Play’s Republic

Japanese Marketers Target Gamer Girls, Moms
By Chris Kohler

“Initially taken off guard, Japan’s game makers are now in the grip of girl fever — scrambling to market directly to women gamers who were once ignored.”

Part of what I find interesting about this is that many of the games described might be placed in the rather infamous “pink games” category which has been the subject of so much controversy and debate here in the states. (Also, yes, I’ve been spending a lot of time with From Barbie to Mortal Kombat lately. Sometimes I just don’t know what to do about this sort of this. As much as I get angry over the aggressive “pinking” of toys– I’m as appalled by what’s been done to Dora the Explorer as most feminists are– there’s also this part of me that feels like maybe you’ve got to start somewhere? I’m not sure.

To be honest, I also haven’t seen any really solid cross-section of recent stats on gaming, internet usage, technology and the spectrum of gender representation across them. I’d love to see some recent numbers, if anyone’s got a good link.