I don't think that City of Heroes and City of Villains should be two different votes, just clump them together. And 5 to 1 that Wii Sports wins best sports game.

I don't want better marketing, I want good games, dammit! :P

(I know, I know, marketing ist product policy, too.)

That baby seal picture is hilarious. If only that was the real award.

Honestly, reading this, I died a little inside.

They're using this to mine data about the girl gamer market. Why? Why aren't they doing a proper study? Why "hide" it in an award poll? I hope they're at least getting good money for this...

Meh, sorry, I'm confused now.

Game of the year has a 4/5 chance of being a 360 game. Gamer girl's "heart" xbox 360... wii, not so much.

I'm curious as to why "Girl Gamers" are going to such lengths to promote themselves as such. Why not just "gamers?" I honestly don't care what sex of player I'm up against, I care more about the people that are trying to build games towards specific genders and the censorship of games.

@DashTheHand: agreed. this is pointless and counterproductive.

Well, I can understand being fed up with the whole "gaming is boys' stuff"-talk, and I can understand opening up a site that is showing the world that women are indeed gamers, too, and that MAYBE the industry should try to include that in its coporate mind and that there's more to games for women than Barbie and cutsie pets.

And there MAY be SOME women who shy away from gaming, because you sometimes COULD get the impression that the hobby is coming with a community just as sexist as the car scene.

Note that I don't want to say that all you pigs are sexists. ;)

But honestly, there's only so much t&a-advertising and -events (E3 *cough*) you can "tolerate"...

Keeping with the girl friendly topic, UKResistance gives the frag dolls a 4.5/7, which is a whole point and a half higher then I would give, so they must be fans.

http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/2005/05/frag-dolls-exclusive...

Second try:

Well, I can understand being fed up with the whole "gaming is boys' stuff"-talk, and I can understand opening up a site that is showing the world that women are indeed gamers, too, and that MAYBE the industry should try to include that in its coporate mind and that there's more to games for women than Barbie and cutsie pets.

And there MAY be SOME women who shy away from gaming, because you sometimes COULD get the impression that the hobby is coming with a community just as sexist as the car scene.

Note that I don't want to say that all you pigs are sexists. ;)

But honestly, there's only so much t&a-advertising and -events (E3 *cough*) you can "tolerate"...

Actually, the game being sealed with that little sticker could help a guy get his gal to play with him, right? No? Do I know what I'm talking about?

How about, the girl is particularily thickheaded, "hey honeymuffin, this game is girl approved! Will you let me play it now?"

No, no... that's not right. This is a ridic idea.

"This is one of many steps we will take to ensure that developers have the information they need from female gamers to help them market to us better."

Pretty sure that shows they're not "hiding" the fact that it's for the benefit of marketing.

@CallmeMongoose: I know, it's still not making me feel better. ;)

I can't say this is isn't counterproductive - it's not a very clear poll and it does smell too much like data mining. But I can definitely see why a push by female gamers for gamers is still needed.

I see it everytime I'm on XBOX Live - I never use the cam but I watch everyone who does and some guys are just vile. (Not all the girls are that much better, of course)

I see it every time I see another badly made pink-boxed game for 'giiiirls.'

But this isn't exactly a civil rights movement, either. More and more gamers are realizing these days that girls game, too, and not in the cliche way (puzzlers only & Cooking Mana). It's a bit of equality, not a feminazi thing.

I'm still annoyed by the FEMALE reviewer that gushed about how masculine 'Crackdown' was. It's ridiculous seperatism. We enjoy games.

WE enjoy games.

Everyone needs to stop with the division thing, but first the fact that division exists has to be acknowledged. Poll data mining isn't it.

(where the hell was 'Crackdown' on platformers, while we're shooting at the poll?)

I'm a guy myself, but I am guessing the reason that "girl gamers" are going to such lengths to promote themselves as such, and not just "gamers", is they may not feel they have the sort of social power that comes with a more solid "identity" (such as "girl gamer").

While it may seem unecessary to those us who don't care if gamer is guy or a girl, that perspective may arise from the position of comfort and power that the male demographic enjoys in this industry. Case in point: the "Games for Girlz" section or whatever at your favorite local game store

Is it really that hard to market to gamers who also happen to be female? Do they really need our help? Don't they pay marketing people thousands of dollars to be smart and know that stuff already? You know we don't like the way that we've been traditionally represented in the gaming world. It's been hacked over to death.

I think the things that attract us towards or turns us away from games are as varied between different women as it is between different men. Are they looking for some sort of magic formula that will appeal to FEMALE GAMERS? I don't think it exists.

The whole "girl gamer approved" things makes me want to smack something. I'd probably go out of my way NOT to buy something with that on it. The whole idea is that I wanted to be treated as a person with a modicum of intelligence when it comes to what games I like to play. I don't need your stupid seals to tell me what I'll like.

I agree this method is not the best, but at least they are trying something and complaining, and not just complaining.

I can't honestly say I care what sex my fellow gamers are as long as they can communicate when needed in decent english. (Well, provided english is their first language.)

"cn u hlp m3 w/ qust in starmwind?"
"Rephrase in english and get back to me."
"hrelp"

@Khaman: i'll agree with that

@Khaman: seconded

Wow. Just wow. First, they need to learn that you can't create an online poll with the first bubble of each option already filled in. That's design 101, kids. You do that and 90% of the time, the first option will win because people won't feel it necessary to vote in every category, leaving an option that should be blank, instead bubbled in with a vote for whatever game/genre/option was put into the first slot.

