Coming out...

WOOHOO! The more people who do that quicker we can all get swapping gamer tags and ID's and get working together to defeat the (digital) world.

To be perfectly honest, working as an Applied Behaviour Analysis Tutor with Autistic Children and also as a volunteer in other sectors. As well as studying Psychology. I have seen first hand how Video games, music, art etc etc have all equally contributed to the development of a person. I mean, there's kids who, although we don't encourage video games and electronic devices as a sole enforcer (purely because the outdoors and human interaction is so sooo important for Autism) for some kids it's helped to create a social interaction. There's one kid with has who's built an entire street on Minecraft. He has an exact replica of a KFC, McDonald's and other shops and the brilliant thing is because he's passionate about it we've used it to help him communicate. A child who was diagnosed and severely autistic and who's parents were told he may not interact with other people now gets so excited and enthusiastic about telling everyone what he's achieved. He couldn't have built that interaction with his peers and the confidence and the know how of how to communicate it without us grown ups getting involved and showing him the way. This kid also goes to all of his friends birthday parties and discos, to theme parks, family days out and EVERYTHING. It's all so well balanced because his family used his natural interests to help them open a door.

If that alone doesn't make video games and the term 'Gamer' pretty damn cool I don't know what does.

My point being, gaming is an art. All arts are creative and all creativity opens the mind. I am eternally proud to say that I am part of something which is so universal and diverse and I can not wait to see what other backgrounds pop up in the community.

@crithon: Haha thanks :) When I dismantle things I tend to not be able to put them back together 0.0

Probably best not to try haha

I'll see your girl games, and raise you these girl games.

It's been a while since I laughed that hard. These have to be intended to be jokes, right? WTF either way, though.

@spaceinsomniac: OMG!!! Haha! When I've got a full twenty minutes I need to watch this whole thing...

How on earth does this stuff exist?!?! haha That's nuts. And slightly hilarious.

@dudeglove: I can definitely see the impact that it has had. And it's definitely very awesome. I only feel that it can continue to grow in a positive direction.

It would be pretty awesome if all that stuff comes out at some point in the future!

Australian beef definitely seems like something I need to go an listen to. Like, right now. Thank you!

@phlis: Definitely worth the 50 minutes the Australian Beef clip runs! I actually prefer the cientist beef that pops up intermittently during it as well...

@bmccann42: I'm infinitely intrigued...

*Goes looking for popcorn*

I can honestly say it's unusual for me to meet a woman who doesn't play games. Video, MMO, tabletop, mobile or otherwise.

Particularly the alt community is good for it. I have one friend who plays Mario World on her SNES as most of her activity, and another was just chatting about her progress farming covenant items in DkS3.

Hasn't been a notable surprise case for me in a long time. The stats are real. Glad you're having fun with it, and coming out is fine, it encourages good vibes.

Regionally I'm sure there are very different perspectives. Being in Japan as long as I have, means I can walk through an arcade and not be even slightly surprised to remark "oh there's a woman over 30 by herself playing Street Fighter, she likes E.Honda for some reason."

I'm a university student in Fukuoka and I meet women/girls who don't play games all the time.

I know a few that play Street Fighter, Gundam and Guilty Gear but most of the girls I see in arcades are playing rhythm games, crane machines or using Purikura, I find this a common pattern everywhere I go, whether it's Tokyo, Osaka, Kumamoto, Sapporo or Fukuoka (Fukuoka-shi, Kitakyushu), these are the main cities I have been to and frequented arcades.

"Coming out"?

Did something happen that made you feel like announcing your gender like this? Does it matter in the context of discussing games and gaming? If it makes you feel good, which is what matters in the end, then great! Welcome to the forums. Game on, Phlis.

Cool. The only time it ever shocked me was when I was in high school when hardly any girls I knew read comics, played games, etc.

Sup. Video games are pretty good amirite? Pick of E3 so far?

@funkydupe: There's just a stigma on female gamers, even moreso than gaming in general, which also still exists.

