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[down 2 orth]

This is something I’ve thought about a lot over the years, and I’ve never really come up with a good answer.

Standing theory: It’s just one of those things.

Like how young boys like to draw pictures of cars, dinosaurs, rockets, and the like, whereas girls like to draw pictures of flowers, houses, people, etc. These are traits that precede culture and education. So I guess it’s just how we are biologically wired?

Even more interesting to me are the girls who game. I’m not the neckbeard type, and I’ve been fortunate to have done a healthy amount of dating, but I’ve never dated a girl who likes games. I’m kind of curious to know how they tick!

One thing’s for sure: there’s way more men gaming than women. I know: there are surveys that show otherwise, but I’ll hazard to guess that the numbers within are misleading, and essentially define “gaming” as having played a few mobile games before or something along those lines. The way I see it is that some hobbies are just more appealing to a specific gender: men by and large like to game, and women by and large like to shop for clothes. Of course the boundaries are easily crossed, but that’s just how most people are oriented.

Would love to hear from male and female GAF alike.

 

[Zannegan]

I think you'll see less of a division as time goes by.

Games used to be developed and marketed almost exclusively to the under-20 male population, but there is a larger breadth of games available on a wider selection of platforms than ever before, so that is changing.

There also used to be a much larger stigma against gaming in general and especially as an adult. As that changes, and more kids grow up playing games of all types, more and more people will carry the hobby forward with them, regardless of their sex.

Maybe there is some level of predisposition--be it cultural or inherent. I don't think so, but I'm willing to be proven wrong. Even so, I don't think the gaming landscape in 20 years will be nearly as lopsided as it is today.

 

[godhandiscen]

Your observation applies towards AAA games which are mostly targeted to male audiences in design and marketing. That probably plays a huge role.
I am not saying that putting a female as the lead on CoD would make women purchase that game, but there are 30+ years on game design research that is tailored to male audiences, and I am confident that some of those biases still exist today.

I see my mom, retired, playing games on her iPad always. She doesn’t compete with other people, but she does enjoy games, just not the same games I enjoy. I also hear the m/f ratio for Pokémon is pretty even. I don’t believe women are “wired” to not enjoy video games. It is just that most of the games we, men, feel are popular are games designed and marketed towards males.

 

[Krappadizzle]

#Neverforget

 

[Codes 208]

Because many popular games are aimed towards men. Or atleast were, many series have started becoming more unisex, but for the longest time a game like call of duty or god of war were definitely aimed at guys.

Girls play games, but its generally smaller niche games or games that appeal to their interest (a good example of which being square enix and atlus titles.)

 

[Mister Wolf]

Men generally create games, books, comics, movies, TV shows, etc that suit their personal tastes. Naturally these creations would skew towards appealing to other men.

 

[VAL0R]

Most mainstream games involve violence, action, destruction and guns. Men, who are more naturally aggressive, are more interested in these things.

 

[CamHostage]

Meet more women who like videogames. They like them just fine. Just, kind of differently, in the general sense of a broad audience. (You can find somebody in any group who smashes a stereotype...)

The women I know who game, they spend hours making cosplay costumes and amassing collectibles. They draw and sell stuff on DevaintArt and Etsy. Or they just play the games they like and don't go fighting with all the boys in the playgrounds of message boards. None of the women I know who game have beaten say Ninja Gaiden (though it's a limited pool of ladies I talk to about gaming; I'm sure they're out there), but they have devoted hundreds of hours to games that have totally passed me by, in genres I maybe tried and didn't get hooked on but that they care passionately about. Sure, I know fewer women than men who game (the percentage swings way far towards guys calling themselves "gamers", but then again, not everybody who games is a "gamer",) but if you get my friends talking about games, you'll get very different conversations between the genders.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Because boys are cool and girls drool!

 

[GamerEDM]

unfortunately the answer is less exciting then you think, its mostly down to societal pressures

 

[Krappadizzle]

Meet a woman who likes videogames. They like them just fine. Just, kind of differently, in the general sense of a broad audience. (You can find somebody in any group who smashes a stereotype...)

