Filed under: Articles, Games & Gaming, Jasmine's Rambling, Nostalgia | Tags: amiga 500, gaming, men, nintendo, she-ra, super mario brothers, women, world of warcraft
Now hang on there, buckaroo. I know what you’re thinking: you’re going to run home to the wife and proclaim, “See, honey? I told you so!” and engage in an all night World of Warcraft orgy fest, feeling smug in your assertion. Does this sound like you? Yes, I thought it would. Well, cowboy, here’s where I will layeth the smacketh downeth on you.
At first glance, reading the article made sense to me. Men are typically more aggressive than women are. I’m ok with that, really. However, I thought the study was horribly inaccurate due to one minuscule detail: there were only 22 test subjects. What’s more, is that we don’t know the backgrounds of each person. Were the men already addicted to gaming before the test? Did the women have an aversion to gaming or have they played games since their childhood? I believe environmental factors before the test was performed could slant the test either way.
Many men will argue that their addiction to gaming is simply an outlet for their fantasies. Men want to be the superhero that saves the day, kisses the girl and flies off into the sunset. It’s the ultimate fantasy for a man. Why isn’t it that way for women, too? In a nutshell: it is. I think some men feel a tad emasculated when a woman crashes their daydream, so women in gaming typically tend to go more underground. Being an avid gamer, a geek, a wife and a mother, I know this to be true.
I was raised by my father to be a geek. I don’t think he consciously thought, “I’m going to make Jasmine a geek”, but he laid the foundation for it. The first time I remember being on a computer was my dad’s Amiga 500. I was 3 at the time, and he bought me a dinosaur coloring game which I loved. After the Amiga he bought the Nintendo Entertainment System where we really bonded over countless hours of playing Super Mario Bros. Though my geekery was not limited to video games, it also fell over into the 80’s pop culture cartoons. To this day I still feel the urge to wear a blond wig at the grocery store, hold aloft my sword and declare, “For the Honor of Grey Skull! I am She-Ra!”.
Like men, I too want to be the super hero; albeit a scantily clad super hero with large breasts that can kick your ass. I’m competitive, I’m merciless, I will hump your dead body and above all: I am a woman.
Filed under: Games & Gaming, Mike's Rambling, Nostalgia | Tags: Gears of War 2, Ultima 7
Whuzzappenin’? Allow me to be the first of the dynamic d-pad duo to welcome you to the blog… and the start of many bad puns. My name is Mike Mann, and if you haven’t guessed, I’m the husband, and not some unfortunately named woman with facial stubble. Seriously, I’m not. And even if that were true, it wouldn’t really be a his and hers blog, unless I were really awkward insane and wanted to pose as two people.
So, this is He Frag, She Frag – a hubby and wubby gaming blog aimed at couples who flap their fingertips at video games together – but don’t let that target audience deter you. There’s something here for everyone, from the hardcore volcano-faced PC nerd to the casual soccer mom who likes to tickle dachsunds (… That’s a Nintendogs reference. I hope that was obvious.) My co-author is my lovely wife, Jasmine. She’s the murderous vixen. Oh, she’s also the woman in the banner, too.
We decided to begin this as a result of several aborted blog attempts, at least on my part. I’ve tried to begin a game review and nostalgia blog in the past, but I couldn’t handle the structure and the obvious time and financial burden of keeping up with the latest games. Instead, I wanted to just talk about gaming… Whatever that may be… And the topic is one both me and my wife share. So, why not both blab about it together? A boob-tube indoctrined geek blogging about the teaser trailer for Gears of War 2 is a dime a dozen, but a game blog aimed at couples? Moderately original!
So there you have it! Welcome!
My first order of game-related business is to announce the start of my personal crusade; to finally play Ultima 7 – Parts 1 & 2 – through to the end, for the first time. I bought these classic games back in 1993, and have only ever tooled around in the immersive open-ended simulated world that makes Oblivion look primitive in scope. It’s a shame games like these are overlooked by the younger generation of gamers, because there was so much substance in these titles that isn’t found often nowadays.
I’ll be blogging my progress through these games here under the title of The Ultima 7 Blogthrough, inspired by Blogging Ultima.
At any rate, my quest is clear; rather than learn new ways to rob the Britannian mint, murder people for their houses, bake bread for a living, or scam the gambling tables in Buccaneer’s Den, I shall finally triumph over the Guardian and legitimately watch the end sequences of these gems.
That is, if Jasmine lets me… Teehee.
