Game Meets Girl Plugs Educational Games Research

I’m always interested in links to this blog and how it is used in the net’s discourse on gaming. Game Meets Girl, which is a video blog featuring commentary on games from a female perspective, highlighted my post trumpeting the fact 40% of all gamers are women or girls. Take a look at the video here.

At 40% of the Market, Videogame Publishers Pursue Women & Girls

Yukari Iwatani Kane over at The Wall Street Journal reports today that publishers are introducing more video games than ever this Christmas season geared toward the female market, in a nod to the ever increasing percentage of women players. The thinking goes, with each 5% increase in female players, publishers will see an additional $1 billion in sales. The number of overall female players has increased from 21% in 2001 to the current 40%, as cited in stats from Wedbush Morgan. (I previously noted the same statistic reported by Ipsos MediaCT.)

Here’s a list of games the article mentions that are either out or forthcoming:

• Charm Girls Club
• FarmVille (on FaceBook)
• Hannah Montana
• Just Dance
• Littlest Pet Shop
• Petz
• Sports Active
• StyleLab
• The Imagine line for the DS
• Wii Fit Plus
• Your Shape

Finally, Guitar Hero and Rock Band have cross-gender appeal.

References:
Kane, Y.I. (2009, October 13). Videogame firms make a play for women. The Wall Street Journal, B4.

ESA Survey: Male/Female Gamer Ratio is 60/40; Average Age is 35

A new survey by Ipsos MediaCT for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) indicates 40% of gamers are female and the average age of gamers is 35. Other findings:

- 65% of US households play videogames

- 38% of US households own a console

- Women over 18 make up a larger percentage of gamers than boys under 17 (33% to 18%)

The new 2008 “Essential Facts” booklet by the ESA is available in PDF format here.

References:
Heflinger, M. (2008, July 17). Survey: Average U.S. gamer age is 35; 40% are women. [Online]. Available: http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/07/17/survey:-
average-u.s.-gamer-age-35%3B-40%25-are-women

Update:
Click here for info on new games designed for female players and how software companies are tackling this emerging market.