The women I know who game, they spend hours making cosplay costumes and collecting items. They draw and sell stuff on DevaintArt and Etsy. Or they just play the games they like and don't go fighting with all the boys in the playgrounds of message boards. None of the women I know who game have beaten say Ninja Gaiden (though it's a limited pool of ladies I talk to about gaming; I'm sure they're out there), but they have devoted hundreds of hours to games that have totally passed me by, in genres I maybe tried and didn't get hooked on but that they care passionately about.

I'd wager my wife plays game more than most people. That game is World of Warcraft. I don't play it, but it's her jam and I'm glad she likes it. She'll watch me play Resident Evil, Uncharted, and games like that, but she doesn't necessarily like to play them because she doesn't seem to ever be able to get the controls down and when a situation get's quasi-stressful in-game, she'll panic and just freeze up.

On the opposite end, I don't know how many co-operative games of Ghost Recon or Deep Rock Galactic that I've played with random girls, but it's quite a bit. I'd wager more girls are playing co-operative games than strictly Vs. games that tend to bring out the macho try-hards.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

Most women probably just grew out of playing games and would rather watch a movie or TV show.

 

[lukilladog]

The answer lies somewhere within the human male brain.

 

[Kumomeme]

probably because most of male is a dreamers?

thats why they tend to be attracted to stuff like robot, dinasour, rocket, superhero, monster, fantasy, action and stuff since child

 

[MayauMiao]

I don't think we see women plays less, its just that they play games that most of us men would scoff at, like Candy Crush.

 

[TLZ]

It's just nature.

They like to play as well but with different things.

 

[teezzy]

Because men are way smarter.

Only smart people play video games.

Next question please.

 

[Yoboman]

Honestly, in our generation growing up girls were basically told games aren't for them. And 99% of games were made with that mindset until mobile came along. Which is kind of shitty

 

[TexMex]

Is there a character limit on this forum before I get started?

Edit: In reading the replies - I think I interpreted the title of this thread wrong and it isn't about why men prefer videogames to women.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I asked my spouse about this today. She said, why do you care about what other people think”. Which is very true. She plays games, but she doesn’t follow them. I have to tell her the news. If I were to ask any more questions, I would get told to shut up.

Apparently it’s mean and sexist to ask a female why they don’t play or care about video games. That was my take away from it all.

 

[Kerotan]

Because women are annoying so why wouldn't men like VG more.

 

[SlimySnake]

why do men like sports more than women?
why do men like comic books more than women?
why do men like hunting more than women?

why do women like reading books more than men?
why do women like shoes more than men?
why do women like bad tv shows more than men?

its because they are women and we are men.

 

[Captain Hero]

Women are nagging , Console not
Women talk about useless subjects in the middle of a street attack you want to run from , console not


so .. yeah we love VG but we don’t hate women

 

[Grinchy]

It probably comes down to testosterone. We like overcoming physical challenges and dominating things that were beating us.

Game design has changed over the years though, and not all games are "git gud" simulators anymore, so guys who aren't into that mindset and women who aren't into that mindset can get more involved.

 

[Tesseract]

men are interested in things, women are interested in people

times are changing tho, my apex legends premade squad is two girls

 

[down 2 orth]

Honestly, in our generation growing up girls were basically told games aren't for them. And 99% of games were made with that mindset until mobile came along. Which is kind of shitty

I don't really buy that. We all got told a whole lot of bullshit growing up that many of us ended up shrugging off. A prime example is the once common statement that "video games are for children".

I'm not sure I agree with the arguments that games haven't been properly marketed to women either. Certain industries simply have demographics that are very difficult to change. That's why we don't see NASCAR or UFC spending huge sums of money to reach female audiences - it just doesn't make any sense from a business perspective.

 

[ancelotti]

There are neurological differences between men and women. They've even done experiments with monkeys, and male monkeys will prefer traditional boy toys over dolls.

