Game Boy for girls

I've finally bought a Game Boy Advance SP! No, I didn't get the Pearl Pink version, I bought the Pearl Blue one instead. Anyway, I've found that Nintendo Spain has a clever ad campaign to try to sell the handheld to girls-a group not normally the target for games. But with a huge library of games and with a number of them being the cutesy type, it's no wonder the Spanish marketing folks came up with this campaign to bundle the Pearl Pink GBA with titles such as Lizzie McGuire, Hamtaro Ham-Ham Heartbreak, Disney Princess, and Barbie "Horse Adventures". The campaign even comes with girls drawn in the now popular "chic"-style.

However, this bundling doesn't quite help to dispel the stereotyping of girl gamers. Must girls play the Barbie games? Thankfully, there are also other excellent games such as the various Mario games that can be enjoyed by both boys and girls.

Since there's the common association of blue for boys and pink for girls, who can blame the marketing folks for coming up with this idea of getting girls to buy the pink GBA? Marketing and stereotyping, they go hand in hand...