investiGaming - Research Findings on Gender and Games

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

---

investiGaming is a publication of the Serious Game Design group in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University, 2007

This gateway is partially supported by grant supported by grant 0631771 from the National Science Foundation.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent Michigan State University or the National Science Foundation.

Body, Space and Gendered Gaming Experiences: A Cultural Geography of Homes, Dormitories and Cybercafes

Author: Lin, Holin
Date: 2008
Source: Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender, Gaming, and Computing, edited by Yasmin Kafai, Carrie Heeter, Jill Denner, Jen Sun, MIT Press
Full Text Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Barbie-Mortal-Kombat-Perspectives/dp/0262113198/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224087834&sr=8-1 ($19.77)

Keywords:

book, chapter, case study, Taiwan, MMO, gaming social context, gaming culture, family dynamics

Abstract:
1) Home is the primary place where pre-adolescent and adolescent Taiwanese girls can play MMOs. At home they are subject to many restrictions such as parental supervision and pressure to do household chores and not waste time, as well as competition with male siblings over who gets to use the computer.

2) College life presents its own barriers. In male dormitories (Taiwanese college dorms are strictly gender-segregated), online gaming is a popular activity that is both highly competitive and performance-centered. In contrast, gamers in female dormitories have much lower profiles and greater difficulty finding other players. Game playing is discouraged by roommates who complain about noise while they do homework or insist that “game-playing is for boys.”

3) Cyber Cafes are popular spots for young Taiwanese males to play MMOs because of their high end PCs, high speed internet, and the lack of parental surveillance. Cyber Cafes are viewed as dangerous place where girls/young women are at particular risk

4) Young female MMO players do exist; they overcome many barriers to play. As a result of physical and social barriers, the size of young female offline game communities tends to be small, with much fewer layers of game sharing and interaction than male communities

Implications for Game Industry:
Implications written by Mary Stanish, Serious Game Design MA student, Michigan State University ()

Girls and young women in Taiwan have limited access to online, high end, internet-connected PCs
IMPLICATION: MMO games that can be played on portable devices or lower end machines could broaden the opportunities for young women and others who are restrict by lack of access to a high end PC machine.

Parents and later, college roommates discourage young women in Taiwan from “wasting” their time gaming and potentially being inconsiderate, noisy or visually distracting in a shared home or dorm.
IMPLICATION: Female MMO players could benefit from online support to supplement their more limited social game support networks in real life.

Public Cyber Cafes facilitate access for young males to play MMOs but are unwelcoming or even dangerous to females.
IMPLICATIONS: Lower end MMO games and mobile MMOs would mean girls would not have to got to Cyber Cafes to play with their friends.



Research Highlights:
The data used in this study came from three sources. First, field notes on participant observations were collected in sixteen Internet cafes in the Taipei metropolitan area during a three-week period. Observations lasted for at least one hour per cafe; in several cases, second or third visits were required at different times of the day to gather sufficient data. The cafes varied in size, price, and location. Observations were primarily focused on space layout, the age and gender distribution of customers, major activities, and social interactions.

Second, interviews were conducted with 43 individual game players and nine focus groups consisting of players and members of their families -- a total of 79 interviewees 35 of whom were female.[1] Purposive snowball sampling[1] was used to ensure diversity in terms of age, educational background, and geographic location. Interviewee ages ranged from 11 to 54.

Third, the author’s personal experiences and observations from over 500 hours of online gaming have resulted in a basic understanding of the gaming community.