Searching For The Missing Link

We’ve all heard the legend of the loch ness monster or "Nessie" as her close friends and family call her. We’ve also heard the legend of Bigfoot aka Sasquatch. Today I want to discuss another myth, that of the gamer girl.

Does she exist? Is she out there in the wild, amongst us "normal" guy gamers? Or was she just created by the industry to keep the dreams of lonely guys alive? The missing demographic during the early days of gaming, has she finally arrived? Recent studies suggest that between 35 and 45% of gamers are women. If this were true, shouldn’t we all be running into them at parties, bars, just about anywhere, right? According to the numbers, there are literally millions of chicks out there that play games. So then where are they?

Well, she does exist, and not just as a delusion in the warped minds of the creators of the Nerdcore calendars. (NSFW) I have seen and come into contact with many “gamer girls.” Even you may have had a brush or two with these wily creatures and not realized. The reason for this is these gamer girls don’t advertise their geekiness. Let’s be honest for a second; most everyone still associates gaming with being a “geek.” The media perpetuates this image by portraying a gamer as an overweight pimple faced teenager who plays games in mom’s basement. So obviously being associated with this image is the last thing these girls want. Gamer girls are girls after all and want to be seen in that light.

What I have come to realize is that the stereotype of a girl gamer who only enjoys princess games, or puppy stuff, is just not true. They also enjoy action packed shooters like a Halo or COD. They love running around in the mystical lands of WOW conjuring spells to banish evil gnomes. They are also rather reluctant to make their favorite hobby public. They avoid gaming oriented conversation among peers, female-oriented avatars and names, and in general… other guys. Apparently, girl gamers exist while hiding the fact that they play games! And I fully understand why they feel the need to veil their identities online. The number of potty mouthed idiots online is astronomically staggering. All the gamer girls I know never divulge the truth unless it is absolutely necessary. Why would they want to deal with the barrage of friends request and then disparaging comments when they aren’t accepted?

So yeah, they exist, they are out there amongst us. When you do run into one don’t be a prepubescent ass turd and start making fun of her or do anything else annoying for that matter. Just leave her be, and soon game servers will be flooded with super hot chicks that play games!!! …….. ehh probably not…