Girls bigger geeks than boys? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Beltruckus · 08-29-2003, 12:34 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.gam...eut/index.html

sorry i don't know how to make it so that it says letter instead of the link oh well, thought this was interesting.

MPower · 08-29-2003, 02:05 PM

I have trouble believing that report.

Beltruckus · 08-29-2003, 02:22 PM

It's cnn it's not like it's a no name news team.

Renegade · 08-29-2003, 02:47 PM

Whenever I hear numbers like that I always figure that they count people playing solitaire or snood or whatever little internet games. I doubt most of those counted are what I would call "hardcore" gamers.

Zello · 08-29-2003, 02:57 PM

-------------------------------------------
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Challenging the stereotype that video gaming is the domain of teenage boys, an industry group Tuesday reported that more women over 18 than young boys are playing games and the average age of players has risen to 29.

A poll released by the Entertainment Software Association and conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found 26 percent of game players are women 18 or older, while 21 percent are boys 6 to 17.

Video gaming has traditionally been seen as the province of teenage boys locked in dark rooms and twitching away at their game consoles, although in recent years the industry has worked to publish games catering to kids, women and older gamers.

Growing audience
In line with that trend, adults over 50 now make up 17 percent of the gaming population, the ESA said, compared with 13 percent three years ago.

The largest group of gamers, at 38 percent, is men 18 and up, while girls 6 to 17 account for 12 percent of game players, the poll found.

"I think that what used to be the standard in games, which was the female character in distress and the big macho man saving the day, is no longer the case," said Vikki Hrody, a faculty member at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, who teaches art for game design.

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A random national sample of 806 adults, covering a total of 1,048 game players including kids, was used in the poll, the ESA said.

The average gamer spends 6.5 hours a week playing games, the ESA said, while boys 6 to 17 average 7.3 hours per week of game time.

Prefer mature games
As the age of gamers has risen, so has the number of games for adults. Of all games sold in 2002, the ESA said 13.2 percent carried a "Mature" or "M" rating, up from 9.9 percent in 2001 and under 8 percent in 2000.

Hrody said she and her friends much prefer many of those mature games, like war titles, to the games specially designed and targeted by game companies at the female market, such as dancing themes or Barbie.

"They don't hear enough about what the market is. I think they just assume that it's boys that are playing these games," she said. "(Girls' games are) very boring, there's no story line, it's almost like they play it down for girls."

The poll found little difference in the relationship between game play and income, with 39 percent of gamers reporting total household income of less than $50,000 a year and 41 percent reporting an income of more than $50,000.
------------------------------------------

That is a good point Renegade. It doesn't mention how long each of those people play. It doesn't take much to be considered a gamer.

collide · 08-29-2003, 03:14 PM

Aside from entertainment, what influenced me most was the whole aspect of competition and social bonding. Gaming was just another way for me to kill time and chat with friends, and I pretty much spent a lot of time geeking out with my friends on the computer, and most of them happen to be into gaming and other forms of geekery. I guess some of it rubbed off on me, and I've been gaming ever since. (Yes, I'm a girl and I can kick your ass in any DM.

)

legolas · 08-29-2003, 10:02 PM

I read that and it blew my mind. I had such a sterotype in my mind. I'm glad I read the article.

Order_of_Monkey · 08-30-2003, 10:22 AM

I really cant belive that ive been gaming for almost 10 years and ive meet one female gamer

Beltruckus · 08-30-2003, 11:17 AM

I've known a few female gamers, and one of them is DAMN attractive.

GakFace · 08-30-2003, 01:27 PM

Um.. if you didn't notice Males OVER the age of 18 were not included in this.. the poll was

Females, 18+ years VS Males, 6-17 years

but then again.. later in the article they compare just the opposite..

Males, 18+ years VS Females, 6-17 years

Either way guys still play more as us guys over 18 make up 38% according to them. I really dislike the article, if they wanted to do a GOOD report of things, they should have compared Male vs Female by AGES, you know 6-17 vs 6-17 & 18+ to 18+... Instead they screwed it all up.

And yeah girl gamers are pretty cool... I want one.

Mehoni · 08-30-2003, 04:13 PM

Being a female gamer myself I know quite a few. There's a community for women playing EverQuest, EQWomen that is quite good. Good people, but most female gamers seem to be 25+.

