Video games for girls: trite and stereotypical?

Yes, I've heard about this "revolutionary concept," that girls like video games!
Wow!! Really????
I never would have guessed.
.....says the woman who has been playing PC games since the early 90s (and not Tetris or Scrabble either!). I beta-tested World of Warcraft and Lineage II. I played Everquest for 4 years. I play a number of offline games.
Granted, my play time has changed significantly since I had a child...but I still play. And to be told that the only games I should be interested are either "casual" games like Bejeweled, or the Sims (which is actually kind of cool), and that my daughter will be interested only in something like "Sim-Horse" or Barbie games, is just downright insulting.
I think we need more female game developers.
Oh, and here's a good site: http://www.womengamers.com/index.php

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I don't think the problem is that girls inherently don't like "boy" games (which is apparently everything that doesn't involve shopping or makeovers), but they may not get much of a chance to like them. My mom used to buy the early girl games (glorified coloring books) for me, because she didn't think a girl should play boy games. Even though it's been 10 years since she bought my last girl game, I'm sure there are other parents with a similar bias.

I was lucky that my dad worked with the Carmack brothers before they hit it big, so I got to beta test games like Commander Keen, among others. Games have come a long way towards being more female friendly since I was a kid. You can choose to be a female character and not get locked out of certain quests that require romancing a female NPC.

There are so many genres of games that I would be very surprised if a girl couldn't find a game she enjoyed.

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yeah, this is like saying girls will never be interested in card games, or Monopoly, or chess, because they need pink boards and a shopping theme. kill me now!!

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I agree with caitlin, and want to add that a wide range of games available now need not be labeled as being for either girls or boys. My younger (male)cousin enjoys 'androgynous' games like dance dance revolution or this great donkey kong game with bongo drums. I regularly play The Sims 2, Second Life, and other games, but not many traditional 'male' games. I do absolutely love chess regardless of the aesthetic appeal of the game, but I would probably squeal in delight if presented with a pink chess board, especially if it came with sparkly pieces.

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First of all, I didn't know there were ANY games that were sold as "boy only" games, so aren't girls / their parents free to choose from all the available gender-neutral and more masculine games?

So what if they are also trying out a few that are likely to appeal to more girls than boys?

I have no idea what the "babyz" game is like, but what the heck is wrong with young girls being interested in caring for babies? It is natural, it's instinctive, it's positive, and it's the only reason the human race has survived as long as it has.

When I was young the #1 thing that interested me was caring for babies. YES, and I had a working mom, and I grew up to be a professional in a male-dominated profession, and I have never been dependent on a man since I was 16, thankyouverymuch. On the other hand, I was able to use my knowledge of babies to help my parents raise their youngest, to earn money during my high school and college years, to develop educational toys in my first job, to better serve on nonprofit boards focusing on children's issues, and to parent my own children.

So please don't be afraid of girls being interested in babies. It will NOT be the end of either your daughter's future or the human race.

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I don`t exactly see anything on the packaging that says this game is *only* for girls. Why couldn`t a boy who was interested play this game? The target audience is girls - which makes sense.
If people want gender equality, it has to go BOTH ways. By saying that this game is "only for girls", you`re pretty much saying that you feel only girls would be interested in it. It`s showing your own personal feelings on gender differences.

Having a certain audience as your target doesn`t mean those outside that audience can`t play. I don`t see many games allowing you to care for a baby - what is wrong with making something for that niche? It isn`t as if they`re going to MAKE little girls stop playing other games and make them play this. However, this game will be available to whoever wants to play it.

Whoever says that they would never let their daughter play something that "reinforces gender stereotypes" - I take it you jump in and make sure she never plays house... Or plays with dolls. Or plays dressup. Those all "reinforce gender stereotypes", you know.

Let the kids play what *they* want, with parental guidance when needed.

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....To me it would seem that the girls who want to play those sorts of games will.. and the ones who don't.. WON'T! I've been crazy for videogames since I was 6 and even AT the age of 6, a game like that wouldn't have particularly interested me (though I will admit that one of my favorite rentals back in the day was the NES Barbie game... it was hard though! Never did get past the Mall level ;-)

I think people worry too much about "gender stereotypes".... it seems to me in GENERAL that girls like girl things and boys like boy things... with deviations that don't really make a big difference. ((My youngest sister had a thing for Godzilla and remote control cars when she was little so those were the sorts of toys my parents got for her)) but at the same time, we were all three nuts about Barbies and ponies and all that. (I'm 24 and I STILL have my nicer Barbies and my My Little Pony collection) I never liked baby dolls but my other sisters did... all three of us love videgames...

And guess what, none of us grew up to be a 50's stereotype of a woman.

Oh! and speaking of "girly" games.......... try "Cooking Mama" on the Nintendo Wii or DS! It's a cooking game but holy moly, it's challenging and FUN! And I know plenty of guys who like it.

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