investiGaming is a publication of the Serious Game Design group in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University, 2007-2009
This gateway is partially 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.
Gender InclusiveinvestiGaming › Tags › Gender Inclusive
Scope Definition: GENDER INCLUSIVE means that a game or program is designed to appeal to both boys and girls.
Selected Highlights from GENDER INCLUSIVE tag (scroll down to see the full list of entries with this tag, including links to the entries)
Appealing to Both Sexes
• The game industry cannot continue to grow unless it taps new markets, especially women. By understanding differences between men and women, the industry can apply the knowledge to traditional genres and tap the future market. (Ray, 2003)
• Japanese gaming culture has produced highly successful games that cross gender boundaries. Japanese games such as Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug and Parappa the Rapper provided alternatives to shooting, fighting, and racing as idioms for game play. Japanese games have produced girl-friendly cute characters derived from Japanese animation. The example of the character Pikachu in Pokemon demonstrates a cute and relatively non-violent play idiom appealing to both boys and girls. Girls are strongly present in Japanese gaming culture now. (Ito, 2008)
• A new computer and information literacy course that used a gender-inclusive approach reduced differences in knowledge between girls and boys, and reduced but did not remove differences in attitudes about gender. The course without a gender-inclusive approach actually increased differences in attitudes between boys and girls. (Volman, 1997)
• We don’t worry about women participating in the web any more, but we still worry about two things: whether girls do and can and should play computer games and the fact that women are still not adequately represented in fields that design digital technology. (Jenkins, 2008)
• Sheri Graner Ray offers insights about the state of women in the gaming industry, how to make games appeal to women, better ways to market games to women, her research about play and games, and her book Gender Inclusive Game Design. (Bedigian, 2004)
Games Are Still Biased Toward Males
• Game worlds are still largely about epic struggles and portray women in stereotypes, in spite of the arrival and ubiquitous use of games like Second Life and Sims2 that are gender-neutral. (Brunner, 2008)
• The games industry is still focused on its first target customer: a 23-year-old, single, male technophile. All gamers, male and female, liked four kinds of fun: the fun of mastery, curiosity, better thinking or behavior, and socializing with friends. The top 20 best-selling games in 2005 still use four basic scenarios (fighting, war-strategy, sports, and racing). Women were not looking for an “easier time” or games for women. Both genders liked a challenge but women dislike violence. The industry has an opportunity for a wider market by engaging more emotion, reducing violence, and increasing fun. (Lazzaro, 2008)
• Games are significant in forming children’s attitudes toward computers and enabling learning. However, games currently appeal largely to boys. A few games designed for girls exploit typical stereotypes such as interest in fashion, dating, and personality tests. We need more research on the influence of gender in the experience of technology, criteria for gender-equitable electronic environments, and approaches that engage both boys and girls. (Bennett, 2000)
Differences Between the Sexes in Design Preferences
• Games designed by middle school girls had a prominent theme of expressing and working through fears and social issues in their stories. The girls tended to use bright, vivid colors. Their stories took place in real world settings. Their stories involved moral decisions. They rarely used violent feedback. They used games to play with gender stereotypes, challenging authority, using humor. (Denner, 2005)
• Middle school boys overwhelmingly picked games that involved fighting. Girls overwhelmingly ranked fighting games as their least favorite. When placed in the role of game designer, girls consciously designed games for both male and female players. Boys designed only for other boys. Boys’ game ideas liberally borrowed from a successful commercial game. Many factors besides gender influence how games are designed: context, the content, the game genre, game goals, the age of the designers, and the sex of the designer. (Heeter, 2009)
• There were gender differences in the selection of stereotyped presentations of a computer-based problem. Boys significantly preferred the Pirates (male) stereotype. Girls equally preferred Honeybears (gender neutral), Pirates (male), and Princesses (female). Stereotypes embedded in problem solving did provoke different responses to the software in boys and girls. (Joiner, 1998)
• Presented with a neutral or androgynous character in educational software, primary school children tended to identify them as male, but girls were more willing to see them as female. (Bradshaw, 1995)
• In debugging spreadsheets, female programmers had lower self-efficacy (a form of confidence) than males. The level of self-efficacy of the programmer was predictive of effectiveness in debugging in the case of women but not men. Females were less likely than males to accept a new debugging feature. There are enhancements to debugging software that would improve the productivity of female end-user programmers: provide additional help features, offer a Skill Builder or Wizard, and expand explanations about the debug feature. (Beckwith, 2005)
Characteristics of Players
• Female players of MMORPGs were seeking social interaction, mastery and status, participation in teams, and exploration. Female players were not an anomaly; they are enjoying gaming. (Taylor, 2003)
Beckwith, L. Sorte, S., Burnett, M., Wiedenbeck, S., Chintakovid, T., and Cook, C. (2005)
Synopsis:
Discusses features of end-user programming environments that need to be adapted in order to make female end-users more productive in solving problems.
