Girls and Games...

[chadachada123]

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You

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Need to stop

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Being so fucking hostile.

You're attacking the OP, someone clearly new to this site, over some misunderstandings and honest questions based on some simple observations.

Try educating him instead of attacking his character and essentially calling him a brutish dick.

The first few posts already gave him his answer, that it's not 'girls' it's 'people that rarely play games,' making your attacks unwarranted and...really rude.

I'm twenty years old like the OP, and I can't describe the amount of maturity I've gained in the past two years alone. A far greater understanding of sexuality, of gender identity, of a billion different social issues that I either knew nothing about or completely dismissed. Hell, four years ago I thought that homosexuality was unnatural and that gay marriage should be illegal, among other things.

Your post is going to make him defensive and wall him off from any deeper understanding. That, or he'll just dismiss you entirely as "some whiny girl." Either way, your 'point,' whatever it may be, will go completely missed.

 

[LetalisK]

Yeah, it's not a female thing. I suck at/can't stand using a controller for shooters, so I got a handy-dandy keyboard/mouse adapter. Love it.

 

[Vault101]

Yeah, it's not a female thing. I suck at/can't stand using a controller for shooters, so I got a handy-dandy keyboard/mouse adapter. Love it.

are you talking about applying that to a console? I take it alot of games wouldnt suport keboard/mouse on a console...

 

[Xanadu84]

This is not a women thing. This is a human thing.

First differences between men and women in there gaming trends DO exist. It has been observed (No, its too much effort to cite this claim, I understand if you don't consider this credible) that women tend to be drawn to games with a social component and strong character interactions, men more interested in violence and strict rules structures. Basically, in a game of Civ, a woman would be more prone into goading and bribeing other countries into offing each other while fostering alliances that benefit her the most, a man would be more likely to bum rush a capital city with a bunch of swordsmen, and maximizing his swordsmen output through a little min/maxing. These are trends, not straightjackets. Being shocked to see a woman enjoying a shooter is like being shocked to see a black guy: They may be a minority, but they are hardly rare. But controller use and competance are not places where the genders differ.

You see this all the time, and it is a remarkably easy thing to forget. Games are remarkably complex systems. They require a huge breadth of knowledge and muscle memory to truly sink into the system. If you started playing 2d platformers on a nintendo controller, and slowly added dimensions and control scheme skills as technology improves, a game might be the most natural thing in the world, and that's great. But to the uninitiated, a game can look like a unified field theory scribbled into the margins of, "War and Peace" translated into arabic that you have to read while juggling it with a bowling pin and a flaming chainsaw on the back of a greased bucking bronco. Lets take a, "Easy" game, a friendly beginners game that is simple to pick up. WoW. Lets find a screenshot.

Spoiler

Now, ask yourself, if you wern't used to all the conventions of games, and you were looking at this image without that experience, how many distinct pieces of information are being communicated to you in that exact moment by the screen? We can remember about 7 numbers at once. There is HUNDREDS of pieces of data in that picture. Listen to a experienced WoW player talking about Gear and DPS, and ask yourself which one is more dense, that or the Krebs cycle? And this is before we get to the issue of needing the experience required to translate a simple motion of the thumb into the concept of altering your field of vision, combined with half a dozen other buttons. Now remember, the original Apple decided that 2 buttons to the mouse was just too complex, so they stuck with 1.

Games require an immense amount of experience to internalize. That is the hurdle, not the gender.

 

[Xanadu84]

Edit: My first ever double post, yay! Or rather, oops.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

I was watching my older brother play Mass Effect a few months ago, a man who pretty much introduced me to gaming, but hasn't played any shooters beyond the first Deus Ex, and I was absolutely amazed at how long he took to aim at a target.

In fact, I'm fairly sure all older brothers have trouble acquiring targets.
All of them.
Everywhere.

Although for the record, ever since I was a young boy, girls have been tarring me at games.
Not all of them, just for the record, I haven't been humiliated by the entire gender, but a few who I've played with, all the way back to streetfighter II.

 

[LetalisK]

Yeah, it's not a female thing. I suck at/can't stand using a controller for shooters, so I got a handy-dandy keyboard/mouse adapter. Love it.

are you talking about applying that to a console? I take it alot of games wouldnt suport keboard/mouse on a console...

Yep, talking about consoles, and they don't support it. However, I got myself a XIM3 and I love it. My keyboard and mouse feel as natural on my PS3 or Xbox 360 as they do on my PC. Really expensive, but I've gotten every penny out of it. And really, since I shifted more to console games, where I play via renting instead of having to outright buy games, I've probably saved money in the long-run.

 

[Vault101]

Yep, talking about consoles, and they don't support it. However, I got myself a XIM3 and I love it. My keyboard and mouse feel as natural on my PS3 or Xbox 360 as they do on my PC. Really expensive, but I've gotten every penny out of it. And really, since I shifted more to console games, where I play via renting instead of having to outright buy games, I've probably saved money in the long-run.

what exactally is this thing (how does it work?) and is it garunteed to work with all games?

