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Console game publishers are working up a sweat in their efforts to win over a casual gaming audience.
Peter Moore, once a PE teacher but now head of EA Sports, says he has given himself some tough workouts testing its new Active personalised fitness product for the Nintendo Wii, but sees women as the natural target audience.
Women, consistently in the minority as game players, have been drawn to the Wii and the activities made possible by its motion-sensing controller. EA announced today it will launch Active next March, leveraging the popularity of Nintendo’s Wii Fit and its balance board accessory, which resembles a bathroom scale.
EA is adding other peripherals including a resistance band and leg straps containing the controllers - enabling monitoring of fitness levels within a personalised workout programme.
“This will complement the Wii’s balance board, which is more about the Eastern philosophy of fitness with balance and coordination. In the West, we’re all about getting a sweat on and getting your heart rate up,” says Mr Moore.
EA Sports core audience up to now has been predominantly young male players, who have bought millions of copies of Madden NFL and other sports titles.
“We’re in no way blind to the challenges that talking to a mid-30s woman presents for EA Sports, but we think health and wellness and fitness over the next few years is going to be very important to consumers.”
Other publishers are also targeting fitness and the female demographic on the Wii. THQ has just launched its All Star Cheer Squad, teaching cheerleading and dance moves using the balance board. Another publisher has announced plans for a pole dancing game.
However, Celia Pearce, co-founder of the Ludica women’s game collective, says publishers fall into the trap of seeing women as stereotypes.
“The problem is that when you get a bunch of golf-playing guys in a room brainstorming about women’s games, you get some pretty stupid ideas,” she says.
“When I hear pole dancing and cheerleading, I just cringe, because I feel they do not get it still. I wish these companies would hire more women - there are many freelance women game designers, mostly because they can’t stand to work in the macho environments of game companies.”
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