More on gamer stereotypes
By way of follow-up on my post from Wednesday, here are some interesting tidbits from a recent LA Times article (via):
- Women spend more time playing online role-playing games than men.
- Women “play more intensely” than men and “are happier playing.”
- Women play “less aggressively” than men, especially when gaming with a male romantic partner.
- Women prefer in general to play games with others, while men prefer to play alone.
Reporter Alex Pham sums it up in a nutshell, saying
Why does this matter? In part, because developers have puzzled for years to figure out ways to get women to buy and play more games. Figuring out what motivates them to play is a key step.
I think this study sounds right in line with what commenters Chris Guin and Emily K were saying on Wednesday’s post. Gaming on the Wii, “dancing” to DDR, games with complex and inclusive storylines… all these things attract more people to video games one one level simply because they increase the diversity of available games, and thus the probability that there’s a game out there someone will find interesting. But it seems that the particular aspects of group gameplay or more engaging storylines are especially appealing to women, in the aggregate.
Oh, and happy new year, everyone!
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