Gamertell

As an active member of several women gamer sites, I know there are a lot of women who game online and offline both with computers and consoles. So where does Kate Muir of Times Online get the idea that console gamers are boys and that my console is merely a toy?

This has been the topic of the week in the forums of some women gaming sites and I couldn’t agree with them more as they question where the heck Muir got her information or if she even games or knows what she’s talking about. In her article, Muir writes “Xboxes were toys for very big boys indeed,” and that men (at least in the UK) are “infantalised by night in a virtual world,” clinching her stereotypical views with, “Who knew that the generation who first became addicted to Pac-Man and Super Mario would turn out to be boys who never grew up? Man-teens sitting before their kiddy consoles like huge manatees.”

Gaetano Prestia of Blog Critics Magazine seems to have figured out Muir’s information.

“She seems to have written an article based on a few Google searches and by eavesdropping on men who are talking about games. “...why men need to grow up” is purely a sarcastic attempt to in some way give Muir some recognition for an article that is written well and at least attempts to get its point across in a good manner, albeit unsuccessfully,” he wrote and continued to examine Muir’s research. “She did mention that, upon her extensive research deep into the Google empire, 48 per cent of males between the ages of 18 and 34 had played a console at least once in their lives. Muir was critical of this. I don’t know why, but it seems as though she cannot understand that video games and the consoles on which they can be played are aimed at a young adult and, in most cases, male audience. She seems worried that young males are spending up to three hours a day, alone, playing video games on their “Xboxes”.”

It seemed to me that her article targeted the male gamer as the main audience, not even mentioning that women also game. Prestia wasn’t the only male offended by her article and even a few women gamers have made comments about the stereotypical tone of the article.

“I really appreciate you trying to force your 1950s television view of the world on everyone. Grow up and learn to live with change,” wrote one reader Chris of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Howard Reese of London added “Just because people play games does not make them immature, and I think that this article is overly stereotypical about the “Gamer” demographic.”

One interesting point made by a female gamer from Texas calling herself Svea wrote:

“I’m a 29 year old woman, and I play games on a regular basis. My 35 year old husband also plays. Over the past 5 years we have gone on regular gaming “dates”, we have friends whom we game with, and overall we’ve saved WAY more money the past few years as gamers than as the “normal” people described in this article. We have life plans that include our careers, children, homemaking, and other familial obligations. But right now, we are managing our time to include active gaming, while planning for the future like any other normal adult. This article appears to just perpetuate the idea that geeks, nerds, or “gamer” types are anti-social, childish or immature. Sorry folks, that’s not the way it is. Even grandma can play the Nintendo Wii (and get some excellent cardio-vascular exercise while she’s at it). Like it or not, video games are now part of “popular culture”. Just like the telephone and television, methinks they are here to stay!”

I totally agree with Svea, I mean, what are you saying Muir? Women have ADHD and can’t just as well as pick up a game and pl… oooh look! Shoes!

Read [Blog Critics Magazine Online] Read [Times Online UK]