A Perspective From a Non-Feminist Female Gamer

I'd like to speak my peace about these gender issues in video games since Gauntlett was so generous as to finally touch on it (making it free game, haha). He seriously had me holding my breath for a while.

Lara Croft has a ridiculously unrealistic and obviously misogynistic-male-fantasy-generated body. There is no way I can deny it, nor would I want to. However, for me this is a humorous example of reality. Many video games designed by men more often than not will have idealized-looking women, if any at all. It's a simple fact but I don't pay much mind to it; they're very fun games to play and pointing out the ridiculousness of these "sexy" characters allow my brother and I to joke together. Anyway the only thing that bothers me is how exactly Lady Croft has the strength to climb mountains, swing on vines, and fight bad guys if she doesn't consume nourishment. Whatever.

I must disagree with the study which Gauntlett cites in chapter 4. It stated that US college students see male game characters as less "sexually provocative." No, sir! PLEASE! I once made a collage poster of male heroes and villains from my favorite games, and this was a fairly large poster. They have just as much sex appeal as their female counterparts - if not more, depending on the depth of their character development and storylines. In fact, I believe that the double standard doesn't really exist in many games of a certain genre. In the games of which I speak, the women are often emotionally stronger and posses more skills than their over-romanticized and slightly androgynous-looking male counterparts.

Marketing in the world of video games is a little different than that of non-interactive entertainment. It relies less on linear imagery and more on the promise of realistic graphics and fluid game play. For instance, Bungie's Halo games are highly combat-oriented. Yes, most of the characters are men, including the alien villains, but there are several women marines, and they are just as skilled and hardcore as the men; in fact the only reason you really know that they're women is by their voices. The only one of the main characters that's a woman is Cortana, the Master Chief's A.I. She is in no way a minor character, and excepting Halo 3 (when she had been captured and subsequently used by the Flood), she isn't a damsel in distress. She is a voice of authority, conscience (sort of the Jiminy Cricket equivalent), and direction; and she is the Master Chief's closest friend.

I guess the bottom line I'm coming to here is that yes, there are some stereotypical women in video games, but when they are being stereotyped, it's exaggerated to the point that the ideological image loses all validity. You can't take them seriously. Because you can't take them seriously, I don't see them as a threat.
Also, I realize that there are generally less games based around female characters or containing female main characters than male characters, but I don't really read too much into that. Most of the time, it's due more to historical context and accuracy than it is to a purposeful bias of writing.