Issue Date: December 17, 2006

GAMING

Girls wanna have fun, too

Credit Bratz and Barbie as two big reasons video games are no longer a "boys only" club.

By Melanie D.G. Kaplan

When girls play, we like to play nice. So it makes perfect sense that THQ's new stylin' adventure game Bratz: "Forever Diamondz" would be all about dressing up, accessorizing, dancing and horseback riding. Of course, the girls manage to be irreverent and cheeky in their own way, but there are no mobsters to whack or alien species to annihilate in this game. "It's all about nurturing, social interacting and making friends among the characters," says John Ardell, director of global brand management for THQ. "And a lot of picking out clothes and makeup."

In "Bratz: Forever Diamondz," the second video game based on the popular line of racy fashion dolls, you take on the role of Cloe, Jade, Sasha or Yasmin as they set out on a cross-country trek in search of the next hot young fashion designer. Players, you're told via on-screen text, have "no cellphones, no GPS, just a map and a keen sense of fashion." Along the way, there are character-specific adventures and mini-games letting you earn points -- excuse me, "blingz" -- that you can cash in at the shopping mall. In "agility race," you run your pet (selected earlier in the game) through an obstacle course. The Nintendo DS version lets you use a voice-activation function, so as the pet comes to different obstacles, you can say "crawl," "jump" or "zigzag." The better you've trained your pet, the better it responds to commands in the race.

The game, for girls ages 6 to 12, is fairly simple but entertaining. The most fun for fans of the fashion doll, undoubtedly, will be shopping for new Bratz outfits that they can mix and match. This part of the game reminded me of dressing paper dolls, without the annoying tabs and with more risqué attire. My paper dolls weren't wearing go-go boots or micro minis.

Although growing, the number of girls video game titles is limited. Even still, half of last year's top-10 children's entertainment PC software titles were Barbie games, according to NPD Group/Retail Tracking. Mattel, which released the first Barbie video game in 1996, recently rolled out two new titles, "Barbie Diaries High School Mystery "and "Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses," which takes 5- to 8-year-old players into a wonderfully girly enchanted forest, where they can pet bunnies and reindeer.

It's a little early to tell which mega-brand, Barbie or Bratz, will win in video game sales. But if trends follow those in the fashion doll world, competition for the attention and money of preteen girls promises to be anything but friendly.