Gamer Gear for Women: Stop Painting it Pink

Pink PS3 Controller

Sure, it’s pretty. But it’s really not designed with women in mind.

Throughout the summer I’ve been carrying around my women’s specific CamelBak day pack. I’ve had it with me at cons to keep everything I needed within easy grasp, and I’ve used it as a carry on for trips. I picked it up on Woot a while back for $20, and it was well worth the investment. The straps are designed for narrower shoulders, the length has been adjusted so it’s not constantly bouncing off my butt with every step.

The CamelBak is not unique however. Every time I’ve bought outdoor gear that is women’s specific, the design of the product has been altered to make it work better for women. Contrast that to what typically happens with gamer gear, which is paint it pink. I have no opposition to pink (although personally I prefer purple or magenta), but painting something pink does not make it women’s specific, it makes it “someone who likes pink” specific.

There’s all kinds of specialized gamer gear on the market. But what I’d love to see is gamer gear that is designed, from the ground up, with women in mind. My personal biggest problem is with headsets. I tried on several, and they were all too big. None of them sat flush to my ears, and even on the smallest size none of them really fit securely. Controllers can be another problem. For me, the PlayStation controller just isn’t comfortable. The reach is too far for the joysticks, and I’d bet the d-pad for the XBox 360 is the same way (the games I play don’t use the d-pad much).

Women gamers spend just as much time and money as our male counterparts. We make up 45% of the gaming population. This is a huge segment of the market that is lacking specialized products. The company that comes out with high quality peripherals designed for women will have a wide customer base. I’ll be the first one saying “take my money.”

And I don’t give a damn what color you paint it.

2 Responses to “Gamer Gear for Women: Stop Painting it Pink”
  1. NeuroMan42 says:
    • Nicole says:

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