It’s not just Gamestop but they’re trying to jump on the bandwagon of other stores. Those goddamn signs look like they belong in stores like Claires. Matter of fact, the GS at the mall where I shop is located in between two clothing stores that are marketed toward tween girls (you know, the ones who want to look like Mary Kate and Ashley). It’s a damned shame that when I go to a videogame store I have to sift through the shit games like the “imagine” series just to get to what I want to buy. Even the employees there are irritated at the fact that their company wants them to sell that crap. Real gamers (men AND women) work at these places, but who’s to bitch at the management who pays them?
As asinine as it is, this is marketing, right?

Augh. When Nintendo announced they were switching their focus towards the mainstream market, I died a little on the inside.

To be completely honest, the video game industry’s ad campaigns towards women have never really surprised me. When it comes to woman and young girls, consumer advertisers have generally always been douche bags. It’s kind of like a rule.
I mean, have you ever looked at children’s coloring books? They’re either blue and black with monster trucks or pink and white with princesses.
When it comes to new products dumbing things down with stereotypes is much cheaper than actually being creative.

@ SAm:

But you have to wonder, how many girls only like these things because they’re taking cues from media exactly like this? I remember as a little girl pretending to like things I didn’t really just because I was going by what media, movies, toy ads etc. were telling me what I was supposed to like as a girl.

Then by around the 5th grade I realized that was stupid.

@ Jay:

Yeah, heavily reinforced gender roles have always been a problem in the toy industry. It’s a big part of the social programming that draws a clear line between what little girls and little boys are supposed to do, wear and be interested in. And so many people grow up conforming themselves to this without even realizing it.

A girl can love Barbie as a child, no problem. And grown-up, sophisticated real women can having shoot games. I think that’s a fair trade.
But as I discovered, there is a fine line between the love of a little girl and a gaming little girl.
But by the age of 5 or so, I got into Jurassic Park and alll sorts of boy stuff. Including, as it seems now, the male VIDEO GAME Market.
For christ’s sake I have so many RPGs and Fighting games it isn’t even funny. I’m always looking forward to a new Castlevania, or a new, fresh look at Mario.
God, Game Stop. Stop failing so hard.
You failed with BR3, please just stop it now with this retarded campaign.
I never touched the imagine games and briefly wondered why they were popular when little girls can log on to paper dolls online or something.
Seriously.

Anyhow, Good rant. Good rant.

The thing that T’s me off, is that a lot of women play games that GUYS play. I play a lot of the blood and gore ones like Devil May Cry, and even God of War. My collection goes beyond that, and I’m even a WoWer, but not one of my games is the stereo typical girls one.

Maybe someone needs to explain to these people that the vast majority of female gamers doesn’t want something cutesy and pointless?

I love you for this, Sai. D;

While I owned a few “girly games” (Barbie and Powerpuff Girls) as a youngin, my mom’s the one that taught me gaming and she started me out on Mario. Plus I watched her play Doom. Yeah.

I hate it when I walk into the game store and get treated, you know, like a girl. Can I help you find anything honey? Are you looking for a game for your boyfriend? @_@ I have to put on my Gamer Clothes to signify that no, I am not some blonde ditz obsessed with makeup and gossip.

I think they should ditch the whole “let’s attract females!” campaign– it’s not gonna work. It depends on your parents and your friends and your own interests and mostly it’s false advertising. There are almost no truly good quality “for girls” games. It’s like advertising games to people who love movies, because movie-based games are usually AWESOME RITE? ;D

There is no other way to say what I was going to say cause Jay already said it D:

so yeah,

I agree with Jay 110%

The “Imagine” series really pissed me off when I first saw it on the selves of EB games, it just made me shake my head in disbelief because of the stuff they were coming out with for females.

Don’t get me wrong, I would really love to play the Cooking Mama series because it actually does contain real recipes that people like me, who can’t cook, can learn. I do love the occasional “girly game” but the ones geared at the female gamer population really is lacking.

I wonder some times, do the companies even consider that some girls may like playing games geared at guys? Does it even cross their minds that some girls may like chopping zombies up or gunning down targets, etc?

BLEGH. Lately, the movie store where I work has been advertising games directed at the ‘casual’ fanbase (and speaking of which, now I don’t really know what to call myself, since I’ve been calling myself a casual gamer but I’ve been playing video games since the N64, and I don’t give two shits about the community).

The ‘commercials’ that they’ve been putting on don’t even advertise new games. Two out of the three commercials (the other one is for Wii Fit) involve girls sitting on a couch, all giggly-like. One of the commercials involves them playing Brain Age competitively. The other involves them playing Animal Crossing: City Folk, and going OMG over all the CLOTHES and ACCESSORIES.

*headdesk*

@ Li

I know, right?? What’s this nut job thinking that women want social equality within the media??

I MEAN WHAT ARE WE DOING ON THE INTERNET ANYWAY WE SHOULD BE IN THE KITCHEN.

I was raised the same way as Tardy. I was given Barbies and My Little Ponies, but I also got a great deal of “toys for boys” from Happy Meals before they started gearing them specifically for girls and boys. I had a collection of movie toys, (Batman specifically!) as well as Hot Wheels and squirt guns.

I also grew up with my dad as my primary role model. I sat beside him through all 3 Dooms. He also played Heretic (briefly… I don’t remember why he didn’t finish) and flight simulators. He’s now currently obsessed with Ultima Online. For a while, so was I, but I became very tired of females having their own armor that was basically a bra and panties with a garter belt attached. I know it’s supposed to be renessaince (sp?) based, but jesus. WTF?

Nowadays, I like what I like. If I could afford a DS, I’d get the brain-training games simply because my memory sucks and I’d like to do shit to make it better. That’s all that appeals to me. As far as gaming goes, I love to KILL THINGS. I’m GOOD at it too!

I like RPG’s, but I hate all the talking. Is that bad? I’m always mashing buttons going “SHUT UP and take me back to the RE’s! I need money and looooot!”

I also play WoW, a game I enjoy a lot, sometimes. I have one female priest, but for the most part I play teh men’s in something that requires bigger weapons and heavier armor. 99.9% of females in WoW are played by men anyway. I might as well try to balance that by making 99.9% of the males played by women. It’s all in fairness, right?

Yes, I really wonder what the creators were thinking when they were making the “female” games. It really just pisses me off, because they just think that girls will love to play “dress up” over and over and over again….
Also, I think that the creators should just look up on some rants ABOUT their product. Just so they know they’re making some really crappy things. And I think only little girls will play the game, for what? Maybe, a week, then lose it? Or just get bored with it, and want another one?
And they put such crappy games on there. Like, why don’t they make a “Imagine: Waitress”. That will get you no where in the world… Or maybe they should just make “Imagine: Whore” because with what the Barbies and Bratz are wearing… They’re just asking for it….
And if you didn’t know, I agree with you 100%.