By ROSS MARTIN - Fairfax Media | Saturday, 13 September 2008

Video games are typically a male domain - made by males for other males and about male heroes.

There are a few exceptions, like Lara Croft of Tomb Raider fame and Zelda, who has evolved over the years from a damsel in distress to a heroine in her own right. But these pixel princesses were designed by males, generally for the entertainment of other male games.

For every Zelda there are a hundred Marios, just like for every girl gamer there are a hundred guys.

The worm is now beginning to turn though, and more ladies are giving the boys a run for their money in the world of video gaming.

Traditionally, games "for girls" tended to be all pink, fluffy and if adult-themed tended to concentrate mainly on the human interaction type of game play. Examples of these include the Barbie games, The Sims series and others like Nintendogs.

However, recent research suggests that most girl gamers just want to be treated as "one of the boys", rather than have games made specifically for them. Even if they don't get so excited by blood and guts, they can still appreciate the skills needed for most games out there.

Why are most games not designed for girls? Well, this is pretty simple. It's bottom line accounting, and it's gender trends in the industry. Most of the developers (especially the programmers) are males, and they generally design figures such as Lara Croft frankly to be pleasing to their main audience - young men.

Why would you not cater to your biggest audience? Most games need to succeed and sell a certain number of units, and it's always a safer bet to cater to the largest market. And while a fat Italian male plumber like Mario may sell a lot of games, a fat Italian female one won't.

This is (thankfully) starting to change. More girls are beginning to enter the gaming job market. The average age of gamers has steadily increased, and the teenage boy gaming market has pretty much been fully tapped. Games with blood and guts will still sell, sure, but there are easier pickings elsewhere.

Many developers are now forced to look at other markets to succeed. This has led to games such as the karaoke game Singstar, music game Guitar Hero, and exercise game Wii Fit. These are by no means "traditional" video games, but their success cannot be denied.

The rise of the "casual" gamer and the deeper penetration of gaming into society as a whole have made your "Joe average gamer" now equally likely to be a "Joanne".

One example of a game that caters equally to both sexes is the massively popular online fantasy game World of Warcraft. Here the action is intertwined with large elements of relationship building, and semi-naked men are as common as their female counterparts.

More and more girls are getting into gaming. It could be your sister, your friend or even your mum. Chances are with a bit of practice she could be at least as good as you. I have met - and played against - several ladies who would frag you as soon as look at you.

One of them, Th3fairy (her gaming "handle") was so into games that she was taking part in the World Cyber Games this year and competed last year too. Her games of choice are war games like Battlefield and Call Of Duty. She is also an administrator on some of New Zealand's biggest gaming servers, helping the online gaming community to run smoothly and politely.

Oh, and she is also a mother. So if there is still a stereotype of a "girl gamer", she definitely breaks it.

Girls, do not go rushing to push your brothers/partners/fathers off their games of choice just yet. As a female you can often be the target of some nasty, irritating or downright weird stuff if you are "outed" as a girl when gaming online.

Th3fairy's experience is typical. "You get hit on all the time, to the point where to have a game or two in peace you change your in-game nickname so you can't be recognized and cease all forms of voice communications, which is anti-social," she says.

"It had gotten so bad I quit playing that FPS (first person shooter) altogether after having someone I played with on a regular basis start stalking me, right down to obtaining my cell phone number and contacting me in what gamers call the âreal world'."

These are just some of the pitfalls of playing online as a girl. To play it safe, leave your headset off and have a gender-neutral nickname. But don't let a few nasty or overeager gamers deter you altogether. Most gamers are there to play and will leave you alone. They respect any player - male or female - who has skills.

So, boys: the game is up. In most spheres of life in New Zealand, there is already gender equality, and in the world of gaming it looks like there soon will be too.