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Required - female casual gamers for focus group

Name:	Phil Carlisle
Date Posted:	Feb 20, 2006
Rating:	3.5 out of 5
Public:	YES
Comments:	YES
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After talking with Julie Moore (Jay's better half) Hi Julie!!! the other day about a character concept I had, it struck me that even though I have an idea or two that I think would appeal to female gamers, I'm really usually about a million miles off from where they are in terms of games and what makes a game appeal to them.

So it got me thinking about what I can do to address this issue. Now after some thinking about it, I really cant think of anything better than just finding a few female casual game players who wouldnt mind the occasional mail to ask about a particular issue involved with making our casual sports titles more family friendly.

So I'm making a public request here, if you know any female gamers, of pretty much any age, but ideally the target "soccer mom" demographic, who wouldnt mind the occasional mail (I mean really just to show a few samples of art style and concept during the early design stages, nothing more) I would appreciate you putting them in touch.

If you could ask anyone interested to email me at zoombapup @ gmail.com that would be really great.

I'm not looking to spam anyone, just want to know which they prefer between two screen mockups (for instance), so it wouldnt be more than the occasional mail or two. But I'd love to have some feedback from what my target audience might end up being.

Thanks a load.

Phil.

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Submit your own resources!

Prairie Games (Feb 21, 2006 at 00:17 GMT)

http://www.womengamers.com
Edited on Feb 21, 2006 00:17 GMT

Vashner (Feb 21, 2006 at 01:48 GMT)

Games where they beat up on men is what they want :)

David House (Feb 21, 2006 at 01:57 GMT)

Wow, thats the same exact conversation I had with my wife tonight. I had been working on a game idea I thought she would like, but it turns out she didn't like it at all. And yeah, the beat up men idea was part of the conversation too...

Jeff Tunnell (Feb 21, 2006 at 04:01 GMT)

Just curious. Do you want to make games for women because it is a passion or because you think it would be a big market? Do you have a wife/sister/mother that is pushing you for games that appeal to them?

-Jeff

Stacey Mickens (Feb 21, 2006 at 04:05 GMT)

I'm a female gamer and I wouldn't really say I'm into games that's just beating up men but it's nice to see a strong woman ;). I usually play the Splinter Cell series, Prince of Persia, I played and loved FF 7 but could never get into the other series mainly that X-2. I hate it. >:( I love scary games like Fatel Frame, Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Sims 2, The Movies (tho a bit disappointing) I can go on forever. But if you would like my input you can email me if you like.

Vince Gee (Feb 21, 2006 at 04:11 GMT)

hehehe, hope you like long winded email responses about things like nail polish, those pants just don't match those socks... etc :)

I will add you to my prayers Phil... cause ya gonna need em:)

(DUCKS from the female members)

LadyDeath (Feb 21, 2006 at 05:52 GMT) Resource Rating: 4

Well, I think I may qualify. I'm a female gamer, turned 54 today, and have held a CTF team together for almost 8 years. I guess that might not make me a "casual"player, but female just the same. Within my CTF team there are 4 other ladies of various ages who play. I'm sure they'd be willing to shed some light on your project as well.

Part of your theory about women wanting to beat up on men may be correct. I have played Quake I, II and II, Tribes 1, 2 and Vengeance. My favorite part is killing the husband. Great marital therapy. I like FPS, strategy and teamwork. I don't care for role playing or games where I have to progress to the next level to get the job done. Give me the tools I need now or forget it. Solitaire is fun, but give me something to kill or shoot at (like Vince Gee). j/k

Todd Pickens (Feb 21, 2006 at 05:54 GMT)

Phil, My suster would be up for that, I'll have her email you.

Joe Bird (Feb 21, 2006 at 12:57 GMT)

My fiancee would be interested. She's an environment artist who loves games ranging from The Sims, to Serious Sam, to Morrowind, and just about any MMO. Based on watching her play I would say one of her major annoyances is any lack of character customization (because she dislikes most female characters designed by males) or games that do not allow for a female protagonist at all. Even playing a great game like Half-Life 2 bums her because she cannot play a female.

BigPapa (Feb 21, 2006 at 21:33 GMT)

@Joe - The point about not liking male generated female characters is one that I've heard before. I would like to see what characters the females would like to see in games. Give us examples (game and non-game characters). I'm tempted to even split this into it's own thread.

KevinG (Feb 22, 2006 at 02:40 GMT)

Maybe I'm lucky. My wife is very hard-core about her casual games.
She tells me daily to produce a game that somehow uses that dude
Sawyer from t.v.'s Lost. She didnt care too much about the game mechanics.

It is my beleif that the female casual gamer market will hard to peg,
they are sort of like Freemen from dune. A fierce secret legion of vast numbers.

DesperateHouseWifes: the game anyone?

Cheers

Yardutymom07 (Feb 22, 2006 at 06:08 GMT)

Yes, I submitted my email address to you Phil.
I would love to have some imput or just share my thoughts for whatever its worth.
Lady gamers stand up and be counted w00t! ;)
Thank you Lady Death for the heads up! <3
<3 Mom07

Joe Bird (Feb 22, 2006 at 21:35 GMT)

@BigPapa - This is something that should probably be looked into by more developers. I know I need to learn more about it myself and interview my fiancee for notes. There is also the WIGI Women In Games Conference that could be tapped into. It's just sad when I am all excited about a game like Half-Life 2 and the first thing she asks me is, "Can I play a girl?"

I gave her Phil's email addy and she was interested.

Phil Carlisle (Feb 25, 2006 at 20:39 GMT)

Sorry I didnt post earlier. Thanks for all the responses guys and girls. Glad to find a few girl gamers out there to get a perspective I wouldnt otherwise have.

Jeff: I'm not trying to make a "game for women", I'm just trying to make choices that dont turn women off. After talking through some options with Julie a couple of weeks back, it really dawned on me that as a male designer, I just dont have a female viewpoint, so I figured I'd ask for one. The fact is that the current "casual" market, which is where I see my tennis game going, is for the main part, funded by female players. So I should definitely take thier views into account. As it is, I want the tennis game to be very "family friendly", so it's really something I'm trying to address. Making sure that my games take into account female sensibilities (for instance, if I include a female character, how that character looks and is portrayed). I think many developers could use some help with this.

Now there definitely isnt a woman stood over my shoulders asking for a specific game or some such, but If I'm making a game which might appeal to women, doesnt it make sense to take into account things that might turn them off? I get the feeling youre asking why I'm creating a casual game? Well, my definition of "casual" is probably not the same as everyone's. I'm talking casual as in Mario Tennis. My definition of casual is "family friendly", family being all ages and all sexes.

I really dont care about the size of the market, we're creating the game on an insanely small budget, with a student doing most of the programming work. So this is just so that I produce a game that works for everyone as much as I can.

Phil Carlisle (Feb 25, 2006 at 20:44 GMT)

BTW: Just to answer youre Question Jeff, I definitely like Tennis games. They are casual outside the bounds of the ordinary "casual" title of block matching gem puzzlers. I actually really like casual sports titles of all styles and will be doing a bunch of them now that the tennis game is coming along so well and we're getting a feel for it all.

I'm not even ruling out some other casual style games which are family friendly and even perhaps slanted towards women gamers. Sure, its partly that I'm interested in deliverying games to a potentially larger audience, but its also because making games of all types interests me. I dont want to get stuck in the rut of producing the same games again and again like I did when I was in a commercial dev. If I cant create a hardcore flight-sim, a dogfighting action game, a tennis based family game and a casual female friendly title as an indie, when can I?

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