For the uninitiated amongst you - girls are not boys. Furthermore, to generalise and alienate half of my readers, if you are reading this as a gamer you are probably a boy. In fact, let's go the whole nine yards: no one cares about girl gamers.
Now, while the WI sharpen their knives and the Croft-ites load their dual Colts, I might have time to explain myself. You see, games are for men. They just are. From the days of the acne-ridden bedroom coder to the lads-n-lager sports games of today the games industry has looked to male wallets - and the more wallets they won the more they targeted.
Great games, they say, have something you can't license. A certain je ne sais quoi. Games like Counter-Strike and Medal of Honour have that special something - however short lived - and buzzword enthusiasts worldwide have given this the moniker "X-Factor". Unexpected plot-twists, adrenaline-fuelled openings, blistering fast pace or moment of breathtaking graphical excellence - they all make a game that extra bit special. If you're a guy. Yes, it is a severe generalisation (get used to them) - but games aren't designed for the average girl. Except, it seems, just one.
Electronic Arts might be known as the antichrist of all that is sweet and holy in the gaming world, but you have to give them credit for being able to spot a classic in the making. If men flock to the X-Factor, then The Sims has the "Y-Factor", and it has it by the bucketload. It wasn't intended for female gamers - it was one of those revolutionary games in its own right that tried to put a skew on the genres of the time. But within The Sims lies a germ of gaming theory. And looking at the sales of The Sims and its oh-so-inevitable add-on packs (ranging from the kitsch to the plainly bizarre) the Y-Factor germ was certainly contagious.
What is it, though, that came across the sweet spot of girl gaming? Well, despite my earlier comments, generalisation isn't usually a good route to take. And let's face it there are plenty of them when if comes to sexism. But I think there is something about the brash hack/slash/frag/score mentality of most games that turns off many female gamers. Not all, as I'm sure everyone is aware, but many of the major games of today have a certain angle about them. "I'm not a Sims player, but it's also that I just won't play some games," my girlfriend explains, "I don't want to become a guy!"
So what is it that made The Sims so different? What gave it the edge? Well this isn't the opinion of a girl - but it is that of a gamer, so I feel justified to some extent. Though the staple heroine of Lara Croft or Jo Dark might boost some women, The Sims allowed players to, well, play.
There was no ending sequence or area boss. Nor was there a high-score table. But is did offer real character empathy - something severely lacking up until recently in most games - and above all else it offered playing the game as a mere option. Why struggle to save mankind fifty times over when you can sit back and relish the intricate beauty of the families you've nurtured. Who cares about ruling the world when you can host an all night party? Who cares about anything, when everything is possible? It's no wonder the simple lure of the flash-powered online toybox has proved so powerful.
Case study over, kids, and although the stereotyping was severe in places The Sims is more than an example of what has the Y-Factor. It also proves how lucrative it can be, with sales pushing 24 million copies and a sequel newly released. With advertising campaigns less than slyly targeting a female audience, there's no doubt about it - girl gamers mean big bucks. Publishers who hit the right chord with the girl gamer groups could be looking at a huge market share increase.
But of course, it's not all commercial success and profit margins. Nor is it all pink frills and happily ever afters. So-called girl gamers will allow - or perhaps compel - the developers to start thinking more about what a gamer wants. It isn't a new genre - it's a whole new dimension for gaming to think about, a new angle on the Software War. And this can only be A Good Thing. Girl power!