And "Worlds of Warcraft"? "Ghost Recon Advance Warfare"? Do they even PLAY these games? At least get the names right...

@Dashthehand - THANK YOU. As a chick who plays games, I really don't care about what gender it is that I'm up against in a game. And as for marketing to girls - just make a good games . . . we'll notice, I promise.

@Khaman: thirded ... though my ladyfriend just bought cooking mama.

This seems incredibly counterproductive. The whole 'girl gamer' agenda is fine by me (if a bit irrelevant; why should they be segregated at all?) but this, like most of the internet, is pretty retarded. They listed games in the wrong categories, messed up names, and made some really absurd choices. Seriously, I'm hoping the legitimate 'girl gamer' groups make a quick show of distancing themselves from this nonsense.

I don't really have a problem if girl gamers want their own place to hang out, talk games, whatever. That's fine with me.

But if they want to be taken seriously by the rest of the gaming world, they can't have a poll that horrible. Incorrect names, unreleased games, games in the wrong genre... C'MON! Who on Earth is going to take them seriously if they can't get the basic stuff right?

For example, I run a baseball site that will finish its first year with around 125,000 posts. How could anyone possibly take me seriously as a baseball fan if I didn't know what VORP, BABIP, or other baseball-centric terms meant or mislabeled them throughout the site?

This is a really sad joke.

@rocketpig: lawl, i'm glad they have your consent.

this is just an april fools thing. everyone knows a womans place is in the kitchen, not behind a controller

@SupRore:
I agree. They clearly have no clue what game goes where. It doesn't really matter though because this was a ridiculous idea in the first place. Who cares about this "girl gamer approved" rubbish? I sure don't need someone telling me what games I like. I'm a girl, not an idiot. Although oddly enough I did get that Cooking Mama game...and I enjoy it...

@skuntywrath: Because the ones on the controller are putting the grenades right up there next to the danglin' bros on your Gears matches and you're feeling the heat.

/admittedly also owns Cooking Mama DS
//Is also the one who went out to preorder Halo 3, the Cat Helmet edition

Is it just me or is Gears of War mislabled as a First Person Shooter?

/slashies ftw.

@Khaman: lolz. me has no balls. quite literally

@skuntywrath: Heh.

/had chosen to bake cookies rather than play a round of Crackdown once
//they were really fucking good cookies

Rayman Raving Rabbids is a platformer? More like a mini-game collection to me.

Either way, should girl gamers really go out on a limb to say we're "different"? Even though generally do have more interest in sims, RPG's and the like, we do like FPS/RTS games too! As a "girl gamer" I'd rather be lumped in a gender non-specific category as a "gamer", rather than try to promote myself as a "girl gamer". If we keep pushing this feminism into men's faces they'll treat us differently. Personally, I'd rather be treated as an equal raid member in WoW, rather than the "girl gamer" who, while being odd as a woman, has no input into the game as we're not game savvy.

By promoting outselves as different people, we're just alienating ourselves more and more. :C

Well girl gamers don't really have as much exposure males do. Though I do see more effort to include women in the gaming industry (i.e pink ds lites, pink ps2s, etc.) But I agree the overly cutesy games in the gaming stores make me want to puke. Not to mention that girls on shows like G4 don't exactly represent the girl gaming community all that well. But eh keep on truckin.

Oh BTW I don't hate Kotaku's gutts! I visit every day :)

Agree with Wuffles.
As a "girl gamer", I'd have to say what frustrates me about this most is that very distinction. I have no problem with promoting equality in the gaming industry or market, and I will admit that sexism is a problem. But don't try to remedy that by giving yourself a name like "Danger Doll" and waving a pink flag in everyone else's face. The best way to be treated as an equal is by acting like one.

can't we just shut up and play, read/write reviews/articles, look for gaming news where we can without saying "HEY, LOOK! i'm a girl and i'm playing a game"?

why make the distinction?
are you looking for someone to "give you a break" while playing? "don't hurt me, i'm a girl?"

finally:
who cares?

pardon me, but i'm completely sick of this crap.

To me, gamers are all the alike, yet each has individual likes and dislikes.
Do we really need to segregate gamers by gender, race or sexual preference?
Is that the goal here?

I have played with gamers who are female, gay, Hispanic, black, European, South American, blah blah blah. The bottom line is, they all want to drive fast, frag, and PWN you as much as any other gamer. The only notable difference I have seen is age/maturity.

With the exception of some smart-ass, prepubescent, haters, we are all the same, we love gaming.

first of all: what are they doing lumping the RPG/Action/Adventure games together?

and about this whole girl gamer issue, I say that: separate and equal is still discrimination! This is like a bastard child of affirmative action for gamers; The only logical thing that game companies should do is to make games less offensive to girls, not superficially and ineffectively more attractive with pink and cuddly, Japanese game companies have that market cornered already.

PS: love my coral pink ds lite

@noneother

Well, Cooking Mama is a fabulous game. At the risk of sounding like a typical girl, playing it made me want to try out some new recipes.

@ FranUnFine

Yea, I'm quite tired of being told "games are for men." It's frustrating to be told you don't belong in a hobby community because of your gender. The majority of players aren't so elitist though. ;)