If you play computer games, then it's very likely that you'll have seen scantily clad women in adverts, or on the cover of a game box. If you play computer games, then it's very likely that you'll be male. These two things are obviously not a coincidence, but is the way women are portrayed in the computer games industry a problem?

Women with big breasts and not many clothes will make a game box or advert eye-catching to the average heterosexual man. If it catches your eye enough to make you stop to look at what the box or advert actually says, then the marketing people have what they want. You're not going to buy a game if you don't notice it, and sex is an extremely efficient way to get you to notice things. The game doesn't have to be about sex, or even feature a woman in it: they are merely used as attention getting devices. And as long as people buy games that have semi-clothed models adorning the covers, the marketing people will put semi-clothed models on the covers of these games.

This is all well and good, but does little to suggest that pictures of women with big breasts plastered all over the place are a bad thing. And from the point of view of the games industry, they clearly believe that they're onto a winner. However, blatantly pitching your products to a male audience is excluding half of the potential market place. Many women find half nude models on the front of a game enough of a turn off that they won't even look at the box to see what the game is like. In some cases, women can be put off to even buy a game that they would otherwise have bought, because of the woman on the front of the box. It could be argued that these are minority cases, and the lost sales there will be more than made up for by the extra men that will be buying their product, because the box was more noticeable to them. Another point to consider is that the content of the games aren't necessarily appealing to women anyway, what with the majority of games nowadays consisting of fast driving games or of games involving a lot of bloodshed. These sorts of games are seen not to be appealing to women (please feel free to correct me, if you're a woman who loves this sort of game), and so the marketing doesn't bother taking women into account.

Unfortunately, this leads to a hobby that is not only male orientated, but which is encouraged to stay that way. Women are not inspired by the male orientated advertising, and so are uninspired by the product the advertising is promoting. Sometimes, the male-only aspect of the hobby becomes one of its attractions, and women on multiplayer games over the Internet can end up being insulted, just because they are women. Also, the style of advertising where huge breasted women (real or polygonal) is the norm, breeds a certain image about the product - in this case, it suggests that the product is for adolescent boys. While this remains the status quo, gaming will never be given the respect it deserves, and will be seen as the preserve of the sad lonely teenage kid, rather than available and open to all.

What do you think? If you have anything to say on the subject, then e-mail me and I'll write your responses on the bottom of the page (unless I get so many (hint, hint) that I have to put them on a separate page).

Wahey! A response already! This is what Amy has to say on the topic:

At present the games industry is dominated by men. Games are written by men, for men, and the advertising is aimed at men. Now men like women, and a scantily clad, big-breasted woman is going to catch the eye of any red-blooded male who happens to be passing a computer games display, or flicking through a magazine. So woman are used to sell computer games (and motorbikes, sports cars, etc...). Some people would say that the picture is designed to catch the eye, then when the customer picks up the box they can learn about the game. However, I am less likely to buy a game, such as SiN, with a half-dressed woman on the front, because it implies to me that they are basing their advertising on women, and not on the content of the game. When I buy a game I want lasting gameplay, detailed, smooth graphics and good sound effects, not a pretty box.

Another difference between me and the majority of gamers is our attitude to violence. Men tend to like the glorified violence of a beat-em-up such as Street Fighter, or a first person shooter such as Quake, or Half-life. The violent content of many games often discourages women from playing, who tend to be less aggressive than men. I believe that this difference is due to society’s attitudes towards the two sexes, especially manifest in the differences in upbringing. The stereotypical boy will enjoy playing with toy guns, and will participate in contact sports, such as rugby. Girls will stereotypically enjoy playing with dolls, and will take part in less rough sports. In my opinion, this is left over from when childhood for boys was preparation for hunting, and girls learned to cook, clean and look after children. Now the world is changing and women are beginning to get more opportunities to work as men’s equals (and it is more socially acceptable for men to stay home), and I believe that this will become reflected in our treatment of children. However, it is bound to be a slow process and I feel that in order to make gaming more appealing to women, there should be more women involved in the design and production of games.

At the moment we are stuck in a vicious circle - games are not aimed at women because women don’t buy games. But women don’t buy games, because they are not aimed at women. I believe that the only way out of this situation is to change the games and the advertising, and aim them at both sexes.