14 DAY TRIAL // In a cruel world dominated by male gamers that only want to see naked chicks in video games or kill everybody in sight (at least that's what Fox News probably believes), women should definitely have a word to say. Jade Raymond is probably the first example of a girl that will never be forgotten by the industry. But, according to Sony, there should be more and we totally agree with them.
So, in order to turn their dream into reality, the giants have announced their project codenamed G.I.R.L. (Gamers in Real Life) in collaboration with The Art Institutes designed to educate and recruit more women into the video game industry. It seems that the male dominance is not so... dominant, since the ESA says that 38% of the gamers are actually females - and that's the reason Sony decided to make more games for females. But don't expect to see only casual, dogs & cats, cute little pinky games, since Sony is confident that girls dig FPS, RPG and other violent games as well.
"It's no secret to female gamers: Women are out there in significant numbers, playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters, etc. What is lacking in the equation are women behind these games and we hope G.I.R.L. can help support this program," said Torrie Dorrell, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Sony Online Entertainment. "SOE's program is a key component of our G.I.R.L. initiative because the scholarship will be the gateway for one student into this field of expertise; I invite other publishers to join us in supporting this initiative."
This decision came after a survey that interviewed female students currently enrolled in Game Art & Design, Visual & Game Programming and Visual Effects & Motion Graphics at The Art Institutes schools. According to the results, 61% of the students believe male dominance in the industry is a deterrent to women pursuing a career in gaming, while 31% of those surveyed want to become involved in gaming because more women need to represent the industry. And, boy, wouldn't we like to see some more main female characters in the future games, with all this revolutionary technology that is able to make things seem more natural!
We'll have to wait a little bit, though, since Sony's GIRL project will begin on the 1st of April (hopefully it's not a joke) and only one girl will actually win a $10,000 scholarship and a paid internship of up to ten weeks at one of the Sony Online Entertainment studios. Typical male behavior: say that you need more females in the gaming industry and pick one.