Gamertell

Since its beginning, video games and their culture have been mostly directed at men. Most video games are developed by teams composed mainly of men and explore subjects appealing mostly to men. This makes males the target audience for most of the titles and this cycle, perpetuated by profits, cause developers to focus on men.

Some recent titles with a more general appeal such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band or Wii Fit, have made video games more interesting for girls but even now the idea of a gamer girl isn’t very common. Or is it?

Apparently there are more women gaming on a daily basis than you would think. In a study conducted by Q Interactive and Engage! Expo, more than 700 women were interviewed and asked about their gaming habits. The study showed that more than 50% of them play video games regularly.

Even though the study revealed that more than half of them like video games, many of them think that it is not socially acceptable. Two thirds of the women interviewed think gaming carries a social stigma and 16% even admitted to hiding their gaming habits because of this.

So maybe the notion that girls don’t like games is wrong after all. Maybe it’s harder for them because of the way society see’s these things.

Next time you’re on a date and think about talking about the latest video game, don’t scrub that idea entirely. Who knows, maybe under that hard exterior, this girl is actually a level 80 paladin at Warcraft, or has a collection of Pure Platinum’s on Bayonetta. If you’re bringing up the subject though, just wait until you’re somewhere private because if you ask her in public she might deny everything.

Read [CNET] Also read [BizReport]