Yes... But what has the gaming industry ever done for us?

by Pearl Riley

Up until recently, computer and console games were thought of as something monosyllabic teenage boys played, locked away in their rooms. Have they now become something a group of women would enjoy on a girls night in?

I am proud to say, that at 18 years old, I am part of the first generation of young girls to grow up playing games almost as much as our male counterparts. I remember the arrival of the Pokemon trend at my primary school, when the popular trading cards and TV show encouraged a lot of girls to pick up a gameboy and try out the game.

In our secondary school years, it was not unusual to spend a sleepover trying to have babies with your favourite celebrity on The Sims. Many of our parents found it odd to see young girls glued to the computer screen, as they expected it to be more of a 'boy thing'.

However, since then, a lot more games have been developed with women in mind. Some have even found favour with the older generation, like Brain Training or Wii Fit (hey, you can battle the bulge AND make your children think you're down with the kids).

Game developers now seem to have picked up on what can put women off a game and have come up with some good offerings. Many girl-centric games contain characters so cute that men's testosterone levels will drop at the mere sight of them and plots and controls simple enough for the casual gamer. And game franchises like Final Fantasy often specialise in strong female characters and engaging, immersive plotlines - the Japanese clocked onto women being avid consumers of technological fun if you present it appealingly years ago.

Another positive things is that developers seem to have realised that women don't enjoy giant, wobbling, melon-like breasts as much as men do. Hell, even Lara Croft has had a reduction! A lot of women would rather play a character they can relate to, which can sometimes be hard unless you're a generic looking, rugged, stubbly man or a 28GG, scantily clad blonde. A lot of games are giving you the choice to customise your own character, which I personally really enjoy doing.

It does seem hard to believe that people in the games industry have taken this long to start producing big budget, well-made games that aren't targeted at men, but I'm glad they have. Let's just hope things get even better from here.

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