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Gaming’s march into the mainstream has taken another significant step with the release of The Girls’ Guide to Gaming.
Publisher Black Dog Media has told MCV that the new title has only been made possible by the runaway success of Nintendo formats DS and Wii, and has criticised the ‘boys only’ mentality of ther past.
By marketing the Nintendo DS as a console for the entire family whilst Sony pushed the PSP as the latest new cool ‘boy toy’, the battle between the two was over before it could begin,” said Black Dog’s James Gale.
Nintendo didn’t want to fight over the same demographic as Sony, so they created a complete new one, a market in which it wasn’t only boys that played games.
Thus with the release of the seminal Nintendogs opening the flood gates for other publishers to dip their toes in the rather pleasant waters of the games for girls market. Then of course came the Nintendo Wii.”
Gale added that the industry as a whole has come a long way from the ‘boys only’ mentality of the past.
The market as a whole had been expanding beyond the male demographic long before the release of the pink Nintendo DS,” added Gale.
Yet these numbers failed to reach a level to grab the attention of developers thus the ‘boys only’ trends continued. So once again it’s hats off to Nintendo. Without their bravery to push the market away from the old boys’ club, I doubt we would now be part of a fresh marketplace, where female gamers have been given a long overdue voice.”
