DeathQuaker:

What I am saying is that your description of "generic girls" is not realistic.

I live a block away from a college bar street littered with young women who could demonstrate just how realistic that generality is. Trust me, I wouldn't want to hang out with any of them, which makes me wonder why you are so antagonistically digging for a fight here?

I mean who do you think is watching TMZ and Gray's Anatomy instead of playing Halo? It isn't frat guys... I'm assuming it isn't you and god knows I hate that stuff.

Just because there are women who live in a way you disagree with doesn't mean they don't exist or should be disregarded.

The same reason I find myself playing a lot of single player games.

annoying teenage boys online. I mean, I know its the internet, which is not known for its maturity. But the online community for any of the systems tend to be... terrible.

I'm sure most females which do play video games, only really play single player games.

axia777:

knottingam:
Generally speaking, that is. I realize that there are some girls on here; but it seems that y'all are the exception to the rule. I'm just curious: Why is the female-to-male ratio amongst gamers so low?

In general I think you are uninformed. Women game a lot. For example:

http://www.bizreport.com/2007/09/survey_women_own_more_gaming_consoles.html

So don't fool your self. Your anecdotal evidence is not the reality of the world.

Aww, but it works that way for everyone else! I want my anecdotal-determined reality too!

*Sorry, I forgot to take my smart meds today*

superbleeder12:
The same reason I find myself playing a lot of single player games.

annoying teenage boys online. I mean, I know its the internet, which is not known for its maturity. But the online community for any of the systems tend to be... terrible.

I'm sure most females which do play video games, only really play single player games.

Interestingly, the EVE Online community seems to have a disproportional number of female gamers, and also has a disproportionally high average age, ie, less immature kids. Connection?

Probably because they aren't required to inform the male population when they play a game...

and also has a disproportionally high average age

It's all the spreadsheets.

xitel:
Because for the longest time, and even nowadays, most of the games available were geared towards men. Nowadays that seems to be changing, with games like Mirror's Edge featuring strong female heroines that aren't incredibly unrealistic.

True but like Lara Croft, Jo Dark and wasn't metroid a girl? They are all strong female characters but are sexually appealing characters (metroid aside) geared towards male gamers.

I wish more women played, every single one I run into playing online games 9 time out of 10 they are competent, scratch that a number of steps above competent. Compare that every other group or partner I get: 3/10. I am not trying to say that women are better at men then gaming, I don't even have a lab to test such things, but due to the lack of women from games there are significantly less bad ones.

there are more women gamers out there than you think, in the uk its around 50/50, and if i remeber the usa is catching up as their about 40/60.

All my gal pals are gamers, im happy to of converted 2 of them myself ^^ around 20% only play single player games for certain reasons, 20% are addicated to mmos (and not just wow), 50% now play on psn and xbox live and the other 10% are causel gamers.

Of the online people 35% of the mmo's play as male charaters to advoid harrestment, but they still get some harrestment from 'female' charater trying to get with them, trying to be the bf etc. Including me 75% of the gamer tags/names you'd look at and not automatcal think we're females. And only 10% have head sets (including me) so people can hear what we sounds like.

I'll admit even more girls should game it fun, but at the same time i do looks at things like the frag dolls and some all girl clans and shake my head. I'd rather see male+female clans.

Not really, but everyone dresses and talks the same. It's boring and makes me feel like I'm surrounded by robots.

Maybe you are...

My girlfriend is a gamer, and she not into wii-esque games, put something like Gears 2 or Fable in front of her and she lights up.

^_^ sounds just like me

Girls are into gaming but they need to find games that appeal to them. It's just not every girl just like not every guy plays games. ((I know thats hard to believe.))

I don't know but all of my former girlfriends and my current one are gamer girls.

Pistol.Princess:

Also, the dating thing goes both ways, I do not date males who are not gamers.. I also don't date males who are terrible gamers haha

Does 'terrible gamers' cover those that play games like 18 Wheels of Steel? My apologies to anyone who likes that game and others like it, more power to you, but I cannot see the appeal of driving a fake truck across country.

