17/11/2005 Blitz Games Talk

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This evening I attended a very interesting talk on "gender inclusive game design" by UK based game developement company Blitz Games. The talk was hosted by Kaye Elling, the Creative Manager of the company. The evening started off with a brief exposure to some industry figures concerning console sales and game player age demographics. She then proceeded to introduce some new concepts like male/female/neutral gender spaces which basically refer to places within a game that appeal to either specific genders or both. So for example, a strip club in GTA would be considered a male gender space, a hair salon in The Sims would be considered a female gender space and the mushroom kingdom in Mario would be a neutral gender space. Mario was a good example of a gender neutral game primarily because it is aimed at the younger demographic and hence would appeal to a wider audience. She also brought up some key game mechanics:

Chapter I: Action & Reaction
Chapter II: Risk & Reward
Chapter III: Punitive Systems

Chapter I: Action & Reaction

Situation in a game where an action normally made by the player results in reaction, positive or negative determined by the nature of the action. So for example you run an errand for an NPC character to finance the purchase of a weapon upgrade from a trader.

Chapter II: Risk & Reward

Situation in a game where you take a risk that would normally result in loss of assets like wealth, health, etc but for the sake of a sometimes even bigger reward. An example of this would be running through a danger zone which could possibly result in loss of health and even death just to get a weapon upgrade hidden at the final destination.

Chapter III: Punitive Systems

This refers to game systems and mechanics that punish the player in some form for failure. Punishment could take the form of restarting the game from the beginning or a loss of resources. A good example of this would be the game Hitman where there in-game save wasn't possible and getting caught meant failure which lead to restarting a stage. I understand the game was meant to be realistic but it sacrificed some fun at it's expense.

Based on the game mechanics she brought up above she then explained how females don't normally like taking risks and suggested that some "Risk & Reward" elements be substituted for "Action & Reaction" elements instead. She also brought up an interesting concept of how males and females view games, that males would normally say; "look what i'm making this guy do" and females would normally say; "look what i am doing". She rounded up by listing some aspects of games that girls enjoy like customisation, friendship, cooperation, interaction (with other players and NPC's) and that violence was only ok if justified like being provoked, stylised or comedic etc.

She concluded by listing two books from which she got her material and potential sources for further study, they were:

1. Gender Inclusive Game Design: Expanding the Market.
2. Chicks and Joysticks: An Exploration of Women and Gaming.

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