Are females naturally worse at FPS?

[KarlXII]

(NOTE: This thread is in no way trying to promote sexism)

An observation I have made (I wish I could go deeper into it, but I can't)

I have noticed that, if you give a guy an Xbox360 controller, Halo 3, and a few minutes, he can play the game on his own, and often with others.

However, I have noticed, and tried, that if you give a girl an Xbox360 controller, Halo 3, and a few minutes, they are generally lost and, well, bad at the game.

What are your thoughts, Org? Are women naturally worse at FPS games?

[pevergreen]

As always, I think it depends on the person. I dont have the pleasure to personally know any girls IRL that are pro at anything besides WoW. I dont believe so though.

[CountArach]

Don't kid yourself. There are no female gamers.

[naut]

Dunno. But if it is true you'll have to ammend your hypothesis to "Females and Rythmic are naturally worse at console FPSs."

[rajpoot]

Don't kid yourself. There are no female gamers.

Shhhh, not so loudly, don't forget you're in the Arena!

[Kekvit Irae]

[TevashSzat]

Well, if you follow Starcraft progaming (which is basically just Korea gaming), the coach of Samsung Khan is actually a girl. Shes, though, like only 1 of 2 girls ever to get a chance to play in starcraft progaming though....

Well, guys are usually more exposed to computer games in general. There is a pretty high chance that most teenage guys have played an FPS once before. FPS have some differences, but the basics are still the same: jump around while shooting at the heads of anything that moves. Thus, girls would have a disadvantage as to getting used to a new FPS quickly.

This would be likewise if a guy was handed a mascara and asked to use it as compared to a girl

[Abokasee]

I can handle pretty much any game like a Kalashnikov, I can't go wrong

I don't know any girls who are pros or even play games (then again I rarely ask), although my Russian pen friend in Year 5 did play UT2003, Unfortunatly my receiving message never made it back because the postman died of frost bite.

[Veho Nex]

Now who didn't see that coming....

[frogbeastegg]

:loads gun: The question is, how lucky do you feel?

TBH most of the girl gamers I hear about are playing FPS. After that comes RPGS, frequently JRPGS, then the wash of casual games like Sims and puzzle games, then strategy titles. Personal experience supports that. I've always been something of a rarity because I barely ever touch a FPS. Aren't the Fragdolls (also known as "Oh golly gosh, look, girl gamers do exist! And they're supported by Ubisoft! Marketing gimmick!") best known for playing FPS? Hence their name.

I've not seen any non-gamer get on with a FPS, be it console or PC, without a good bit of time. Likewise for gamers who don't usually play them.

When I do play FPS I'm a fine shot. Headshots with pistols at long range, and all that. What I can't do is dodge. Doesn't matter what I try the bullets find me like my avatar is magnetic. That's not due to lack of attempting dodging; I strafe, jump, duck and all the rest of it, don't stay still for a second. I'd do better if I put some effort in and practiced; I don't like the genre enough to do so.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

There are just less girl gamers then guys, at least online. I mean, in Battlefield 2 Online, a good few of the guys are pretty bad.

[Decker]

I met quite a few female gamers playing CoD2 online. They were pretty good and beasting on most of the guys. I held quite a few rivalries with a few of them. It's pretty funny when they paste a guy and watching as he realizes a 13 yr. old girl pistol whipped him from behind. Good times

[FactionHeir]

No idea, but there are a lot more male FPS gamers than there are female ones, so its difficult to tell. As IMO the majority of FPS players tend to be average or below average, the chances are you won't meet a top FPS girl gamer very often.

From my more or less decade of FPS gaming, none of the girl gamers managed to completely beat me (obviously you will get killed at times, but we are talking better than a 3:1 or even 2:1 ratio against a certain player here).

[Samurai Waki]

Now the question should be... have you ever played against any girls who are actually good at FPS's?

The answer for those that have is usually along the lines of "I was thoroughly p'wnd and demasculated."

Yes, I have played against female gamers, and yeah... a lot of times if they are practiced like male gamers they aren't to be trifled with.

[Martok]

Well, guys are usually more exposed to computer games in general. There is a pretty high chance that most teenage guys have played an FPS once before. FPS have some differences, but the basics are still the same: jump around while shooting at the heads of anything that moves. Thus, girls would have a disadvantage as to getting used to a new FPS quickly.

