A Female Participant-Observer’s View into
How and Why Women Play Shooter Video Games
“All games are different, and only when more detailed studies have been carried out will
it be possible to generalize [sic] about the impact of gaming.”
~ The Economist
The videogame industry is the fastest-growing segment of the entertainment
media industry
; it has become larger than the box-office receipts for motion pictures and
is closing the gap on music sales
. In fact, the “…games industry is growing twice as fast
as the movie business, and four times faster than the recording or book publishing
. Yet, it is the most understudied medium
, even with climbing public concern
and debate regarding media violence
.
Videogame research that has been done finds that men and women play video
games differently. Some have found that “Suits” – men dressed professionally - show up
before work, during lunch break and after work “for a quickie… [which] can easily last
up to one hour. (They keep their ties tight -- perhaps to give themselves the impression
that they indeed will stay only for that mythical ‘last game’)”
. Although recent reports
show a growing trend of women buying video game software
, young women remain less likely to be video game players than young
men, and those who play will do so for less time
. In addition, women who do
participate in video games will do so less for social interaction rewards than men, and
more for the challenge than competition aspect of the game
Studies addressing gender differences in video game technology and video game
technology participation are important for at least two reasons. First, they call greater
attention to what is a unique medium phenomenon. Because video games provide
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Convention