 

[Rule Britannia]

First CoD I picked up was CoD4, I'd played the campaign before hand but I was not good; not by any standard (0:50 k/d ratio).

I'm now a lot better and play with a 2:00 k/d ratio on almost every fps I play. (apart from MW3, curse those pesky revenge spawns)

 

[Beliyal]

I don't understand why do people even ask things like this.

Really? "Is it because they are girls?" You can safely assume that NOTHING is ever "because they are [insert gender]". Except if we're talking about giving birth or something.

It's not a gender thing; it's an experience thing (and to an extent, an interest thing; if you don't like games, you're probably not going to try to hard to get them). There are people who never played games, and naturally, they're going to be pretty bad at them. Sadly, our culture is shaped like that it discourages girls to be interested in gaming, so it probably comes off as women not being able to play games as well. That is not the case though.

 

[Dalisclock]

It doesn't mean much. I normally play games on PC, which means 90%(unless I'm playing something emulated) I use a mouse and keyboard. I played MW2 and MW3 on Xbox for a while this last year, games I've beaten on PC several times. It took me nearly the entirety of MW2 to get used to to the controls with the XBOX controller.

 

[TehCookie]

Sorry girls, I use gender as an excuse for my inability to play those games. When I played Halo I quit after a few minutes and wondered why it wasn't on PC where you could use a mouse and keyboard since controllers are terrible for FPSes. Either that or I'm one of the few who played shooters before Halo so I couldn't play on an inferior device. I love consoles but shooters need a mouse and keyboard, there's no way around it.

 

[Lilani]

You

Need to stop

Being so fucking hostile.

You're attacking the OP, someone clearly new to this site, over some misunderstandings and honest questions based on some simple observations.

Try educating him instead of attacking his character and essentially calling him a brutish dick.

The first few posts already gave him his answer, that it's not 'girls' it's 'people that rarely play games,' making your attacks unwarranted and...really rude.

I'm twenty years old like the OP, and I can't describe the amount of maturity I've gained in the past two years alone. A far greater understanding of sexuality, of gender identity, of a billion different social issues that I either knew nothing about or completely dismissed. Hell, four years ago I thought that homosexuality was unnatural and that gay marriage should be illegal, among other things.

Your post is going to make him defensive and wall him off from any deeper understanding. That, or he'll just dismiss you entirely as "some whiny girl." Either way, your 'point,' whatever it may be, will go completely missed.

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you seem a bit hostile to me. It was probably an honest mistake, to be honest, seeing as most of the guys he's known has probably picked up a controller off n on, yet there aren't as many of you ladies playing 3D games. So, he's with two groups, guys who he knows plays a little, and the ladies that play none. Some People don't think that the off n on playing, even if it's only an hour or so a week, really helps with stuff like that. Then there are those that do play some games, generally 2D puzzles n such, and we forget that there's a difference between the two.

*shrug* oh well

You two:

The OP sent me a private message, it's been resolved. No hard feelings between anybody. Okay? Okay :3

 

[LetalisK]

Yep, talking about consoles, and they don't support it. However, I got myself a XIM3 and I love it. My keyboard and mouse feel as natural on my PS3 or Xbox 360 as they do on my PC. Really expensive, but I've gotten every penny out of it. And really, since I shifted more to console games, where I play via renting instead of having to outright buy games, I've probably saved money in the long-run.

what exactally is this thing (how does it work?) and is it garunteed to work with all games?

http://xim3.com/

Note: I haven't used the Xim Edge, so I can't attest to its usefulness, but I'm assuming its a cheaper, though probably less modifable, XIM3. Besides, a XIM3 can work with a PS3 with the purchase of a $10 xbox 360 - PS3 controller adapter(there is a specific name, can't remember right now), so I wouldn't give Xim Edge points for being made to work with the PS3.

Anyway, what it does is translates all the mouse movements into controller stick movements(translates keyboard too, but that's not exactly hard). Now, this is pretty much what any k/m adapter does, the difference is most, if not all, of those tend to go with a "get it in the ballpark" strategy and sell the product cheap. With the XIM3, they get it to as close to 1:1 as humanly possible. I think there is a very slight difference, but I've never noticed it. Using the XIM3 menu, you can alter all the sensitivities, keystroke modifiers(for example, for me, holding down right mouse button, which is also bound to aiming down sights, also temporarily adjusts the mouse sensitivity to feel more natural while aiming, etc). In addition, you can create profiles that have your specific sensitivities and bindings for each game, so you don't have to redo everything each time you play a different game. Just select the right profile and go.* The interface is pretty easy to use too, I never had problems setting bindings or adjusting sensitivities. The sensitivity customization can get very precise too, if you want, with a sensitivity range into the thousands**. You do have to have a wired Xbox 360 controller, however. It's used in the translation process and is necessary for the adapter's menu too.

