The
Current "Girl-Game" Market
Mattel’s Barbie line of products, like Fashion Designer,
comprises 75% of the interactive software that targets girls and young
women. Much of the remaining market is comprised of
Cosmo magazine’s
line of similar products, like Virtual Makeover. I’m not sure Friedan
and Jones would consider these products that place a heavy premium on a
female’s physical appearance as progress in keeping with current Feminist
thought.
Efforts have been made to improve the quality of female-centered E-games,
but the results are decidedly mixed. 1997 saw the launch of Purple Moon
LLC, a company that focused exclusively on games for girls. Purple Moon
titles like Secret Paths in the Forest and Rockett’s New School
were 
among their notable titles that favored conversation and non-violent
problem solving as the core attributes of the gaming experience. Unfortunately,
Barbie dwarfed Purple Moon’s games in popularity, and in 1999 Purple Moon
sold itself to Mattel.
Clearly, the present situation in E-gaming doesn’t contain much positive
Feminist rhetoric. Do current trends in the discourse suggest that the
near
future will be much of an improvement?