gender and gaming
Sunday, September 20, 2009 by 3982652
I have been thinking about the lecture from week 3 about gender and gaming in new media and strongly have to agree with Hartmann and Klimmt’s study of factors which deter females from certain games. As a female, some of these resonate strongly with why I am not particularly interested in certain types of games. In particular, the one that I find most relevant and one which I feel extends to many women is the extent to which action games lack social interaction. From my personal experience I have found many women, including myself, play games which allow for more social interaction rather than simply just the game alone.
For example, I have recently become quite fond of ‘Facebook Poker’. The appeal of this online game to me is the ability to socialize within the game on a very interactive level as the game allows players to play with your own Facebook friends, chat with them at the same time, and send and receive gifts all at the same time. ‘Facebook Poker’ seems very different from other poker sites, such as ‘Poker Stars’ which functions are more centered on the game itself, rather than the social interaction that is encouraged in ‘Facebook Poker’. I have also noticed ‘Facebook Poker’ has a lot more female players than these other sites do, which is consistent with Hartmann and Klimmt’s study which argues that women prefer games with a lot of social interaction.
From this observation I notice new media are offering females more appealing outlets for online gaming, and as a result females are becoming more active in online gaming. However, the desire for social interaction is a huge element that appeals to female gamers, and new media are accommodating to that a lot. I agree wholeheartedly that new media are not gender neutral, as there are games in new media that aim to appeal to different genders in different ways, as socialization of the genders, men as competitive and women as social beings, are still the same as it ever was prior to new media technologies.
For example, I have recently become quite fond of ‘Facebook Poker’. The appeal of this online game to me is the ability to socialize within the game on a very interactive level as the game allows players to play with your own Facebook friends, chat with them at the same time, and send and receive gifts all at the same time. ‘Facebook Poker’ seems very different from other poker sites, such as ‘Poker Stars’ which functions are more centered on the game itself, rather than the social interaction that is encouraged in ‘Facebook Poker’. I have also noticed ‘Facebook Poker’ has a lot more female players than these other sites do, which is consistent with Hartmann and Klimmt’s study which argues that women prefer games with a lot of social interaction.
From this observation I notice new media are offering females more appealing outlets for online gaming, and as a result females are becoming more active in online gaming. However, the desire for social interaction is a huge element that appeals to female gamers, and new media are accommodating to that a lot. I agree wholeheartedly that new media are not gender neutral, as there are games in new media that aim to appeal to different genders in different ways, as socialization of the genders, men as competitive and women as social beings, are still the same as it ever was prior to new media technologies.