While I am not in possession of a gaming console more elaborate than the N64 *dodges various objects being hurled my way* I can be classed a female gamer (at least I was when I looked at myself in the shower last). Whenever I visit a friends house who is luckier than I and owns one platform or another, I love trying out the games I just never get a chance to play. Until I get enough money to buy myself a console (by this point, Sony will probably have released the PS3000...I'm not kidding), I make do with PC games. I play WoW at the moment, and am dipping my toes into the waters of some other games that my friend installed on my computer. If you have any suggestions, throw them my way by all means. And they don't have to be in any way similar to WoW...I love chopping people in half with a machine gun just as much as my male counterparts :)

In all honesty, most of us are. Whether it be because of an older sibling, or childhood friend, most females sample video games, and to my knowledge, most enjoy them, but either don't delve any deeper into the medium, or are too embarrassed to speak of it openly. The best thing you can do in order to find out if a certain person is into video games, is to ask them whist trying not to sound really nerdy and annoying, something not so hard in this day and age, due to the fact that most games involve some masculine person, be they a man or a woman, killing things, and as long as you mention that you enjoy the occasional storyline, you shouldn't have too much trouble defending your status as a stable individual.

knottingam:
Generally speaking, that is. I realize that there are some girls on here; but it seems that y'all are the exception to the rule. I'm just curious: Why is the female-to-male ratio amongst gamers so low?

because girls are on a constant mission to make themselves seem more sophisticated and intelligent than boys, and they think that video games are a time-killing waste of money (apparently forgetting that they themselves shop for make-up lol). Generally speaking, that is.

hehe ^_^; just saw my girlfriend beating dragonforce on expert...I am a lucky guy

They exist. My cousin is a gamer, though the genres she plays is variable at times. I can't play console games online (my parents would hate to know if I threw 50 measly bucks a year to get XBL), but the general consensus seems to be that most of the guys (in the literal sense) are a bunch of immature idiots. Throw a girl into there, and I can easily see "immature" become "sexist" or just "plain F-ING STUPID". My cousin has also played online games a few times, and I very often see guys hitting on her. Girl gamers definitely exist, and there are probably a lot more than we know. It's just that there are too many stupid people online keeping them from showing themselves.
If I ever happen to get XBL, then it will probably reinforce my point onto myself, and I'll be ashamed that idiots are representing gamers like me who actually have any decency. It's sad that the stereotype of gamers is that we're fat and covered in Cheetos (the uninformed public), or that the majority of the guys are morons (the stereotype of XBL gamers)

EDIT: Also, can we not assume that it's because they like different genres? I've always really been against total blanket statements. I just don't like that jerks SUPPOSEDLY mass populate XBL (thus representing me as a gamer as Bush represents me as an American). They all don't have to like SIMS and nothing else. We have to find better reasons than 100 people posting that "they all only play The Sims." Be more original, people. (for the record, I'm not as heated as this post has me sound)

Read Girls of Gaming. That is all.

They certainly exist, and I've known a few personally. Only twice have I run into people on XBL who claim to be women, but to be honest it's rare that any voice communication in XBL is anything useful.

If I can go more than 10 minutes without being called a fag (which seems to be the first and only verbal weapon XBL players have at their disposal) it's probably because I'm not wearing the headset.

Et3rnalLegend64:
(my parents would hate to know if I threw 50 measly bucks a year to get XBL)

why would your parents hate you spending 50 dollars a year...

Female. *Waves hand*
This stereotype is stupid, although I have noticed that more women buy simple games for themselves like "Diner Dash".
My opinion is that women are more looking for something to do in between work, kids, cleaning, cooking, ect. Where as men rarely do as much, thus have time to game more, with better games. NOW WHO'S SLINGING STEREOTYPES?!

Anyway, I get this a lot at work. People look at me every damn day and ask, "You play these games?", in utter disbelief.
*Annoyed by this*

Okay, I'll admit, I'm too freaking lazy to read the rest of the thread...10 fucking pages is too much. I read the first page, and it was enough to get the general idea of why most people thing that girls don't game...

1) I saw one post that said "We're out there...we just hide." Too true. And it goes hand in hand with another point that I saw.

2) Someone mentioned an incident about being hit on during UNO. Seriously, you want to know why girls "don't game"? It's because we know that half of the players that game (whether solo or online) are horny little twits who can't get a girlfriend because they're too busy sitting in front of their console of choice trying to figure out a way to continue playing while whacking themselves off because they've sat too long staring at Lara Croft's physique and Ivy's nearly-spilled bust line. Any self-respecting female gamer has more sense that to put herself out there to be hit on left and right with pathetic pick-up lines and boys who think their e-peen is better than the next dork.

God, these points are all just strung together.

EDITED

3) Most good video games are most definitely geared towards males and tomboys. Unfortunately, as far as I can see, the tomboy is a dying breed. It's either turning into girly-girl or lesbian, and I'm sure we can all see the issue with that (girly-girls just don't play, and lesbians are either bored or get too pissed off at how un-feministic the games are [yes, I know, stereotypes, but you know it's partially true]).

My point? Most of the time, Reason #1 is the most common of all (even though they're really all one reason, just broken down...however, I do agree with the "If you haven't played Atari 2600 from the get-go, it's hard to get addicted" statement). While it's not always true, I would venture to say that, overall, most female gamers prefer anonymity. (For those of you with a smaller vocabulary, they prefer not to reveal their gender unless they already know how to handle bullshit from punks who get brave behind the mic/controller.)

