There’s always a big show of reaching out to young girls to get them involved with gaming. GameStop has had displays with “girl games” involving Barbie and Sanrio characters. Nintendo’s marketed series like Style Savvy and Nintendogs to young women. Basically, such events have had a sort of slant to them and offered specific titles as officially approved game for girls. While this has been unfortunate, as pegging girls for certain stereotypical titles, Nintendo made up for it with its recent Nintendo 3DS Girls Gaming event.
The Nintendo 3DS Girls Gaming event was held on November 5 at the Lightbox in New York City. Little girls were invited to come and play 3DS games with Laura Marano, a young actress known for Austin & Ally , Ni Hao, Kai-Lan , The Sarah Silverman Program , Back to You , and Without a Trace . Now, the event’s name and bringing in such a star would make you worry it’d be more of the same. Instead, it was more of a gender neutral event that got girls interested in games in the right way.
It all starts with the games involved. While there are many 3DS games that seem perfect for the stereotype of what girls enjoy, like Style Savvy: Fashion Forward , Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai , and Animal Crossing: New Leaf , none of them were at the event. Instead, games like Super Mario Maker , Pokemon Sun , Pokemon Moon , and Mario Party: Star Rush were all available to play. These are games anyone could enjoy. They aren’t overly masculine or feminine. They just offer quality, first party experiences. It was a great way to recognize that anyone can enjoy any game.
The marketing buzzwords were a good way to also set this event apart. One of the key taglines from the PR blitz sent out after the event? “Nintendo inspires girls to play the way they want, whether they consider themselves adventurers, creators, heroes, or athletes.” The wording is important, because it doesn’t eliminate games like Style Savvy: Fashion Forward or Animal Crossing: New Leaf , for the girls who might want those kinds of games. They both fit under the “adventurers” and “creators” labels. The other wording makes sure to let girls know that they can feel welcome to enjoy games like Metroid Prime: Federation Force or Yo-kai Watch .
Even the actress picked as the famous face for the Nintendo 3DS Girls Gaming event highlights the change in perspective. Yes, right now she’s known for a Disney show where she plays a singer-songwriter. But, it’s one where she’s something of the brains behind the scenes, writing the songs for Austin, the other person in the series’ name. And, if you look back at her repetoire, she’s got some serious acting chops. Without a Trace was a crime drama where she played the daughter of FBI agent Jack Malone. In The Sarah Silverman Program , a comedic series, she played a young Sarah Silverman. This is a young woman who’s played smart characters, ones who aren’t always the typical girly girl. She’s a great role model.
With its most recent 3DS event, Nintendo took a big step forward in acknowledging that little girls and little boys don’t have such different tastes in games. It showed that they can love and enjoy the same things. Which, while small, goes a long way toward asserting that there isn’t as much disparity as people might think between men and women who happen to enjoy games. It shows we can all equally enjoy and be proficient in the same genres, hopefully increasing acceptance within the hobby.