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In reaction to Alice’s blog entry from E3, rightfully entitled Painful. Found via BoingBoing.

RANT #1: “But women are not going to go into stores to buy a game, however if you put it in the home and make it easy for them to get.. ok there’s a porn analogy here” - Jim Moloshok, SVP Yahoo!

Um, how many games have I bought in a store? Oh, that’s right, I’m not a woman because I don’t have a uterus anymore. (Sorry for the too much information, folks. All the “marriage is only for reproduction” comments in my local paper’s Opinion Line is wearing on me.) However, if they’re treated like shit when they walk into a store until they show up the help with their knowledge, they might not go into stores. Lord knows it’s probably happened to every female gamer (henceforth called girl gamer with no disrespect intended). The same thing happens to women interested in cars, computers, home theaters, football, hardware, etc. — anything assumed to be the domain of men. There’s usually a proving ground kind of thing: the girl has to prove she can hang with the boys. I’ve noticed that in some stores I unconsciously ask an esoteric question to which I either know the answer or don’t care about the answer so I prove I’m “tracking” and that I should be included in the conversation too. (This may also be the influence of my smartass boyfriend.)

RANT #2: “The joypad is a hurdle for most people. EyeToy and dancemats and microphones are really popular. If we don’t communicate properly and our marketing teams ignore the group, then we’ll never get anywhere.” - Gerhard Florin, VP EA

I agree with them here. Games on cell phones are accessible-ish. I do think that the DS will be very interesting — I can see my mom being interested by the idea of drawing a Pac-Man to escape monsters (Pac Pix). Using a stylus and drawing is such a novel approach that, if it works, might bring new gamers to the fold.

But part of it is that many women are busy and aren’t necessarily interested in investing hours learning something new. The quickest way to turn me off a game is to introduce a complicated mythology, etc. I have to be in a very special mood for that; usually, I just want to grab my guns and go. My mom isn’t going to bother with an RPG. My boyfriend’s mother (who wore out her cellphone’s vibrate function playing Snake on her phone) is through with her Tetris-clone because it’s got too much story and not enough game. Give my mom portable Russian Solitaire with a stylus on a handheld and you’ve got something. Can the systems do more? Yes. Does that mean that every game NEEDS to? No. If you’d release Pretty Good Solitaire on the Gameboy Advance, I’d be very curious to see the demographics. No Prima Strategy Guides needed.

See an exercise program with the DDR mat as an exercise program and you’ll make millions. That’s how you’ll get women in gaming. [Added 5/26: They're doing exercise games: learn more about Yourself!Fitness for Xbox.]

BACKGROUND: While my addiction to gaming comes and goes, recently resurfacing with reckless abandon, it is nothing new. I started very young, typing in the BASIC programs in the back of Games back in 1985 or so. Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me have a console, so I bought my own Game and Watch. I still have it.

Then came a PC with actual graphic abilities. I adored Barbie Storymaker (um, I still do). I have the habit of using software for preschoolers. I own Oregon Trails I - IV. I also love Carmageddon, so don’t call me a wimp. I was very into The Sims for a while, but I’m still burnt out on it. I liked the home decor options and used it more as an interior design program than a true game. I was able to play the first console game for a while, but no more.

My boyfriend fell in love because I won my first ever race on Gran Turismo 3 and something very cool happened. I forget what it was, but he was so proud that he saved the replay and showed people. We bought a PS2 together. I heartily enjoyed the Grand Theft Auto series, played part of Devil May Cry, and part of Jak and Daxter (on mute). Later on came the Nintendo Gamecube, which suits me pretty well. Animal Crossing is pretty perfect for me, although I followed my usual obsessive-then-burnout pattern with it. I suck at platformers, but I tend to gravitate towards them — especially since I like stupid kiddie things like SpongeBob SquarePants and Hamtaro. I like True Crime: Streets of LA too, although the draw distance is a bit short on the Gamecube. (I know, I should be playing it on the PS2 or Xbox). I like a lot of the puzzle games, like Dr. Mario, am currently enjoying the RPG Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga,

I am VERY excited about the 1990s Compton-twinged Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Silent Hill 4: The Room, and Paper Mario 2. I want a Nintendo DS. When I’m healthy, I’m thinking about trying Dance Dance Revolution in private to keep active.