Video Game Girls

A Brief History of Games for Girls

In the early days of the video game industry, video game girls were few and far between. Even if you include the nearly androgynous, yet pink-bow befitted Ms. Pac Man, the earliest arcade machines and console software were quite lacking in women.

The diehard girl gamers found the games they liked, nonetheless, and the guy gamers went on their merry way, hacking and slashing monsters and military men. As the market ebbed and flowed, some gaming women found niches playing puzzle games and action platformers with cute characters. Other, more hard-core video game gals embraced the more violent games for their sheer play value and fun factor. Some games were just too fun to resist no matter who you were.

Even better, as the market moved into online games, the ladies had their first chance to display their own faces. The advent of avatars and skins in games like Quake let them personalize their gaming experiences. And they did, in record numbers.

As more girls started playing video games, publishers recognized a burgeoning market and realized they could actually appeal to a whole new segment if they customized their content. While many of the first attempts to attract females were anemic (and often overly pink!), publishers realized they were onto something. Soon, some of the classic girl licenses such as Mattel's Barbie and the ubiquitous Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were on the video game shelves along with their bloodier counterparts.

Today's Market

While many of the games released today have a broader appeal and are less keyed to a single gender, there are still games being created specifically for women. These games are often skewing to a younger audience where girls are more likely to be casual gamers attracted to a specific license. While this segment of the market is still somewhat undeveloped, some publishers are making inroads.

Of course, not all of the games that have high girl appeal actually have women as characters. Many of the cuter cartoon characters have been found to attract a female gaming audience. Nintendo seems to be especially attuned to this as they have shown with characters such as Yoshi and Mario. In general, RPGs also have a strong female following, puzzle games continue to be girl gamer favorites and new ground, such as that pawed by Nintendogs is attracting women in droves.

Some of the popular games sold today, specifically marketed toward video game girls include:

• All of the Nancy Drew computer games: solve mysteries with a classic female heroine and her friends
• Mario Kart (all Nintendo platforms): an arcade style racer with a variety of cartoon character drivers including the ever-so-cute Yoshi and Princess Peach.
• Mattel's Barbie line has a number of popular software products; their Barbie Fashion Designer was one of the breakout girl games and one of their newest is Barbie Fashion Show
• Polly Pocket console games
• Strawberry Shortcake software
• Power Puff Girl console games
• Dora the Explorer Activity software and Games
• Disney licenses including the Disney princesses, Cinderella for Game Boy Advance and Lizzie McGuire

Have a favorite "girl game"? Tell us what it is!

Video Game Girls and Sex Appeal

One of the first female heroine's in a mass market game appealed to girl gamers and hormone-infused young males, alike. Tomb Raider's Lara Croft was strong, wily and inventive, not to mention the fact that she inhabited a great game. She can be credited with making the game developers and publishers realize that video game girls would identify with an accomplished heroine and that guys would not be opposed to controlling a female character if she was sexy and appealing enough.

Now, a slew of video game vixens are gracing popular games, attempting to capitalize on the interest in video game girls.

Consider some of these favorite video game girls:

• Ada Wong in Resident Evil 4 is sexy and a bad-ass.
• Rayne, the star of BloodRayne 2. .
• For those who want a video game girl with a little edge: Ivy, Soul Calibur II
• Tina, the blond bombshell from DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball & DOA 3
• Vanessa Z Schneider from P.N.03
• Carla Valenti from Indigo Prophecy