I have played as a female character several times in games, but I usually do it for different reasons. For games like Mass effect, Fable 2 and Fallout 3 I play as both male and female characters, but that is because I want to play it again in a different way, so I usually play as a good female character first and then an evil guy later (I usually do it this way but I will change it sometimes). When it comes to games with set characters then I will choose the character that suits my playstyle best (e.g. I play Mui in Mercenaries 1 & 2, Alexis in Evil Genius and a male Argonian in Oblivion) and don't care whether they are male or female. In other games where the decision has no effect on the gameplay other than your character, I will usually make a charcter that looks like me (like I did in Saints Row 1 & 2) but I might make a female charcter if I feel like it. I think people make to big a deal about playing as an opposite gender since I like the added choice that you get, but I might be influenced in thinking this because my favourite game(Beyond Good and Evil) has you play as a female.