i support all girl gamers

I mean it when I say that. I don't care if you play the games I play, you love sports games, ultra-girl-oriented games. I'm just glad that girls play games. Which is why I was slightly tickled (if not, to use her words, annoyed) to find a mention of my lil' blog at a new video game blog called OneGirlGamer. As I said, I'm happy to see anything out there about games from a girl's perspective but apparently she doesn't quite feel the same way!
Hers in quotes, mine following:

" Paranoid Emdroid annoyed me because, well, she focuses on ‘girly’ games and doesn’t really squish the myth that girls only play girly games. And clearly this is something I really want to focus on. I want to review those “hardcore boyish” games like Call of Duty or Left 4 Dead. I want to prove that not all girls who play WoW are pretty hunter Blood Elves. "

Thanks for the link, B-T-Dubs! I'll start here. First of all, if you read through my blog (over 2 years old at this point and with like 150x as many posts as yours) you'll see that I talk about a wide variety of games, including many of the Call of Duty games as well as both Left 4 Dead games. I personally don't play either title but then again I fuckin' hate first-person shooters with few exceptions. This doesn't mean I only like or play "girly" games though. I have played every title in the Resident Evil series, most of the Silent Hill games and as many Japanese-Horror themed games (Fatal Frame, Siren) as I can get my hands on. Furthermore, I think WoW is a vacuum of time, life and hard-earned money and honestly every guy I know feels the same way. You seem to think everyone should just like the games YOU like, rather than embracing the diversity of game genres out there.

" All her posts are about typical "that's a girl game, its easy!" games - like the posts on Wii Fit Plus & New Super Mario Bros. "

First of all, I love Wii Fit but you're nuts if you think it's because I'm like "yay, these games are so easy, I don't even need a controller!". I love Wii Fit because it keeps me motivated to get off my butt and work out and it's fairly effective as an exercise tool. Again, if you've read my blog you'd know how I feel on the subject. Also, I applaud Nintendo for doing their best to combat the growing fatass-ness of gamers around the world while also pulling non-gamers into the game industry with the promise of a fun new way to stay active. New Super Mario Bros. Wii? I never claimed to be a hardcore gamer but that shit is HARD, not to mention annoyingly frustrating and not that fun on co-op.

" There is no specific target audience for her blog, and she doesn't post regularly. Her blogs are short and mainly just raindom babble. "

LOL. Not sure where to start here. My audience is, honestly, me and my friends in real life, and anyone else who happens across my humble blog and likes what they read. I'm not really that concerned with how YOU feel about it because that's the beauty of the internet - you don't need to waste time on any site that doesn't interest you. I like writing about video games and I like writing "opinions, thoughts and rants", as the header of my blog explicitly states. Not posting regularly? It's called life. I used to work at GameStop as I assume you do now, and yeah, it was great if you like getting treated like you don't have a brain by your manager and getting paid $8.50 an hour, not to mention giving up your freedom during the holidays and having to talk to a bunch of idiots all day. I loved chatting with customers about good games and bad games, recommending games I knew they'd like, etc. I played a ton of games when I was working at GS because, well, I had time, I had a good discount and I could sign out games for free. I collected all the current-gen consoles over that time and still have quite a wide game collection, though sadly the consoles are a bit dusty at the moment. But that's because I now work full time, for waaaay more money than I made at GameStop. I also have an awesome boyfriend that I spend a ton of time with, and we play a lot of games together, but we also like to unplug and, you know, go outside and stuff, and we just don't play as many games as we used to, especially when un- or under-employed. So forgive me if I have slowed down a bit this year with my posting. I'm workin' on it. Talk to me when you have 300+ posts logged. Lastly, I personally think YOUR blogs are too long, very rambling, and not very interesting to be honest. You sound like the typical "Look at me, I'm a hot girl who plays games! Find me attractive because of it!". I also prefer quality over quantity and tend to meticulously edit my posts, babbling as they may be. Try it out some time.

Which brings me to your adoration of IGN. Not sure if you are new to gaming or something but IGN is a well-established gaming news site, not so much a blog and really not comparable to any blog that you or I would be able to maintain on our own time and dime. Dozens of reviewers and editors plus production staffers get paid to run IGN, and yet in my opinion? It's crappier than ever these days thanks to the jumble of movie and TV news amidst the game stuff. Not to mention that unless they are reviewing major blockbuster FPS games they tend to rush through their reviews, often not even finishing the games and in some cases clearly not having proceeded past the first level without casting judgment. If you read the comments in a lot of IGN reviews you'll see this is more often than not the case. Don't get me wrong, I still refer there for news occasionally but there are far more interesting game sites out there (Kotaku and GameTrailers, to name a couple) that don't follow such a cliched design format. From one game blogger to another, I suggest you get familiar with the wealth of gaming sites out there - it might even open your mind a little.

The last thing I really need to address is your seeming hatred (not to mention labeling of "girly") of Pokemon and The Sims. Okay, I have NEVER considered Pokemon a girly game. Sure, it's cute, but it also sells millions and millions of copies world-wide, and if you had been working in game retail for very long you'd know that the majority consumers are little boys that play DS. Just like 10-15 years ago it was little boys playing GameBoy. Also, I worked at a GS near a Navy base and we sold just as much Pokemon to the hot Navy dudes as we did to little kids and their moms. As for the Sims, not gonna lie - I love the Sims 3 and my blog shows it. I think it is a true evolution and culmination of all the Sims titles that came before it, all of which I have played extensively. And I don't just mean The Sims series - I've played nearly every Sim game back to SimAnt and original SimCity. I find endless entertainment in the variety of gameplay options that the Sims offers, and it even led me to my wildest YouTube hit with over 100,000 views at this point.

But really, the whole point of this whole post and the reason I felt so compelled to respond to your comments about my blog is that I think you are selling yourself short as a girl gamer. Think about it like feminism - aren't we all free to CHOOSE what kind of games we play? Should I need to play and write about "hardcore" (read: FPS) games to be a legitimate blogger? I won't even go into how I really feel about the FPS genre (okay I will a little - any idiot can run-'n-gun and blow shit up; try a game that makes you THINK and has lasting entertainment value past "haha i pwned you ur gay" killfests online) but if I prefer strategy and adventure games, does that make me less of a gamer than you? I think not. I've loved video games since I was like five playing DOS and 8-bit NES games with my dad.

Finally, since I believe in karma, OneGirlGamer, I'm gifting you with a spot on my prestigious blogroll. If you decide to do the same I'll consider this beef squashed ;) but if not, I'll just reiterate my point that I truly do support girl gamers of all kinds. I guess the one exception the the rule would be haters who don't get that not everyone likes the same kind of games, and that that's what makes the world go 'round. Peace and love!