Video games. In 2010, vizworld.com did a study of gamers in the United States. According to respondents, 65% of American households claim to be "gaming" households. I can honestly say, I hypothesize that number has increased since then and will continue to do so. The study, however, delved further to distinguish the sexes playing, the consoles they played, etc.
Now, as a female who plays games, I often hear, and even jump in on the "girl gamers don't exist" jokes, however, this study goes to show that isn't actually true. According to the statistics, two of five games are female. Yes, boys. That's almost half. That means if there are two sexy dancing night elves dancing on the fountain in Stormwind, there's a chance one of them -really- is a female, though her looking like a tall, sexy piece of Avatar-like Barbie ass is slim to none, but hey, in your dreams, right? And atleast she doesn't have a penis! w00t!
But on a serious note, I bring this up for a reason. As a girl who plays/played video games, I liked having a significant other who did as well. He understood my desire to play and to raid. I understood his desire to do the same. Wife aggro was not a term needed in our home (and thankfully, neither was husband aggro.) As I grew out of my desire to game, I was understanding because hey, I used to play. However, I heard the plight of many a gamer friend about how he wished I'd talk to his girlfriend or wife and convince them to play.
Try as I might, it never helped. The fact is that some women (or men, but sorry ladies, its usually us) just don't like games! And try as I might to convince them to play with you, they won't like it and even if they do, they won't stick with it. The next best things I could do was try to explain to these women that the same way cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc are priorities to them, the game is a priority to their men. It didn't hold much water, however, and I lost many a friend to the wiles of their women persuading them to give up the game, and later, the resentment of being forced to give up something the truly enjoyed always caused animosity.
On the other hand, however, gentlemen, may I remind you. Video games aren't real. Sure, there are social aspects to a lot of them now, but the real-life female sitting next to you, or the real-life friends who want to come over and hang out but you're too busy raiding to see them? They're going to disappear if you don't learn to pay a little bit of attention to them.
Relationships are give and take. Some shared interests are great, but we all need our own thing to do as well. If gaming isn't something you both enjoy, it doesn't have to be, as long as you're willing to put down the controller, push away from the keyboard, and breathe some fresh air. You know, and get laid on occasion.
