Well you'd be wrong. They got lambasted. Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer issued an apology as this image was not how Xbox wanted to present itself to the community. During the same conference they held a luncheon called 'Women in gaming.' That was how they wanted to appear, open and diverse. Now they look about as inviting as a BBC 80's DJ reunion.
I could go on here and blog about the image of gamers, the stereotype of geek etc. But what fun would there be in reading a big old rant that probably backs up your belief I spend too much time indoors getting passive aggressive with an Italian plumber on my TV? That intro makes me think of another topic.. girls and games.
Games are for boys!! Girls like make up and moaning about their boyfriends/husbands spending too much time shooting aliens up into a bloody pulp. It's a stereotype, and that doesn't mean it's entirely fictional but of course it doesn't apply to all you ladyfolk. I've covered in previous blogs the gaming habits of my wife, her notions ranging from 10 minutes on Mario to that week she completed Until Dawn. By and large though, I play games and she paints her face. For hours.
My sisters are the same, they never shared my love of games. I have great girl mates who enjoy a bit of Nintendo too but at least one other who only yesterday couldn't find the B button on a Wii remote. I know!?
This evidence is all anecdotal though, there was some study or survey or thing that came out recently saying that over 50% of gamers were girls. Over 50%! Lies! Has to be lies... Unless not all games are played on consoles. Which they aren't weirdly. Phones and tablets have brought a whole bunch of games that break away from the traditional console set up, touch screen games and five minute time fillers, free to play games and well.. Candy Crush. My Ma (mother/mum/mom/mumsy) plays Candy Crush. She literally asked me one time when I was going to grow out of video games whilst swiping her finger over her Kindle screen and delighting in a high score. She didn't really count that game as a game... Games are a thing her weird son plays, Candy Crush is a thing everyone does in their spare time.
Game companies wondered for years how to get girls to buy games and their buffoonery was Barbie video games and random dress designing simulators.. Nintendo wanted to bring in new gamers, they saw all the competition fighting for the same audience (male, geeky, versions of me) and they saw a need to expand. The Wii was born, anyone could play it and anyone included women. Candy crush and Angry Birds came out on phones with the aim of being cheap, addictive and playable by everyone. Everyone included women.
Who bloody knew?! Half the gaming population these days includes women. All it took to get them on board was to stop firing pink floral incentives their way and just treat them like regular people. Apparently that's what they are.
Going back to that intro, I have to admit that I've chickened out of a much larger and less pleasant topic. Sexism is rife in the gaming industry. I've gone with the light hearted approach to girls playing games here, because well that's me and anything serious I write seems to bore people. If you don't want a good time then go and Google anything about women and videogames. Google the women who loved games and left the industry because they felt bullied out of it. If you really want a bad time then Google Gamergate... I'm not always some rampaging feminist because I don't usually feel the need to be, I'm oblivious to a lot of it because in my work and social circle there's no difference made. We're all just people. Sexism in games angers me because I love games, I love people and I want everyone sharing this hobby of mine. Gaming for all basically. It's not a revolution either, it's just about not being a bunch of dicks.
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