 

[IfuckinghateReddit]

Same reason men like the 3 Stooges more than women.

Men are smarter.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Controversial opinion, but I feel it’s the same reason men are more into things like sports, cars, building, home theater stuff, electronics, huge TV’s, exercising, etc. compared to women. Also, a good portion of video games especially older ones were more male focused so that might of contributed to things as well.

From MY experience women are generally more into different types of hobbies or interests that pertain more to aesthetics if that makes sense. Of course there are exceptions and it seems like more women are getting into video games. Unfortunately, I rarely meet females in real life that are REALLY hardcore into video games.

*runs away*

 

[Yoboman]

I don't really buy that. We all got told a whole lot of bullshit growing up that many of us ended up shrugging off. A prime example is the once common statement that "video games are for children".

I'm not sure I agree with the arguments that games haven't been properly marketed to women either. Certain industries simply have demographics that are very difficult to change. That's why we don't see NASCAR or UFC spending huge sums of money to reach female audiences - it just doesn't make any sense from a business perspective.

They definitely aren't, and I mean more traditional console games. I remember growing up, all the commercials for games were targeted at boys, anecdotal but we wouldn't even let girls play the console with us and parents would say things like "games are for boys".

Alot has changed but I think it really only begun to change when mobile came along and girls started playing games that were a bit simpler and more private on a phone. Now they make up 46% of the market

U.S. gamers by gender 2023 | Statista

What percentage of gamers are female? Almost half of gamers in the United States are women, with the share of female gaming audiences increasing every year.

www.statista.com

My point is there is no reason girls don't like games as much as boys, they do, there was just a stigma about it for many years that I think is somewhat gone now

 

[Yoboman]

Controversial opinion, but I feel it’s the same reason men are more into things like sports, cars, building, home theater stuff, electronics, huge TV’s, exercising, etc. compared to women. Also, a good portion of video games especially older ones were more male focused so that might of contributed to things as well.

From MY experience women are generally more into different types of hobbies or interests that pertain more to aesthetics if that makes sense. Of course there are exceptions and it seems like more women are getting into video games. Unfortunately, I rarely meet females in real life that are REALLY hardcore into video games.

*runs away*

I think men are probably just more obsessive in general. Something that a man likes, he will take that to 110% and get fixated on it. Women generally have more of a multi tasking brain, so one thing never takes priority for them

 

[KiNeMz]

Why does a kitten know how to use a litter?

Is something inherited genetically?

The anti gender peeps would have you think its social construct.

Males have billions of potential children made everyday, its a spray and pray approach to reproduction.
Females have a limited number of potential children, a selective and reserved approach to reproduction.

Surely these aspect biologically have a huge impact on how the brains work between the sexes. Is it the reason why? Probably not.

 

[GAMETA]

I believe it has to do with what we, as animals, were wired to throughout development and evolution of our species. Exploration, hunting, hierarchy, protect and serve roles, order, partake in violence, to build and appreciate tools and technology, to follow figures of power or try to take it, those were all men traits throughout millennia... there's a strong sense of honor among men, to "do the right thing when the time comes" as chiche as it sounds... and it's still there. It's there when I'm window shopping that hunting knife at the fishing gear store that I've always wanted to enter but never did, it's there when I'm up to 3 in the morning watching a guy build primitive stuff on youtube, it's there when the hero uses his final strengths to defeat evil in a book or a movie, it's there when he sacrifices himself too, and it's there when I'm riding my horse exploring a forest in any game... the things we miss and long for....

Look at genres where men are the majority, there's an underlying structure there, we usually play the ideal hero role, the soldier, the leader, the savior, the explorer, etc... and I'd say it has more to do with the role than the character or gender or whatever. That's why men love Ripley in Alien or Lara Croft... that's also why we respect powerful women when they are indeed powerful but never when they're do-nothings demanding power... because it's not about being a man or a woman, it's about the role and respect this person has achieved through merit, and it resonates with men...

