A Love Letter to 'Girl Games'
This 'love letter' laments the cultural erasure of 'girl games,' arguing that gendered marketing since the 80s cemented a hypermasculine bias in the video game industry. It critiques how traditionally feminine game genres are dismissed, highlighting their untapped potential and the need for more diverse design perspectives. HN finds appeal in its historical analysis of industry biases and call for a more inclusive gaming culture.
The Lowdown
Bee Wertheimer reflects on her childhood 'girl games' like Pixie Hollow and Bratz: Rock Angelz, lamenting their loss not just due to server shutdowns but culturally. She argues that games marketed towards women are often deemed inferior and overlooked in historical preservation, leading to their erasure from game design canon and contemporary discourse.
- Cultural Dismissal: The article posits that femininity 'dooms' games, much like other media targeting women (romance novels, chick flicks) are devalued. This leads to a systemic neglect of girl games in preservation efforts.
- Preservation Efforts: Rachel Weil, founder of FEMICOM Museum, works to bridge this gendered gap, stressing that without preservation, future game developers cannot draw inspiration from girl games as they do from Super Mario Bros. or Metroid.
- Historical Marketing Bias: The 'boys' club' nature of the games industry is traced back to 1980s Nintendo marketing the NES as a boy's toy after the console crash. This led to games increasingly targeting teenage boys with violence and sexualized women, while girl games mostly existed as CD-ROMs.
- Educational & Development Gaps: The author's game design education centered on 'masculine' genres like Bioshock and Portal. This bias extends to online tutorials, making it harder for aspiring developers to learn how to create 'feminine' genres like dress-up games or pet sims, compared to platformers or FPS games.
- Industry Dismissal: Even those who overcome these hurdles face an industry that dismisses their work. Jenny Jiao Hsia, creator of Consume Me, notes that 'cute games' are often connected to 'bad game design' and dismissed as 'not real games.'
- Untapped Potential: While many historical girl games had small budgets and repetitive mechanics, the article argues that traditionally feminine activities and aesthetics offer a 'wellspring of untapped potential.' Examples like Consume Me's strategic outfits and Terry Ross's knitting-inspired Sweatermaker demonstrate innovative design possibilities.
- Call for Inclusivity: The piece advocates for more games that earnestly explore femininities, focusing on themes of magic and love rather than power, thus radically rejecting the hypermasculine reputation of video games.
The article concludes by emphasizing the urgent need to recognize and value 'girl games' and feminine aesthetics, not only to preserve gaming history but also to unlock new creative frontiers and foster a more inclusive and diverse future for game design.