James Scalpello, wireless director of THQ, has claimed that girls don't play as many videogames as guys because they have different lifestyle requirements.
"When girls play console games, they have to have gone through a whole other list of things they could have done before sitting down with them," he told CasualGaming.biz.
"Guys get home, have dinner, and play a computer game. It's much higher up the list of priorities. To put it bluntly, girls have got better things to do."
We're not sure whether we should take that comment as a slap in the face for men everywhere, or that he's suggesting women can't afford the luxury of getting home and spending the entire evening playing Mario Kart.
Scalpello also claimed that "not in a million years would most girls connect to a mobile portal to download a game" and added: "I don't think there's ever been a successful game really pinpointed just for girls."
Clearly no one has told him about Nintendogs. Or the constant stream of 'Imagine' games Ubisoft keeps putting out.
UPDATE: 4.23PM We've just checked the source again and it seems that a few of the quotes have been changed since we wrote our piece. Just in case you thought we were making this up.
I agree.....my Wife prioritises the TV for watching bloody Soap Opera's.....hence I cannot get on and use the PS3 (knew we should have turned the spare room into a games room for me)
I agree.....my Wife prioritises the TV for watching bloody Soap Opera's.....hence I cannot get on and use the PS3 (knew we should have turned the spare room into a games room for me)
Shouldn't you have better things to do rather than play games?
I agree.....my Wife prioritises the TV for watching bloody Soap Opera's.....hence I cannot get on and use the PS3 (knew we should have turned the spare room into a games room for me)
man I hope I can see the days that I'm a good husband and a loving game freak like you. I'm a bit worried about my gaming future actually, still feels like all the joy I'm having now will be lost when I put that ring on my bloody finger. lol
Sex in the City watching and annoying us men (when all we want to do is spend a quiet hour or two on a computer game). Yeah, they are clearly better things to do
Yes; hair, clothes, shopping, make up and bloody hand bags. All of which are far more important than games - right?
You forgot to mention shoes and celeb gossip crap as well!!
Lets face it women have other interests than men and it suits me fine, I dont want to share my 360 or ps3 with the missus when I want to play GTA now do I?
Here here, I agree. Whilst we're at it, why don't we chain all women to the kitchen sink.
Furthermore, all men should be the bread-winners and drive big cars. Women shouldn't drive at all because they can't. Little girls stick to Barbie and boys to GI Joe.
CAN YOU TELL I AM BEING SARCASTIC???
How a company director can make these statements and not get fired is beyond me. The man is clearly a buffoon.
I play with several female gamers and they are almost as good as me, which is more than I can say for a lot of blokes (yes I mean you Dex!).
All of those women are (like me) looking forward to games like Resi 5 and Killzone 2, not the latest Barbie game.
Clearly the carpets are changed every 3 months at THQ, due to wear from the knuckles of the neanderthal directors roaming about the place.
I agree.....my Wife prioritises the TV for watching bloody Soap Opera's.....hence I cannot get on and use the PS3 (knew we should have turned the spare room into a games room for me)
Maybe she throws herself into the fantasy reality of soap operas whilst she dreams of a real man, not the idiot she married.
The guy has gotta tell that to my sister. She loves games.
Also my ex-wife was a quake2 player then went on to Everquest and Everquest 2. She was worse than me for that game... actually I would go to work and the lazy bitch would just play EQ2 all day... Man I am a gaming widower Lol
What he said is true..for the majority of older women. But girls brought up in today's society DO play videogames. Women don't just look after the kids and the home. I think he needs to get with the times, to be honest. And regarding his comment on no games aimed directly at girls..is he blind or just ignorant? Well, according to him, Imagine Babies and Imagine Fashion Designer is aimed at guys..yeah, okay..nutter.
My girlfiend would rather watch Eastenders or sex and the city than play games normally but she does spend a lot of time on tetris, sims and lego indy but she wouldn't ever put ever put time aside for them it's only if she has nothing better to do (in her eyes) personally I'd rather play games than most of those things.
Oh and my girldfriend hates nintendogs with a passion but she does own a psp (playing games like bliss island - arg!!!)
How about the Sims then, my ladyfriend plays on Sims 2 religiously. Although if she is content with a virtual family complete with virtual babies for the moment then I am happy!
Obviously by the comments many of you either are too young/dumb to be married or you simply married the wrong girl. I have a game room and a wife. We have different interest and we give each other our "space" when we want it. Don't marry a clinger guys, you'll never make it...Oh and don't be a clinger either.
My wife quite likes simple games like Tetris, Minesweeper and the original Super Mario Bros, but (her words) she doesn't really have the patience to learn anything more complex.
Although, having said that, she enjoyed Harvest Moon and absolutely loves Pharaoh...
My wife has moaned in the past when I've wanted to go on my 360 for 2-4 hours a week.
So I said well it's OK for you to watch soap after soap [Neighbours, Hollyoaks, Hollyoaks , Coronation Street, Eastenders. Or other random shows like The F Word, Peter and Jordan, Big Brother, Britain's got talent etc, which I have little or no interest in, and which clock up far more hours than a couple of gaming sessions.
She did get into Mario Galaxy and My Sims, but lost interest.
