How a hardcore gaming girl slowly became accepted on Xbox Live and other online games
By Natalie Romano

“Sorry, guys, but she’s on my team! This girl knows how to clear a room.”

There’s a slight climate shift in the online gaming community and the only way you’ll notice it is if you’re a female gamer. Having gladly jumped right into what is mainly perceived as a male-dominant online universe on Xbox Live as well as on the PlayStation 2, it was a long road to gain social acceptance as well as the above compliment bestowed upon me during a recent Rainbow Six Vegas multiplayer game on Xbox Live.

I can still remember the number of sexist comments that were hurled in my direction when I volunteered to take the sniper role in Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War on the original Xbox (the game’s awesome online multiplayer consisted of a number of squad roles such as medic or engineer). Almost immediately, a wave of protests came crashing down on me.

“You want to be our sniper? Don’t you have a kitchen to clean?”

“Ha, why don’t you hand your boyfriend the headset and let him play?”

“What color underwear are you wearing?”

These are but the clean comments that are fit for printing. Oftentimes the remarks were graphic but the majority of them pointed out the fact that because I was a girl I wouldn’t be a good sniper or a racing opponent or provide much of a challenge on the Madden NFL or FIFA Soccer games. Having met many a female gamer online, we could only band together and attempt to climb the leader boards of our favorite game in hopes of earning respect from male gamers the hard way.

It was a proud moment for me when a member of my own gender surpassed the driving skills of a male gamer on Midnight Club 2 only to be disappointed by the opponent’s negative reaction to losing to a girl. I was even present when a female gamer defeated the top player in NHL 2K3 only to be accused of being a guy pretending to be a girl. It wasn’t until I began to climb the level up my Dark Elf in Everquest: Online Adventures for the PS2 that I noticed some slight changes in attitude towards female gamers. My initial reaction was that fans of role-playing games were less inclined to make rude comments than first-person shooters or action games where a gamers’ blood is really pumping. Suddenly, I found myself being invited to quests or guild meetings and helpful players would point me in the right direction or lend a hand during combat. Were things changing?

When Halo 2 dominated my life, things seemed to be different. No longer would there be protests nor cracks that Spartan armor should come in pink (there are pink ones now and yes they totally rock). In place of overtly sexual comments, male gamers would actually applaud my skills or the skills of other female gamers. I jumped with joy when a group of girl gamers calling themselves The Frag Dolls competed against some of Halo 2’s top gamers and put up quite an impressive fight. The best part was that the boys tipped their hats at these ladies.

This leads us to the comment a male gamer gave me while playing Rainbow Six Vegas on the Xbox 360. A new generation in gaming is here and the attitude towards female gamers has indeed changed. Sure, there are still a few gamers out there who would make rude comments but it’s not as different from the comments other male gamers receive on a daily basis on Xbox Live or on the new PlayStation 3. I hope that a day will come when female gamers will just be looked at as a gamer who can frag with the best of them. Look for me online, I’m the one wearing a skirt.

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