Will More Gamer Girls Mean More Gamer Women?

A new Next-Gen Screen Digest piece takes a peek back into console market war history to see how Nintendo seems to have won out in the quest for that most elusive of goals: bringing a broader audience of women and girls into the gaming fold.

In the last console generation, Nintendo's GameCube appeared to lag behind as Sony and Microsoft battled it out for the twenty-to-thirtysomething male demographic - but time has shown that Nintendo's patience in luring a more casual audience has brought in ladies' loyalties, as well, with the cute lil' DS as strategic lynchpin:

Stuff We Already Know About Female Gamers: Now In A Study!

A report by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has released the SHOCKING findings (re: not so shocking) that 38% of gamers are female. The study also showed that the average female gamer played for 7.4 hours a week, with the most common platforms of choice being the Nintendo DS and the PC (particularly The Sims). According to the article on dbTechno, females are also the people who predominantly make up the casual gamer market. It was also found that many female gamers enjoy social games, such as MMOs.

Jeez, I feel like such a statistic. As a female who is permanently attached to her DS and spends way too many hours playing The Sims, I fit the profile they describe to a T (although accounting for all the DS-playing I do on the bus and Sim playing I do in front of the TV, 7.4 hours is - ahem - a conservative estimate). Does this describe other female gamers, too?

ESA report shows 38% of gamers are female [dbtechno.com, via Gamasutra]

From the awesome Subotron Shop, a retro gaming museum/store in Vienna, Austria comes word that they are currently looking for female applicants for their spring 2008 artist in residence program. The chosen entrant will receive free studio space at the museum and money to cover their expenses. The topic of this year's residency is Gender & Gaming and all applications must be turned in by December 14th. Past alumni include indie game designer Januz, street artist Space Invader, character designer Ryoskuke Tei, gameboy-sequencer Oliver Wittchow and that irrepressible troubadour, Jonathan Mann aka Game Jew.

Sounds like an amazing artistic opportunity and a chance to see some beautiful country to boot. To get all the skinny on requirements and such, check out the Subotron website which is presented in both English and German.

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