It’s incredible to me how shocked guys can be over the fact that a girl plays video games. At one of my shows the other night I told a server that I wanted to get home so I could get a little gaming in, and he was shocked when I told him which games I had recently beaten and which games I was currently playing.
In truth, video games have been a major part of my life for years. The first game I picked up was Pokemon on my brand new Gameboy Color in 5th grade. At recess, all the girls sat on those acrobat bars talking about the boys and the boys sat on the rocks playing with their Gameboys. They all had the Pokemon game, mostly red cartridges. So after weeks of chores, I finally saved up enough to get the blue Pokemon cartridge and I got to sit on the rocks at recess and battle the boys.
After that, I was hooked. Command & Conquer, Diablo II, Warcraft II, Sonic the Hedgehog, every Mario game on the planet…. I love me some video games. In middle school my parents got me a N64 and my friends and I bonded over Mariokart and Marioparty. In high school, we spent a lot of time in my friend John’s basement. He had a pool table, and more importantly he had the SNES. Mario was never as cool as he was on the older system. Those were some good times.
When Rickey and I started dating, we bonded over Borderlands. It wasn’t long before we had beaten it and moved on to Borderlands 2. I always play the Siren – she’s kind of a badass. I love catching those psychos on fire: “I smell so gooooooood.” The best part about Borderlands is that it’s co-op… and I am totally ok with date night consisting of catching people on fire. #pyro
Anyways, our latest game has been Army of Two and that game was amazing. We just beat it the other night and I’m actually kind of sad that it’s over. It was like a combination of Call of Duty and Borderlands, both of which are awesome games. Add a well-developed storyline to the mix and you won’t be able to put down the controller. (Also, Alpha and Bravo totally have a bromance going on… it’s adorable.)
Now we need another co-op game to play… any suggestions?
You are truly a girl after many a gamer’s heart, Beth. 🙂 If you are looking for more co-op games, here are a few suggestions… Just about every MMO ever created. If you want more shooter gameplay there is Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. Technically 4 player co-op, but any non human players are botted in. For the Diablo experience there is Torchlight II and Path of Exile. There are the various online battle arena games like League of Legends. A good team there can really tear it up, against bots or other players. Just a few off the top of my head.
I have daughters, and I love the fact that my 14 year old has played Skyrim to death and is plowing through Fallout 3 now. I had thought gaming had gone more gender neutral over time, but talking to my kids the girls still seem in the minority for many of the genres. I don’t really have my finger on the gaming pulse anymore, admittedly.
Well, there are more girls in gaming these days, but that hasn’t yet translated into more or better female characters in gaming. More women are playing and working in the games industry, but it is still largely the domain of men producing games for the male power fantasy and confused as to ‘what women want’. (Here’s a hint fellows. The same range of games that guys want, but with strong dynamic female characters.)
Unfortunately, a lot of people designing games still look on women (players) as needed some sort of magical fluffy Barbie Princess and Ponies or casual style game to be interested. Or see women (characters) as excuses to make them a motivation for the male characters (see damsel in distress trope) or fetishistic eye candy.
That’s why I love games like Skyrim, Fallout 3/New Vegas and Mass Effect, or MMOs. You make your own character. Whether you male them male or female, they are equally capable and bad-ass. Especially in the single player games they are agents of their own power and destiny. That’s the sort of character I want to play.