Dear Phil Rogers CEO of Eidos Interactive INC.,
I am writing this letter as a concerned video gamer, future father and uncle to two beautiful nieces. As I have watched my nieces grow up they are getting more and more interested in video gaming and video games in general. The problem is as they grow out of Barbie type games and into womanhood there is less and less games designed to interest them. They have grown up with Barbie games, dress-up and make-up games and countless games focused solely on shopping. Now as they grow older and tire of these mindless exercises in self-indulgence, they are looking for something challenging with stimulating female lead characters. Well what is out there on store shelves to satisfy this need? The answer is nothing, virtually no games for them to turn to. Don’t get me wrong there are games out there with female lead characters, they are just designed more to stimulate a man’s hormones, not a young ladies mind.
Your character Lara Croft from Tomb Raider is not teaching these girls anything but to dress provocatively and to carry a big gun. It’s a shame to because you would think the character of a female archaeologist searching for treasure would be more about science and solving puzzles than about looking like a streetwalker and shooting things. I have really yet to encounter a female scientist who has an 8 inch waist and a 46 inch bust. Don’t get me wrong I love playing Tomb Raider, even to this day, but what is it telling young women. You can be a scientist or adventurer but be hot and don’t wear anything large or loose fitting.
I think it’s your duty as a video game publisher to help create games that can have a positive effect on young females. Now I’m not proposing you lose money by creating The Adventures of Gloria Steinem, but there is a huge void in this market that you can capitalize on. There are young women gamers out there that want fun, intelligent games to play featuring strong female characters. They should have more options than Barbie shopping or overtly sexual female avatars. I really think you have the power to be a trailblazing company in this aspect.
People used to think that there was no market for games that the whole family could play. Now with the Nintendo Wii, there is a ton of money to be made with games for the whole family. My grandma hasn’t been able to use a VCR for twenty years but she can play bowling on the Wii. So cast aside those erroneous market research reports that show there is no profit potential in publishing games for young women. Take a chance and show the world that you can produce something fun with substance to help young gaming girls grow into gaming women. Who knows you might even stumble upon something that can make you millions of dollars in the future.
Respectfully Yours,
Kyle W. Nelson
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment