IGDA Chicago - Meeting Report

Meeting Report

Female Friendly Gaming

September 23, 2003

In a recent Game Developer [August 2003] article "Artist's View" columnist Hayden Duvall said "Since player demographics inform us that there are more males playing games than females, giving your audience some of what they want is good business." But a recent Reuters news release declared "Challenging the stereotype that video gaming is the domain of teenage boys, an industry group on Tuesday reported that more women over 18 than young boys are playing games and the average age of players has risen to 29." Along those same lines a recent Wired article discussed a new report that announced "The detailed results of the Pew study indicate that making more games that can attract a female audience is a big, unexploited opportunity for the game industry as it tries to become a truly mass medium." So how does one go about making a game more female-friendly? In this talk we'll explore a few tips and tricks to help you create a game that appeals to women without turning off your typical young male audience. This talk is for anyone involved in the game creation process who has any input on design or marketing.

About Sheri Pocilujko:
Sheri Pocilujko is Product Support Administrator at Incredible Technologies, Inc. in Arlington Heights, Illinois. An avid gamer herself, she plays all types of games from board and card games to PC, massive-multiplayer, and console games. While a volunteer for a collectible card game company she formed Matriarchal Society, a co-ed community whose goals were to help other volunteers increase their female player base and to help those females who were already players. Last year she worked with three other female developers on a panel for Game Developer's Conference 2003 entitled: Profiling The Female Gamer: A Look At How She Buys And Plays. She currently finds herself immersed in all parts of the development cycles of products at Incredible Technologies including Quality Assurance, Customer Service, and Web, Marketing, and Sales Support.

About Incredible Technologies: Incredible Technologies (IT), located in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, was founded in July of 1985. IT is the largest US designer and manufacturer of coin-operated video games, with annual gross sales of over $60 million. IT specializes in the design and development of entertainment hardware and software for coin-operated, consumer and cartridge-based systems. The company employs over 100 designers, programmers, artists, animators, sound engineers, service technicians and production personnel. IT is first and foremost a high technology development company. The company’s current strategy is to diversify into the entertainment arena with the development of low-cost, high performance computer hardware and software that offers innovative technology and exceptional return on investment.



		Meeting Report Female Friendly Gaming September 23, 2003 In a recent Game Developer [August 2003] article "Artist's View" columnist Hayden Duvall said "Since player demographics inform us that there are more males playing games than females, giving your audience some of what they want is good business." But a recent Reuters news release declared "Challenging the stereotype that video gaming is the domain of teenage boys, an industry group on Tuesday reported that more women over 18 than young boys are playing games and the average age of players has risen to 29." Along those same lines a recent Wired article discussed a new report that announced "The detailed results of the Pew study indicate that making more games that can attract a female audience is a big, unexploited opportunity for the game industry as it tries to become a truly mass medium." So how does one go about making a game more female-friendly? In this talk we'll explore a few tips and tricks to help you create a game that appeals to women without turning off your typical young male audience. This talk is for anyone involved in the game creation process who has any input on design or marketing. About Sheri Pocilujko: Sheri Pocilujko is Product Support Administrator at Incredible Technologies, Inc. in Arlington Heights, Illinois. An avid gamer herself, she plays all types of games from board and card games to PC, massive-multiplayer, and console games. While a volunteer for a collectible card game company she formed Matriarchal Society, a co-ed community whose goals were to help other volunteers increase their female player base and to help those females who were already players. Last year she worked with three other female developers on a panel for Game Developer's Conference 2003 entitled: Profiling The Female Gamer: A Look At How She Buys And Plays. She currently finds herself immersed in all parts of the development cycles of products at Incredible Technologies including Quality Assurance, Customer Service, and Web, Marketing, and Sales Support. About Incredible Technologies: Incredible Technologies (IT), located in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, was founded in July of 1985. IT is the largest US designer and manufacturer of coin-operated video games, with annual gross sales of over $60 million. IT specializes in the design and development of entertainment hardware and software for coin-operated, consumer and cartridge-based systems. The company employs over 100 designers, programmers, artists, animators, sound engineers, service technicians and production personnel. IT is first and foremost a high technology development company. The company’s current strategy is to diversify into the entertainment arena with the development of low-cost, high performance computer hardware and software that offers innovative technology and exceptional return on investment.