I agree.....my Wife prioritises the TV for watching bloody Soap Opera's.....hence I cannot get on and use the PS3 (knew we should have turned the spare room into a games room for me)
Shouldn't you have better things to do rather than play games?
Of course there are number of better things to be doing than playing games.....there are also a number of better things than watching fecking Soap Opera's ....still, there's always the pub
Well, it's a fair point. Sure it's sexist and everyone knows x girl who loves games and doesn't give the house a once over with the hoover everyday, but generally with stereotypes, as much as people object to them, they do come about for a reason and there's usually at least some grain of truth in them.
A lot of girls don't play games, are house proud and do lots of work around the home, think they're property developers because they watch property ladder and religiously watch the soaps from 5 o clock onwards.
My little sis is a bit of a gamer. Recently just beat resident Evil Zero and portal, currently playing shadow grounds.
I have had no luck finding a woman gamer to go out with. One stands out in my mind as she thought it was "Pathetic" her work collegues played multiplayer quake during their lunch breaks. Boy did her opinion of me drop when I said "SOUNDS CLASS!"
Still, as has been said again and again on these posts, while they are watching utter garbage we play games. Simple...if you have 2 tv's
What's all this nonsense about there never being a successful game pinpointed at girls?
There doesn't even need to be games specifically pinpointed at girls any more than there needs to be games featuring huge men with huge guns over-compensating for male insecurities.
If more girls aren't playing Beyond good and evil, even though it features a female character or The Wind Waker, even though it is about as cute as you can get, or the huge number of cute platform games that have been released over the years with relatively non-gender specific characters, then there is little more that the industry can or should do- it's always going to be played and commented on far more frequently, knowledgably, and enthusiastically by males with so few exceptions of similar female gamers that they are negligible.
Gaming was always for everyone- females didn't bite the cherry in big numbers- it's their loss if many of them prefer the humdrum, tacky, affairs of the soaps than going on an epic quest.
Ugh, what a load of crap. There are plenty of females who love to play video games, there just don't happen to be as many as there are male. Using gender stereotypes as a reason for that seems pretty stupid to me.
So what you're saying is statistically less women play games than men, but it's unfair to make a blanket statement that most women don't play games. Riiiiiight.
My GF like to play games just as much as me, she generally plays games we have now if I buy a new one she will try it, she won't read up on upcoming games just waits for me to get them (apart from MGS4 she loves snake) She is currenlty mad on army of two, likes unchartered, heavenly sword, and anything final fantasy. No doubt I will loose my ps3 for a few days when I get MGS4 or if 3 was anything to go by happily sit and watch me play through the first time. Finding a gaming girl is pretty tricky but finding one with your own tastes in game is even harder.
Obviously the numbers of female gamers are increasing. I think it is a fairly sexist industry and often the games that are directed directly at the female market are often patronising or half baked. The reality for me is that both my ex girlfriends dabbled in gaming largely through trying to support my interest. Both loved Zelda...one liked watching me play through horror games with puzzles. I think we all want something more engaging regardless of genre. I am fond of a quick blast on an action game. But Resident Evil 4 largely removed the puzzle component from the series that I always loved.
All gamers need new concepts...I think there is an art to making a game that is both fun and compelling to watch that encourages all non-gamers to reform their opinions of videogames before they even lay hands on a control pad or wii-mote.
So what you're saying is statistically less women play games than men, but it's unfair to make a blanket statement that most women don't play games. Riiiiiight.
Was that to me?
Didn't say that at all. I'm aware of the fact that it's a male dominated industry, but that sure as hell doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of women out there who are equally passionate about gaming. Saying that women simply 'have better things to do' is a stupid generalisation.
Women just don't see games the same way as men do, just like we don't see Soaps and shopping the same way. Games like Wii Fit, Wii Sports and Sims are appealing to them, similar to said previous activities.
For the sake of simplicity, men like action, big guns, gore and swearing (with the occasional nudity). Whilst women like more intuitive, visually appealing stuff (Soaps, celeb gossip, looking at cute guys butts lol). This is common for all mediums of entertainment. However, not many women can distinguish games that appeal to them as much as movies/magazines/tv shows can.
Only reason he says girls have better things to do is because he can't market to girls. It can be done, you just have to try.
Lets face it women have other interests than men and it suits me fine, I dont want to share my 360 or ps3 with the missus when I want to play GTA now do I?
I share my 360 and my PS2 with my missus. She really likes Skate on 360, Age of Empires 2 on PS2, and we both play Rock Band, and she plays it on HARD difficulty as well! She also dabbles in a bit of GTA4 from time to time as well! At one point she was obsessed with the original Rayman for the PS1 as well.
That sounded a bit boastful. In all honesty I'm just glad she's getting to experience some good games, and not watching s**t TV shows like Sex in the City.
For Christ's sake you guys can be simple. Please tell me that you aren't so naive as to not realise the reasoning behind this? These trends are not down to people's deeply held characters. They are there cos they are promoted by the people who can make the most amount of cash out of selling us s**t. When I started gaming, it made you an outcast. Now it is acceptable. Until recently, it was unacceptable for girls to game. Now it's fine. Why? Because the market wants its cut. Other markets ie. TV, mags and soaps have been saturated. I love games, but they are b******s if we're all honest with ourselves. Less so than TV granted, nonetheless, ALL they are is a fun way to WASTE your time. Why do we care on which media which sections of soceity waste their time?
