On the contrary I actually like to hear what other people look for in games as I'm training to be a game designer.
Aha. That's why the interrogation and the lol'ing when I asked for something in return. Makes sense now.
As for whether my needs are being catered to, well you don't really know what my needs are so I'm not sure you can make such a bold claim there just because I am a male.
I'm sorry, that did come out wrong. I judged by your extensive list of current games, rather than by your being male. I can only envy you for having so many choices. But it's still a truth, that most games target males, though. It's kind of understandable, too, because more males are gamers. I can't say I know a lot of geeks like me. We'll just have to wait and see if there'll be a shift in the future.
Don't really see the big issue with guns and war personally (I suppose being in the Armed Forces has a lot to do with it).
That might be one of the cultural differences the other guy talked about. We're not that much into war. And don't start with that we had a war nearly a century ago, that's ancient history and we've been different since then. In our culture, the real heroes are for example the doctors without borders, who help patch back together the victims of other people's wars. Or the ones, who deny military service altogether and instead do alternative civilian service, helping people. I don't want to go too much off topic here, but there are indeed some cultural imprints that are just different. In other respects, too. Look at successful European games, they are mostly different to American ones. Different how? Judge for yourself.
After all every game in some way or another is based on violence (bar some sports games, population sims, or music games) even games like Divinity 2 and Dragon Age.
Sadly, yes. But to some people it just matters if it's guns and bombs or swords and magic. In a fantasy setting, I can enjoy playing a hero with magical powers. But there are so many psychological aspects at play. Mostly the enemies are monsters and that's why I can be sure without any doubt that they are evil and I don't need to have any second thoughts. I like to have to fight mainly monsters, but even the humans I need to kill are clearly evil. Also, usually I am given some special powers, so my magical character is detached from the real world. And I don't have any chain of command, I am responsible only to myself. And in games where I have a choice, I more often than not fall into the role of the good guy... sometimes the bad girls have more fun, though and I try not to be miss goody two shoes all the time. Except when the alternative bores me. For example Black & White 2; building nice cities that appeal to the other tribes is much more satisfying to me than rounding up the men as cannon fodder and taking the villages by force. But they did something right with that game, there are real alternatives for how to win it.
I understand the motion sickness thing but it seems to go a bit deeper than that with you.
Hm, I'm not sure I understand you. First off, I luckily don't suffer from motion sickness, but I know people who do. But I can't move around if I can't see myself. I simply cannot get my bearings when I'm disembodied. And I don't want to. It's not that I don't want to immerse myself into my character, but that I get a lot more enjoyment out of seeing "myself", if the toon is nice. And in reality almost everyone who playes those games isn't looking that remarkable themselves, but rather average. So why not identify with an avatar who isn't average? It's fun to me. I'm a big sucker for aesthetics. I wonder if it's different for men; in Risen they give you a terribly ugly character with a gorge the size of Mariana Trench on his face and call him 'handsome'. Do men feel better about themselves if they feel they look better in real life than their avatar? Serious question, don't intend to mock or anything.
Let me know if this is still being helpful or if it's too subjective to be useful for your studies.
PS: I dunno about the majority of players, but I personally am fed up with the modern games of the sort you play once (you 'beat it', hate that phrase) and discard it, never to be seen again. I like games that I still remember years after I've played them first and I go and replay them (Besides B&W, Fahrenheit comes to mind just now - Indigo Prophecy it was called in the US IIRC). I've played the Witcher about half a dozen times and it was different each time (other choices and difficulty mods). Really good games don't get old and aren't forgotten that easily. Maybe not the best thing for immediate sales, but it attracts loyal fanbases, which pays off in the long run.