I myself am anything but a Wii gamer. There are only 4 or 5 games I can think of that are even half worthy of my time to play, and even then, it's pushing it. PS3/360 have definitely caught my attention, especially with this latest string of "hot" releases over the past few months. (Keep in mind, I work at a video game store, so I'd certainly hope I know what I'm talking about...Otherwise, I need to look for a new job. D: )

Hunde Des Krieg:

Phyroxis:
We need to see more female gamers.. I won't date anything else. =P

I couldn't either.

Agreed, but probably because a gamer would be tolerant/understanding of my gaming obsession.

xitel:
Because for the longest time, and even nowadays, most of the games available were geared towards men. Nowadays that seems to be changing, with games like Mirror's Edge featuring strong female heroines that aren't incredibly unrealistic.

I don't think it has much to do with the lack of a female character to inspire women (Beyond Good and Evil didn't sell too well...). Personally, I'm not inspired by Master Chief or Marcus Fenix. The main issue, I think, is that (in a gaming context) girls like to create (The Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon etc.) and guys like to destroy (any shooting game EVAR). This is a generalisation, but from my experience in a game shop, it's a very good generalisation. The DS in particular has created a legion of tween female gamers. Sure they're only playing "Imagine Fashion", but some day...

It's mainly due to the market being alot more suited to males.

However, the Wii and it's library of gimmicks are just as aimed at women as they are at men. Wii Sports and Wii Fit, for example.

I noticed the other day that women tend to be looked down on by society when they admit to playing games. I'm not sure why, it's the same as the promiscuity thing, it's looked on as bad if a woman does it but normal or even good if a man does.

galletea:
I noticed the other day that women tend to be looked down on by society when they admit to playing games. I'm not sure why, it's the same as the promiscuity thing, it's looked on as bad if a woman does it but normal or even good if a man does.

Really? I don't really see why women should be looked down upon for gaming. But then again what do I know?

There was a PC Gamer article about this. They concluded that it's about rods and cones in the eye and stuff. Can't remember which issue...

shadow skill:
Really? I don't really see why women should be looked down upon for gaming. But then again what do I know?

I'm not sure, I think it's a kind of sexism. Men are expected to be immature to an extent. Us ladies are expected to be all mature and sensible so if I say I'm going out to buy a game they look at me like I'm still playing with Barbie dolls.

galletea:

shadow skill:
Really? I don't really see why women should be looked down upon for gaming. But then again what do I know?

I'm not sure, I think it's a kind of sexism. Men are expected to be immature to an extent. Us ladies are expected to be all mature and sensible so if I say I'm going out to buy a game they look at me like I'm still playing with Barbie dolls.

Just threaten to eat them, works every time I swear.

I saw someone make the point already that matters the most: games are mostly written by men for men, and as such fewer women are interested. It doesn't mean that a girl won't enjoy Gears of War 2 (I know one that does), but the percentage will be lower due to the target audience. If ladies want to up the ratio, they have to get more of them in the industry and introduce their own point of veiw on games.

galletea:

shadow skill:
Really? I don't really see why women should be looked down upon for gaming. But then again what do I know?

I'm not sure, I think it's a kind of sexism. Men are expected to be immature to an extent. Us ladies are expected to be all mature and sensible so if I say I'm going out to buy a game they look at me like I'm still playing with Barbie dolls.

I don't know about that... Would I be a little disconcerted if I saw a girl grab Dead Space? Yeah, but it would be a happy sort of feeling, knowing that games are crossing the gender line more and more each day.

Iampringles:
It's mainly due to the market being alot more suited to males.

However, the Wii and it's library of gimmicks are just as aimed at women as they are at men. Wii Sports and Wii Fit, for example.

True that, although those examples prove how multi-audience the Wii is. It's a system that aims to attract anyone interested, and I applaud it for doing so.

Mr0llivand3r:

knottingam:
Generally speaking, that is. I realize that there are some girls on here; but it seems that y'all are the exception to the rule. I'm just curious: Why is the female-to-male ratio amongst gamers so low?

because girls are on a constant mission to make themselves seem more sophisticated and intelligent than boys, and they think that video games are a time-killing waste of money (apparently forgetting that they themselves shop for make-up lol). Generally speaking, that is.

...Okay, that's a odd point of veiw. You need to present it better though, as I had a hard time deciphering. The way you put it sounds sexist. Once again, it all comes down to the fact that the target audience for games reflects how the game is slanted. If more women express interest in games, more games aimed for them will be made.