Ubisoft recently released a formal statement about a new line of games they have coming out targeted at girls between the ages of 6-14. It’s called the Imagine Series and the titles will begin launching in October of this year on the Nintendo DS platform. First up for release in this series are Imagine Fashion Designer, Imagine Animal Doctor, Imagine Babyz and Imagine Master Chef. (Add an “I” in that last title and I would be all over it.) Early 2008 will bring us Imagine Figure Skater.
I am not going to play the sexist card with this. I believe their intentions are in the right place in trying to pull more females into gaming, I just don’t believe it is being done in the correct way. I am not a feminist; in fact I am a more traditional female of sorts. I simply want to see good games developed and I see the focusing on the gender line being a mistake.
I have mixed feelings on games targeted specifically at females, regardless of the age group they are looking to appeal to. Is it nice that some companies go out of their way to please the girl gamers? Absolutely. Effort counts for a lot. However in this case it seems to be wasted effort in my opinion.
From Ubisoft’s Press Release :
Imagine™ Fashion Designer invites players to become hip Manhattan designers handling all aspects of the fashion business, from creating their own line of clothing to directing photo shoots. Online gameplay allows players to share their designs and ideas with friends and fellow aspiring young fashionistas.
Imagine™ Animal Doctor puts young players in the role of a veterinarian, not only by treating and curing all types of animals, but also by creating new facilities to expand the veterinary hospital.
Imagine™ Babyz® is the first simulation game focused on caring for babies. Players take on the challenges of raising a baby throughout all stages of development and will also be able to take photos and exchange tips and clothing through a unique online component.
Imagine™ Master Chef allows players to create recipes from all over the world using the stylus to prepare, stir and cook ingredients. Players can customize their kitchens with utensils and appliances. Fun mini-games include cooking quizzes and kitchen challenges.
In Imagine™ Figure Skater, players live the life of a champion who needs to balance her life between training, school and friends. Girls take on the role of a professional figure skater and use the stylus to perform jumps, spins and a variety of skating combinations.
When I was little, I adored my share of girly toys. Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony were staples in my house. However, I spent equal time between those and the toys I could sneak away from my brother when he was gone. His Transformers were the best. I spent countless hours playing with those, his Legos, his various action figures, anything I could get my hands on without him knowing (he wasn’t the best sharer). There were no gender lines when it came to toys when I was growing up. The girl stuff appealed to me, the boy stuff appealed to me. I liked the things I liked. Period.
That hasn’t changed. My taste in games is all over the place. My passion lies in FPS and gore. Give me a gun and an alien to shoot and I am one happy camper. The scary titles are the ones that appeal to me the most. Anything that scares the living daylights out of me is pure heaven. Give me a game that I can turn out all the lights, crank the surround sound up, and pee my pants every other minute and that is what I call a good time. Doom 3, Condemned, F.E.A.R., those are made of joy. On the other end of the spectrum, I enjoy my relaxed casual games as well. I had a complete and total blast playing through Viva Pinata. Is that a game geared towards females? I don’t think so, not as much as it is meant for children I think. I actually saw more of my male friends playing that title than I did my female friends, which I loved! I also have an addiction with puzzle games like Hexic, Zuma, and Eets: Chowdown. Are those made for females? I suppose it could be interpreted that way but more so they are aimed at the casual gamer. My tastes are varied. I don’t like all the “girl” games, I don’t like all “boy” games. I don’t like all “hardcore” games. I don’t like all “casual” games. I like what I like. Period.
Will Ubisoft’s new Imagine series appeal to those younger girls they are trying to draw in? Maybe. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they did their research and those are truly the things younger females enjoy. However, I can see those titles appealing to a small percentage males in the same age group as well. Some of the best fashion designers are male. There are many male veternarians out there. Male chefs are just as common as female chefs, if not more so.
I think games are going to appeal to whomever they appeal to because that is the what they like. The gender lines are crossed so much I don’t necessarily see them coming into play. However, that could very well just be my opinion because that is my own personal experience with it. I recognize that.
Does gender come into play with it? Not in my case. Just make good games that are fun to play. That’s all I want. Is that so wrong?
Posted by Donal on August 10, 2007 at 8:37 am
I fully agree with you. In fact, I see games aimed at girls as a cynical marketing ploy by these companies. Plus they sound crap!
If game companies really want to broaden their market, they need to make more accessible games with simpler (for want of a better word) controls and objectives. My girlfriend only recently started getting into games and it was all thanks to my PSP and a little game called Locoroco. The 3 button control and clear objectives meant she was able to pick it up straight away. Over 30 hours of play time later she has almost collected everything in the game! (and I might eventually get my PSP back)
Now she’s rocking Price of Persia Classic on my 360. She can even beat me on Mad Tracks. :-)
My point is, Locoroco was accessible enough for a her to get into, and now she can move on to the more complex games. It would have bee impossible for this to happen with Halo, Metal Gear Solid, or most modern games.
I got into gaming on an Atari 7800 with Asteroids almost 18 years ago (boy I’m getting old). I’m sure most people who consider themselves a gamer will have a similar background.