Keywords:
gender inclusive, book, game design
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Interview with Sheri Graner Ray about the Women’s Game Conference, her career, and her thoughts on the industry.
Keywords:
industry, media-press, interview, game design, gender inclusive
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A discussion of the potential for designing electronic learning and gaming environments for children, especially appealing to girls.
Keywords:
journal, educational games, pink games, gender equity, gender inclusive
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A study of whether primary school boys and girls presented with a genderless or androgynous character will assign a gender.
Keywords:
journal, gender stereotypes, avatars, gender identity, gender inclusive,
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
The paper considers whether the past decade of tremendous change in our uses of technology is also reflected in the evolution of game worlds toward gender-neutral environments.
Keywords:
book, chapter, gender stereotypes, gender inclusive, masculinity, feminity, what women want, what men want, IT careers
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Describes the content of 45 games that were designed and programmed by middle school girls in order to determine what girls like about games and gaming.
Keywords:
case study, conference, middle school, girls designing games, gender inclusive, storytelling, cooperation, gender stereotypes, gender equity
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A speculation on why there aren’t more games available for girls and women.
Keywords:
blog, editorial, pink games, gender inclusive, player types
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A three year study , with a content analysis of games envisioned by 5th and 8th graders, followed by a survey of students in the same age range reacting to video promos representing these envisioned games.
Keywords:
academia, journal, game design, survey, experiment, children middle school, girls designing games, gender inclusive, violence, avatars, humor, npcs, storytelling, genre educational games, Halo
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A description of Japanese gaming culture and trends.
Keywords:
book, chapter, Japan, gaming culture, gender inclusive, player type, Pokemon, npcs, media literacy
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A paper on women’s participation in computer games.
Keywords:
book, chapter, gender stereotypes, what women want, game industry, The Sims, genre casual games, genre educational games, gender inclusive, Desperate Housewives
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Sixteen boys and girls were shown stereotyped versions of a computer-based problem to study gender differences.
Keywords:
journal, academia, children, gender inclusive, gender stereotypes
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Synopsis:
An interview with Tracy J. Butler, the creator of web comic Lackadaisy and a 3-D artist for online MMOGs, about the industry.
Keywords:
industry, media-press, interview, game industry, workforce, working conditions, IT careers, what women want, gender inclusive
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A field study of 30 adults observed for a composite total of 45 hours playing favorite games, including video recordings of what players said and did and verbal and non-verbal emotional cues during play.
Keywords:
book, chapter, what women want, what men want, case study, gaming culture, gaming social context, gender inclusive, player types, motivations, player demographics
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Chapters explore aspects of computer gaming, e.g. the differences in reward systems, game play preferences, and avatar selection criteria, and how these issues all apply to game design and designing games to appeal to women.
Keywords:
book, game design, gender inclusive, avatars, motivations, what women want
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Discussion of female players of MMORPGs based on interviews and ethnographic data.
Keywords:
journal, MMO, gaming social context, gaming culture, motivations, what women want, gender inclusive, aggression
Full Text: No | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Describes the impact of a new computer and information literacy course on school students in the Netherlands.
Keywords:
journal, Netherlands, classroom, gender inclusive, gender theories, case study, computer skills, learning process, media literacy
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes