Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
game that parents can play with their children. Ultimately, games for this age aim for
immediate visual and audio reactions to controller functions and forgiving gameplay
with abstracted player character health that never ends in “game over.� You're respon-
sibility is to find ways to keep the writing simple and fun, such as in the Dragon Tales
hide-and-seek game or Winnie the Pooh on Gameboy. You'll also want to find ways
to justify the player being able to replay levels or choose any level within unlocked
tiers.
A real task is getting together a game that appeals across several ages. I've seen
a 7-year-old girl, 13-year-old girl, and 14-year-old boy all playing Fusion Frenzy and
equally enjoying it. In the game, you get to choose from different pre-made teenage-
looking characters of different genders and compete in a tournament of fast-paced
casual games. The context of the competition and the ability to test play a game with
simple instructions before playing it for points seemed to be the most supportive
features to cross the age divide.
For age-oriented games, the trick is to get the point across quickly and accurately,
to not waste anyone's time or lose anyone's attention. A little bit of humor doesn't
hurt either, so long as you're not making jokes only you find funny, and you can
localize easily.
10.2 Gender
As of the 2005 Independent Game Developers Association (IGDA) demographics
survey, 88.5% of game developers are male. It should be no surprise, then, why game
titles still tend to favor the male demographic. Even when females are acknowledged
as a market, again, it's the “middle-aged rural housewife� targeted for casual games,
understandably so, though, since publishers like PopCap Games say 60% of their
players are female.
Simple steps can be taken in any game typically targeted at the male audience to
make them more accessible to females. Repeatable tutorial levels can be one possible
key to give female players, and players new to the controls in general, a chance to
learn the technology without fear of affecting the saved game. If you can't get that
change made in the design, then at least think about the wording of the manual.
Freelance game writer Wendy Despain recommends using “her� instead of “him�
occasionally, when referring to the player in text found in the manual or promotional
materials, or avoid assigning a gender at all.
In games intended to appeal to both genders, it can simply be a matter of includ-
ing more material with female representation. Interactive music-based games such as
Guitar Hero and Rock Band include songs by female artists but could add even more,
at least as extra downloads. Here again is a genre of game where it's safe to refer to
the player as female. Slanting some of the clever quotes on loading screens toward
females will tell them the game is acknowledging them as players as well.
Oftenwhenyounggirlsaregiventheopportunitytodesigntheirowngames,
they're mostly concerned with narrative.
In my own workshops with indigenous
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