority they do.

They do, but at a lower rate. All those "females are now the majority of gamers" articles you see are including cell phone games, which are generally non-violent or only violent in a mild, cartoonish way.

[Exhuminator]

I actually know more than a few female gamers in real life. They all play violent video games on their own accord. One lady I know is a Resident Evil fiend. The best Mortal Kombat player I know in real life is a woman. My daughter loves first person shooters, especially the gory ones. There are quite a few female gamers who enjoy the ol' ultra violence. It's not outside the realm of reality, I promise.

[BoringSupreez]

I actually know more than a few female gamers in real life. They all play violent video games on their own accord. One lady I know is a Resident Evil fiend. The best Mortal Kombat player I know in real life is a woman. My daughter loves first person shooters, especially the gory ones. There are quite a few female gamers who enjoy the ol' ultra violence. It's not outside the realm of reality, I promise.

I didn't say they girls don't play violent games, I just said they do it at a lower rate. All the girls I personally know either grew out of stuff like FPS games as they grew older, or they never got deeper than The Sims and Farmville in the first place.

[the7k]

You'd actually be surprised how many women play Dead or Alive. Smash also has a large female player base and possibly the most well known top tier Soul Calibur player is female.

I'm not sure why it matters, though. It's a hobby, not a government funded institution.

I honestly think the main reason more women aren't into "gaming" (and let's be real, it's "console gaming" that women aren't into, let's get real specific) is because of their parents. Many of the girls I know who are into games got into it in spite of their parents trying to prevent them from getting into it. Lord knows how many were prevented and just took their parents word for it.

It's the reason girls are getting into mobile gaming by the truck load. It's a lot easier to sneak in some games on a device you already have than it is to somehow smuggle a game console into your house.

[Exhuminator]

I just said they do it at a lower rate.

I won't argue that if you made a pie chart of violent game enthusiasts that males would greatly dominate said chart. What I was arguing is that there are plenty of females who enjoy violent video games. Hence it's a human spirited interest and not just a male spirited one. (I mean look at this for instance.)

All the girls I personally know either grew out of stuff like FPS games as they grew older

Why would someone "grow out of stuff like FPS"? Are you implying the genre is inherently childish?

Many of the girls I know who are into games got into it in spite of their parents trying to prevent them from getting into it.

I totally agree with this. My own fiancee had no interest in gaming when I started dating her five years ago, because her mother had refused to let her have video games in the house growing up. After I started showing her the games I enjoyed, and getting her into co-op gaming, she now loves playing video games. And her favorites are the dark, brutal, gory kind of violent video games "girls aren't supposed to like". By her own volition entirely.

[BoringSupreez]

All the girls I personally know either grew out of stuff like FPS games as they grew older

Why would someone "grow out of stuff like FPS"? Are you implying the genre is inherently childish?

According to my mom and a lot of other moms I've known, yes. Whether girls growing out of violent games is due to maturity or just their sex, I don't know, but I've seen it happen.