I've attended a few demo/gamepartys and most girls there are "attention-seekers". Sad but true, if you want a ttention, being a girl in a geek-envoirement is a safe bet.

Miserlou · 08-30-2003, 05:06 PM

I'm sure most of the girls were just playing Yahoo Euchre and Solitaire

collide · 08-30-2003, 06:10 PM

I don't fall into that 25+ category (yet), but I know a couple of girls even younger than me who play FPS, MMORPGs, and RTS games. It's not nearly as uncommon as you think.

GakFace · 08-30-2003, 06:20 PM

so again.. I still want a FPS Girl Gamer of my own

giblfiz · 08-30-2003, 06:30 PM

take a look at the study a little more closely and without all the shenanagenry:

Quote:

Gamers by Age and Gender
# Girls 6 to 17 - 12%
# Boys 6 to 17 - 21%
# Women 18 or older - 26%
# Men 18 and up - 38%
# unknown - 3% (total 100%)
# Adults over 50 - 17% (was 13% in 2000)

girls still game less than guys.

There's truth, There's lies, and then theirs statistics.

Oh, and this post was inspired by PMuse of slashdot

Mr. Moe · 08-31-2003, 11:06 PM

I think CNN just pooled players of "The Sims" seems to be the only game they know about other then those horrifying games that turn our children into BLOOD SUCKING DEMONS FROM HADES!..and they shouldn't do studies on those..nope they might get accurate info

Beltruckus · 09-02-2003, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by giblfiz
take a look at the study a little more closely and without all the shenanagenry:

girls still game less than guys.

There's truth, There's lies, and then theirs statistics.

Oh, and this post was inspired by PMuse of slashdot

It's still surprising. I didn't expect there to be near that many.

battlemouth · 09-03-2003, 08:50 PM

i wish i knew some female gamers, maybe i'll meet some in college. i suppose ever since The Sims came along there was an influx in female gamers.

cradeg · 09-04-2003, 03:25 AM

my Girlfriend plays more Everquest than me

.. well she uses it as a chattroom to talk to other people ... ALL DAY LONG

collide · 09-04-2003, 10:26 AM

One of the problems of revealing that you're a girl when gaming is the endless slew of harassment and unwanted attention you get when playing. It's not worth the trouble, and it's also irrelevant in most cases. Just play the damn game. /rant

mute76 · 09-04-2003, 12:19 PM

I don't buy it but it's cnn so it must be true, right?

glophead · 09-04-2003, 12:21 PM

75% of statistics are false or misleading.

crazymang · 09-04-2003, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Beltruckus
It's cnn it's not like it's a no name news team.

weren't they the ones to get kicked out of baghdad for reporting false news?

crazymang · 09-04-2003, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by glophead
75% of statistics are false or misleading.

82% of all statistics are made up on the spot

geeky · 09-05-2003, 07:29 PM

I work in the videogame industry. There are more girls in the office than youd expect (not quite the same as the CNN statistics but a handfull nonetheless). Most of which are quite cute and yes, they play games recreationally as well.
My gf plays some games. I got her into the Oddworld (Munch/Abe) series. She finished Munch's Oddysee before I did. Heh. I wouldnt call her a gamer, though.

It seems that videogames are becoming more acceptable in socieity. Games of all sorts are being developed, in turn people of all sorts are playing them.
The thing is that there IS a large number of female gamers out there. If you take into consideration that even a small percentage of the gaming community is female... Think of how much that is in an industry that is larger than the motion-picture industry.

juanvaldes · 09-05-2003, 07:44 PM

1. I think this statistics are a bit high
2. They don't quantify what is a gamer. Hardcore, comptuer, console, solitare, what...
3. People I call "gamers" play MMORPG's, Warcraft, RPG's, etc, not grandma playing Solitare with her friends. But when you DO add grandma in what I call gamers suddenly become only a few % of a larger gaming group.

utang · 09-05-2003, 09:10 PM

I wish there was. I mean, probability wise, with those percentages, I would have met a girl gamer by now, probably several. Maybe they're closet case gamers or something, but in my experience there have been very few.

