Girl Gamer

Ubisoft's "Imagine" Games A Dud?

By Vespaa 1 year, 1 month ago • 6 Comments

One of the most highly prioritized goals of video game developers this generation has been to expand their market to untapped, un-savvy consumers. While there are several groups of people that fit this description, the industry’s current conquest is an obvious, simple demographic they’ve only recently taken aim at — tween girls. Companies like Ubisoft have developed series of games like the “Imagine” series, a game designated for girls, which allows the player to take on a variety of jobs and roles, in response. But are these games really introducing young girls to video games? Or are they merely working their audience into a niche designed to prevent them from expanding their interests and trying new things?

The question takes me back to my own first experiences as a gamer, when I wasn’t even five years old — the late 1980’s. At the time video games were still, by and large considered “toys for boys.” Gaming was so primitive then that the array of color choices to appeal to girls nowadays, such as Coral Pink or Metallic Rose DS’ and now even a Lilac PSP, were not even an option. Yet despite any marketing specifically aimed to catch my attention, I was still interested in getting my hands on that clunky, gray, one-color-fits-everyone original, and ironically entitled Game Boy released in 1989. Had there been Imagine games available to me, surely my mother would have preferred buying those for me in place of some of my favorites at the time; Super Mario Land, Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, and Dragon’s Lair. Admittedly, had specific Imagine titles such as Imagine: Fashion Designer and Imagine: Rock Star been available to me at the time, I certainly would have enjoyed them. But with the deluge of games being released under the Imagine label, and now with developer Dreamcatcher’s “Dreamer” series hoping to compete, I can’t help but feel as if young female gamers are being smothered into a niche where they have little chance to be open to trying different types of video games.

While I really believe the intention of the Imagine series started out nobly, titles like Imagine: Fashion Designer providing girls with an outlet to encourage their creativity, while others like Imagine: Ice Champions, and Imagine: Family Doctor inspire girls to reach out for the career of their dreams in ways games like Super Mario Bros. certainly won’t. However, what makes me feel as if the series is now more concerned with making profit (Imagine games retail for $30 upon their release) are the “variants” of the titles. Is there any reason why I would want to play both Imagine: Fashion Designer AND Imagine: Fashion Designer New York? How about Imagine: Wedding Designer on top of that? Should I really spend another $30 on Imagine: Ice Champions if I already have Imagine: Figure Skating? If both Imagine: Teacher and Imagine: Teacher Class Trip sell well, will we be subject to Imagine: Teacher Detention Hall or Imagine: Teacher Special Ed? Will other developers jump on the bandwagon to compete with Imagine — and now Dreamer, with games perhaps called Fantasy Job, or Delusions, even? Insulting I know, but no more insulting than trying to compartmentalize the interests of your audience.

Titles like these are designed to pad the pockets of game developers who do little to change their “updated” product at the expense of little girls, and the depths of their interests. Games in this genre are further working tween girls into a niche by offering mostly feminine or glamorous jobs, which will net the developers more money by playing it safe. Why make Imagine: Cheerleader over Imagine: Astronaut, or Imagine: Master Chef over Imagine: Lawyer? Because the former are more likely to sell than the latter.

Imagine games are not the only series in this genre guilty of what I’m describing, too. “Petz” games or games about animals specifically marketed at tweens girls too, are cluttering up retail stores everywhere with seemingly no end in sight. Petz Horses, Petz Horses 2, I Luv Horses, Pony Luv, Barbie Horse Adventure, Bella Sara, Dreamer: Horse Trainer, My Little Pony, Horsez, Pony Friendz, and Bratz Ponyz are only SOME of the titles you’ll find hoping to ensnare a little girl’s attention. Many of the actual names of the games themselves are worded to specifically target little girls as well, using fashionable text-friendly grammar, like “luv” and ending words with a z. I can only imagine, pun intended, what a group of developers during the planning phases of these games must be saying to each other during their meetings;

“Little girls like ponies, right!? Let’s make a game about that!” And with that, is when it stops becoming the goal of developers to produce something meaningful in a form of media they love, and more about cashing in on the obvious for a quick buck. What started as a good natured attempt to design a few games designed to make little girls take notice has now turned into a storm of low budget, copy-paste games where profiting off of an impressionable audience is the first priority. I do however sympathize with game developers, who are first and foremost business owners. In an order to keep a business going, a steady source of revenue is of the highest importance.

While I do intend to purchase the new Lilac PSP to replace an older 1,000 model (despite Sony’s nauseating marketing tactics — “OMG lilac PSP. Girlz Play Too!”) even though I’m not much of a Hannah Montana fan. The selling point of a system should not be the “pretty” color it’s cased in and a doltish use of speech to market it, but the quality of the hardware itself, and it’s library of games. As a child I loved Barbie and My Little Pony too, but also adored my collection of Game Boy games, which would be considered distinctly unfeminine by any current game developer’s definition. If I had grown up in the 2000’s, and not the 1980’s/1990’s would games like the Imagine series prevented me from trying the games I love today? Developers need to break free of the mind set that in order for little girls to enjoy something, it should be wrapped in the most feminine colors and symbolism possible to cover up the quality of it’s content, or lack thereof.