From now until February 22nd, shoppers that spend more than $34.99 on select fitness-themed products (Wii Fit, My Fitness Coach, etc.) at GameStop will be eligible for a free 12-month subscription to one of a number of magazines traditionally marketed towards the more mature female reader. Choices include Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, O Magazine, and more. You know, the ones they put right next to the cash registers at supermarkets in order to catch the shopper's eye.

A bit female-centric, but single guys are welcome to participate as well. After all, having women's magazines strewn about your apartment are half of the whole girlfriend experience.

Gear up for Overall Fitness in 2009
GameStop Showcases Games Designed to Shape Both Body and Mind

GRAPEVINE, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Are you looking for an alternative to working out at a gym for shaping up in the New Year? GameStop (NYSE: GME), the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer, encourages would-be fitness enthusiasts to embrace video games in their effort to shape up in 2009. By highlighting popular gaming titles that burn calories and exercise the brain, GameStop can show anyone dreading the prospect of the gym these alternative fitness methods that are both easy to follow and fun.

With the recent surge in active video games, which require players to either mimic the actions used in sports like bowling, tennis and baseball, or to flex their most important muscle – the brain – GameStop has more than 40 fitness-oriented titles for staying in shape from head to toe. GameStop’s “Sharpen the Mind, Shape the Body” in-store promotion emphasizes the growing number of active video game options available to help reach personal goals including:

Wii Fit with Balance Board
My Fitness Coach
Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum 2009
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
My Japanese Coach

As a special incentive, shoppers spending $34.99 or more on designated products from now through Feb. 22 will receive a free 12-month trial subscription to their choice of Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, O Magazine and more.

“We know that getting in shape is one of the toughest New Year’s resolutions to stick with, especially for busy moms who often don’t have time to spare for exercise,” said Mike Hogan, Senior Vice President of Marketing, GameStop. “Today’s moms are looking for ways to incorporate exercise into their lifestyle. Active video games are a terrific way to reach your fitness goals, and as an added bonus, they can be enjoyed with your whole family.”

Studies conducted by the Mayo Clinic* have found that active gaming titles can help players lose weight and improve their motor function. GameStop’s expert store associates can help aspiring total fitness connoisseurs select the right titles for their interests and skill levels. For more information or to find a store near you, log on to www.gamestop.com.

* Mayo Clinic research study findings published in the January 2007 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Association of Pediatrics.

The data used in the original survey has been pared down a bit for this new report, which studies gender difference amongst the unnaturally fit EQ2 populace. Along with echoing previous findings (females generally getting more into the games than men), lead researcher Scott Caplan of the University of Delaware explains that women who play MMO games are those more-likely to reject gender stereotypes. This conclusion is supported by the gathered data, indicating five times the amount of bisexuality among women in the game as compared to the general population.

Wow. That's a lot of physically fit bisexual women milling about, isn't it? It's as if they polled the population of any given college town.

"These are not people who are following strict gender stereotypes," said Prof Caplan.

"I think that the game itself is right now a very non-traditional activity for women, and so I think what you would find in this population are going to be people who are in other ways less traditional than the majority population."

Of course i have to stress once again - these are the results of a voluntary study in which participants received a free in-game item for participating, so I can't really see how they can even begin to pretend that they tallied accurate results. If I was told to complete a study in order to receive a free in-game item, I'd complete that puppy so fast that I might have wound up one of those hardcore bisexual raider women.

Think about that before you start fantasizing about that hot wood elf you saw running about Qeynos.

The virtual battle of the sexes [BBC - Thanks MaxS!]

So careful that, literally, the headline reads: "Interview with Metal Gear Solid Touch creators Hideo Kojima and its first-timer FEMALE producer".

The red font is not just our emphasis. Look at that photo. Those two kanji, in red, are "josei", meaning "female".

Let's back up and go over this again: the Cliff's Notes version of the title of the article is basically "New Game Made by a Man Named Hideo Kojima and a Woman Whose Name We Will Mention in the Story Itself, Though Not in this Title".

Is this the, uhh, nicest way to report this? Probably not. Maybe they could approach it a bit differently, say "Interview with Hideo Kojima and Some n00b Producer", and then in the article, it could just come out naturally that she's a woman. I mean, there's a photo of her in there, and everything.

Famitsu is typically read by schoolboys in convenient stores before school on Friday. Is this kind of nigh-subliminal sexism really the kind of thing we should be exposing them to? And thus open a thousand avenues to discussion of Japanese society.

[via Famitsu]

A study, commissioned by PopCap Games, showed that women love a good game of Cake Mania, and they aren't shy about it. After media content providers were determined to deliver advertisements catering to the young male bracket on consoles, the study by Information Solutions Group (ISG) reveals that casual gamers are "predominantly female."

In another article:

Leading Japanese mobile company NTT Docomo has published a study on mobile gaming demographics showing that female players are much more likely to play before sleep... Figures showed that 59% of female users play mobile games more than four times a week in comparison to 51% of male users.

I say, all this proves is that our boyfriends aren't doing a good job entertaining us. Kim Phu

Study Says Women Dominate Casual Gaming [Wii QJ]
Who Plays Before Bed? [Next Gen]

A three day conference to be held in the UK starting April 19th, Women in Games is having a conference to discuss new platforms, players, and opinions the future in gaming.

Women in Games is an annual conference with the distinct aim of highlighting the most recent, groundbreaking work in computer game research and development to both academic and industrial worlds. It has consistently addressed the empowerment and professional development for women working in, and researching into, games and the games industry."

Rounding out the speaker list is Sharon Knight (EA's Europe Online VP), Raina Lee (publisher and editor of 1-Up), Kotaku (and the Beeb's) Alice Taylor and a very interesting doctor named Mary Flanagan who researches systems to educate women and minorities in particular.

Men invited, communal hair-braiding optional. Kim Phu

Women in Games Conference 2007 [Women in Games International]

In-game Advertising to Hit $1.94 Billion [Next Gen]