Hawty McBloggy Invites You to Play

I haven’t seen every single Arby ‘n’ the Chief video but when I noticed the most recent one was titled “Girls”, how could I resist? Regardless of your gender, it’s an entertaining watch. I laughed more than a few times. Enjoy!

Welcome, welcome to the 4th installment of Blog Banter, the monthly blogging extravaganza headed by bs angel! Blog Banter involves our cozy community of enthusiastic gaming bloggers, a common topic, and a week to post articles pertaining to said topic. The results are quite entertaining and can range from deep insight to ROFLMAO. Any questions about Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The world is full of stereotypes. For some reason people love taking large groups of people and then assuming they all share the same basic characteristics. We are subjected to stereotyping based on everything from gender to race to religion to particular interests we are passionate about. How many times have you been confronted with generalizations people make about gamers that couldn’t be farther from the truth? I thought I would take some stereotypical statements about gamers from various articles around the internet and see how close to home they land. Do I fit the stereotype? Do I break the mold? We are about to find out.

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A comic by first glance, … but something much deeper on a different level. I hesitate offering too much commentary as I don’t believe everything needs to be over analyzed. So that is all.

As always, feel free to discuss in the comments.

A female reader by the name of Jypcee left this in my inbox one morning. Jypcee belongs to the GamerChix and also created an all female group called Femmes Fatales that actively works on improving their FPS skills together through communication, strategy, and lots and lots of practice. Apparently one day writing poetry was more appealing than working so here is the fruit of her labor. Enjoy.

All the ways you love me really makes me blush
The subtle annoying comments make my heart rush
The cursing and snide remarks would make any mom proud
To know that her precious son is disrespectful and loud,
For you to tell me I belong in the kitchen
Only makes me pause,
Because the last time I looked most males held that job

A new day has dawned where a girl can beat a boy
In a simple game of Halo on a simple little toy
To hear the things you spew makes my heart a flutter
But to own your butt in Gears makes it even better
Every time I sniped you filled me with glee
It only proved to everyone you are no better than me
When you ask if I’m a hottie, we all know that you’re not
You may be a desperate fool, but I am surely not

Let’s put your neolithic attitude where it belongs
Back in the past, back to the days of Pong
We know you cannot possibly understand,
That this is a really just a game
Not a one night stand or hookup for the really lame
When you try to prove your superiority
I giggle and I laugh because I took you with me
When I stuck a plasma on your …
So dear boys who think they rule the roost
You got owned by a girl and I’m the living proof!

~Jypcee

[xkcd]

*Thank you to “K” who left a link to this comic in a comment!

Yesterday I featured an article written by one of my favorite guest writers, Excardon, that broached the subject of female gamers from a male’s perspective. One Gamer’s Experience and Perspective on Female Gamers is an insightful and informative read but above everything else, it is honest. All of his statements are the truth as he sees it. I would imagine he was a little nervous writing an article covering this subject matter in particular, especially considering the fact that it was going to be published on a female gamer’s blog.

When I read over the first draft he sent me, I will admit that I bristled a few times. A handful of his points in particular hit rather close to home for me. I abstained from stating my opinion within the comments of his article as I wanted to dedicate an entire article to my response. Of course I have an opinion on it. I am, after all, me. I have an opinion on everything which you are about to see. It must be your lucky day.

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Today brings an article brought to you by one of my favorite guest writers, Excardon. You may recognize his name as one of the founders of halo2.junk.ws or you may be familiar with him because he has written here before. In fact you probably remember his other article quite well, Improvements Needed for Halo 3. It was my fifth most popular article for the month of July. No, I will not have Excardon write you an article every day. You will have to continue to suffer through my ridiculous stuff. However he will treat you to another masterpiece, this time about a topic I hold dear to my heart, female gamers. He is a good source for opinions on this topic as he met his amazing wife through the wonderful world of gaming. I’ll admit, I bristled at a few points during this article (in my defense, he not only discusses the particular position I hold within my clan but also brings up the female gaming group I belong to) but it is an honest insightful read. I will be doing my own article in response to this tomorrow. For now, enjoy.

One Gamer’s Experience and Perspective on Female Gamers,
written by Excardon

First off before I share my thoughts and experiences on females and gaming, I’d like to state what you will and won’t find in this article. You won’t find a million facts and numbers being laid out to prove a point. You probably won’t find this article to be politically correct either. What you will find is the opinion of one man who used to be your stereotypical gamer and through the years developed a better sense of what really takes place in life inside and outside of the video game world. Gaming has been my number one hobby as far back as I can remember, so in some aspects, I do take it seriously. Again, this is my personal experiences, opinions, and outlook on females in gaming. Please keep that in mind while reading this article. Thank you.

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One of the panels I was most interested in attending at this year’s PAX was Girls and Games, the Growing Role of Women in the Game Industry. Unfortunately it ended up being one of the panels I was most disappointed in as well. As it was described in their schedule of events :

According to the ESA, more than 43% of video gamers are female, making women the single largest untapped market segment in the gaming industry. Look at the milestones crossed and the hurdles to come as developers and publishers reach out to this previously overlooked demographic. Are current strategies effective? What does this mean for the game industry as a whole?

Speakers: Jane Pinckard (CMP/GDC), Morgan Romine (Ubisoft), Theresa Pudenz (Flying Lab Software)

*click images to enlarge

Before I even get to the content of this panel, I would like to share with you a little about the “theatre” it was held in. Theatre B was actually the corner of a large gathering room. It was at the top of a busy set of escalators. It was right next to a set of bathrooms so it received heavy traffic from that. Right across the walk area to the bathrooms were the registration tables, again ensuring heavy traffic. In the next corner of the room was a DDR machine blaring music. So this Theatre B was in the middle of all of those things. There were not three partition walls to help with the sound problems. There were not two partition walls to help with the sound problems. There was not one partition wall to help with the sound problems. It was simply in the corner of the room with the panel set up and then enough seating for maybe 50-75 people. Needless to say, there were at least twice as many people standing up to attend this panel than sitting down. Unfortunately the audio only carried well throughout the seated area with the level of noise around the “theatre” so anybody standing up struggled to hear, assuming they could hear any of it.

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The Xbox Domain recently did a short blurb on the newest female gamer undergarment to hit the market, “Achievement Locked” underwear. One of their editors contacted me and asked if I would do a short piece on my opinion on this product since I am of the female persuasion. He wasn’t sure if I would have an opinion on it; I assured him I have an opinion on everything.

I have seen these panties floating around the internet the past couple of days. My first impression was that they were simply adorable and it was definitely a must have. I love gaming related gear, from t-shirts to jewelry to buttons and everything in between. I have a few gamer undergarments that I love wearing. I will not divulge the specifics as I don’t think it is necessary, but I will say female gaming accessories of all kinds really appeal to me.

When I got the request for my opinion on this particular topic, I couldn’t think of why that would be of interest. It is new gamer gear. Take it or leave it. Then I opted to look at it on a different level.

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