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Adam Ruins Everything - Why People Think Video Games Are Just for Boys
- Thread starter George Oscar Bluth II
- Start date
Finale Fireworker
Member
Adam Ruins Everything is an excellent series that I find very funny. I can't wait to watch this, especially considering my own feelings towards the gender barrier.
I'm going to guess that it's marketing related.
EDIT: I was right.
I'm going to guess that it's marketing related.
EDIT: I was right.
WrenchNinja
Member
That OoT ad is still really something else.
BiGBoSSMk23
A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
Yeah, man. It's so trash how much hatred and nasty shit people have dredged up trying to balance the equation.
Now there's strange characters coming out of the woodwork to muddle up such a simple plea with bullshit.
They're everywhere , and their hatred is so misconceived it's pathetic.
Can't walk two steps in my local shops without stepping in their shit.
Now there's strange characters coming out of the woodwork to muddle up such a simple plea with bullshit.
They're everywhere , and their hatred is so misconceived it's pathetic.
Can't walk two steps in my local shops without stepping in their shit.
TouchMyBox
Member
I've never really considered how videogame stereotypes are a by-product of the extremely gender-segregated toy industry. Hopefully Cool Aisle vs Pink Aisle gets abolished by the time I have kids.
Interesting indeed.
On the flip side, we had some guests over this past weekend and one of the women took a look at my office/gaming room and scoffed claiming it to be "such a guys room". I wish I knew more women that didn't look down on the hobby. :\
She was Italian, though - I wonder what the ad campaigns were like in Italy? Hmmm...
On the flip side, we had some guests over this past weekend and one of the women took a look at my office/gaming room and scoffed claiming it to be "such a guys room". I wish I knew more women that didn't look down on the hobby. :\
She was Italian, though - I wonder what the ad campaigns were like in Italy? Hmmm...
Everything is marketed related in a way. It doesn't help that industries that can be gender neutral are too worried about gender stereotypes/other issues at times.
Finale Fireworker
Member
It's already been abolished at Target just this year. Their toy section is actually extremely awesome now. Everything is so seamless and exciting to peruse. And I'm in my twenties.
TouchMyBox
Member
Yeah, I heard that they did that, as they exited my country. :\
entremet
Member
Haha.
I remember your room from the setup thread. She probably means the decor, which was pretty minimal.
Put some artwork up! Dark colors are usually associated with masculinity too. At least in decor circles.
Finale Fireworker
Member
Canada?
Target's Canadian failure is probably the biggest corporate blunder I've ever seen in my life. What an unreasonable travesty. They were messing that up from Day 1.
Nice material, but good God is the delivery annoying with the voices. :-\
I'm really surprised by how gross 90s Nintendo commercials could be.
NinjaCoachZ
Member
I just find stuff like this to be so depressing. Insane that marketing decisions can have such entrenched and hard-hitting ripples that we still feel today.
I dunno why but seeing stuff like this and finding out just how entrenched things are as "just for boys only" to the extent of alienating everyone else to such a degree just makes me feel really bummed out. It's not fair.
And yeah, the Ocarina of Time ad is really gross.
I dunno why but seeing stuff like this and finding out just how entrenched things are as "just for boys only" to the extent of alienating everyone else to such a degree just makes me feel really bummed out. It's not fair.
And yeah, the Ocarina of Time ad is really gross.
Great video as usual from ARE. Interestingly, this mirrored the similar marketing for personal computers that contributed to the sharp decline in female enrollment rates in various computer science education programs and masculinization of the tech industry (link).
Also, that ending was superb. So many layers.
Also, that ending was superb. So many layers.
Finale Fireworker
Member
Advertising and the impact it has on society and culture is as fascinating as it is disgusting.
Many brands made names for themselves by passively putting somebody else down. Sometimes, like the Ocarina of Time ad, not so passively at all...
Studying marketing (and media in general) sometimes makes you not want to live on this planet anymore. Like, bring on the asteroids, humans are bad.
I've only ever known them to be in electronics sections of stores. Seems weird that they aren't, to me, haha.
Fallout-with-swords
Banned
Canada?
Target's Canadian failure is probably the biggest corporate blunder I've ever seen in my life. What an unreasonable travesty. They were messing that up from Day 1.
Hey lets buy all these fucking Zellers instead of slowly integrating into markets where there is demand and in location that are accessible.
chaobreaker
Member
This video will totally not have a disproportionate amount of dislikes and won't bring out a particular group of crazies on the comment section. /s
Good on them to acknowledge the "but girls only play mobile games!" fallacy.
