Toys for the boys – not the girls

I enjoyed your Spotlight article on children and computers (MW May 28), but some of the perceptions and conclusions were naive at best.

Suggesting that current themes and imagery in games software hold little interest for girls is way off beam – girls are simply not prepared to waste hours on futile pursuits in front of a computer screen. Boys (and men?) are the ones driving the games market, a brief look at the advertising and packaging surely tells you this.

Quite where you managed to find such a tame picture of Lara “Tomb Raider” Croft I do not know. Readers familiar with games software development of recent years will know that this game is sold on one feature only – the female protagonist as you politely put it. Grown men are actually spending time and money downloading “Internet fixes” for this game, purely to enhance the appearance of her nipples as she cavorts on screen.

There are plenty of excellent PC games with, dare I say it, educational content available. It’s no surprise to me, but what a huge pity that not one of these appeared in your “top 14” listing.

Chris Hession

PC Services

Surrey