Electronic Arts, the same micro-transaction advocates who love going multiplatform, also sponsored the recent Women in Games Conference that is being held this April. Electronic Arts' VP of Europe Online, Sharon Knight, said in that same conference that ignoring the female gaming audience is "a great waste." And before you get any bright ideas, she's addressing that to all the game publishers out there, and not you, bub.

Considering Electronic Arts had realized the potential growth of the female gaming bracket last year, this new comment by an EA exec is a big step up from saying that the games industry was "failing women." But consistent with their views, Knight's stand on game development was similar to COO David Gardner's: make games that cater to both men and women.

Now we've said it's all about catering games to gamers, and just not males in general. So it's fair to say that catering games to women only is also a definite no-no. Creating "pink" games still leaves the concept of female gamers open to stereotyping and that's not healthy. Knight reiterated Electronic Arts' stand on the matter:

If you look at how other media forms have tapped into women, for example, you don't see movies and music being exclusive to men. Women enjoy all forms of entertainment. We [at EA] want to avoid making 'pink games.' Women enjoy many of the same features in gameplay as men do. The way EA sees it is there's a lot of untapped potential out there.

Take for example, The Sims: Sims creator Will Wright never developed The Sims with women in mind. In fact, it was supposed to cater to the "core" of gamers at the time: males. But when it came out, look who ate up all your afternoon gaming pleasure. Women are slowly crawling in to gaming, and not just on the casual side.

EA seems to be advocating that developers should contribute to the growing trend, introducing new ways of getting girl gamers hooked to the concept of gaming. Soon enough, they'll make great deathmatch opponents, RTS allies, MMO guild mates and a fresh breath of air in gaming-related conversations.

Start making small ripples, and soon enough, all those tiny ripples will make bigger waves. Make enough waves, you brew up a storm. So it's not a surprise that Nintendo's broader market crusader, the Wii, gets another special mention. Knight commented:

The Wii levels the playing field. You don't embarrass yourself--you can grab it and right away start having fun. ... [Wii games] don't require the same investment to learn and to master how to pick up and play [as other consoles' games].

There are many great women in the gaming industry, and we're not just talking about the pro gamer groups you guys may know about. There are the industry leaders - those with key roles to play in the development of new games we may be seeing in the near future.

Now, if the gals care to know more about what kind of responsibilities await them in the near future, we're letting them know about the upcoming Women In Games Conference 2007.

This year's conference is titled "Aesthetics in Play: new platforms, new perspectives, new players", and is hoped to help increase overall awareness of women as designers, consumers, and contributors within the constantly growing video game industry.

"The event was created as a forum to discuss a wide range of issues relating to women in games and to help develop ways of engaging girls and women in science and technology," said Emma Westecott, a researcher at the University of Wales' Synergy research lab. Synergy will be hosting the conference, which is expected to  have these highly influential females as keynote speakers:

• Sharon Knight, Vice President & General Manager, Europe Online Electronic Arts
• Alice Taylor, Vice President of Digital Content, British Broadcasting Channel (BBC)
• Karen Wilkins-Mickey, Diversity Staffing Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
• Dr. Mary Flanagan, Associate Professor and Director, Tiltfactor Laboratory
• Raina Lee, publisher and editor, 1-Up MegaZine
  

"Although the Women in Games conference is concerned with women and games it’s important to emphasise that men are very welcome as the industry needs a meaningful dialogue between the sexes if it is to move forward," said Emma, which should dispel any notions that this is strictly a girls-only thing. We like the idea, honestly, as healthy dialogue is often the route to true wisdom and awareness.

This year's Women In Games Conference happens from April 19 to 21, at the University of Wales in Newport, Wales. Those interested in joining the conference will find registration and programme details available at the event's home site, which is available at the read link.