Jezebel’s Take on PAX 2008 “How to Get Your Girlfriend into Gaming”
How to Get Your Girlfriend into Gaming: Don’t let them know you were at this panel.
To be fair, this is not the first time I’ve seen this sort of gross oversimplification and “women are like children” stereotypes in articles like this. It really only serves to remind me of what a polarized environment I am in by calling myself a female gamer.
The reality of the situation is that the way to get your girlfriend into gaming is by hiring women as game developers. Not until games are aimed at women will women take to them in a big way. I think we are getting to that point, but it is slow going.
Then again, occasionally I realize that games are in such a situation that they are suddenly gaining mass media attention AND there are a lot of new ideas, so we can have games like Heavenly Sword which are both high-profile and actually pass the Bechdel Rule, something which few movies can actually accomplish.
So yes, this does gross me out, but I am so hopeful about the future of gaming industry that I figure this will change sooner than you would think.