Date Night Gaming Tips from the Fairer Sex
There has been so much talk lately about women playing video games with - and against - men. I've been into gaming for a long time; in fact, since it got started. I played text-based games, then Commodore 64 games, PC games, Mac Games, MUD's, MMOG's, several of the consoles, you name it. And I still do. I used to have a job where I needed to stay up all night; I played games to keep me awake. It worked!
I think that it is harder for women to play against men that they know. When you go online against people that you don't know, you only see them as the persona that they adopt in the game, which you know is artificial. There isn't a real face to go with the name or the avatar.
Maybe the issue is just the potential embarrassment that guys feel about getting their asses kicked by girls. Chivalry may not be dead, and chauvinism certainly isn't!
In The Beginning, There Was Sega
As a big-time gamer, I eventually got my husband to join me, starting with the old Sega. We played many two player games, which were always consistent favorites for us. Streets of Rage for the Sega Genesis was one game that we played many times.
We liked it because the two of us could walk down the scrolling streets together, and kick plenty of bad guy ass. It was a positive feeling knowing that we had each other's backs. Two players can fight side-by-side; he would play as the blonde guy Axel, while I was the hot-looking chick in the red miniskirt named Blaze. Back then there was Golden Axe as well, which was another keeper with good replayablity.
One of the titles that really grabbed our attention, and is still very memorable to me, is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. We had the guide and we used the maps to navigate through the dungeons. The graphics were very pixilated in those days, but the game was still fun. My husband did not like having to control inventory, and didn't want to be bothered with the save game either. I had to do all the role playing jobs and maintain the game.
We would sometimes play games where he would "drive" and I would look up walkthroughs and get cheat codes. We would take turns, especially if I got lost in a dungeon. The sense of direction that comes naturally to guys who drive for a living also worked deep below the surface of cyberspace.
