Gamertell

Xbox Live’s hippest girl gamer got a feature in the web edition of the Chicago Tribune yesterday (September 10, 2007) where she wasted no time in alerting the hordes of mostly male gamers that they’re still being rude pricks:

“For some women, the minute they open their mouths, they get trash-talked or hit on or both,” Phillips said.

Phillips went on to estimate that women comprise ten to twenty percent of Xbox’s online community, which means that (as of E3) there are up to 140,000 girl gamers out there. That’s a lot of people, and they’re not being treated with the respect that should be accorded them:

“I’ve heard it all,” said Amber Dalton, who founded PMS Clan. “They tell you to go to the kitchen and get them a sandwich. Or they ask you if you’re hot. You can also be targeted just because you’re a girl. They all just start shooting at you the second they find out you’re a girl.”

To be fair, finding out you’re playing against a member of the opposite sex in a FPS is akin to discovering that your sink has suddenly decided to dispense uncut diamonds in lieu of water. Most blockbuster games are conceived and marketed for the golden demographic, 18-34 males. I think most men simply don’t know the correct way to respond when they meet a women gamer and end up floundering or becoming defensive (read: offensive,) which is sad because it’s really quite simple—be nice. 

The good news is that women are already firmly entrenched in the gaming community. Witness Frag Dolls (sponsored by Ubisoft) and Phillips’ own GamerchiX congregation. Women are into games, and as I’ve learned from some truly vicious Mariokart battles, there’s no stopping them. Add to that the fact that the industry giants are scrambling to get a pair of hands on every controller possible, and you’ve got a potential fourth wave of feminism heading for the router nearest you. But we certainly aren’t making it any easier.

No one is surprised that popular online shooters have spawned dens of counterculture miscreants. Unfortunately, the grizzled and manly characters of the Master Chief and the Gears of War corps. have produced a lot of immature, arrogant boys. There are certainly polite gamers out there, but more and more their voices are being drowned out by the shrieking obscenities that make games like Halo and Gears of War all but uninhabitable for women.

Perhaps many of you would cite the old adage “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” That’s true. We could suggest that the fairer sex toughen up, learn to take their lumps along with the rest of us. But what a loss that would be. Right now the online environment for console gamers resembles the house you used to rent with your buddies back in college, the one where every room stank of feet, balls, and stale urine. We could use a little class gentleman. Be nice.

Read [Chicago Tribune]