Monday, December 9, 2013

Are Games Supposed to Appeal to a Specific Gender?

      I always noticed that games have a tendency to appeal to basically everybody. Gaming itself looks like it's a male activity because a lot of men play, but there are lots of women who play as well. I also noticed that most game genres do not try to target a specific audience based on sex. Developers might do that, but the genres themselves seem gender neutral. However, some genres such as Fighting, Racing, Sports, and Shooter seem to be more masculine. In addition to the main question (see the title), are there feminine games out there?
      From what I have observed, men have a tendency to compete. They always want to try and be the best of the very best. Fighting games are a common way to prove who is better at everything. Argument over who gets the last chicken wing? Fight it out with Tekken. Debate over who knows their chemistry and who doesn't? Mortal Kombat will settle that once and for all. Racing and Sports games can do the same thing, but competition seems more friendly in those titles. At least in Nintendo titles and their cartoony style of graphics. Realistic looking Racers and Sports tend to invoke the man's spirit of competition. They start to take it a bit too seriously. Shooters are kind of the norm for males at the moment. If you don't play a Shooter, you aren't a man, apparently. It's really specific, too. Team Fortress 2 is a Shooter, but it isn't realistic, so it gets a lot of hate from players who play more realistic Shooters.
      Almost every other genre I see is gender neutral. Adventure titles? No preferable gender. How about those RPGs? Loved by everybody (that I know at least). Those Platformers? Appeals to anyone. Keep in mind I'm not saying everyone loves these genres. I am trying to say that they have this appeal that doesn't make them feel like it's only meant for a specific gender. But if there are games that appeal to a masculine audience, surely there are feminine titles out there? If there is a genre that appeals solely to women, I can't name it.

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