QuickJump Quicklist: Seven types of girl gamers

 The video game industry is undoubtedly dominated by males, but we do know that gaming is not just a big frat house. Female gamers do exist, and like the opposite gender, they come in different shapes, sizes and forms. If you do your homework, you’ll also notice that girl gamers have distinct traits which allow us to divide them into several types (just like guys). In this QuickList, we’ll give you a rundown on what these types are. Hit that jump!

It’s true: female gamers do exist (the shock!). Just like male gamers who come in different shapes, sizes and flavors, we can come up with a diverse list of girl gamer types. No, Frag Dolls and 6-year-olds fascinated by the Wii don’t count. South Korean StarCraft fangirls were tempting to add, but we decided to cut them from the list since we can’t tell if they actually play games or just read magazines to drool over the pros.

If you ever need a brief guide on the who and the what of female gamer types, this QuickList is for you. No need to put up those flame spears, because we don’t have anything against those who don’t fall under our categories. Furthermore, apologies go to our female readers who weren’t covered, but right now, here are the more prominent types we’ve seen of our beloved industry’s non-male audience.

Hardcore Gamer – You don’t need a pair to kill Altima in Final Fantasy Tactics with one blow or defeat Metatron from Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne without losing your sanity. While the hardcore who would go discuss their “1337” gameplay tactics and strategies on notorious message boards almost never expect to run across girls, it is a fact that the male dominated scene of spending hundreds of hours to kill secret bosses and pull off insane Achievements for bragging rights is not without the presence of the opposite gender.

Female hardcore gamers aren’t the ones who scream at the top of their lungs in Halo 3 online; we’re talking about the experienced whose knowledge can go back even to the 8-bit era. Many of them agree that Chrono Trigger is one of the best JRPGs ever, while some are skilled Civilization players and classic point-and-click masters.

Casual Gamer – It’s no secret that there are smaller game companies who can only afford development of Flash games and the likes for the easy to please, and they’re earning their dough with such business mantra because the female swarms dig their stuff. Casual gaming’s favorite customers belong to the type which first comes to the uninformed’s mind, labeled with the stereotype that ladies don’t play anything other than PopCap puzzle games.

Don’t expect one to sing the Portal song or name your party members in Mass Effect, but count on them having more of a social life than the typical World of Warcraft raider. Challenging one to a top-score battle of Bejeweled is sure to damage your ego after. Oh, and if you happen to have a DS, never let the Nintendogs loose.

Girlfriend Gamer – Being dedicated to someone in a relationship is no easy feat, and in most cases involving male gamers, the partner has to familiarize with the hobby to have something to talk about during those awkwardly quiet dates. In a short period of time, the girlfriend gamer will be able to know what “RPG” means. She won’t be able to distinguish between RPG and anything else with swords and flashy magic, but at least she’s trying.

Luck is what you’d pray for If want these sympathetic companions, and you don’t want to mess up when your pleas are answered. Nothing beats a dedicated girlfriend who’s willing to tweak her lifestyle for her man, so they score high in our scale. Unfortunately, you’ll find sad teenage boys who antagonize girlfriend gamers because they can’t get any.

Social Gamer – Massively multiplayer online games, known only as the realm of hardcore geeks capable of appreciating simple roguelikes back in the day, have become chick magnets because of their social aspects. Consequently, the market extended its reach enough for the social gamer’s population to grow.

Nowadays, you’ll find countless of cute MMOs like MapleStory and other online flicks such as Audition. In those virtual worlds, there are thousands of the so called social gamers who entered cyber space to meet strangers and make new friends. They sometimes play to the point of obsession, but they do so as social beings.

Passionate Gamer – Gaming gigolos aren’t the only rare species in our world. Once in a blue moon, you might come across girls who are serious about what games they play – that’s the passionate female gamer. Say Devil May Cry without any second thought, they’ll tell you about all the philosophical and religious implications of Dante’s Inferno.

The lower ranks include those who live and breathe fanfictions and are often adept in text-based roleplaying through forums and instant messengers. Then comes the elite, the ones who will school you on the morality of cheating games and chant video game lines whenever they can. They only pick game-related songs when you take them to karaoke, and if you manage to marry one, be ready hear “Did you level up?” every morning.

Cosplay Gamer – We have a theory that fashion and gaming were so close together, they eventually made love and gave birth to cosplay gamers. Said species don’t like toying with the joysticks as much as dressing up as the elaborately clothed avatars we see on screen. A cosplay gamer would occasionally pick up a game to internalize a character, but rarely to see credits roll.

Make no mistake – we’re aware that even a father past his 50s with a young daughter can become Bioshock‘s Big Daddy and Little Sister in cosplay conventions. The cosplay gamer we’re referring to is the person who’d worry more about how her height, hair, skin tone and body build fits the character she has her eyes on, than relish memorable experiences while playing a game that could’ve compelled her to “be the character” in the first place. Cosplay gamers find satisfaction in coming up with homemade attires, not from gaming itself.

Closet Gamer – In some societies, only a geek would play video games instead of partying every night or joining the cheering club like everyone else. It is inevitable that a female gamer would keep her favorite past time to herself in such environment, thus the closet gamer came to be.

It’s not unlikely to find the walls of their rooms covered with posters and fan art, but you won’t get them to reveal their secret gaming accomplishments or rave about the next big pretty boy-filled title. On the positive side of things, the head count of female closet gamer shut-ins don’t hold a candle to their male counterparts.