Well, the response here is extremely embarrassing to read to say the least. Today I've learnt that we have an entrance exam for people to gain the oh-so exclusive title of 'Gamer' with strict guidelines and rules, such as having played at least one well-known AAA title and having broken at least one controller - hours or money spent are irrelevant. I've also learnt that as a female that has not played 'casual games', I'm a statistical anomaly, and therefore don't count at all when it comes to marketing decisions. Because that 45% also includes hard-core female gamers, not just casual ones, but that's irrelevant. I mean, it's not like constant sexualization and targeting towards teenage boys (in an offensive way, I believe) might alienate these people from going into these games, right?
By the by, if a male owns an Xbox but has only one copy of COD for it and only plays it once every few weeks, is he a gamer? I mean, he's playing COD, a real game for real gamers, so he must be! But a woman playing Bejeweled every day and putting money into the game does not count, because it isn't an actual game.
Women gamers are definitely out there. Me, for one, including many people in this thread alone. Then there's the whole fake-gamer-girl test, but that's a whole other issue.