I think you have the right of it there. It's not that women are inherently worse at FPS titles than men, it's just that they tend to have less exposure to them (and mainstream games in general, for that matter). The women that *do* play them, however, generally seem to be every bit as competent as their male counterparts.

This would be likewise if a guy was handed a mascara and asked to use it as compared to a girl

LOL! Good one -- a succinct (and hilarious) way to put it.

[Ferret]

I think girls would probably get lost easier because they play games a lot less often, a boy would probably have played similar games and so be used to the controller and standard button configurations. Anyway I had a few friends over today and one boy couldn't play any of the games to save his life but a girl who I thought would rather do something else was alright at it.

[Husar]

Are guys naturally worse at putting on makeup then?
Give a girl some makeup and within minutes she will be a real beauty queen, give a guy makeup and if he even manages to do anything at all with it he will either still be ugly or look completely gay.

[Samurai Waki]

Are guys naturally worse at putting on makeup then?
Give a girl some makeup and within minutes she will be a real beauty queen, give a guy makeup and if he even manages to do anything at all with it he will either still be ugly or look completely gay.

pfffttt... I happen to look strikingly handsome when I put on a little red lipstick, and some eye shadow. I get looks from everyone.

[Papewaio]

I enjoy FPS for the quick play and drop ability unlike strat games.

What I do get confused with is playing UT3, then swapping to Halo 2, then to Army of 2, then to Rainbow Six then to Gears of War all the the XBox 360 then playing Team Fortress 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Warhawk on the PS3 online.

Hardly any of the key configurations nor the game play are the same. So I spend the first couple of minutes trying to remember where the jump button is, how high I can jump and then remembering it is GoW and all I can do is lumber over obstacles...

Its probably why I like sniper rifles and shotguns. I can either concentrate on sitting and shooting or running rampant and firing at close range. Running and aiming take a bit more time to gear up the trigger finger and brain synapses, particularly as some games are far more lethal to mistakes then others. Once I get going I trade in for other weapons that require more coordination.

[Veho Nex]

Not to many women i know play games... If you weren't already married...

[Togakure]

It wasn't an FPS, but even with a head start of two years playing Soul Calibur (quite well if I may say so) on my Dreamcast, my 10-year-old God daughter got Soul Calibur II and within a few days was kicking my ass all over the mat. I was rather perturbed.

I imagine she's played some FPS games by now (we've been separated by about 2000 miles of US territory for the last few years), and I wouldn't doubt that she'd give any boy a run for his money. Then again, she and her sister do that in regular sports too.

[TinCow]

My wife can kick my butt at Unreal Tournament, and that's no small accomplishment since I've been playing FPS nearly constantly since Wolf3D.

[Andres]

This would be likewise if a guy was handed a mascara and asked to use it as compared to a girl

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'm the one in the middle

QED.

[Mailman653]

I have a friend, female gamer, and from what I understand shes pretty darn good at COD4, but I don't know for sure, never played COD4 before or with her. Although we did play GTA4 a few times and shes not bad.

[Vladimir]

There was a scientific study conducted which concluded that men were better at gaming that women. Better or worse then is actually a bad way to word it, it has to do with the way the brain is wired. Men receive more of a pleasure response than women for killing, taking territory, and etc which you see a lot of in games. It's probably not that women aren't worse at them, it's that most don't get into them as much.

It seems to me that where women excel in gaming is in game design. Creating an environment rather than going in for the kill.

[Ferret]

Am I the only one who saw Andres' post?

[Martok]

Actually, I believe he posted it in the Frontroom a while back. Believe me when I say that seeing Andres in drag is hardly a new experience for me.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

He just has to hope that I never release those pictures of him in the camel suit....

[Kekvit Irae]

Stay on topic.

[Veho Nex]

Stay on topic.

[drone]

There are probably more female gamers out there than you realize. I would imagine many of them don't make their sex known online to avoid the geek-stalking that inevitably follows. [geezer mode on]Back in my day, owning a computer was fairly rare and the sign of a nerd, but nowadays everybody has one, more females are exposed to them, and they don't have the same stigma.[/geezer mode off]

Don't forget, it's been determined that women are better shooters than men, when trained properly.