Quote:

Originally posted by crazymang
82% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

45% of all people know that

Zenow · 09-06-2003, 10:57 AM

Thanks to giblfiz for sorting it out, I was about to do the same. And to those saying: 'it's CNN, so it must be true' - ha! Such nonsense.
It's cnn that posts the misleading headline: 'female gamers outnumber boys' but as said, NOT when you compare age-group to age-group.
I can also say, without lying: '8 year olds work more hours a week than older adult' if I compare 8 year olds in some 3rd world country to adults over 65 or 70 in a rich western country.
CNN, just like any news agency, is great at manipulating and distorting facts. Anyone who ever saw their Iraq-coverage should know that.

Mr_Q · 09-08-2003, 08:27 AM

We got a game of Jedi Knight II going on our floor the other day and my friend's GF jumped in and started kicking ass. Wish I had a GF like that

And speaking of games targeting the female gamer audience...

Give this link a peek:
LINK

Locke · 09-08-2003, 05:23 PM

well, thats different. Any girl that I've met that actually plays games already have boy friends. I Cant get my gf to play much of anything besides worms and tetris. when there is a blue moon she'll play hot shots golf.

B21 · 09-08-2003, 06:03 PM

well i work for a game development company and id like to say that over 2years working for this company i hve met alot of girl games very few of which i would call hardcore but gamers none the less. I am also pleased to tell you that i have a gamer gf, she didnt start off that way but i got her into RPGs. Oh and remember couples that play together stay together.

08-29-2003, 12:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
Beltruckus Psycho Location: Salt Lake City	Girls bigger geeks than boys? http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.gam...eut/index.html sorry i don't know how to make it so that it says letter instead of the link oh well, thought this was interesting. __________________ The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words diminish your feelings. Words shrink things that seem timeless when they are in your head to no more than living size when they are brought out. -Stephen King

08-29-2003, 02:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
Beltruckus Psycho Location: Salt Lake City	It's cnn it's not like it's a no name news team. __________________ The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words diminish your feelings. Words shrink things that seem timeless when they are in your head to no more than living size when they are brought out. -Stephen King

08-29-2003, 02:57 PM	#5 (permalink)
Zello Crazy Location: Vincennes, IN	------------------------------------------- LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Challenging the stereotype that video gaming is the domain of teenage boys, an industry group Tuesday reported that more women over 18 than young boys are playing games and the average age of players has risen to 29. A poll released by the Entertainment Software Association and conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found 26 percent of game players are women 18 or older, while 21 percent are boys 6 to 17. Video gaming has traditionally been seen as the province of teenage boys locked in dark rooms and twitching away at their game consoles, although in recent years the industry has worked to publish games catering to kids, women and older gamers. Growing audience In line with that trend, adults over 50 now make up 17 percent of the gaming population, the ESA said, compared with 13 percent three years ago. The largest group of gamers, at 38 percent, is men 18 and up, while girls 6 to 17 account for 12 percent of game players, the poll found. "I think that what used to be the standard in games, which was the female character in distress and the big macho man saving the day, is no longer the case," said Vikki Hrody, a faculty member at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, who teaches art for game design. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Video game or Create your own Manage alerts \| What is this? A random national sample of 806 adults, covering a total of 1,048 game players including kids, was used in the poll, the ESA said. The average gamer spends 6.5 hours a week playing games, the ESA said, while boys 6 to 17 average 7.3 hours per week of game time. Prefer mature games As the age of gamers has risen, so has the number of games for adults. Of all games sold in 2002, the ESA said 13.2 percent carried a "Mature" or "M" rating, up from 9.9 percent in 2001 and under 8 percent in 2000. Hrody said she and her friends much prefer many of those mature games, like war titles, to the games specially designed and targeted by game companies at the female market, such as dancing themes or Barbie. "They don't hear enough about what the market is. I think they just assume that it's boys that are playing these games," she said. "(Girls' games are) very boring, there's no story line, it's almost like they play it down for girls." The poll found little difference in the relationship between game play and income, with 39 percent of gamers reporting total household income of less than $50,000 a year and 41 percent reporting an income of more than $50,000. ------------------------------------------ That is a good point Renegade. It doesn't mention how long each of those people play. It doesn't take much to be considered a gamer. __________________ Sorry, you can not add yourself to your own list.

