38%? Thats a lot more than I thought.

As a female gamer, I would say I spend about 15 hours a week...most of it either on my Wii or 360 . I used to be obsessed with my DS...but not so much anymore. Although I'll be attached to my PSP when Crisis Core comes out...

Come to think of it I think FFVII might be the reason I got into gaming... :-P

Doesn't describe me at all.

I play Xbox 360 mostly (got it the day it came out) and don't own a DS.

Then again, I also don't consider myself a "casual" gamer.

Hey Tori, no Wii-loving?? Are you not an avid Wii Sports lover? I highly recommend it... Just gimme a call and I'll be there in a jiffy with my ...urm ...Wii

=\

I don't care. Not one bit.
If it's multiplayer, the list of things I care about is
1- Are you any good
2- Are you willing to learn
3- Are you going to have a good time
4- Are you going to spoil/enhance my good time

Mind you, this isn't directed at the content poster, more at these stat factories. Ovaries or lack thereof are not on my personal list of caring about gamers.

---And yes, I realize these are useful from a marketing standpoint. I'm just sayin'.

Data gathered in a (properly conducted) study usually carries more weight than anecdotal evidence. These things are often conducted because someone has an inference about one thing or another. To criticize a study for confirming a suspicion is a bit unfair.

My girlfriend likes to play fighting games DOA is her favorite right now. She's good to she's bet me more then a few times.

That describes my wife perfectly. She plays her DS all the time, and only plays Xbox or PS3 with me when I specifically ask her to.

7.4 hours? I wonder if I used to play that much. Maybe I just have more work than I used to. But even in high school I don't think I played over 7 hours a week, at least not in junior and senior year. I don't think I ever met a girl who was interested in games though.

@Atsumi:
Note that these are general statistics. They will not apply to all. So although the majority of femail gamers tend to play social based games and casual games, this does not negate that there are more hardcore female gamers.

i'm surprised it's that high, although i'd like to see it a lot more even. hate to see girls i know that would love, say final fantasy, missing out.

Most women I know who play games are into World of Warcraft and essentially nothing else.

I don't get WoW. I tried a 7-day trial once, and it didn't appeal to me in the least. I probably wouldn't have played it any more than I did if it were 100% free, much less am I inclined to pay money each month to play it.

Well I wouldn't say I fit the stat then. Right now my drug of choice is Patapon. And I am attached to my PSP. And like you said Tori 7.5hrs is a conservative number for me. Just check my Patapon save. It will tell you how addicted I am. I don't fit the typical in that I'm not a big fan of RPG for the most part (huge fan of SOTN and of course Patapon). Not a Sims fan. Believe it or not I have this built in alarm that says "too much time involved!" That and I don't really get any enjoyment out of reality games. I like strategy, action, fighting, puzzle and racing games. Not into FPS. I'm no good at them, that's probably why. One of my favorite games of all time though is Killzone: Liberation. How's that for a stat buster! Play on Ladies, Play On!!

My G/F beat me at Frogger. Is that what you wanted to hear? Satisfied? And to boot, she majored in statistics! What are the odds in that!

It's uncommon to see female gamers on fps/multiplayer
however I encounter many (since I'm in to rock chiks ;) )
Most of which I encounter on cs:s and such but many like the mmo genre or rpg not that all females r like that when it comes to games :P.. it's just what I see....
I actually got my ass kicked really bad last night on cs:s by a girl :D .. damn her... damn you Karola!! :P

Doesn't particularly describe me, either. I do spend a lot of time with my DS, but I also spend time with my 360 or playing a variety of PC games just as often. I do have a penchant for games that let me customize my character, but I also enjoy blowing things up/shooting/etc.

I'm sure marketers get something from this data, but I can only hope that more data on female gamers doesn't get us more condescending titles like "Imagine Babyz."

Is final fantasy girly?.. :P .. o goshh.. :P i better put my skirt on :D

While I do love my DS, I certainly spend more time in TF2 or any console game than I would in the Sims. That being said, my roommate only plays the Sims and Myst, so I guess that balances out.

I find the Sims pretty boring after five minutes. My boyfriend, on the other hand, really enjoys it for some strange reason.

D:

But I do admit, I won't lie: I am ADDICTED TO MY DS. And I probably spent more like 20 hours a week playing PS3. Well, ever since I finally got DMC4. D:

% of "hardcore" gamer chicks? about 1%

38% is alot...

i thought it would be closer to 8-10%...

Mabye gaming girls dont emphasise their presence...

