Any girl gamers?

The Game Room
61

I’ve been playing video games since my parents bought a Vic20 when I was in kindergarten. I progressed through nintendo, sega, nintendo 64, dreamcast, PS2 etc mostly playing what games my little brother wanted to play, which meant I played a lot of super mario, krazy kats, mortal combat, The Lion King, GTA, tony hawks, and assorted race car games. Now that I don’t have him to play with on a regular basis any more, I have my own PS2 and copy of GTA 3, play DDR and occasionally guitar hero, and I’m learning how to play wii golf. I’m still looking for a good reel controler for wii so I can get a fishing game, which is the only thing I miss about dreamcast.

However, I’ve always spent more time playing PC games than anything else. My favorite game is Sims 2 (I’ve owned Sims 3 since Christmas and don’t like it) and I’m a bit sad that the likelihood of a Zoo Tycoon 3 is very slim now that Bluefang and Microsoft seem to be parting ways. I’ve owned most of the Sim games, all versions of simcity etc, but they’re not as fun as they used to be. I had most of the Catz and Dogz games a long time ago, and was a big fan of Creatures 2 and Theme Hospital, too. Mostly I like single player computer games, and despite my best friend’s attempt to lure me into playing WoW with her, I’m not interested in those sorts of games.

62

Fellow lady gamer checking in. When I was a very young kid my great-uncle the computer programmer would send us all the latest games and computer systems. I used to play Alice in Wonderland and Below the Root and Impossible Mission on the Commodore 64 and It Came From the Desert and* Blood Money* on the Amiga. This is only remarkable because I was born in 1983, so it’s kind of unusual for someone my age to be familiar with these systems.

Then there was Nintendo, and then… I didn’t game for a very long time. I played Magic: The Gathering in high school but could never quite get into D&D.

It wasn’t until college, and living in an apartment with 5 guys, that I discovered the magic of RPGs. Far and away my favorite type of gaming overall. I played Champions of Norrath on PS2 so much that my roommates began referring to it as ‘‘Champions of Olives.’’ I remember one day I played for 18 hours straight (with food and bathroom breaks, of course.) Soon thereafter I discovered Final Fantasy (I think XIII is the best so far, but have only played VIII, X, X-2 and XIII). The gambit system is genius IMHO. Also, a dinosaur totally ate a wolf in the background while I was just standing there one day. It was awesome. I’ve dabbled with God of War, which is near perfect though not a classic RPG per se. I just hate the stupid ‘‘rapidly hit X button until your finger breaks’’ finishing moves.

Last year I bought myself a new computer and installed a high-end graphics card, hoping to finally enter the world of PC games. I’ve had mixed results. Oblivion was amazing graphically, and I liked the fighting engine, but I hate, hate, HATE the leveling system and can’t get over it. Neverwinter Nights II has a great story but a horrible fighting engine. *The Witcher *seems pretty badass but I can’t get over the over-the-top misogyny. My husband has tried to turn me onto Diablo II but I can’t get over the graphics. I liked Torchlight and I am pretty psyched for Diablo III. I don’t know what the deal is, but I haven’t been very satisfied with PC gaming overall. My computer broke so it will be a while before I give anything else a chance.

Far and away the best PC game I’ve played so far is Portal. That was brilliant and too short and I want more. (Also, poor companion cube!)

I don’t love gaming with other people, and I’ve yet to overcome my dislike enough to join the world of MMORPGs. Boys have more or less treated me like just another player, with some occasional condescension. The only place my gender has made a significant impact is with Sr. Olives, who finds my passion for gaming incredibly sexy. He about had an aneurysm the day I played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with him on PS2.

That said, gaming isn’t really intuitive to me the way it is for a lot of guys (and some girls.) I did not grow up with Super Nintendo and Sega Saturn and whatever else came before the PS2. I usually hit a pretty steep learning curve when I just start out for this reason.

I just bought a Nintendo Wii three days ago, and yeah, it’s a steep learning curve. I’m really liking Super Mario Brothers Wii but damn, it’s hard, and I keep dying. I’ve had very limited exposure to Mario so far, so I feel like a total noob. I’m hoping eventually to get Mario Galaxy as well as the new Silent Hill (which I will watch my husband play while cowering behind a fortress of pillows.)

I’ve thought about getting a PS3 but I really don’t like first person shooters at all. I’m uncomfortable with guns and also they seem very repetitive and boring. As far as I can tell PS3 is mostly first person shooters and other 1-player games, which won’t do for a household with 2 gamers.

My all time favorite game ever, in the history of every game I’ve ever played, is Lemmings. It came into my life at a very young age and I have fond memories of trying to beat it with my Aunt (who was a teenager at the time). That was back before GameFaqs, where you had to keep your facts straight on a pad of paper. We eventually beat all the levels.

63

I used to play online fantasy RPG games (a Korean one named Ragnarok) and my brother, who also played, complained that female players get special treatment when they join a guild because the male players fall all over themselves to help them (like giving them items or helping them level up). This is true, but as a female player I also had to deal with a lot of unwanted attention (like guys constantly asking me for my pic or my phone number). Or guys assuming that I was stupid when it came to gaming (I was playing Carmen Sandiego before you even knew what a computer was, buddy).

Generally I prefer playing with people I know. I used to play Diablo 2 with a bunch of guys, back in college, and they never treated me any differently just because I was a girl. I knew them all IRL though, which probably makes a big difference.

64

Depends completely on the guy. I’ve heard “you can’t be a girl, you’re a good tank!” (excuse me while I bitchslap the moron into orbit around Jupiter), I’ve heard “oh, who’s your boyfriend?” (amazingly enough, I arrived here on my own), but it’s been a long time since I got any crap. The ones who will give crap give themselves away real fast and tend to find themselves kicked out of the group and put on ignore (“are any of you girls?” “let us guess, you’re 11…” “no, I’m 13! really!”).

In general by the time the issue of real-life gender comes up we’ve already known each other for a while, so it’s a non-issue.

Mind you, I do have The Effect when I walk into a Games Workshop store, but that’s a time when my boobs are directly observable… apparently 41yo women don’t walk into GW stores by themselves :stuck_out_tongue: If I get approached by one of the salesguys (haven’t seen a GW store with a salsesgirl yet) before I approach them, it’s one of the youngest. There’s hope yet!

Mika, I play DAO on the PC, haven’t tried the threesome thing personally - the rest yes, but I haven’t bagged that particular girl solo or in company.

65

Sorry, out of time: one of the many reasons why I don’t like ventrilo is that apparently my voice (which if you ask me is too high and tends to be nasal, thanks to de damn alledgiez) sends some male players into shock. We’ll be happily clogging some trash mobs, I say “patrol!” and three of the guys go “oooOOOOOOoo, who was that? who gave the patrol warning? say that again!”

It may even be spontaneous at least part of the time, since it’s happened while in groups with dudes who didn’t know me at all. But it makes me want to hide under the bed :frowning: