Digital Gaming and Media

By: Jake Anderson

Most modern video games have a male point of view. I think this is due to the number of males
who play video games, compared to female gamers. An article titled: “Men Enjoy Video Games
More Than Women” (Kazak, paragraph 1): “It's not just a gender stereotype: Men enjoy playing
video games more than women because of how their brains react to the games. A new study by
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers has found the part of the brain that
generates rewarding feelings is activated more in men than women when playing video
games.” Another quote from (Brandt, paragraph 1): “Stanford University School of
Medicine researchers have shown that the part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings is
more activated in men than women during video-game play.” This isn’t to say men are better
then women at video games, just men prefer playing video games to women. I think this has a
major influence on how games are developed, if more males play video games, the more male
dominant games are created. I think a more diverse platform would bring value to the
community, having a more advanced character customization, and more inclusive story lines,
not just males.

Video games have addictive components. People are realizing this and speaking out against it.
People are also concerned with misogynistic aspects of video games. These topics being
exposed could negatively affect the gaming industry. The addictive components of gaming have
negative consequences on the players too, (Campbell, paragraph 6) states: "From recognizing
high scores to incorporating various difficulty settings (encouraging players to try easy, medium,
and hard versions) and levels that gradually increase in complexity, designers provide constant
in-game incentives for obsessive play." This “obsessive” play leads to addiction, and addiction
means more hours played for the video game’s manufacture. If this information is widely
known, it could impact how game developers create games.

Works Cited:

Kazak, Don, Men Enjoy Video Games More Than Women

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/

Campbell, Richard, et al. Media & Culture. Macmillan Learning,

https://platform.virdocs.com

Brant, Michelle, Video Games Activate Reward Regions of the Brain in Men More than
Women

https://med.stanford.edu/