Q: Conversely, have there been any developments in the industry regarding female gamers that you applaud?

A: I have to admit that I haven't been that close to the computer gaming industry in over a year and a half - and even the year before that I was deeply involved with just completing my last game, 'King’s Quest VIII - The Mask of Eternity.' I am embarrassed to say that I really don't know what developments there have been in the industry recently regarding female gamers. In fact, I would be interested in knowing right now! I would appreciate it if you could let ME know! In thinking about a new project for next year, it might be good for me to know what new developments are out there in that regard.

Q: In "From Barbie to Mortal Combat"(Cassell and Jenkins, 1999), it is said that you were the first to include female protagonists in your games (specifically, in the King's Quest series), despite a fear that you would lose your male audience as a result. Please tell us what lead up to your decision to include female characters in your games, describe any opposition to doing so, and how the whole issue played out at that time.

A: The first major female protagonist in a computer game was the character of Princess Rosella in 'King’s Quest IV - The Perils of Rosella'. I purposely 'greased the skids' of using Princess Rosella as a major character in 'King’s Quest IV' by including her at the end of 'King's Quest III'. And then I did various magazine interviews to 'drop' the idea of using her in 'King's Quest IV' - so that people could get used to the idea. Still, in spite of all of my careful preparations, there was still some doubt as to the wisdom of having her be the main character in 'King's Quest IV.' Interestingly, though, the doubts were with people in the company, not with the computer gamers themselves. I never heard any problem with it from the players, but there were people at Sierra who thought that it was a bad idea, and that it would spell the end of 'King’s Quest.' ('King's Quest' - at the time - was the 'bread and butter' of Sierra, and so there were people who thought that I risked too much by tinkering with it.) My husband, Ken, though, was always supportive of my ideas, and he trusted me. Not only did it work, but using a female protagonist actually increased the sales of 'King's Quest' overall - obviously, by bringing in more female game players. My male fans didn't mind at all. They just expected a good game, which I gave them.

Q: Do you think there are significant differences between male and female gamers, for example in terms of gameplay or genre preferences?

A: Yes, I think there are dramatic differences between male and female gamers. This is 'generally speaking,' though - not necessarily in specific cases. Generally, men like games with more action - especially violet action, games with more hand-eye coordination, and games with lots and lots of strategy. Women tend to like games with more story, more character development, and more interaction with characters, games with solving puzzles, games involving the brain rather than the hand, games with a more social aspect, and, surprisingly, with hand-eye coordination games, women seem to like those types which have 'gathering' aspects to them, a good example being 'Tetris.'

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