08-29-2003, 03:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
collide Turn off your TV. Location: ... .- -. ..-. .-. .- -. -.-. .. ... -.-. --- --..-- -.-. .-	Aside from entertainment, what influenced me most was the whole aspect of competition and social bonding. Gaming was just another way for me to kill time and chat with friends, and I pretty much spent a lot of time geeking out with my friends on the computer, and most of them happen to be into gaming and other forms of geekery. I guess some of it rubbed off on me, and I've been gaming ever since. (Yes, I'm a girl and I can kick your ass in any DM. ) __________________ "inhuman fiery goat worship" is an anagram for "information superhighway" -kingvolc

08-29-2003, 10:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
legolas shit faced cockmaster Location: CT	I read that and it blew my mind. I had such a sterotype in my mind. I'm glad I read the article. __________________ "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

08-29-2003, 02:05 PM	#2 (permalink)
MPower Psycho	I have trouble believing that report.

08-29-2003, 02:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
Renegade Crazy Location: Midwest	Whenever I hear numbers like that I always figure that they count people playing solitaire or snood or whatever little internet games. I doubt most of those counted are what I would call "hardcore" gamers.

08-30-2003, 10:22 AM	#8 (permalink)
Order_of_Monkey Tilted Location: Canada	I really cant belive that ive been gaming for almost 10 years and ive meet one female gamer __________________ Have a day

08-30-2003, 11:17 AM	#9 (permalink)
Beltruckus Psycho Location: Salt Lake City	I've known a few female gamers, and one of them is DAMN attractive. __________________ The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words diminish your feelings. Words shrink things that seem timeless when they are in your head to no more than living size when they are brought out. -Stephen King

08-30-2003, 01:27 PM	#10 (permalink)
GakFace Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go!! Location: IN, USA	Um.. if you didn't notice Males OVER the age of 18 were not included in this.. the poll was Females, 18+ years VS Males, 6-17 years but then again.. later in the article they compare just the opposite.. Males, 18+ years VS Females, 6-17 years Either way guys still play more as us guys over 18 make up 38% according to them. I really dislike the article, if they wanted to do a GOOD report of things, they should have compared Male vs Female by AGES, you know 6-17 vs 6-17 & 18+ to 18+... Instead they screwed it all up. And yeah girl gamers are pretty cool... I want one. __________________ RoboBlaster: Welcome to the club! Not that I'm in the club. And there really isn'a a club in the first place. But if there was a club and if I was in it, I would definitely welcome you to it.

08-30-2003, 04:13 PM	#11 (permalink)
Mehoni Insane Location: Within the Woods	Being a female gamer myself I know quite a few. There's a community for women playing EverQuest, EQWomen that is quite good. Good people, but most female gamers seem to be 25+. I've attended a few demo/gamepartys and most girls there are "attention-seekers". Sad but true, if you want a ttention, being a girl in a geek-envoirement is a safe bet.

08-30-2003, 05:06 PM	#12 (permalink)
Miserlou Insane	I'm sure most of the girls were just playing Yahoo Euchre and Solitaire __________________ "Oh, these pies arn't homeade. They're from a factory............a bomb factory.................they're bombs."

08-30-2003, 06:10 PM	#13 (permalink)
collide Turn off your TV. Location: ... .- -. ..-. .-. .- -. -.-. .. ... -.-. --- --..-- -.-. .-	I don't fall into that 25+ category (yet), but I know a couple of girls even younger than me who play FPS, MMORPGs, and RTS games. It's not nearly as uncommon as you think. __________________ "inhuman fiery goat worship" is an anagram for "information superhighway" -kingvolc

08-30-2003, 06:20 PM	#14 (permalink)
GakFace Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go!! Location: IN, USA	so again.. I still want a FPS Girl Gamer of my own __________________ RoboBlaster: Welcome to the club! Not that I'm in the club. And there really isn'a a club in the first place. But if there was a club and if I was in it, I would definitely welcome you to it.