So what you're saying is statistically less women play games than men, but it's unfair to make a blanket statement that most women don't play games. Riiiiiight.
Was that to me?
Didn't say that at all. I'm aware of the fact that it's a male dominated industry, but that sure as hell doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of women out there who are equally passionate about gaming. Saying that women simply 'have better things to do' is a stupid generalisation.
What's stupid about it? It's obviously a generalisation, and as such is implicitly about the vast majority of women but not all of them (as in, in general), and as far as that vast majority is concerned they probably do (think) they have better or more important things to do.
It's a fair comment (Women have better things to do than play games..most don't play games, so they must do!), and the only reason anyone would object (ooh, it's so sexist!) to it is because we live in a world gone mad and the slightest hint of a generalisation, fair as it may be, makes the PC hairs on the back of peoples' collective necks stand on end and quiver with righteous liberal fury.
It's so easy to get peoples' backs up these days that you've got to wear slippers with soles of ten inch foam as you delicately tiptoe around a humongous heap of eggshells and bulls**t.
Hmm, the comments seem to be a delicious mix of mysoginy and righteous indignation.
It is a generalisation but there is some truth to it in my experience - my wife loves her Wii, but she simply can't sit down and play a game if there's housework to be done (for example). I'm always encouraging her to take a load off and relax a bit but it's like she's programmed - MUST DO IMPORTANT STUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFF.
That's not to say she doesn't enjoy gaming, and that's not what the guy said at all. The reading comprehension in here is abysmal sometimes.
Yes; hair, clothes, shopping, make up and bloody hand bags. All of which are far more important than games - right?
You forgot to mention shoes and celeb gossip crap as well!!
Lets face it women have other interests than men and it suits me fine, I dont want to share my 360 or ps3 with the missus when I want to play GTA now do I?
that is why i forked out for a 360 just for her and she loves it - plus u need to have 2 TV's obviously because it aint about sharing a telly with the missus I can assure ya (especially when america's next top bloody model is on)
Women just don't see games the same way as men do, just like we don't see Soaps and shopping the same way. Games like Wii Fit, Wii Sports and Sims are appealing to them, similar to said previous activities.
For the sake of simplicity, men like action, big guns, gore and swearing (with the occasional nudity). Whilst women like more intuitive, visually appealing stuff (Soaps, celeb gossip, looking at cute guys butts lol). This is common for all mediums of entertainment. However, not many women can distinguish games that appeal to them as much as movies/magazines/tv shows can.
Only reason he says girls have better things to do is because he can't market to girls. It can be done, you just have to try.
Skreb, you are the kind of sexist, moronic, buffoon that should be working with the idiot sexist directors at THQ. Another thing, You probably have those blinkered views from lack of experience of women because with that attitude, I will put money you have never had a girlfriend!
Luckily my Mrs isn't remotely interested in watching soap opera's ant the like (she has a thing for Pushing Daises and Reaper though- but at least they're interesting). Anyway, she's playing Resi 4 on the Gamecube at the moment- and she's forced me to pre-order Fable 2!
my wife works on a pc most days so the last thing she wants is to spend an evening on one.i know quite a few female gamers,one of whom is at lvl 20million something on wow,and shes married,and she has a job.so far from "having better things to do",she does the bloody lot! she can also down a bottle of archers quicker than anyone ive ever seen.
Hmm, the comments seem to be a delicious mix of mysoginy and righteous indignation.
It is a generalisation but there is some truth to it in my experience - my wife loves her Wii, but she simply can't sit down and play a game if there's housework to be done (for example). I'm always encouraging her to take a load off and relax a bit but it's like she's programmed - MUST DO IMPORTANT STUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFF.
That's not to say she doesn't enjoy gaming, and that's not what the guy said at all. The reading comprehension in here is abysmal sometimes.
Well, despite being male I'm a bit like your wife in that respect! I won't sit and play stuff if the house is a pigsty...
And my g/f will happily sit and play NWN2 or UT2004 or something with me. Or sit there and play something opn her own. She likes games. I'm one of the luckiest guys on the planet.
- "When girls play console games, they have to have gone through a whole other list of things they could have done before sitting down with them," -
Like playing PC games first?
If that's what he meant, I can't speak for all the ladies but, that would be true for me.
Here's my list of priorities this month:
1. Age of Conan. 2. Second run through of Mass Effect (PC). 3. Trying to get back my interest for Assassin's Creed (PC) to finish the last couple of levels.
Geez, reading stuff like this just makes me feel weirder then I already do.
OH MY f**king GOD! Will you guys just stop being retarded Not all girls like SOAPs and shopping and shoes and hair and make-up and s**t I spend all summer on my ass playing video games I don't sit and watch retarded soaps It's stupid Along with this retarded sexist stereotyping Girls play video games Now more than ever. And you guys just need to get over yourselves and your stupid stereotyping.
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