Be it Link, the androgynous elf, or Lara Croft, or Solid Snake, or the Ashen One, or Nathan Drake, or whomever... they all fulfill the role... the feminist girl with robotic arm in WW2? No, to hell with that, what has she achieved other than a colored hair? Nothing. She's ideological propaganda and we know it, and we don't want that in our games, we don't want to be lectured, we don't want your whining about what we should give you, fuck you! We just wanna do the stuff that resonates with us, it's simple.

So anyway, I think many of us see video-games as a fulfillment to what we crave deeply as creatures... and I think that's also why you'll see women more inclined to play the games they're inclined to, because that's what resonates with them at whatever level it does... it's as simple as that, we like what we like because part of it is built into us, and, unless modern society has been around for 200K years, it's a lot deeper than any "social construct" argument... it's human creature construct, and it shows.

 

[down 2 orth]

They definitely aren't, and I mean more traditional console games. I remember growing up, all the commercials for games were targeted at boys, anecdotal but we wouldn't even let girls play the console with us and parents would say things like "games are for boys".

Alot has changed but I think it really only begun to change when mobile came along and girls started playing games that were a bit simpler and more private on a phone. Now they make up 46% of the market

U.S. gamers by gender 2023 | Statista

What percentage of gamers are female? Almost half of gamers in the United States are women, with the share of female gaming audiences increasing every year.

www.statista.com

My point is there is no reason girls don't like games as much as boys, they do, there was just a stigma about it for many years that I think is somewhat gone now

So in my first post I said that I was skeptical of the statistics, and this is a pretty good example of what I had in mind. This is a survey that assesses the percentage of male and female "video gamers". I couldn't find anywhere on that page that described their criteria for judging what a "video gamer" is though. If a video gamer simply means someone who has played video games before, then I'm surprised the distribution is not 50-50, because pretty much every human being in the developed world has played video games.

It's hard to go from those statistics to saying that women represent 46% of the market. Does 46% of the money spent on video games in the industry come from women? How about the total time played? That survey is fishy, and just strikes me as a skewed number to bolster someone's narrative.

Edit: Here's an interesting snippit from Wikipedia: "While 48% of women in the United States report having played a video game, only 6% identify as gamers, compared to 15% of men who identify as gamers.[4] This rises to 9% among women aged 18–29, compared to 33% of men in that age group."

 

[Self]

Biological imperativ.

Man: Hunter-gatherer
Woman: Nurture

That said there is also a socially conditioned factor playing it's part.

My sister regularly beat the shit out of me and my friends when playing beat'em up games. Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Tekken 3 was her domain. I had to resort to King of Fighters or Killer Instinct to break her streak. Also she was much better in all shmups. Luckily she retired (3 kids).

 

[DelireMan7]

I think the "Men stuff" or "women stuff" are heavily influenced by our society. There is probably some "natural predisposition" to like some "subject" but the impact of social pressure/conditioning is really strong.

Just a personal example.

4 years ago I got a daughter. Nobody mentioned something specific.
Last year, I got a boy. And during the pregnancy, a lot (a LOT) of people (family, colleagues) were like "It's great to have a boy you can play videogame, soccer (this was stupid to say since I don't like sports) with him..." (and I was " ?!, I can do all of that with my daughter too")

In our society stereotype are really strong. And we (as individual and as a society) are pushing girls or boys into specific direction (consciously or unconsciously).

It's an accumulation of small things that leads to "preferences". Like as a kid, you offer dolls to girls and cars to boys. Or just paying attention to a boy when he's interested into a "boy stuff" ("Ho looks, he watches this motorbike, it's crazy how boy like mechanics").

Also the social pressure, even as small kids, is really strong. We didn't want to encourage our daughter into all pink/princess stuff but rather offer her an open horizon of stuff to like. It was fine for a time but after she went to the daycare and was in age to start socializing with other kids and saw that most of the girls were speaking about princess, unicorns and wearing pink, she went in this direction too (which is nothing wrong).

