Girls and flying -- an interesting experience with the Kiwi

Jay Honeck wrote:


This last example is particularly interesting. I know my daughter
LOVES an on-line fantasy world game called "RuneScape" (spelling?).
We finally had to restrict her time on it, as it was getting too
addictive!

Not surprising. Online gaming is more social.

You don't get out of the Inn much, do you? :-))
There is at least one website devoted to girl gamers and game developers.
I do not remember the URL, it got alot of publicity several years ago
when a reported discovered it.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Um, according to the Entertainment Software Association, your 10% number is
way off:

"Thirty-eight percent of all game players are women."

From: http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php



I find that figure to be absolutely remarkable.

I've been buying video games for over 20 years now, and my son owns
both Playstation 2 and XBox game consoles. Between us, I think it's
safe to say we're video game veterans, if not experts -- and both of us
have noticed that almost no games are aimed at girls.

Disney has a line of games (all pink, of course) out now, all aimed at
girls, but they take up one tiny kiosk in stores chock-full of "guys
games". My daughter plays the PS2 very occasionally (she has a "chick
game" called "Spryo", about a pink horse...), but I have NEVER seen or
heard of any of her girl friends playing video games.

38%? That's...incredible.

Jay Honeck writes:

But I'm really, really surprised at the figures for game console video
games. If you walk through the video game part of Best Buy, there
simply aren't any girls there -- but you'll see dozens of boys playing
all types of games.

Girls must be stealthy video game shoppers...

Or someone is cooking the books.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

john smith writes:

You don't get out of the Inn much, do you? :-))
There is at least one website devoted to girl gamers and game developers.
I do not remember the URL, it got alot of publicity several years ago
when a reported discovered it.

One whole Web site, eh?

There was a company devoted to games for girls some years ago
(something-Moon as I recall), but it folded out of a lack of business.

I don't necessarily think that games should be written specifically
for either sex. However, the fact remains that almost all existing
game titles are written by boys for other boys, so naturally girls are
not that prominent in the market. And, as previously noted, girls are
more social, so games without social elements or online interaction or
something along those lines are less appealing to girls than to boys.
Boys tend to like things; girls tend to like people.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

"Jay Honeck" wrote

Well, to my utter amazement, the girls were absolutely dazzled by the
Kiwi. At one point they were fighting over flight time, and I was kept
busy explaining the flight controls and techniques. One girl in
particular (Becca's best friend, whom we have taken flying in the past)
was completely immersed in the experience, and was actually able to
depart from Chicago's (defunct) Meigs Field, fly the pattern out over
the lake -- and land successfully, on the runway! This without EVER
having piloted a plane (or a simulator) before, which I found to be
completely remarkable.

You 'may' have just ended Beca's aversion to an interest in flying. If she
thinks that her friends think flying is cool, then she may be much more
interested in staying a step ahead of them; to be cool in learning to fly,
herself. That is one way for her to be cooler than her friends.

Interesting; the turns and twists that life takes, isn't it? You make an
artificial airplane, only to succeed in making flying a real airplane an
interest for your non-interested daughter. I hope it plays out that way,
anyway.
--
Jim in NC

Jay Honeck wrote:

[snip]

.... My daughter plays the PS2 very occasionally (she has a "chick
game" called "Spryo", about a pink horse...), ...

[snip]

Jay,

"Spryo" is a dinosaur and I disagree its a "chick game" (maybe for
yonger kids of both genders, teen boys might be a bit outside their
target demographic) - a bit less "realistic" than "Halo" perhaps, but
my son has several of the "Spyro" games.


Merry Christmas everybody!

Randy

"Spryo" is a dinosaur and I disagree its a "chick game" (maybe for
yonger kids of both genders, teen boys might be a bit outside their
target demographic) - a bit less "realistic" than "Halo" perhaps, but
my son has several of the "Spyro" games.

Yeah, you're right. My 16-year-old son makes fun of it, but its really
not specifically aimed at girls. (I think he makes fun of 'bout
anything my daughter likes -- and vice versa...)

Merry Christmas everybody!

Same to you and yours, Randy!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"