• Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:38 AM

More videogames than ever will target the female market this holiday season, reports Yukari Iwatani Kane, as publishers make a serious effort to develop mass-market games beyond the usual action titles that appeal to pasty young men.

Among the top titles is a new installment of "Littlest Pet Shop" for young girls and a series of fashion-themed games called "Charm Girls Club" for older girls, both from Electronic Arts. In August, Sony packaged a lilac version of its PlayStation Portable device with a "Hannah Montana" game. Ubisoft Entertainment is introducing "Your Shape," a personal-training game, but Nintendo, whose "Wii Fit" has been a huge success, is not sitting on its butt. Its "Wii Fit Plus" hit stores last month, and "Just Dance" will be available in November.

Making games for girls has "had a transformational impact on Ubisoft," says Tony Key, the company's svp of sales and marketing. It sponsors an all-female team of game players called Frag Dolls, to help promote women in gaming.

Financial firm Wedbush Morgan says female game players account for about 40% of the overall market, compared with IDC research firm's estimate of less than 12% in 2001. But studies also show that female users play games less frequently and for less time than males.

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