When creating a character do you prefer male or female?

You know it's really off and on. I don't mind playing either, more recently however, I've been playing more female characters like in Mount and Blade.
 The plus side for males is obviously the facial hair, but in other games like Saints Row 2, where all the male voice actors suck, I chose to play as a female protagonist.

Since I have yet to play a game that shows my characters genitals, both at the same time.

Often males when creating.
But if it's something where I choose like L4D I choose female, often to create balance between the genders I chose in video games.
I don't want anyone to think I'm gay.
Wait, instead they'll think I'm lonely. God Dammit.

if it's a long game that I tend to play all the way through, female 
 
anything else, I'm gonna be a man.

Males for my first character, then Females if there will be a noticeable difference (Mass Effect, etc.)

eh, it varies. really depends on the game. 

Male, I just think there is something creepy about a dude sitting and meticously sculpting their dreamwoman.

Usually I'll play as a male and then on my second playthrough I'll play as a female. As a side note, I cannot play as a female in Mass Effect. I just can't do it.

Male most of the time, unless a class can only be male or female(Sacred2 for example). Learned from my years of nothing but female dark elf characters in Everquest, that I dont want to be bothered by some lonely 13 year old.

"Usually I'll play as a male and then on my second playthrough I'll play as a female. As a side note, I cannot play as a female in Mass Effect. I just can't do it. "

It depends on how the characters look, and how many times I play through the game. Usually male though. 
 
For MMOs, however, it is exclusively male. I've only ever played WoW, but people tend to assume that you're the gender of your avatar. It goes without saying that there are subtle differences (and not so subtle) with how people treat you based on if they think you're a man/woman. 
 
The last question I ever want to be asked, whether online or off, is: "Are you really a chick???" There's something very awkward about informing the hopeful guy I'm currently questing with that, no, I am just a guy playing a girl. 

EDIT: I think that someone should do a study on how people are treated differently on MMOs based on the sex of the character they play. It'd be like that fatsuit study except online and with more young men.

Depends on the game. I like playing females if I can still have relationships with the other females of the game. Otherwise male, or when the game is just meant to be played as a male.

I always tend to choose to play as a male. I'm a male and I don't know... I just like playing as a male.

Depends on whether or not the character is supposed to represent me or not.
 
For example, if Persona 3 PSP came out, I'm playing male.
 
Mass Effect's Shepard is clearly not supposed to be represented as me, so I would then go female instead. 
 
Of course there's those slightly ambiguous moments like when I used to play WoW. It depends on how fond I am of the looks, I'd play male Tauren, female Blood Elf, Male Dwarf, Dranei female etc.
 
I guess mostly female in the end, but whatever suits my whims of the moment really.

mostly male characters unless there is an achievement dependent on my characters gender

I'm only answering "male" because I'm used to the male character. Most games I play don't give me the option of a female character, so I'm just used to picking a male character. Mass Effect 1 and 2 being the few exceptions.

i play as male characters. i would only make a girl character if i was playing a mmo and trolling nerdy guys.

It really depends. Depends on what? I can't say. For ME2, I made a female Commander Shepard, My ability to create normal looking humans is apparently limited to the female gender, so in a narrative game that involves lots of camera at face (ME or DAO) I generally play females.

Male first time around, then I'll make a female my next playthrough.

My primary is male. For a second playthrough I switch to female.

Strong female leads always make for interesting characters (Mass Effect is a prominent example). They're also easier on the eyes, females for me. 

Male usually. Unless i can customize the female to have some nice ass and breasts.

I usually make male characters. But I made a female character when tony Hawk 3 came out. but she had enough spunk to always be considered whenever a games create a character had those specific face and body options.

It depends on the game for me. For some reason if it's an action game I always pick female characters. Even RPGs, for that matter, unless the game is marketed with a male lead (like Mass Effect). With sports games it's always male, obviously. (BTW, 5 - 3, yo.)

Female most of the time.

"

It depends on how the characters look, and how many times I play through the game. Usually male though. 
 
For MMOs, however, it is exclusively male. I've only ever played WoW, but people tend to assume that you're the gender of your avatar. It goes without saying that there are subtle differences (and not so subtle) with how people treat you based on if they think you're a man/woman. 
 
The last question I ever want to be asked, whether online or off, is: "Are you really a chick???" There's something very awkward about informing the hopeful guy I'm currently questing with that, no, I am just a guy playing a girl. 

EDIT: I think that someone should do a study on how people are treated differently on MMOs based on the sex of the character they play. It'd be like that fatsuit study except online and with more young men.

"