Columbia Home & Lifestyle - January/February 2009 - (Page 28) Both play all female characters “World of Warcraft.” “I tried one (male character),” Johnson said, but didn't like the way the character shaped up. Getting hit on by other female characters was also awkward, she added. Roughly a third of their guild, or online team, are female, and the women tend to play more than the men, they said. Johnson said she appreciated the fact she could play a female warrior without dealing with too much prejudice. As for gaming online, both Winter and Johnson said they have experienced some trouble with stereotypes. “Depends on what time you're on,” Johnson said. “And who you're talking to.” Many, including gamers, still assume most players are male, Holt said. “I'm not offended by it, but I'm quick to say, 'Hey, I'm a girl,” she said. The new generation of hardware has also had an impact, she said. In addition to their computers, Holt said the family also owns a Wii. “I play Wii Fit,” Holt said. “Not so much for the game aspect but for the exercise aspect.” The Wii has been successful in bringing new gamers into the fold, Winter said. “My mom is even playing. My grandma bought one to do exercise,” she said. “We have family get-togethers, and they're bowling on Wii.” The ease of accessibility and play has made it an easy point of entry, Winter said. Michelle Sharp, 24, said she doesn't necessarily define herself as a gamer. But the University of Missouri student, who also works at a game store, said the term now certainly applies across genders. “It's more socially acceptable for women to be gamers,” Sharp said. Sharp said she used to watch her stepsiblings play when she was little, but didn't game much between her days playing Mario on her Super Nintendo and her current Nintendo DS and 360. She started slowly getting back into gaming playing fighting games with her boyfriend, a far cry from her high school gaming experiences, where her thenboyfriend ignored Sharp while playing Playstation 2. “He wasn't very nice, anyway,” she said. Getting beyond her high school experiences, Sharp switched picked up an Xbox 360 after discovering her love of music games like “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band.” “I like games that I can play with other people,” she said of her preferences. Sharp also had a Wii, but got rid of it. “Most of the games that were on it, I just wasn't interested in,” she said. But that’s not true of Nintendo’s other system, the take-along DS. “I could play it for hours, but I'm trying to do my homework,” she says of the handheld system. On the DS, Sharp is a fan of role-playing and life-simulation games such as “Harvest Moon” and “Animal Crossing,” along with old favorites like “Tetris.” But it’s the system’s more user-friendly titles, like “brain-training” and puzzle games, which are drawing in the new players, which Sharp said is a positive development. But social acceptability brings its own issues, she said. Sharp said she disliked game companies use of, for instance, bodyimage fears to promote exercise titles. “I find that a little insulting,” Sharp said. “I think it's pretty unfortunate.” FAmily-FrieNdly more ThAN jusT A gAme. Gaming has become much more mainstream these days, Holt said, which she attributes both to MMORPGs and a generation that grew up with games. Donahoe said she is looking forward to the increased abilities of systems, such as the Xbox 360's partnership with Netflix, which will allow people with both Xbox Live and Netflix to download movies to their systems. It's also provided something for her and her younger brother, who doesn't live in Columbia, to bond over. “We play a lot of the same things,” she said. “It's been a way for us to keep in touch a lot. Xbox Live has been really good for that,” adding they speak at least once a week over the service. The social aspect of gaming is an important one, but it can have a dark side, she said. The action and shooter titles that Donahoe enjoys are also often favored by boisterous male youth attempting to prove themselves, a situation that sometimes leads to impolite talk online. Donahoe said the online world isn't really a problem for her. “I'm not one of those people who has to narrate everything they do, so most people I think don't know that I'm female. It's kind of a non-issue.” 28 January/February 2009
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