Yes to this thread. Video games are for everybody, yet some people seem to have these ridiculous notions that they're not. I mean, movies, music, art; no one gives a shit about your gender or age if you're into any of those forms of entertainment, but video games somehow have this ridiculous stigma attached to them.

Maybe its because not that long ago even guys who were into gaming was looked down on as nerds and nobodies, by guys and women alike. As gaming has become more mainstream (it still isn't fully accepted as something a grown person should be doing) women have joined in more and more - I guess as it moved from being guys playing games to something everyone does, some haven't adjusted to seeing women genuinely interested in video games.

A friends girlfriends friend singled me out as being the catalyst for her breaking up with her boyfriend. I lured him into getting a console and he got super-dumped because of it. It was before the iPhone though. And they were both late 30's.

edit: and he was "rich"

I barely ever meet anyone in my age range (early 30's) that doesn't have that condescending reaction when you tell them your hobby is video games, much less actually play them. This goes double so for women. When I do hear someones boyfriend or something plays games from time to time it's something like Fifa.

At this point it has become too arduous to explain to someone you've just met that games have come a long way and that it's not just something for small children anymore so most of the time I simply don't even mention it as an interest.

The "man cave" was made as an excuse to gather friends and play NHL, or FIFA.

It's awesome that that happens. There's not many arcades in England so not much opportunity to game in the public eye comparative to other areas.

It's interesting to see everyone's different perspectives from different backgrounds and areas of the world and how this leads people to perceive the industry and community in general.

@asstruck: Haha There are many uses for man caves... Mine has a second wall of consoles and video games built around the inside...

That sucks. To be honest I have definitely experienced that feeling in other areas of my life and can completely understand why it would feel easier just to omit the topic altogether. :/ Still pants.

Ouch...

That's hardly fair! That being said... My ex fiancé got ridiculous with Video Games and that's a big statement coming from me. It wasn't the fact that he played them so much, it was the shouting and noise into the early hours of the morning when I was trying to sleep that riled me. But it was his decision alone to act like a prat regardless of who recommended what to him in terms of video games.

Interesting point and actually makes a lot of sense thinking about it. A lot of my friends who where heavily into video games did struggle in school sometimes because they weren't interested in running around outside and kicking a football around and that wasn't 'cool'. It never mattered what gender they were though.

That they are!

E3 is a tough one! I still haven't fully caught up, being a working adult living in England is a nightmare for E3 -.-

I did REALLY like Sony's conference which is troublesome as it may have to come between investing in a next gen PS OR upgrading the Xbox One depending on finances. But they had some very good stuff going.

I don't want to make a complete comment until I've caught up on everything though :/

Your opinions?

@sammo21: I remember if I was having a sick day Dad would run me down to the library and I'd check out as many comic books as my library card would allow. We'd get a litre of ice cream from the shop on the way back and just sit and read and play video games and eat junk.

I wonder how many actually did that but didn't admit it or if it was genuinely a minority thing.

Not in particular to me. I've heard a lot from friends and connections that they feel the community is heavily biased and I kind of wanted a way to prove the point that it isn't and there's no need for it to be. I mean obviously places are always going to have their issues but it's nice to have actual evidence to prove how awesome people are.

I feel it matters in the sense that it may help to dispel some of the arguments flying around at the minute trying to insinuate that the gaming community/industry is deliberately discriminatory. And if there are areas which discriminate it may go some way to highlight this as people who have genuine encounters with that discrimination may step forward. If not then it'll only serve to prove that sometimes people do really over think things.

I hope that makes sense! haha

Thank you :) I look forward to being here.

Known quantities like Deus Ex and Horizon: Zero Dawn aside, I think Mafia 3 and Dishonored 2 look choice.

Mafia 3 I could probably live without. Dishonoured 2 is looking like it has potential to be pretty good to be fair. Hopefully by then I'll either be up and running on PC but if not at least I can tag it onto the Xbox One collection.