Stereotypes Within Video and Computer Games

By Victor Epand

Computer games and videos are frequently subject to a wide range of popular stereotypes. As with almost all the stereotypes of course, most of those that relate to computer games are entirely inaccurate and out of date.

One of the most popular methods that has been around for many years is that computer games and video games are usually or almost entirely played by boys and girls either very rarely played computer games or video games, or perhaps those girls that did play video games are in some way geeky or nerdy.

In fact, back in the early 90s it was more often the case that girls were playing online web based games rather than boys. This statistic goes against people's assumptions absolutely and entirely and when games manufacturers and designers realized the fact that girls were the largest market for online game they decided to try to develop video games and computer games which would take advantage of this large market and began developing games which appealed more to girls.

One of the most popular and successful games developed in the 90s specifically to target this large female population was the Sims, which has since been re released and reproduced many times taking advantage of the increasing developments in computer and video games technology and with an increasing number of add-ons that develop the capabilities of simulation software.

Another assumption as common is that characters within video games and computer games which happen to be female tend to be either very sexist or at best chronically outdated stereotypes. In fact most of the female characters in modern video games and computer games tends to be very dominant characters, very strong characters, and characters that have a leadership role which actually portray women in a very positive and strong way.

Many girls who play modern computer games actually find that the female characters in the video games provide them with role models that help them in their own lives and that the strength of personality and the fortitude with which these female characters tackle issues and problems provides added strength of character to the girls when dealing with real life issues.

Whilst it certainly is true to say that mainly boys play video and computer games and in fact the majority of gamers tend to be male although even to this day female players form the largest part of those online gamers rather than video or computer based, is it is also true to say that within many of these computer games there are female characters which are grossly stereotypical and can in some cases be considered to almost be offensive.

However if one is to be entirely fair when launching such criticism at computer games it is worth bearing in mind that many of the male characters in these video games are just as distorted and grossly stereotypical as the female ones, although generally this seems to be noticed or complained about far less frequently.

Whether this is because boys tend not to be concerned about the stereotypes or whether they simply don't notice them is unclear but clearly it is not in the best interests of games manufacturers to include characters or images which could be considered offensive when the market for gamers is at its broadest.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about kids toys, dolls, and video games. You will find the best marketplace for kids toys, dolls, and used video games at these sites for kids toys, girls games, boys games, dolls.