The guy who made it, and people in the community, routinely come out with what are called Smart Translators for free. These are basically custom profiles they tested and optimized for a specific game, though you can still edit them as you like. It just makes it easier as it gives you a base to work from. I still create most of my profiles from scratch though, it's not hard at all.

The site has some more info about it.

*The only issue I have with the XIM3 is that there is no way to rename profiles. Or at least I haven't found out how.

**Not to mean it expands into the thousands and makes it ridiculously and unusably sensitive at that range, but rather to allow for even very small, minute changes.

Edit: Oh, and to address your second question. I would not be shy in saying I would guarantee it to work with any game since it operates through the controller and you set the parameters for control.

 

[Vault101]

Edit: Oh, and to address your second question. I would not be shy in saying I would guarantee it to work with any game since it operates through the controller and you set the parameters for control.

well they had an "official" list...but yeah..very interesting...I would have thorught if playing your console games witha mouse/keyboard was actually possible it would be common knoweledge

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Let me start off this post by saying that I in no way think that girls are any less capable of playing video games than men. I just simply want to talk about something I've noticed and see if anyone has any similar experiences.

Anyways, it seems like anytime I give a woman a controller, whether it be my girlfriend or just a friend, they can't figure out left from right, up from down on the controller. Just for fun I wanted to introduce my girlfriend to CoD, and she had serious coordination issues, even after playing for a solid hour. She could not move and aim at the same time or she would get too confused and end up spinning the camera around aimlessly. It's not just her though; it seems to be most girls I know. I can give most of my guy friends a controller and they get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Do girls who actually "get" video games feel ashamed and therefore fake being bad at them? Do you think men have a naturally better hand eye coordination?

Again, I am NOT meaning to degrade women in any way with this post. Just want to see what people think/if they've noticed anything similar.

I had this same barrier when I was trying to get my uncle into playing video games. The controlling motion with one analog stick and vision with the other is something we (we being people who have followed video game control evolution all the while as consistent players over multiple systems or just the current gen systems even) take for granted as pretty easy to grasp after a few minutes... but it isn't. He still hadn't quite grasped the concept of one to look and one to move after 3 multi-hour coaching sessions. I think he finally just gave up on it, last I knew, which is a shame.

I will admit to having had some trouble with the shooter games - in which the consequences for failing at camera on one stick movement on the other are pretty immediate and severe - when I first started playing them, because the game didn't give you a lot of forgiveness if you weren't really good at that mechanic. Once you master it for one game though, it's pretty much the same ever-there-after - so its something that really serves you in good stead across multiple games... until you come upon one that deviates from that formula and you are forever trying to move a camera you don't control, which becomes its own frustrating thing to adjust to.

I don't think it has anything to do with gender so much as it does experience plain and simple.

As a general recommendation for getting people into games where this mechanic is important I would say start them on one of the open world games (Fallout, Skyrim, Oblivion, etc.) where you use the mechanic in a kiddie pool at first just to walk around, talk to people, and generally move rather than shooting games that toss you into active combat right away. The reason is simple: there's more time and leeway for them to practice the mechanic and actually master it at their own pace in the one type of game that isn't present in the other.

 

[chadachada123]

snippido

Oh, well alright, looks like peace has been maintained in the realms of Escapistria. Woohoo.

On topic, my sister is far better at video games, even shooters, than my dad could ever hope to be. She consistently beats me at Mario Kart, no matter how much I practice.

 

[JaceArveduin]

You two:

The OP sent me a private message, it's been resolved. No hard feelings between anybody. Okay? Okay :3

Hey! I am not a gorilla! I may look like one, but I'm not!

I wasn't being upset XD Just bored. And that gorilla kind of creeps me out... I'll have to shoot it if it gets too close...

 

[Mr Pantomime]

It's true, this one time, I didn't open a door for a woman...

Walked right through it, like a ghost.

They don't need doors at all!

There is a scientific explanation. Unlike men women are actually 3d projections from a separate 2d universe. Hence why they can still play 2d games like mario and use flat controllers like the NES controller or the Wiimote.

Ive actually heard that you can store women in the Wiimote like a Mii. They take up very little room.

 

[LetalisK]

Edit: Oh, and to address your second question. I would not be shy in saying I would guarantee it to work with any game since it operates through the controller and you set the parameters for control.

well they had an "official" list...but yeah..very interesting...I would have thorught if playing your console games witha mouse/keyboard was actually possible it would be common knoweledge

I've played many games not on that list. I think the significance of that list is basically to show which games have Smart Translators. The more important list would be the hardware compatibility list.

I'm also kinda surprised that its not more well known either(though he currently does have a waiting list for the product, so maybe I'm just not aware of it). I do know there was a stink made over the XIM3 in the Xbox community a few years ago, but Microsoft ruled that it was legit and didn't violate the rules any more than a driving wheel or fighting game pad does. Not like they would know if you were using one or not anyway.