Heh....maybe this will actually help socialize the men folk on Live (can't speak to PSN cuz I have never experienced it).....I am joking of course as 90% of Live's users are perpetually stuck in their adolescent stage of development....more shocking IMO is the number of young girls that encourage their behavior....you should see them (hear them) a bunch of yapping pups trying to do and say anything for the attention of their "dream" virtual lady....the future may be doomed....

@graddy: Yes, I know they're general statistics. I was just answering the last question in the post. :D

No theres alot of hardcore gamer chicks out there. They just all play WoW. Thats how i met my girlfriend ;). She lives with me now. Since then iv quit playing and she still plays.

Met like 1 or 2 girls at this hardcore SC2 tourny i went to one time. It still saddens me to get beat by a girl. Oh well times have changed ;).

a few weeks ago this wouldn't fit me at all.. but now that i have a DS and have been dallying with prof. layton, well...heh. still, i consider myself more hardcore than that, and i definitely play more than 7.4 hours/week. is hard to lump all us ladies into easy-to-define categories, no?

I'm a chick who loves the DS, but is pretty addicted to online FPS'es as well. I hate the Sims and pretty much ANY MMO (snore, give me a shooter). My general question is, are you guys just assuming that 90% of the people who play CS:S (or TF2 as another example) are guys? I'm guilty of this myself, even though I usually play on servers where the chat is kept to a minimum so it's impossible to tell the gender of everyone.

I'm a female gamer, and while I've never really liked the DS (the screen is too small) or the Sims (boring), I know alot of other female gamers that are crazy about both. I do love MMO's, though less for the social aspects and more for the grind and customization. My attention generally switches between random free-to-play mmo's on the net, and console RPG's.

My platforms of choice are PC and 360.

My DS is generally sitting idle , though when I get my copy of Professor Layton that'll hopefully change.

I used to play primarily MMOs (40+ hours a week) but these days i'm suffering a bit of burnout, so I've gone back to J-RPGs (like eternal sonata and blue dragon) along with some Portal / CoD x rounding it off with the odd japanese dating sim/Visual novel on my laptop in front of the TV for a change of pace.

Never really got on with the Sims.

Hmmm, I don't know if this article applies to me or not. I don't play Sims much, but I love my DS though the only games I play on it are the Phoenix Wright games. But I also play on PC, 360, PS2, WII, and probably PS3 once too many PS3-only games come out that convince me to buy one. I do play a lot of WoW though, lol, and I play games a lot more than my boyfriend. I can also play games 6+ hours easy. I also have an obsession over survival horror which could be a spin off of my obsession with horror movies =D.

When I was younger I played the sims, but mostly in middle school I played Warcraft and Starcraft. Loved logging onto battle net and telling people they just got beat by a middle school girl.

I'm not the norm I guess. Since my husband works for Gamestop, we always have new games. He is always to busy to play so I always get to play them.

My DS is covered in dust...

I wonder how much of the "gap" in percentage between girl and guy gamers is really a difference in the interest of each gender in video simulations in general, or if its born more of the negative stigma that still attaches itself to gaming. I guess the more direct question would be, addressed to the 38% of us who are apparently female, do you feel the need to obscure/hide your gaming from female friends who might negatively judge you based on it? I'm asking out of genuine curiosity, I know my Fiancee could give a damn who knows she is playing games but she isn't exactly a "normal" example ;)

So what we're looking at here is 99% of girl gamers being *casual girl gamers*.

My wife's really into Patapon right now. Before that she bought me Mass Effect for my birthday and then hogged it. 8(

She plays a bigger variety of games than I do though we tend to share interest in a bunch. Not much time for other games when there's WoW.

I play video games probably about 4 hours a day. I have a fair amount (read 25ish) games, with the latest being Professor Layton.

Usually I play whatever console games I'm into and then add DS games on top of that. Right now I'm playing Crackdown (again!) and Halo 3.

As for PC games I only like RTSes. I am not a big fan of The Sims at all, at ALL.

I do play my DS for a portable but I prefer RPGs, action adventure and I vastly prefer soloing in MMOs. I used to play FPSs up until Quake 3, but have become bored with them not to mention the new ones make me motion sick. Favorite franchises: legacy of kain/ soul reaver, zelda, lunar, grandia, castlevania, elder scrolls. I have been playing videogames since the late '70's and play 20-40 hours a week these days.

So, no, I do not fit.

I am a female gamer. I started out as a lot of NES gamers did, with platformers. Then during the SNES and Genesis era I switched primarily to J-RPGs. About 10 years ago I felt some major RPG burnout since they're all just the same. Nowadays I'll play most games other than MMOs, the yearly EA sports games, and simulation games (Sims, Sim City, Civilization, etc).