Good on them to acknowledge the "but girls only play mobile games!" fallacy.
TheSlySoul
Member
Cannot wait for Tuesday's episode.
Marketing makes sense.
Edit: Considering the next video, I think media will be the next episode's theme.
Marketing makes sense.
Edit: Considering the next video, I think media will be the next episode's theme.
EatinOlives
Member
I think you underestimate the power of marketing.
LEGO did exactly the same thing, and despite the fact that the exact same product used to have unisex appeal, today it appeals far more to boys simply because they chose to market it that way.
Nintendo's entrance in the market post-crash was formative. Many of their decisions had effects that propagate even through to today. Nintendo started with stocking consoles in the boys section, and then continued to hammer it home with marketing that very clearly catered solely to boys, and competitors followed suit because it worked well. Their marketing continued to be very male-focused for years (just look at the OoT commercial from the video), it wasn't just the decision of the shelf they decided to pick.
Marketers also likes having a very rigidly defined demographic to cater to, and will even go so far as to deliberately alienate a wider potential market in favor of achieving that goal (as counterproductive as it sounds).
Als I'm glad to finally be able to see a snippet of that mythical "you got totally whipped!" Sony ad. Truly ridiculous. I've been trying to search for the full video before to no avail.
Als I'm glad to finally be able to see a snippet of that mythical "you got totally whipped!" Sony ad. Truly ridiculous. I've been trying to search for the full video before to no avail.
AstroNut325
Member
My thoughts exactly. What can we do to change this? Even my wife thinks gaming is mostly for men/boys. :/
IronicSonic
Member
Completely agree with this explanation
Finale Fireworker
Member
Have you read about copulins yet?
Women must not like video games because they are too busy using their secret sex chemicals to control men's brains.
I've learned so much on Reddit.
Target did just that this year and apparently some group of people had a hissy fit about it and were threatening to boycott... I'm not even sure why they were so offended by it???
I'm a lot more offended by the pink aisle as a female. As if making it pink will automatically make me like it or that I should only go for those toys (always felt like that even as a kid. Pink aisle to me meant avoid aisle).
Well this type of "common clichés" take a bit of time to change. To be fair, the parity that we see know is fairly new on the grand scheme of things. I remember the SELL report for the french VG market in 2013, that noted that roughly half of gamers today are female, while it was like a mere 10% 10 years ago.
Dafuq did I just read? Where on Reddit did you find this?
That's not really the claim though. Nintendo needed a way to re-introduced gaming consoles to the market that was poisoned by crash and they chose to bet on advertising it as a toy in the heavily gender segregated industry. That's not to say they flipped a coin and had it landed differently, we would have a completely different gaming landscape, they were clearly making a choice based on culture at large. They weren't alone in this either, the NPR article hiryu64 linked also showed how computer science interest among girls and women dropped as when PCs were marketed primarily to a male audience.
Finale Fireworker
Member
I unfortunately don't remember. I found it because somebody tweeted a link to it. It was in the comments section of a Reddit post about rape. I tried to find it again but couldn't, so I just posted the direct link to the website.
It was like a twenty comment tree about the validity of copulins. It was insane. But it was one of those insane subreddits to begin with. Maybe Kotaku In Action?
If you watch the video you'll see there is a precedent prior to the post-crash marketing where games had a more inclusive culture. To iterate even further on the point, the nascent era of arcade games primarily saw them in bar/pub settings which both men and women attend. Likewise, the early era of desktop computers was also more balanced out. This was before both of those had a more solidified male-centered marketing.
Stilton Disco
Member
Nothing I didn't know already, but very well, succinctly explained.
It just sucks that no one tried to counter Nintendo's stratergy with a girls console.
It just sucks that no one tried to counter Nintendo's stratergy with a girls console.
I now know what the Kotaku in Action subreddit is. I now regret knowing what is in it.
Holy shit
"Whilst thou get the girl"
Yeah that's bad to say I mean girls play this game too I mea-
"Or play like one"
wow
I can't actually recall seeing any OoT ads before I played it with my cousin (a girl). But I wonder what her attitude would've been to playing this if she saw this commercial beforehand.
Because I mean the rest of the game doesn't really lean into that kind of rhetoric. But what a stark difference to the marketing.
entremet
Member
That looks like Nintendo of Europe.
I thought something was off when I clicked it. Never saw it since I'm in the States.
I'm in Canada and I remember that trailer though I'm not sure if I saw it online or not.
Is there a way to watch the full episodes online? The clips are great but I'd love to watch the entire show.
TheHolyTurnip
Member
The solution is simple... Everyone should just ignore all marketing. All of it.