To attract new people to gaming, male or female, we need more accessible (and interesting) games, not pink consoles and “positive discrimination”.
Posted by johpan on August 10, 2007 at 8:40 am
It’s so hard to comment on a story like this without sounding stupid. I have an opinion about it but I find it hard to get across.
Reader’s digest version – basically, they shouldn’t have to market games specifically for girls. They don’t give any special attention to Barbie games when they release (not that all girls are into Barbie dolls and what not) yet those are games geared towards young girls – It’s obvious. It’s either these games will be good enough to buy or not regardless of who they’re aimed at.
I personally see myself playing the chef game if I had a DS. That or I’d just play Cooking Mama. As for fashion designer or Babyz, I’ll just play The Sims. Trauma Center instead of Animal Doctor. And (not that the actual sports are actually comparable but) Tony Hawk or any extreme sports game instead of Figure Skater. Or better yet, Jet Set Radio?
On a side note, I’ve always seen X-Games sports as less formal equivalents of Olympic gymnastics. Both require lots of skill, both physical and mental, and allow the competitor to express themselves creatively. I’ve always wanted to see Skateboarding/BMX and all the in the Olympics…
Posted by TTL L askan on August 10, 2007 at 10:03 am
Imagine
Sammich Maker
;)
Posted by xmiyux on August 10, 2007 at 11:20 am
I love Cooking Mama and would probably play that cooking game if it was decent. The Veterinary game could also have potential to be fun.
I think the whole boys/girls game is just a categorization that shows how young the whole video game market is. After many more years of mainstream popularity I really don’t think those categories will really even be used anymore. The same thing with Japanese/American RPGs – they are useful descriptors because they carry with them a good deal of assumptions. Those assumptions though are slowly dropping away as the lines become more blurred.
The Baby game though sounds horrible. I have a child so why in the world would I want to pretend to have one. It could be interesting though if it was an updated version of that classic public school exercise where the kids have a doll they have to tote around and wind up every few hours through the night to simulate being a teen parent.
Posted by GnaM on August 10, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Well, I think the problem is just that the practice of marketing games towards girls is still in its infancy. I think marketing games towards girls is perfectly fair, just as marketing games towards guys (which 99% of games obviously are) is fair. I don’t blame girls for feeling a bit insulted by generic games like these, but hopefully some developers will eventually start to get a better grasp of what kind of games girls are actually interested in.
At the moment, it seems like games that aren’t specifically marketed towards girls, but happen to have less violent themes and more accessible control,s are much more successful at getting females to play.
Then again, my girlfriend enjoys games like Halo and God of War, so I don’t think even trying to stray from “male-oriented” themes is always a good idea. I think to a large degree it may just be easier to make a universally fun games about violence and action, because everything works on simple terms which don’t require a lot of subtlety – enemies are out to get you, you kill them; it’s easy to convey.
Posted by Silvercube on August 12, 2007 at 12:30 am
They should make a boy version of that game, teach little boys how to cook to prepare them in the future. Cooking is important, regardless whether or not anyone wants to assign a gender to it. Food is what makes my tummy from being hungwii ^_^ lol
Posted by cooking on August 26, 2007 at 2:20 am
i love it i love love love this
Posted by cookie on December 9, 2007 at 4:29 am
these games sound ok but I prefer super mario games!
Posted by nshadowsong on March 29, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I remember reading this in a magazine before. It’s great that gaming in general is no longer categorized as things like “little boy’s toys,” or a “waste of time.” I am happy to see that gaming is slowly becoming mainstream and accepted by the general family as a form of authentic entertainment. Games like these certainly point to the fact that gaming cannot be associated with the social stigmas, like things “nerds” do. And with casual gaming becoming such a huge market, these kinda games are certainly taking advantage of that growing audience. So in these kinda ways, it is great for the gaming industry.
Although I don’t agree with the way these kinda games are being marketed, it is something that cannot be avoided. Just look at our toy aisles when we shop and how they’re organized: check out what girl toys are versus boy toys. These distinctions are there from the very beginning; hence the blue blanket and balloons for boys and the pink ones for girls.
Also, categorizing things definitely help boost sales of an item. It certainly does for books, by categorizing them and naming them a specific genre. Think of all the moms or uncles who don’t know what the kid likes and buy things based on recommendations or box covers or marketing blurbs.
I agree with you though: a boy may want just as much to be a veterinarian as a girl. The PR really could have gone both ways. Maybe these games can be educational, may be this will draw in more girls to gaming, may be it will help kids figure out what they like and don’t like. We’ll see. But then again, these kinda categorizations create stigmas and definitely influence the way we perceive/define “maleness” and “femaleness.” What’s so bad about that? One example: “Are you a girl? Girls belong in the …” You know the rest lol.
Anyway that’s my two cents. Probably more like four. You pose good discussions. Keep it up! ^_^
Posted by Waffle Deluxe on February 21, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Imagine: me in your life.
Posted by Deadlock on February 22, 2009 at 3:36 am
Umm… I certainly won’t be picking up a copy of that