I personally don't think I could be called a casual gamer with the amount of time and money I put into gaming. I've been heavily gaming since the late 80s and I know I can't possibly be the only one. But then again I'm sure that number of girl gamers since the 80s is diminishing all the time because of people having babies and not having time. I honestly put my gaming and other stuff I do over babies (luckily, so does my gamer fiancee), so will probably never will have kids. But that's probably good for this overcrowded world not to have more.

A few of my girl friends are really into XBL and are on probably 2-3 hours a day, so there's definitely a larger variety out there.

What, and the study doesn't show that female gamers are more violent than female non-gamers (who, as we all know, love poneys, flowers and cute baby animals)?

...Could it mean that I got it wrong all this time? õ_o

I play when I can, what I can. Although the DS is handy for in-the-bed gaming, but I still spend time on the comp (other than WoW). Now.. as soon as I get my 360 back, that'll start up my console playtime slot to coincide with the Wii time I throw in there. Okay... so I play a lot. If they had some awesome arcades around here, my time playing would skyrocket sumore...

If I had enough time to play instead of working on my own games, I would probably surpass the average play time they listed, but again that is only a median of the play time for all the females they surveyed.

Mainly, when I can play, it really depends on what mood I am in and how much time I have to play. If I get bored at work, I will find something casual to play. If at home, its my PS2 or 360 ranging from things like Bully or GTA to sports or fighting games. If I have tons of time, I will play WOW for a while or try to get into CS:S or UT. I am not very good with FPS due to mousing disadvantages, so I only play when I just really want to shoot things and don't care if I die.

Hmm..One of my friends is both a Sims and Sailor Moon fanatic. She once created the Sailor Senshi and played with them til' she got bored and got them in a hot tub, then introduced them to an electrical appliance ^_^.
But then, on the other end of the spectrum I have two nieces who, when they get the urge to play videogames, play either Dead or Alive or Soul Calibur.

I spend most of my game time these days on DS and PC because when you live in a multi-gamer house, you have to share the TV! I don't play a lot of casual or "girly" games (although I just finally played Harvest Moon and I like it lots). I love strategy games (turn based and Blizz RTS's) and fighting games and action/adventure games. Not a big FPS person but I loves me some Team Fortress 2. 7 hours might be about right if you're only talking about the work week. :P

@jeccaneko: You're not the only one XD I've been heavily playing games since Atari days. I'd play NES with my female cousin and dream of becoming as good as her (she was 5 years older than me). Now she has babies and isn't a gamer anymore (I can kick her ass in anything) =(.

Its true. I love my DS. I can play it at work. I can't play my ps2 at work. (On that same note much love to my PSP also.) I primarily play portables and pc because I'm still unable to afford a new console AND my pc gaming.

My sister's a big FPS fan though.

From a marketing standpoint these statistics are important. It means that there may be more attractive male characters in games to lure female players in. (Devil May Cry anyone?)

@And after this our exile: I know a gamer that plays Silent Hill and games like that, real big into the survival horror and well..just about anything bloody. She has a nice sized my little pony collection too.

@And after this our exile:

You asked for Ponies, you got them!

My girlfriend doesnt own a DS and while she does have a copy of the Sims, it is rarely used. Instead she plays a hefty amount of Guitar Hero and it about 3/4 of the way through Mass Effect.

She did complete Viva Pinata though....

My girlfriend is always on WoW, before that it was JRPG's . Before that? 2D fighters.

The main issue I get with my gaming gurl is that she wont play a game if I suggest that its a good one. If I say, "hey you really should give portal a try, its THE best game I've played in over a year", she wont touch it.

I think it might just be FPS in general because she gets motion sickness though, and she really does judge games by the cover First person? Must be shooter! Puzzle game? must be boring! , Warcraft? "Im not addicted" , then comes to bed at 2am after I go to bed at 11pm. Not addicted... MUCH.

I am a female gamer who has never played the Sims, and never wants to. I know, that makes me an anomaly.

I have a question for all of these people saying "oh, looks like most of those female gamers are 'casual'". Are you defining casual by the amount of time played, or the types of games/platforms played, or some combination of both?

I ask because people seem to be saying that Sims = casual, and DS = casual, across the board. Is this really accurate? Would you call a total Sims addict who plays 20 hours a week "casual"? If so, why? Because that person isn't playing an FPS or other suitably "hardcore" game? And it seems like a majority of Kotaku readers own a DS, so why is it automatically casual? Am I a casual player if I enjoy Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Contra, FFTA, etc on my DS?

It seems like a lot of people think that the subject matter of the games you play d