In 1996, a groundbreaking game challenged the male-dominated gaming landscape: Barbie Fashion Designer. This revolutionary title didn’t just cater to girls, it shattered sales records, proving the immense market potential for female gamers. In just two months, Barbie Fashion Designer sold over half a million copies, outperforming industry giants like Quake and DOOM. Its first-year revenue soared to a staggering $120 million, solidifying its place as a pioneering force in the gaming industry.
Bridging the Digital and Physical Worlds of Fashion
Barbie Fashion Designer‘s innovative gameplay seamlessly blended the digital and physical realms. The software empowered players to design unique clothing for their Barbie dolls. These designs could then be printed at home on special fabric paper, allowing girls to bring their digital creations to life. They could further personalize their designs with markers, paint, and other embellishments, ultimately dressing their dolls in custom-made outfits. While this sparked a wave of Barbie-themed design games, both on PC and online, Barbie Fashion Designer remains iconic for its unique integration of digital design with hands-on crafting.
alt text: A young girl playing Barbie Fashion Designer on a computer, focused on creating a new outfit for her doll.
Empowering Creativity and Fostering Tech Skills
The game’s vast design possibilities transformed it into a creativity engine, providing young girls with a powerful tool for fashion design and crafting. It offered functionalities comparable to high-end design software, fostering their creativity and introducing them to the potential of computers for both digital and physical design. Nancie S. Martin, Executive Producer of Barbie Fashion Designer, envisioned a future where girls, inspired by the game, would seamlessly integrate computers into their lives as essential tools.
Overcoming Skepticism and Proving Market Potential
The success of Barbie Fashion Designer flew in the face of prevailing skepticism. Retailers initially doubted the viability of “girl games,” dismissing the idea of a successful CD-ROM targeted at girls. Jesyca Durchin, the game’s producer, recounted facing resistance and disbelief from industry buyers. However, through persistent efforts and strategic television advertising, Barbie Fashion Designer defied expectations and revealed the untapped potential of the female gaming market.
Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Gaming
As Marsha Kinder of Intertext Media noted, the male-centric design, marketing, and packaging of most games effectively excluded girls. Barbie Fashion Designer, while celebrating traditionally feminine interests, challenged these norms. Its success ignited a broader conversation about gender in gaming, raising important questions about stereotypes, representation, and the impact of “pink games.” Does Barbie Fashion Designer, like the Barbie brand itself, reinforce or subvert gender expectations? Does it provide a crucial entry point for girls into the gaming world, or does it prescribe a limited identity?
Igniting the Girls’ Games Movement
Barbie Fashion Designer served as a catalyst for the girls’ games movement. Its success paved the way for a surge in titles specifically designed for girls, expanding the market from virtually nonexistent to over 200 titles in the US within a year. While Barbie Fashion Designer leveraged traditional notions of girls’ interests, studios like Purple Moon and Her Interactive built upon its momentum, conducting extensive research to understand and cater to the desires of female gamers. This movement sparked further debate about what constitutes a “game for girls” and the implications of gendering games.
A Lasting Legacy in Gaming History
Undeniably, Barbie Fashion Designer revolutionized the software and gaming industry. It opened up the software aisle to girls, expanded the target audience for games beyond boys, and introduced a new generation to the power of PCs. By tapping into the existing play patterns of young girls, the game achieved phenomenal success, proving that overlooking female gamers was a costly mistake for the industry.
