Opinion Wanted! Strengths/Weakness of Girl/Guy Gamers

[LawlessSquirrel]

I've not noticed any difference in attitudes or skill level, but on the psychology side women are more 'at home' in third person games, repetition-driven games, and have a preference for social/mental games (or so marketing states). Men are naturally more suited to first person games, competitive games, and power-building games, and have a preference for power and spectacle (again, or so marketing states).

These are the general biological-psychology trends as I've been taught at least. Generalizations based on chemistry and psychology, I've noticed them to be fairly true, but it's not like this is an absolute standard or anything.

 

[])rStrangelove]

The only weakness i spotted on gamergirls so far is that some of them just can't help to take all their 'girly uniqueness' and constantly rub it in everyone's face. Dramaqueens are the worst.

 

[Thaluikhain]

It's a stupid idea. Contrary to popular belief, women aren't some bizarre inhuman monster. Hell, your mother probably was one.

There's always this weird confusion/worry about female gamers. I remember an article here that mentioned a female gamer revealing she was a she during a big multi-player attack on somewhere in a MMORPG, leading to massive panic and confusion, with everyone getting wiped out as they spent more time telling each other than a women couldn't be playing than fighting the monsters.

The differences between average men and women tend to be significantly less than the differences between individuals of the same sex. Though, this doesn't include cultural biases, though that depends on what culture they are from.

 

[IamQ]

If the male gets hit in the balls, he will shout and feel a lot of pain.

If a female gets her tits smacked, she will most likley no longer continue playing with you.

 

[Akimoto]

I've not noticed any difference in attitudes or skill level, but on the psychology side women are more 'at home' in third person games, repetition-driven games, and have a preference for social/mental games (or so marketing states). Men are naturally more suited to first person games, competitive games, and power-building games, and have a preference for power and spectacle (again, or so marketing states).

These are the general biological-psychology trends as I've been taught at least. Generalizations based on chemistry and psychology, I've noticed them to be fairly true, but it's not like this is an absolute standard or anything.

That's interesting. You know of any articles that looked into this?

My sister tends to, like you said, play games like Magic Knight Rayearth and Fire Emblem i.e mental games. I tried to get her interested in L4D2 but she sort of went 'meh'.

 

[Phasmal]

Most of the gamers I know are generally guys - I live in a very small country although I've heard of girl gamers being better in some ways e.g paying more attention to detail as compared to guys e.g more aggressive(?)

I want to know what you guys think. Doesn't have to be any specific genre but maybe better to first mention the genre.

Many girls have to try harder to get the same recognition, which is why some may seem more aggressive.
I know, because I went through that phase (sometimes still struggle with it ).
When my mum remarried when I was a kid, I suddenly inherited 2 step-brothers, I'd never had brothers before and my sisters weren't really in to gaming, so I was excited.
But when I brought it up with them they laughed and said `Girls cant play games`, so I kicked both of their asses at Battle Arena Toshinden.

Still, a lot of guys carry that attitude, and then there are guys who will make stupid unfunny jokes, and then guys who will deny you exsist, and then guys who will fall over themselves trying to flirt with you, and guys who will treat you like a dog that learned to talk.

Oh, and more recently there are guys who will launch into a fit of swearwords at you just if you even MENTION you aren't a guy. Had that recently, and honestly I was pretty shocked (and actually upset, even though I know I shouldn't have been). I dont use my gender as an excuse, nor do I announce it, but apparently I am not allowed to even make it known at all. Shame on me.

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

It's a stupid idea. Contrary to popular belief, women aren't some bizarre inhuman monster. Hell, your mother probably was one.

There's always this weird confusion/worry about female gamers. I remember an article here that mentioned a female gamer revealing she was a she during a big multi-player attack on somewhere in a MMORPG, leading to massive panic and confusion, with everyone getting wiped out as they spent more time telling each other than a women couldn't be playing than fighting the monsters.

The differences between average men and women tend to be significantly less than the differences between individuals of the same sex. Though, this doesn't include cultural biases, though that depends on what culture they are from.

Oh goodness, that first bit made me laugh. Thank you for that.

And your other points are precisely what I was going to say. Every gamer is at least slightly different than any others (I hope, unless there's been cloning that I didn't know about). I'm a gamer, and I have both male and female friends who game. My two female friends who game don't particularly like FPSs, nor are they particularly good at them. Maybe girls aren't as good at/don't like FPSs... oh wait! I like FPSs. And am quite good at them, regularly beating my male friends by a fairly wide margin. Because, y'know... I happen to be a gamer who likes FPSs. And fighting games. And RPGs. My personal likes and strengths are just that... personal. They aren't some bizarre byproduct of my gender, because (contrary to apparently popular belief) we gals aren't all the same, strange, alien creature.

 

[midknight129]

Keep in mind that while there are certain tendencies between the genders, each person is an individual. A particular woman may be physically stronger than a particular man (say a body-builder female vs a computer nerd male). That having been said:

Men tend to be more aggressive and more prone to risk-taking. In highly tactical games like FPS, this can be a boon. But in games where you have to be more conservative and strategic, women would tend to have the upper-hand.

Women and men also have very different spatial awareness. Women tend to do better in static spatial awareness; knowing the position of things around them, knowing if something has been moved from it's familiar spot, etc. Men have better dynamic spatial awareness; better sense of direction, better judge of distance, better awareness of moving objects, etc.

Women tend to be more cooperative while men tend to be more competitive. This means that in situations where coordinated teamwork is required, women excel; in MMOs, females make excellent healers. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to compete with their party-mates in DPS-races against the boss, and are more at home with directly competitive games like sports and, again, FPS.

