I know for a fact that in the gaming world girls are often frowned upon by those “hardcore” gamers that take it to the next level when it comes to skill and expertise by playing each and every new game to within an inch of its life. Females who play video games are often renowned for their lack of dexterity when it comes to the latest first person shooter, or their inadequate knowledge of how to steer that beautiful Porsche away from that lamppost before it’s too late and there it goes straight into the wall… Obviously it is very difficult not to despair in female game players in this respect, however are Gamer Girls reaching new levels of awesome that could earn them that name?
From a relatively young age I personally have been aware of the general gaming community, and have had my share of rage quits when it comes to games. By around the age of 10 I was very into playing the latest wrestling game on the PlayStation 2, however by 13 my tastes had branched to MMORPGs more than console bound single players. I will admit, I was quite shocking when I first started playing games. I had no concept of aim or judgement, and often found myself losing duels to players of much higher level than me, simply as I was too unobservent to notice the obvious superiority of those around me. In general I brought female gamers a bad name with my idea of ‘gaming’.
However I am obviously sure there are many girls who take gaming a whole lot more seriously than I do; their levels of skill matching and possibly exceeding that of many male gamers in their online struggles. Amongst the community of gamers, gamer girls appear to be held in a high status, as a rarity that is to be treasured. For example, a guy who can play COD with his girlfriend and brag about it to his friends is often more proud than one who is dating an airhead who refuses to play anything at all. The thrill of a girl who actually takes playing games seriously is greater than any other in any sensible game-loving male.
My current favourite game would have to be COD MW3, simply because my boyfriend and I make a brilliant team on the survival mode. I feel so accomplished when sitting next to him on the sofa I am aware that although he obviously has more play time than I do, therefore more experience, I am keeping up with the pace, and I could maybe go as far as to say I am doing well. This is definitely an achievement in my eyes, as I am able to understand the once-strange language of the male species as they discuss their latest K:D ratio or the new weapons they unlocked when they got promoted last night.
Overall I believe the female gamer is an underrated addition to gaming society. Advantages in a nutshell include: bragging points for boyfriends, high rarity status if ability is high, and general awesomeness when you can understand gamertalk and not want to curl up in a corner and snooze. Who wouldn’t love that?!
The people who give gamer girls a bad name are the people who do not fully appreciate the games themselves. The way i see it a game is an art form, just like a book or a film, it tells the player a story or brings them an experience they would otherwise never feel. The fact a massive amount of the female gaming community see games as a “push button and kill stuff” affair really makes it difficult to appreciate them as fellow gamers. That, and the fact there are a bunch of girls on steam posing as gamers and literally begging for money. Other than that girls who play games are cool, I’ve just not had the chance to meet many who don’t do it to impress other guys.