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Games Girls Play

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Games Girls Play

 

It turns out boomer women do play computer games.

 

And do they ever. The business of cranking out casual games--snack-sized alternatives to time-consuming fare like "World of Warcraft"--is mushrooming. Consumers paid $2.25 billion for such games last year, and the demand for titles like "Diner Dash" is growing 20% year-over-year, according to the Casual Gaming Association.

 

And while casual games appeal to everyone from pre-teens to old men (the world's richest man, Warren Buffet, 77, haunts online bridge parlors while using the handle "T-bone"), women over 35 are the most likely to pay for them; 75% percent of those who pay for casual games are women, and 72% are over 35 years old.

 

The result: The gaming industry is hustling to remake itself to please these paying customers. Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) is adding new titles to its online Xbox Live Arcade gaming hub. Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people ) will roll out a portal for bite-sized games for its Wii console, dubbed WiiWare, later this year. Even social networks like Facebook and Bebo are getting a makeover as developers hard-wire casual games into online social networks (see "Facebook's Winning Game").

In Pictures: Games That Charm Us

 

But while the crime-themed adventure game "Grand Theft Auto IV" will rake in big bucks this year from players with the time for hours-long, Mountain-Dew-fueled sessions, stealing cars and assassinating gang rivals is not for everyone."My wife is not going to buy that for the family," says Craig Holland, chief executive officer of casual game developer Freeze Tag.

 

To be sure, classifying casual games as "games for girls" would not be fair. But casual female-targeted gaming hits with female heroines, such as "Diner Dash" and "Wedding Dash," make it clear that casual game developers are attacking far broader swaths of the population than the traditional 18-to-35-year-old male demographic coveted by makers of hardcore games.

 

In addition to appealing to a broader audience, casual game developers also benefit from lower development costs. While a graphics-intensive game like "Halo 3" will take years and tens of millions of dollars to make, developers can build a casual game for as little $150,000 with a team of two or three in nine months or less, Holland says. They can also sell these games to users equipped with everything from mobile phones to older PCs: Cutting-edge graphics are not required.

 

And while game studios spending millions grinding out futuristic or violent epics have to rely on distribution via store shelves and online retailers like Amazon.com (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ), casual game developers have more options. Most go for the "try and buy" model, distributing their games through portals, such as RealArcade and Big Fish, or sites affiliated with AOL, Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) or MSN. Gamers can download a game, try it for an hour and, if they like it, buy it.

 

Others, however, are experimenting with putting flash-based games entirely online. Some sites, such sas Kongregate, rely on developers to contribute online games and share online ad revenues with game developers. Yet others, such as the makers of "Scrabulous," are building a following on social networks like Facebook.

 

In short, casual gaming is everywhere. Which begs the question: Is it really a niche? Casual gaming's biggest star, Flo--unlike, say, Halo's faceless super soldier, Master Chief--is a recognizable character with a recognizable problem: She's got to keep her diner running. Culturally, at least, casual games--and the women who pay for them--aren't just part of the mainstream. They already are the mainstream.

 

Source(s): http://www.forbes.com/technology/personalt...0314casual.html

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Most girls play Sims 2. Case closed.

 

Yea, all the girls that I know play Sims or some other life substitute. I think its because they play games like us so they don't have a real life. :biggrin:

Maybe thats just me, but all the girls that I know that are popular don't play games like that, but that might also be because everyone my age is getting their licenses and a car.

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Most girls play Sims 2. Case closed.

 

How true. :icon_lol:

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See, I really closed this thread by saying that xD Almost 90% of the girls play Sims 2, really.

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My girlfriend used to play sims.

 

Its not because its a virtual life its because its a virtual barbie.

 

Dress up, Dress down, go here, go there, do this do that.

 

Simple end of story, unlimited barbie supply with sims, therefor it satisfies their wants and needs.

 

Perfect economic solution to it =]

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Some girls play racing games, too.

None that I know, though. If I did, I would love to school them.

Mwhahahaha.

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my mom plays sims 2

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Every girl that ive seen playing/taking any remote interest in a video game owns sims2.

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All the girls at my school play games all day, some even play starcraft. The Principle insisted that laptops would increase our productivity. rofl

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lol last night i met an acutal girl on left 4 dead and the weird thing was she was playing as louis

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I play girls on StarCraft all the time at my nerdy LAN parties.

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There are whole girl groups on xbox live that only accept girls Ive seen ads for them.

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Hahaha, yeah, I've seen those ads. Wonder how many guys try to get in...

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