Women and Video Games: Do Avatars Represent Gamers?
Girls and Video Games: Do Avatars Represent Gamers? Part 2 As stated earlier, companies have begun to market quasi-egalitarian games such as The Sims, World of Warcraft, and a number of console games that feature non-gendered creature avatars. However, developers have yet to even the playing field regarding competitive game play; in fact, games have been designed for boys since their debut over forty years ago. Because of this, male players have an advantage that most are quick to call superior skill. In an overarching generalization, studies have shown that girls succeed in tasks and puzzles present in games when they work in a group, whereas the opposite is true for boys. This means World of Warcraft, which allows players to pair up for small quests or find a guild of hundreds, can even the playing field. Half the content in the game is inaccessible unless one can recruit a certain number of people to join forces and use their healing or fighting abilities as a cohesive unit. The pro
