In the "Hegemony Of Play", the authors ask - "Is it possible that the difficulty in producing 'games for girls' or games for adults, or games for 'everyone' lies in the inherent properties of the technology of digital games themselves?" (Fullerton et. al. 2007, p.4). I think for this particular game, I have noticed that my friends were more intrigued by how endearing the experience was going to be in terms of story telling. They were hooked to the game because they felt attached to the characters as the story progressed. This might seem like a trivial and already discussed notion but I think it's significant to note that a lot of other adventure games (that say are intended for "everyone") underestimate the effort female gamers will put into the game if they feel that it's worth it to see the entire story through. In the paper, "Towards a New Gendered Poetics of Digital Space", the authors have specifically addressed this idea as "Narrative Environments" and "Navigable Environments" (Fullerton et. al, p.6). They also go on to explain that exploring plot lines is an essential aspect in these games and that "the game becomes a space imbued with story and mystery to be discovered and uncovered".
Jenkins mentions that "The persistent images of blood-and-guts combat and cliff-hanging risks compelled boys to keep reading..." and that "Such stories provided fantasies that boys could enact upon their own environments" (Jenkins 1998,p.347). In "The Curse Of Monkey Island", a lot of the sword fighting scenes are substituted by a battle of wits by using funny phrases and amusing curses to out "diss" the opponent. My friends found this level of literary substitution to enact a fight scene very endearing. They were glad that they didn't have to go through a typical sword fight all the time and they thought the use of such literary techniques was integral to them being enamored by the characters of the story in this fantasy world.
Brenda Laurel has enunciated these concepts of story telling and its significance in games for female players is very familiar to me. My friend would often describe her experiences to me while playing this game and a lot of those thoughts were resounding in my mind while reading her book. She explains that "Storytelling is a nurturing art and not simply the transmission of narrative material" (Laurel 2001, p. 59). This is a crucial aspect that I find is often lost in adventure games. 'The Curse of Monkey Island' has a seamless story telling process that does not seem to be compromised by the consideration of player gender or intelligence.
Laurel also touches on better advertising techniques that should not lie to people or be disrespectful to them (Laurel 2001, p. 94). I think companies should take this a step further and think of the real aspects of media that would capture the interest of female gamers, be it story telling, fantasy characters etc. and, build games that would be in line with their advertising strategy. I am sure my friends would play more games if they were presented to them as story telling mediums to other worlds rather than an another interactive medium that has "rewards". I think female gamers are more intellectually acute when it comes to recognizing good games and game makers should use that to their advantage instead of compromising on it.
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