Topic: Girls' Games

[Will]

I have been thinking, but I wonder how many girls' games with maps are on the website? So far I have done Sailor Moon - Genesis (I have no intention of finishing it its not very good to me), The entire SNES Sailor Moon Quartrilogy, My Little Pony - GBA (I haven't gotten around to continuing it) and now I'm currently doing some rounds from the Arcade game "Pretty Soldier - Sailor Moon". I know what you are thinking and probably the same as me, I'm the only male who is mapping games for girls (or so I think, if you don't think my remark is prejudice), I only wondered if girls who visit the site would have felt a slight exclusion from lack of those games so I made sure some of those games were mapped and here they are. Believe me, I am sensible and I do not believe being girl is all about pinky, cute, cuddly, soppy and such like. If you're wondering how I can stand such content in a game, it's easy for me. Any game short of ugly cartoons like Powerpuff Girls or bad titles like Pokemon (I really don't like it) and I'll attempt to map it, but I must also say I don't like games with wimpiness in it like "Home Alone". Anyway I wonder who else is into mapping games like these.  

[Maxim]

"Girls' games" usually means "a bad game" with some lame Sailor Moon/My Little Pony/Barbie licence. Bad games are boring to map because they're not fun to play through.



On the other hand, there can be some redeeming aspects. They're at least "different" and some of them are even fun, if you don't take yourself too seriously.



Some years ago I was doing some music ripping (another videogame hobby of mine) and was inspired to rip the music from a game nobody ever plays, and Home Alone caught my eye. As it turns out, underneath the horrible licence, poor presentation, badly-explained controls and low review scores, it's actually a good, fun game and has excellent music. (I'm talking about the Master System version here, all other versions are unknown to me and suspected to be awful.) It might even be worth mapping - each stage is a multi-floor "house", easy to navigate around (once you guess the controls) and the nature of the game means that maps showing everything can be very useful. It's not too "wimpy", either - you have a gun, but the gameplay is avoidance-based.

[Eggz]

Maxim's deduction of girl games is pretty much on the mark; games that were made directed specifically at girls were pretty much generally bad and boring. And being of the female persuasion myself, and being forced to play those as a kid, I have experience, sadly.



I quite honestly can't think of a girl-based game that was even semi-decent; even my broad memory of my time working at my local video game store doesn't bring anything to mind that wasn't Mary-Kate and Ashley, Barbie, or some kind of Disney license or another.



Thankfully for the most part, the majority of the game industry realized quickly that "girl games" didn't sell, and really, they were crap, so they just focused more on general games; less on the shooting and the fighting, more on the adventuring. Except for Disney and Barbie that is, and I don't think too much is going to change that.



All to say, I really don't think there are many titles out there to map, that actually have a map to begin with, or that anyone would care to have maps. And it's not a sexist thing in the least. In fact, I think it's for the best. But good on you for asking.



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This looks like a job for Science!

[JonLeung]

Girls can like games, even those not specifically girly or womanly.  Seems like a bunch of people at church, girls included, can't get enough of (the now overrated, IMO) Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  It's probably because they're easier to pick up and play, I suspect that girls aren't wired NOT to like games, but perhaps many of them don't want to invest the time learning how to play other types of games.  And it's good for them, really...most girls I know seem to have their priorities straight.  



I remember seeing a European (British, I think, but I could be wrong) DS ad showing a young woman doing various things in her day, all the while carrying her DS with her.  Playing on the bus, while getting her hair cut, before going to bed, etc.  They showed games like Animal Crossing, Nintendogs, Elite Beat Agents (I think), you know, games like that, and I wouldn't call those games "girly", yet I can understand how a female might also like those kinds of games, and maybe those are the sorts of games we need more of.



EDIT: Ah, here we go.  No Elite Beat Agents, but I think girls would like that too!  Actually a little surprised that Zelda is on there...

[Eggz]

It's not that they are specifically "girl games", but rather games that girls would like over say Gears of War or Hitman. Nowadays what is considered a girl games is just one with less violence, usually puzzle games (Picross, Puzzle Quest, and even Zelda fits in there)or management games (Nintendogs, Cake Mania and Animal Crossing).



And the DS and Nintendo overall are really making leaps and bounds to include games like that with they're new casual gamer demographic, which isn't just girls, but younger kids, our parents and the like, which means that there are an abundance of games coming out that aren't all about the killing.



I think what Will was referring to however were the "Girl Games" of the 90's, which were exclusively the pink/cute/frilly type. The idea still holds some water now, but in a different sort of way. Back then, game developers were legitimately trying to expand they're demographic to include girls by appealing to they type of toys they had; Barbie, My Little Pony, even an Easy Bake Over computer game, while at the same time being an obvious money grab. Nowadays, it's just a money grab scheme by franchises (mostly Disney), slapping a brand name on mediocre adventure/platforming games based on popular girl TV shows; Dora, That's So Raven, Hannah Montana, High School Musical...



All that to say that we girls all don't like a good action shooter game every once in a while. We're just in the minority; though the general thought that girls can't be hardcore gamers is slowly disapearing, it's not gone yet.

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This looks like a job for Science!