I saw this article first on John Dvorak's blog and thought to myself, "Self, maybe the world is catching on to what you've been thinking for a while..."
There are a lot more girls/women/ladies/chicas [whatever word you want to use... I don't find referring to myself as a girl demeaning in any way] playing video games than most people know or think. I'm not sure if the Nielson numbers reflect what most people think of as "video gaming" at all. I don't think these are PC and console title alone. I am quite sure they are factoring in mobile gaming as well, which is extremely popular with the ladies. ;) Every time I am on a train, or bus, I end up hearing some chick playing Bejeweled or Tetris on her cellphone while yet another young lady is playing some Metroid game on her DS Lite. The girl gamers are out there people, you just have to look.
Now, just when I was feeling all warm and tingly [in the good, non-sexual way] I come across this version of the aforementioned story on the 1up website, and I got pissed off. Why? Because the author was so sure and quick to point out that Nielson must be counting web based flash games and game sites like pogo.com in the study to get numbers that high. I don't know what exactly the Nielson research criteria was, but I was really offended by the idea that the only way female gamers could number that high would be if grandmas' in pajamas playing bingo were counted. [nothing against nanas' in pajamas, or bingo... I have love for both] But it's this kind of mentality that keeps many a girl gamer hiding her identity while playing on or offline. Who needs or wants the hassle of some dude belittling you before you even play a frame of a game because you don't have the same kind of "joystick" that he does? How childish is that? Why would you want to volunteer the information that will open you up for that kind of bullshit?
When I play online, unless I am playing with friends that I know, I don't turn my mic on. I don't want to have to explain why I'm playing the game, be asked constantly how big my boobs are, if I have on panties, if I have a man, if I need some dick in my life, or if I could just grunt into the mic a few times... just for fun. These are not exaggerations. From the first time I got online to play a video game until the moment I started writing this article I have been asked all those questions [and more] by other male players. And during that time I've run across about 25 females that acknowledged they were girls to me playing online. The one thing I noticed about all of these girl gamers was even though their mics were on, few of them spoke very often. Many were focused on the task at hand, but even in relaxed moments, few actively engaged in deep conversation or even instigated conversation. I've even noticed that on the odd occasion I'll do the same thing. I'll go online to play other people, but rarely turn my mic on... and if I do turn my mic on it's to let out a "dude, you fucking suck" here or a laugh there. Short and sweet, to keep the dipshits at bay. And even that isn't foolproof.
In any case, my point is girl gamers make up a large chunk of the gaming community, and come from many backgrounds... and there are way too many girl gaming clans that play Halo, GRAW, and DOA for me to believe that they are all on pogo!
There are a lot more girls/women/ladies/chicas [whatever word you want to use... I don't find referring to myself as a girl demeaning in any way] playing video games than most people know or think. I'm not sure if the Nielson numbers reflect what most people think of as "video gaming" at all. I don't think these are PC and console title alone. I am quite sure they are factoring in mobile gaming as well, which is extremely popular with the ladies. ;) Every time I am on a train, or bus, I end up hearing some chick playing Bejeweled or Tetris on her cellphone while yet another young lady is playing some Metroid game on her DS Lite. The girl gamers are out there people, you just have to look.Now, just when I was feeling all warm and tingly [in the good, non-sexual way] I come across this version of the aforementioned story on the 1up website, and I got pissed off. Why? Because the author was so sure and quick to point out that Nielson must be counting web based flash games and game sites like pogo.com in the study to get numbers that high. I don't know what exactly the Nielson research criteria was, but I was really offended by the idea that the only way female gamers could number that high would be if grandmas' in pajamas playing bingo were counted. [nothing against nanas' in pajamas, or bingo... I have love for both] But it's this kind of mentality that keeps many a girl gamer hiding her identity while playing on or offline. Who needs or wants the hassle of some dude belittling you before you even play a frame of a game because you don't have the same kind of "joystick" that he does? How childish is that? Why would you want to volunteer the information that will open you up for that kind of bullshit?
When I play online, unless I am playing with friends that I know, I don't turn my mic on. I don't want to have to explain why I'm playing the game, be asked constantly how big my boobs are, if I have on panties, if I have a man, if I need some dick in my life, or if I could just grunt into the mic a few times... just for fun. These are not exaggerations. From the first time I got online to play a video game until the moment I started writing this article I have been asked all those questions [and more] by other male players. And during that time I've run across about 25 females that acknowledged they were girls to me playing online. The one thing I noticed about all of these girl gamers was even though their mics were on, few of them spoke very often. Many were focused on the task at hand, but even in relaxed moments, few actively engaged in deep conversation or even instigated conversation. I've even noticed that on the odd occasion I'll do the same thing. I'll go online to play other people, but rarely turn my mic on... and if I do turn my mic on it's to let out a "dude, you fucking suck" here or a laugh there. Short and sweet, to keep the dipshits at bay. And even that isn't foolproof.
In any case, my point is girl gamers make up a large chunk of the gaming community, and come from many backgrounds... and there are way too many girl gaming clans that play Halo, GRAW, and DOA for me to believe that they are all on pogo!
Labels: Boobs, Games, Ninjasistah, quit, Videogames
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