Women tend to be better at multi-tasking while men are better at focusing on a specific task. When assigned a specialized role like the Sniper in an FPS or the DPS in an MMO, men will excel because they'll tend to do that and focus on it, not getting distracted by other people (he won't complain the healer isn't doing a good job until the fight is over or he's dead). On the other hand, Women can handle several tasks at once. Though not focusing on any one as a man would, a woman can handle situations that require attention on multiple fronts such as multi-point attacks in a RTS, healing in an MMO, etc.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

I've not noticed any difference in attitudes or skill level, but on the psychology side women are more 'at home' in third person games, repetition-driven games, and have a preference for social/mental games (or so marketing states). Men are naturally more suited to first person games, competitive games, and power-building games, and have a preference for power and spectacle (again, or so marketing states).

These are the general biological-psychology trends as I've been taught at least. Generalizations based on chemistry and psychology, I've noticed them to be fairly true, but it's not like this is an absolute standard or anything.

That's interesting. You know of any articles that looked into this?

My sister tends to, like you said, play games like Magic Knight Rayearth and Fire Emblem i.e mental games. I tried to get her interested in L4D2 but she sort of went 'meh'.

I HAD a bunch of articles and sources, but I've since lost pretty much all of them. I know that's a bit of a red flag when it comes to trying to put forward a point, but it's all stuff that was covered in my course at uni (game design, at a gaming and new media university). Whether that gives it more or less creditability is up to you.

I personally found the information very interesting and it all seemed to fit so I guess I retained a lot of it, but after leaving I cleared off all my files =/

 

[LetalisK]

It's a stupid idea. Contrary to popular belief, women aren't some bizarre inhuman monster. Hell, your mother probably was one.

You shut your mouth! My mother is a saint!

OT: Any actual biological difference that does exist is probably so minute that it plays almost no role.

 

[CODE-D]

Boys can come back from bathroom breaks faster.

 

[Vault101]

Most of the gamers I know are generally guys - I live in a very small country although I've heard of girl gamers being better in some ways e.g paying more attention to detail as compared to guys e.g more aggressive(?)

I want to know what you guys think. Doesn't have to be any specific genre but maybe better to first mention the genre.

Many girls have to try harder to get the same recognition, which is why some may seem more aggressive.
I know, because I went through that phase (sometimes still struggle with it ).
When my mum remarried when I was a kid, I suddenly inherited 2 step-brothers, I'd never had brothers before and my sisters weren't really in to gaming, so I was excited.
But when I brought it up with them they laughed and said `Girls cant play games`, so I kicked both of their asses at Battle Arena Toshinden.

Still, a lot of guys carry that attitude, and then there are guys who will make stupid unfunny jokes, and then guys who will deny you exsist, and then guys who will fall over themselves trying to flirt with you, and guys who will treat you like a dog that learned to talk.

Oh, and more recently there are guys who will launch into a fit of swearwords at you just if you even MENTION you aren't a guy. Had that recently, and honestly I was pretty shocked (and actually upset, even though I know I shouldn't have been). I dont use my gender as an excuse, nor do I announce it, but apparently I am not allowed to even make it known at all. Shame on me.

really? people are still "urrr girlz dont play GAMES"?

I thought we got past that :/...I assume its more of an online thing?

though somone actually said she didnt think "girl" gamers really existed (or were incredibly rare)..untill she met me

 

[Trippy Turtle]

The guys are probably to busy asking for pics to play properly when a girl is playing. At least on Xbox.

 

[Dags90]

I find the testicles to be a major weak spot in guy gamers. Also, men are more likely to be color blind, which may affect some aspects of game play. Women are generally more susceptible to autoimmune diseases which can cause arthritis, a clear detriment.

So they have their pros and cons...

 

[Akimoto]

Still, a lot of guys carry that attitude, and then there are guys who will make stupid unfunny jokes, and then guys who will deny you exsist, and then guys who will fall over themselves trying to flirt with you, and guys who will treat you like a dog that learned to talk.

Oh, and more recently there are guys who will launch into a fit of swearwords at you just if you even MENTION you aren't a guy. Had that recently, and honestly I was pretty shocked (and actually upset, even though I know I shouldn't have been). I dont use my gender as an excuse, nor do I announce it, but apparently I am not allowed to even make it known at all. Shame on me.

I think girls that kick my ass on any game are very cool, as are girls who play the Bass and Drums. =)

I once had a nick 'Crying Angel' and immediately got flamed by a bunch of guys, had unmentionable attention from a few more and was treated as an equal by most. That was when the first COD came out. Nothing new I guess?

 

[saucecode]

I see them as equals.
Guys just so happen to be better than girls at video games when they obviously play it alot more. There may be pros/cons per gender, but it wont really affect how well one can play the game. I play alot of multiplayer, but it does get bland after a bit, and co-op with people I know can be alot more interesting.

 

[])rStrangelove]

I think to say that there are gametypes where girls are at some sort of disadvantage is BS. I'm big into FPS and racing, but suck horribly at RTS games and text adventures (lol) - so its always the person / character but not your gender.

Got the proof in RealLife[tm] right beside me, my female neighbor always drives backwards into her lot - faster and more perfectly than i could ever do it.

Actually i'm glad so many girls are into gaming, esp in coop games its much more fun this way. They tend to see problems in a different way and i'd say they also care more about the group as a whole - they look after ppl who get left behind, remind the others of it, stuff like that.

 

[xmbts]

I'd say the difference is individual skill rather then an effect gender has on anything.