Opinion: Nintendo Thinks Girl Gamers are Idiots?
Ok, that’s it, Nintendo.
When you produced a bunch of commercials showing female celebrities acting ditzy over Nintendogs and bejeweling their handhelds, I looked the other way.
When Ubisoft announced that their new DS game marketed for girls was going to include “pretty” sports like horseback riding and dance (instead of sports like softball, field hockey, soccer, etc. ), I reminded myself that you created Metriod and were well aware that girls can handle more intense activities – Ubisoft is just a third party.
But Cammie Dunaway? I can’t fucking take it anymore, Nintendo.
In case you’ve been camping out under a rock for the past week, Nintendo gave an ill-received press conference at E3, and much of the presentation was centered around the insufferable Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo’s VP of Sales and Marketing. She came last fall from Yahoo! (that should your first hint right there), and I was actually pretty excited that a female gamer was getting up on stage, not just for a quick announcement, but really as the ring-leader for Nintendo.
And then she set us and the movement back about 10 years. Cammie Dunaway is that stereotypical girl gamer image that awesome girls everywhere have been fighting for years. At one point, she actually talked to the animated puppy in the video game in a baby voice. You’ve got to be kidding me. The day I do that, please, just shoot me.
It’s like Nintendo is giving the big middle finger to girls in gaming. No, I take that back. Nintendo doesn’t have the balls to give us the middle finger. They’re writing mean things about us on the junior high bathroom walls with dark red lipstick, and then smiling and pretending to be our BFFs to our faces. Well guess what, Nintendo. Becky Henderson told Jeannie Richards who told me that she saw you do it. You’re not invited to our sleepover anymore, so there.
But I digress. The point is with Nintendo using an overly peppy dolt like Cammie Dunaway to represent the world of female gaming, they’re really just further showing that they aren’t committed to the “hardcore” gamer. Nintendo, over the past few years, went from awesomeness to mediocre. I get it – casual games sell.
However, if girl gamers really do make up half of your target market, why not take that opportunity to push games that are more along the lines of Zelda – “hardcore” games Nintendo’s male fans have been playing for years? You don’t have to dumb down gaming for girls, you just have to introduce this newer, breast-toting generation to the awesomeness that is Nintendo. Hire some real girl gamers and give the tweens and teens buying your systems some games that will make lifers out of them.
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Well, thats the reason why i dont own a Wii, its retardrish
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oh and that is after 4 hours of playing it with a friend, we realized that its not worth the trouble.
Also, Cammie is not as much of a MILF as Perrin Kaplan was (not that Perrin was… but, get a couple of drinks in me..)
I wouldn’t say it’s girl gamers they are trying to attract. It’s casual girls and women who otherwise would have no interest in Zelda or any hardcore games. They like Nintendogs and Wii Sports. And yes they will actually call out to the dog on the screen and say shit like “Awww that’s so cuuute!” *smile*. It doesn’t make them idiots, they’re just like that. This sort of marketing works for them, it’s what they’re really honest to God looking for! And that’s not a bad thing it’s just the way it is… Every woman doesn’t have to be some bootstrapped feminist that needs to appreciate Halo. Marketing Zelda and other hardcore games to them is a lost cause. And the last thing you want them to do is make Zelda into a game that appeals to them.
Amen! If I see another girlie game with ponies or Barbies, I’m going to barf. The girl gamers I know speed away from the cops in GTA, kick butt on drums in Rock Band, slice the heads off murlocs in WoW… ok, so maybe we occasionally play the Sims, but that’s only to use the unlimited money cheat to build an insane house and then lock said Sim in the bathroom until they learn their lesson not to piss on the kitchen floor…. *cough* I think I should go to sleep. It’s way past my bedtime.
Nintendo is giving everyone the middle finger right now, everyone that really actually should matter to them, you know…us the ones who did play Metroid, Zelda and Mario? Everyone should be up in arms about Nintendo’s stance.
Its ridiculous!
they are idiots…except a handful of the attractive girls who can actually play and i certainly don’t mind losing to them. nintendo knows what their audience’s capabilities are and they’re making the correct decisions with their products. women are made only for sex, to have babies and a few other minor tasks. that’s it. if i’m president i’d send all of them except the good looking, smart, and athletic women to the middle east or anywhere in the world where every1 there use them as work-horses. lol thank goodness for the scientists who clones things and those who produces test tube babies. it’s time to get rid of the fat, ugly and dumb ppl in the world starting w/the women in america. america is beautiful. i really should run for presidency. i’m just too good to pass it up. vote for me; an independent. haha
Say no to drugs, kids.
I do not think that Nintendo has set out to ostracize female gamers. It should be pretty clear by now that Nintendo is developing this system for the casual gamer. I really think that this “next-gen” war is between Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo has their niche.
If hardcore gaming is what you want, don’t buy the Wii. I purchased NCAA 2009 All Play, and I was extremely disappointed. However, it was designed for the casual gamer in mind. It will be great for them.
We’re all getting a slap in the face by Nintendo if you hadn’t noticed. Well, the “core” gamers, anyway
Regardless, I can see what you mean. It’s likely that they really aren’t out to set a stereotype or influence, and this is just… this is just Cammie Dunaway. It doesn’t make me think otherwise, though. In fact, the first thing that came to mind was Scott Ramsoomair’s take on the Japanese.
***Edit***
“It doesn’t make me forget about the possibility of other motives, though.”
WHAT? I don’t get it! She’s totally rad!! She snowbordaded and broke her wrist and after that she did it again, only now with SHAUN freaking WHITE!!
Now, really, I don’t think that Cammie was there to appeal to a “girl gamer” audience, but to appeal to a “casual” audience, to people who don’t usually play videogames. But her rather psycho smiley face scared the shit out of me…
[...] *Nintendo needs to keep Cammie in the offices *1:1 MotionPlus *Wii Speak *Wii Music (gif by jarosh, check out his work, he is fucking [...]
Its clear woman should stick to cooking and looking after the household… lol, I kid I kid.
But seriously what kind of games are girls looking to play anyhow? I don’t know a single girl that even owns a gaming console, let alone plays video games (other than random girls on the internet). Maybe I’m missing something, but the market just seems to small to even bother with, they would lose too much money making these games and not selling them because of this.
honestly I dont think girl gamers will ever get taken seriously due to the fact its a male industry. Its like women who are doctors, how many years did it take before men actully accepted women in this field.? Alot.
I wish the industry would just state a person who plays games is a person who plays games. There is no girl gamers guy gamers.,,,,, You have causual gamers who like barbie games and lets cook mamma and stuff like that. and you have your gamers who like guitar hero, grand theft auto etc. and your hard core gamers who will play an RPG from sun up to sun down.