An Editorial Melee About Female Gamers

SR71 writes "Tom's Hardware has a strong debate between two of its editors in a face-off editorial about female gamers." From the article: "I'm not being puritanical - heck, a while ago I wrote about wanting to see more sex in videogames. Neither is this about being against female gamers. I simply take issue with people falling and fawning over these female gamers, and talking high-mindedly about how professional female e-sports will soon be on a par with the male circuit." The article contans some crass language that may be NSFW.

Comments

Female Gamers are not The Borg. Deal with it.

[Minwee]

So? They're gamers. They're female. Yes, that really does happen.

What seems to be getting missed is that female gamers aren't some kind of hive mind. They don't all do the same things, they don't all think the same thoughts. Saying that female gamers are all Suicide Girls or Killcreek posing in Playboy is just as inaccurate as saying that all male gamers are like Comic Book Guy and spend their entire day shooting off their mouths on forums like Tom's Hardware. It may be true for a handful of people, but that doesn't make it so for everyone.

This article may have some shocking revelations if you are a man whose only exposure to the opposite sex has been through the "Babes of E3" calendar, but other than that it strikes me as a lot of hot air. Hot, smelly, air that could use a bath and a few hours out of its parents' basement.

OMG Sexism

[jfclavette]

The Men/Women sports separation is about different physical characteristics of both gender. Now, why the hell would we have the same distinction, which does not make sense, in 'e-sports' ?

Re:OMG Sexism

[xero314]

Most of the world has finally accepted that men and women have different physical capability. Someday they will also accept that they have different mental capabilities. There is a reason that the past chess grand champions have all been men, and it's not because of some conspiracy to keep women out of it. Men have more strategic minds, and if you will look, there are studies that prove this. The part of the male brain that handles mathmatics is larger than in the femal brain (the exact opposite for language). E-sports will use far more of tha analytical skills than emotional or communication skills. Being able to judge a trajectory for an assualt or sizing up compareable forces is something male brains just do better.

I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but people need to stop deluding themselves. Through out history there has been no objectively judge competition where women have been able to regularly hold their own against men. This does not mean men are better than women as a whole, just at those things that can be objectively judge. The flip side is I am farily certain that women would win hands down if there was a way to objectively judge child raising, and we already know they trounce men in the child bearing arena.

My point is, men an women are different, and we should all stop getting pissed off when someone points out that one gender is better than another at a certain thing.

Oh, besides that e-sports would still require fast reflexes, hand-eye coordination and spatial judgement, all of which are know to be better in men.

Forget female gamers, how about developers?

[greenreaper]

The lead gameplay developer for the recently-released Galactic Civilizations 2, Cari Begle, is female - she just got interviewed by the Detroit Free Press. Cari's the person everyone goes to when there's a bug needs fixing. Maybe playing games isn't yet a place where you can get fair competition, but developing certainly is.

The term "Gamer" doesn't need a discriptor

[XenoRyet]

Female Gamers, Young Gamers, Old Gamers, Minority Gamers. There is a trend here, they're all gamers. And if there's one universal truth about gamers, it's that they like to play good games.

All this talk about how to cater to one group or the other is a waste of breath IMO. Targeting any one of those groups will probably net you around 30% of that group, but it will disinterest or piss off the other 70% of that group, along with all the other groups. Where as if you just quit worrying about it, and make a good game that's enjoyable, and fun to play, you'll end up getting a larger portion of all the groups playing your game.

My point is that most gamers, regardless of sex, race, creed, or any other factor, like playing good games. A company attempting to target a game at any specific group is just covering the fact that they're not really sure how to make a good game, so they're going to try to hoodwink some group into buying their game because "It's made for them, by them"

Re:Female Gamers are not The Borg. Deal with it.

[richdun]

spend their entire day shooting off their mouths on forums like Tom's Hardware

Or Slashdot.

No, no, no... don't ask any women

[hambonewilkins]

A debate between two men about women gamers. Would have been FAR more interesting to see a debate between two female gamers.

Instead we get lame, slightly misogynistic speculation.

Re:Did you read the same article I did?

[Minwee]

At the risk of having a feminist rage moment, a big part of the problem is that many of the women who _do_ get invited or sponsored to the big events aren't going their because of their skills, but because they look good in tight shirts with a corporate logo on them.

That not only leads to more talented players being passed over for not having "The Right Stuff" inside of their sweaters, but also creates a hostile environment for everyone. Why even bother trying to compete when you know that you're never going to be judged fairly?