Can we make good games for Everybody?

I’ve recently entered a debate with a Facebook friend about gender equality in games – the friend, a female gamer, claimed that we (the Israeli game industry) lack girl oriented games. She claimed that girls still play with Barbie dolls (even if virtual ones) and young boys have a many boy-oriented portals that encourage competition and promote imagination using fantasy.

My own experience is different, especially if we talk about Flash gaming portals and virtual gaming worlds (which are common in Israel) – it always seemed to me that digital games are very popular among young people of all genders, and that a data-driven industry as ours would consciously exclude female gamers as it’s not a good business practice.

I’ve answered my friend that the mere notion in which female gamers actually need a different content seemed to me somewhat sexist and offensive.  I gave this answer out of pure intuition – my personal views dictate that woman should be treated equally, and as such, can choose whatever content they like (and vice-versa, boys should be able to play with Barbie dolls, there is nothing wrong with that either). Segregation of any sort always seemed to me like a counter-productive approach. It must be said – I’m not educated in Feminism and I’m aware that giving equal treatment for both men and women isn’t always considered the optimum solution by modern feminist approaches. I try to act as I perceive right and moral. Hence it’s my opinion that what we seek is to treat everyone with equality and I base my questions according to that:

Feel free to comment, I would love to hear your opinions.

- Itzhak.