Barbie Games and the Future

Barbie has made it 50 years, but the future remains uncertain for the fashion doll. In the last five or six years, Barbie gave up half of the fashion doll marketplace to the young upstarts, the Bratz dolls. A lengthy trial followed, and now the Bratz are part of Mattel again. But where does that leave Barbie?

Obviously she’s not perfect if half of her previous fans bought Bratz dolls instead. Yet almost every young girl in the country has had a Barbie doll.

Barbie games are universally recognized. The Barbie games are focused on fashion, but generally fashion that’s a bit more creative than you’d find in the every day. This makes the dolls and their dress up games more entertaining for most fans of Barbie games. Being able to dress up a princess or a mermaid appeals to us on a fantasy level.

But sometimes we want to play more realistic fashion games and this is where Barbie still has some growing to do. Bratz games are realistic. Barbie games are not. Perhaps Barbie will learn a bit from her competition.

Barbie Games and Girls

Girls love Barbie games. They always have it would seem. Fifty years ago, the founder of Barbie games created the fashion doll to give girls something to play with besides baby dolls. The success rate was almost instantaneous. Today Barbie games are hugely popular still both through toy stores and online.

Barbie games are almost self-sustaining. They have become such a part of our culture, girls need never walk down a pink aisle or see a single Barbie commercial to know who and what Barbie is. Every girl will likely receive a Barbie as a present at some point, and Barbie games might very well stay with her throughout the rest of her life.

Playing Barbie games involves going online with fashionable friends to dress up Barbie dolls. Playing dress up games online with Barbie is common and a game enjoyed by girls around the world. It’s almost become a right of passage.

Barbie Games Are Here to Stay

Despite being crowded out of the market by the offending Bratz games, Barbie games have rallied and are definitely here to stay. Head online and you’ll find any number of Barbie games spread over a world’s worth of website. There are Barbie games in every language and that is certainly part of the fun.

Barbie has a different meaning to different countries. Here she is simply a part of our culture. She is someone with us through out childhood and will be there for our children as well. In other countries, she is an icon worthy of collecting. In still others she is illegal, but girls still secretly find their ways to her various websites and games.

Barbie games are a good way to explore fashion and try out new things. Playing Barbie games gives you the opportunity to learn about the various styles that are both classic and current. Barbie games are simply a way to learn about a huge portion of our culture.

Barbie Games as the Perfect Gift

I love little girls – little sisters, nieces, cousins, whatever. When there is a little girl in the mix, Barbie games are the perfect present. Sharing Barbie games with little ones is as simple as buying her first Barbie game. There are so many different options available for Barbie games, however, that it can be a challenge.

Princess and Mermaid Barbie games are great for girls under the age of five. These games are fantasy based and represent the sorts of things that girls this age would enjoy being. Think of the princess and mermaid costumes the girls have to dress up in. Having Barbies to dress up in long flowing gowns and sea shell bras fits naturally into this level of play.

Older girls enjoy Barbies that have a bit more of a purpose to them. Girls up to eight or nine can enjoy Barbies that include campers, cars, houses, horses and occupations. By seven or eight, the creative mind is truly at work and the Barbies are a fun way to play with friends in interesting new ways.

Barbie Games and Change

I think that Barbie games are due for a change. I love Barbie games now and in the past, and I think it was great when the anniversary dolls were released so that we can see just how far Barbie has (or hasn’t) come in fifty years. But today, our focus is on the true diversity of our nation and at least personally, I feel that Barbie doesn’t truly reflect the differences.

There are obviously Barbie dolls of color. The trouble is they are obviously Barbie dolls who happen to have a bit of extra dye in their plastic skin. Outside of the darker tan and dark, long, flowing hair, the Barbie doll looks exactly the same. The face is almost identical between dolls.

Granted this is also true of mermaid Barbies and Barbies with purple hair, but maybe it’s time for Barbie to branch out from the single face she normally has. Would it be so terrible for the different Barbies to have a different face? Perhaps one that is more reflective of the culture they are designed to represent? If Mattel needs inspiration, they can look to their newest line of products, the Bratz games. Those dolls are different and look great for it.

Barbie Games are Featured in the Films

I love it when Barbie games are featured in films. My personal favorite Barbie episodes are in the Toy Story movies. There is a scene in Toy Story 2 that includes an entire pink aisle full of Barbies in their boxes. And it would seem that both Barbie and Ken will be making a comeback in Toy Story 3.

It’s been years since a new Toy Story movie was released and I, for one, am excited to see it. I love how clever those movies are and how nicely they blend toys from today and yesterday. I like seeing the classics while still getting a nice dose of today’s humor.

The Toy Story 3 movie has been the source of intrigue for some time, though. It’s not slated to be released until next summer, but already there is plenty of talk about it and the previews make it look pretty funny. It will be fun to see how Barbie and this time her guy, Ken, will do in the new film.

Barbie Games of Every Color

Easily one of the nicest things about Barbie is that there are Barbie games in every color. Of course, you have to look past the fact that there can only be so many girls labeled as Barbie, but for every blonde bombshell Barbie doll produced, there is one who doesn’t fit the blond mold. She might have pink hair and a mermaid tale. Or bronze skin and darker hair, but regardless of color and tail, it’s nice to see that such as classic doll has so many different varieties.

Indeed, I think it’s perfect that there are purple and pink Barbies in with the blacks and whites. Once upon a time it seems like you could find other ethnicities, but perhaps not. The variety of colors, both real and in the imaginations of young girls everywhere help to cement the teaching that color truly doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. We all look different, even within our own ethnicity and that doesn’t change a thing about who we are. Our culture can shape us, but it doesn’t define us. And the same seems to be true, at least part of the time, for Barbie games.

I Thought I’d Outgrown Barbie Games

There was a time that I considered myself much too grown up for Barbie games. I didn’t want to play with dolls anymore and I didn’t want to waste valuable socializing time even playing Barbie games online. I thought I was above such things. I was wrong.

Barbie games are hugely popular with very good reason. It’s hard to get away from something that has taken the entire world by storm. I played Barbie games as a kid and so did just about every other young girl in the world. I played them online and millions of other girls did, too. So now that I’m a bit older, I realize that I can stop playing the Barbie games for awhile, but I’ll never be truly too old for them.

Barbie games keep coming back around. I outgrew them (I thought.) Then I started babysitting and immediately realized how useful it is to have a couple of new Barbies in a backpack ready to go. I dug out my old Barbies for my babysitting charges. I then usually realize that Barbie games are something you really never outgrow.

Playing Barbie Games My Way

As much as I love the pretty Barbie dolls that arrive in the pretty pink boxes, I think it’s important to express my individuality by playing Barbie games in my very own special way. I like to play a bit rougher with my Barbie games than other girls might, but so far the blonde bombshell has been up to the challenge. My Barbies have seen the world and are wiser for it.

When I was younger, I took my Barbie games with me everywhere. Barbie got to ride inside suitcases. She rode on the seat of the car next to me. She survived over a hundred degrees inside a locked car – although her head was a bit extra squishy for a while after that. I think at one time Barbie might have even been a victim of car sickness, and I mean my car sickness.

But Barbie survived all of this with flying colors. She had only a handful of outfits to wear and none of her little plastic friends along for the ride, but she kept me company. We played together in the back seat and I spent hours learning to braid her hair. Barbie games for me were a right of passage more than just a way to pass the hours – although she did both well.