Pages

Friday, December 18, 2009

Knocking Down the Gamer Girl Pedestal

A few months ago, Busted Analog posted an article titled Gamer Girls Aren’t Special Anymore. His stance: stop putting gamer girls on a pedestal because females are more integrated into the gaming world nowadays and therefore should be treated with gender-free equality. The post also introduced me to the concept of the "single game girl," someone who was introduced to a title via a male friend or old boyfriend and obsessively plays only that title. While Busted Analog makes a very stimulating point, I was more interested in the comments that ensued afterward, both online and in real life:

"Like some of the others have said, I think the mystery is still there because 90% of the gamer girls out there aren't what most of us consider gamers. Playing occasional games of Guitar Hero and Tetris does not a gamer make. Girls who play MMORPGs like WoW don't count as well as that is more of a female nerd than female gamer."


Having attended an engineering college, I experienced first hand the perks of being a woman in a male-dominated environment. I never stooped as low as some of my female classmates, who would deliberately wear low-cut, tight-fitting tops to weasel extra computer time from the lab assistants. But yeah, guys would willingly help me with a homework question, while brusquely declining if another dude had asked the same thing. Plus, on the anime chat room where I downloaded episodes, I used a seemingly generic username. But once people realized that I was female, the number of chats I received suddenly tripled.

Yes, college was exactly like this...

I talked about the phenomenon with K afterward, and our conversation turned back to the article...
K: I don't see what the big deal is. An attractive female that actually can beat me at Mortal Kombat seems like quite the rarity to me.
A: Now that I cannot do.
K: True, but you probably could get to my level with practice. I think that the real issue is that you don't like competitive games in general, so your motivation to do so isn't there.
K: Anyone who gave Metroid a big try qualifies as hardcore to me - that game's hard!
A: I definitely prefer co-op; even Left 4 Dead would be ok (if it weren't so creeepy ^_~)
K: After your experience with Monster Hunter, I bet you'd be 4000% better at Metroid's gameplay skill aspect now. I mean, if you can decode timing and tells on a monster and move in with a precision hit... well, that's Metroid in another form.

Aww, thanks for the boost in confidence, K! #^_^#

Related Links:
Seven Types of Girl Gamers

Monday, December 14, 2009

"NOW I Can Have a Happy Christmas..."

K's feeling a little glum as Christmas nears because this is the first year where we are not going back to his parents' place for the holidays. To help him combat the homesickness, I've been determined to cheer him up by packing December 25th to the fullest. My brainstorming ideas included ice skating, looking at Christmas lights, decorating a gingerbread house, calling his family via webcam, and attending the church Christmas service. All of these pitches were met with slightly positive to mediocre responses. And then today K excitedly sends me this news article over instant chat, saying "NOW I can have a happy Christmas!"

Natalie Portman starring as Elizabeth Bennet the Zombie Killer

Haha, I guess I shouldn't be surprised after two years of marriage. What is it with gamers and their fascination with zombies?

Friday, December 11, 2009

Christmas Shopping for K

As mentioned before, I find it impossible to find the perfect Christmas or birthday gift for K. "Why not buy him a video game?" my best friend Sophia suggestions. Because he already bought them all! Thank goodness that the Gamer Girl referenced the 100% Game-free Gamer Gift Guide. Definitely recommend that you read it yourself, but top suggestions include:
  • Video game t-shirts
  • Video game soundtracks
  • Gaming books
  • Gaming peripherals
  • Action figures
  • Gift certificates
  • Posters and calendars
Favorites from the Gaming section of Threadless.com

And don't forget that nothing says love like handmade crafts! What a perfect way to decorate your gamer's desk at work or keep him warm this winter. ^_^

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Novel = Finished!

I can't believe it, National Novel Writing Month is over! And as you can tell by my banner, I successfully wrote 50,000 words in 30 days. And no, I did not cheat by copying and pasting "blah blah blah" for the last 20K words. ^_~ Now all I have to do is edit it over the next 5 months and turn it in to CreateSpace to get my free paperback print out. I'm absolutely sick of writing at this point, so I kind of overreacted by starting 5 different needlework projects at the same time. ^_^;; On the other hand, now K is totally inspired to write his own novel, so we'll see what kind of fun ideas he comes up with!