Study: Adult Women Gamers Outnumber Teenage Boys
Video game companies work to adjust to changing audience.
Nintendo, makers of the Wii, may be well-positioned to take advantage of gaming's growing female demographic.
Women now represent 48 percent of the average video game players in the U.S., up from 40 percent in 2010 – and one gaming company is ready to capitalize.
The player data showing the increase in female gamers was recently published in a survey by the Entertainment Software Association, an industry association which represents dozens of gaming companies.
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Women over 18 represent 36 percent of people who play video games on regular basis, outnumbering even boys under the age of 18, who make up 17 percent of gamers, the survey shows.
Nintendo, a once dominant gaming company, has fallen behind competitors Sony and Microsoft in recent years, but could be well-poised to take advantage of the new demographics.
The company has entertained audiences for decades with its teen-friendly characters that are more creative than first person shooting games that dominate much of the industry. Nintendo already has a female character that can appeal to the active first person shooter audience on the one hand, while offering the more challenging puzzles and engaging storylines that some women gamers prefer on the other hand: Samus Aran of the “Metroid.” The heroine of the "Metroid" series is an intergalactic bounty hunter who could rally women back to Nintendo with tales of her battles against aliens and pirates. Samus Aran was last featured on the Nintendo Wii system four years ago.
The growing interest of women also includes games played on mobile devices. Nintendo could make a breakout product against its competition if it focused more on making original mobile games that could expand on its success with its 3DS handheld system, Brian Blau, research director at Gartner has said. Nintendo’s Wii U has been far less popular than the 3DS.
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Other companies are getting into the act as well. Microsoft had huge success with women gamers by giving them a chance to make the hero a woman in its space thriller “Mass Effect” series, which had combat that appealed to action gamers and storyline so good that some consider it postmodern fiction. Games on Sony’s PlayStation systems also give the option to play a storyline as a woman, and the “Final Fantasy” and “Lara Croft” series on Sony’s consoles also feature female lead characters.
Nintendo has already taken steps to make its games more inclusive for women. The “Legend of Zelda” series has evolved into an engaging puzzle game with reliably appealing graphics – with Princess Zelda fighting as a ninja in some of the games, also becoming a playable character on the “Super Smash Brothers" melee series.
The latest “Zelda” game for Nintendo Wii U shows a trailer where the hero Link has a ponytail and more distinct elflike features than usual, which makes the character more gender neutral and can be appealing for women to identify with.
Nintendo’s troubles are in part due to its latest Wii U console, which many companies have refused to design games for. Games not offered on Wii U include the upcoming "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare."