08-31-2003, 11:06 PM	#16 (permalink)
Mr. Moe Loser Location: Oakville, Ontario	I think CNN just pooled players of "The Sims" seems to be the only game they know about other then those horrifying games that turn our children into BLOOD SUCKING DEMONS FROM HADES!..and they shouldn't do studies on those..nope they might get accurate info

09-03-2003, 08:50 PM	#18 (permalink)
battlemouth Robot Lovin' Location: Boston	i wish i knew some female gamers, maybe i'll meet some in college. i suppose ever since The Sims came along there was an influx in female gamers. __________________ like a bullet through a flock of doves

09-04-2003, 03:25 AM	#19 (permalink)
cradeg Insane Location: Austria	Everquest my Girlfriend plays more Everquest than me .. well she uses it as a chattroom to talk to other people ... ALL DAY LONG __________________ *************************** For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong. ****************************

09-04-2003, 10:26 AM	#20 (permalink)
collide Turn off your TV. Location: ... .- -. ..-. .-. .- -. -.-. .. ... -.-. --- --..-- -.-. .-	One of the problems of revealing that you're a girl when gaming is the endless slew of harassment and unwanted attention you get when playing. It's not worth the trouble, and it's also irrelevant in most cases. Just play the damn game. /rant __________________ "inhuman fiery goat worship" is an anagram for "information superhighway" -kingvolc

09-04-2003, 12:19 PM	#21 (permalink)
mute76 Psycho Location: Anywhere but here	I don't buy it but it's cnn so it must be true, right? __________________ What the fuck is "wtf"?

09-04-2003, 12:21 PM	#22 (permalink)
glophead Crazy Location: Springfield, VA	75% of statistics are false or misleading.

09-05-2003, 07:29 PM	#25 (permalink)
geeky Upright	I work in the videogame industry. There are more girls in the office than youd expect (not quite the same as the CNN statistics but a handfull nonetheless). Most of which are quite cute and yes, they play games recreationally as well. My gf plays some games. I got her into the Oddworld (Munch/Abe) series. She finished Munch's Oddysee before I did. Heh. I wouldnt call her a gamer, though. It seems that videogames are becoming more acceptable in socieity. Games of all sorts are being developed, in turn people of all sorts are playing them. The thing is that there IS a large number of female gamers out there. If you take into consideration that even a small percentage of the gaming community is female... Think of how much that is in an industry that is larger than the motion-picture industry.

09-05-2003, 07:44 PM	#26 (permalink)
juanvaldes Banned Location: shittown, CA	1. I think this statistics are a bit high 2. They don't quantify what is a gamer. Hardcore, comptuer, console, solitare, what... 3. People I call "gamers" play MMORPG's, Warcraft, RPG's, etc, not grandma playing Solitare with her friends. But when you DO add grandma in what I call gamers suddenly become only a few % of a larger gaming group.

09-06-2003, 10:57 AM	#28 (permalink)
Zenow Banned	Thanks to giblfiz for sorting it out, I was about to do the same. And to those saying: 'it's CNN, so it must be true' - ha! Such nonsense. It's cnn that posts the misleading headline: 'female gamers outnumber boys' but as said, NOT when you compare age-group to age-group. I can also say, without lying: '8 year olds work more hours a week than older adult' if I compare 8 year olds in some 3rd world country to adults over 65 or 70 in a rich western country. CNN, just like any news agency, is great at manipulating and distorting facts. Anyone who ever saw their Iraq-coverage should know that.

09-08-2003, 08:27 AM	#29 (permalink)
Mr_Q Tilted Location: Minnesota	We got a game of Jedi Knight II going on our floor the other day and my friend's GF jumped in and started kicking ass. Wish I had a GF like that And speaking of games targeting the female gamer audience... Give this link a peek: LINK

09-08-2003, 05:23 PM	#30 (permalink)
Locke Insane Location: The reddest state ever. :(	well, thats different. Any girl that I've met that actually plays games already have boy friends. I Cant get my gf to play much of anything besides worms and tetris. when there is a blue moon she'll play hot shots golf. __________________ CUBS WIN, CUBS WIN!!!! - Pat Hughes "Don't surround yourself with yourself." Yes

09-08-2003, 06:03 PM	#31 (permalink)
B21 Loser Location: Earth	well i work for a game development company and id like to say that over 2years working for this company i hve met alot of girl games very few of which i would call hardcore but gamers none the less. I am also pleased to tell you that i have a gamer gf, she didnt start off that way but i got her into RPGs. Oh and remember couples that play together stay together.