Since I am a father, it strikes me to see how kids are influence by little things (because they pay attention to EVERYTHING) and how our society push them into specific direction (for the girl/boy stuff)

 

[DrNeroCF]

It’s kind of a misnomer that mainly men like games. Mainly men like certain types of games, and to say that mainly men like games, you’re discounting most video games, not just women.

Animal Crossing, Candy Crush, Words With Friends, the Wii games, Nintendogs, Brain Age, those Sherlock adventure games, and I’m going to bet that a good deal of indie games, are literally 50-50 to 60-40 in favor of women. So when certain figures take to YouTube and Twitter and complain about women in games, they’re specifically saying that certain games, and a huge majority of games created, just don’t count.

Really don’t see how developers of those games aren’t personally offended by that.

 

[Bakkus]

Biology. A more interesting subject is why the vast majority of women who could be considered 'gamer' on our level are very overweight. Sure, some of us are too (not me in case you wanna know), but it seems like almost every woman is.

 

[Shizumapower]

Including mobile? There is no way I could log the hours she does on the phone playing games.

 

[Radical Dreamer]

Dunno if it's true but i've read somewhere that women are generally more interested in people and men in things so maybe that's that

 

[SonicJams]

Is there a character limit on this forum before I get started?

Edit: In reading the replies - I think I interpreted the title of this thread wrong and it isn't about why men prefer videogames to women.

Off topic, but I like your display picture. Scott Weiland was amazing on the Shangra Li album.

 

[MeatSafeMurderer]

It's changing, slowly but surely...perhaps a better question is why did men as a group get into gaming before women (thus resulting in games being overwhelmingly marketed towards a male audience for so long)? And the answer to that likely lies in the difference in psychology. As you pointed out young boys and girls draw different things, but that's not all...they like to play with different toys too. Girls tend to choose more social toys such as dolls, while boys tend to choose more mechanical toys like cars. Girls like playing house, boys like building things. Girls like pretending, boys like beating the shit out of each other. This isn't just confined to humans either; the same exact same behavior can be observed in the young of other primates, meaning we can rule out socialization as being the cause. Now of course there are exceptions to the rule...but by and large this holds true.

So why did men embrace gaming first? Well...it probably comes down to the simple fact that in the early days it was much easier to make a game which appealed to boys...boys who eventually became men.

 

[brap]

Women don't seem to be too into anything in my experience. Most hobbies feel like they're dominated by men. If you find a cutie that wants to watch Black Christmas with me or listen to Gnaw Their Tongues then hmu.

 

[MetalAlien]

Women are boring as shit that's why.

 

[Havoc2049]

More women are gaming now than ever before. It also depends on the game. Women seem to be more into MMO/Multiplayer type games with a large social/community factor involved. Out of the recent multiplayer/mmo games I’ve put hundreds, if not thousands of hours into, I’ve run into quite a few females who play in the Phantasy Star, Halo and Destiny series of games. I have never run into a single female while playing Elite Dangerous, but that is more hardcore sim/sci-fi. I would imagine there aren’t that many females in the Arma 3 community as well. I’ve also run into quite a few females playing Sea of Thieves, especially here of late.

 

[hariseldon]

Honestly, in our generation growing up girls were basically told games aren't for them. And 99% of games were made with that mindset until mobile came along. Which is kind of shitty

Incorrect. Girls looked down on boys for playing games. They decided it wasn’t for them, and now games are big and successful women act like they never did any of that and males are excluding them, to which I say bullshit.

 

[Kabelly]

because men like seeing other big strong men do things

 

[Coolwhhip]

Men and women? What year is this? 2019?

 

[Boxman]

That's why I don't understand why people want a female protagonist for the next GTA game. These kind of violent games don't typically target women and minorities as their audience. Look at Call of Duty Modern Warfare for example compared to how Battlefield tried targeting their game for minorities and women.

With that being said, I hope we get a sequel to Viva Piñata. I can imagine a lot of women would like that game.

 

[nikolino840]

Maybe Is for the parents?
If i was a girl my parents would give me the sega mega drive or my first PC for the games?

And you as a parent what would you do?