No, girls dont play games, and if some do, it's only stupid games endorsed by the likes of paris hilton (aka diamond quest). If any girl gamer here wants to prove me wrong be my guest. *looks around*. Thats what i thought.
My eldest daughter would like to kill you right now*. As she feels insulted by the very notion that she would play any such games endorsed by some idiot she doesn't even know.
Ok, so she pretty much only plays DS/Wii games right now -- mainly because it's not a huge problem if she breaks the DS and we got a ton of games on it for free =) And the Wii just happens to have a few games she likes as well. And given her age, it's a perfect system to get her used to using a controller (and even that one is still a little too large for her).
Ultimately though, my daughter is going to be a huge fan of platformers, she's already hooked on Mario (I personally can't stand anything Mario myself) and she likes to watch me play Trine. She appears to enjoy shooters too despite the fact that I really don't want her playing those just yet...
* Not really, but the looks she's giving are evil. Pure evil.

I wasn't suggesting you did... although I cn't think of a good reason not to want to. Unless your gay.

Nah, I wouldn't date a guy with those tastes either :P

Why wouldn't you date a woman who plays Oblivion? Man, if I could find a female gamer I wouldn't have to hide my damned gaming habit anymore. You have no idea of what a PITA it is. It is damn uncomfortable explaining some of the boxes that I have...
"What's in this box labeled The Witcher??"
"Uhhh coasters...very shiny and artsy coasters....they come as a set..."

Geez man, just come out about it, you'll feel better when you're not lying all the time and she won't keep looking at you funny when she's recently heard noises of men moaning in pain coming from a room you're in
Oi stop looking at my epic sausage!

Well I would if they didn't turn on the whinometer and bitch and moan about me playing games.

Call me a feminist, but I'm not buying into the idea that girl gamers are as cool as male gamers (cool in a geek way). I'm quite weary of females playing DOTA, then saying "look at me I'm playing DOTA competitively, and I'm being good at it, and guess what? I don't have a dick!". It's like they're playing games to make a point about themselves
Also, because most female gamers I know don't play cult classics, only mainstream games like l4d. Sure you play to have fun, but you don't call yourself a hardcore gamer until you've beaten Deus Ex five times

First rule of the internet
Men are Men
Women are Men
Children are FBI agents

Well there's plenty of counters to that but most of them end in an argument. Failing a frank discussion on the benefits of solo entertainment, I'd just lock the door and put earplugs in

Most of the female gamers I know (in real life) are into various MMOs and pen'n'paper RPGs. They're not a fan of any FPS or action game. That said, in the past, most of the people I've met and gotten along with online in said genres have been female. (Or at least claimed to be, but what does that matter?)
I don't know anyone that plays games 'aimed at the female demographic' (scare quotes), regardless of gender.

So my quarter century of solid gaming doesn't count simply because I found deus ex to be less interesting than staring blankly at a wall?
I think the only definition of hardcore in regards to gaming can be made though the commitment of time. If gaming comprises a regular part of your week then you're a gamer, if gaming comprises a major part of your week then you're a hardcore gamer. Unfortunately those sad addicts of mmos and the sims are every bit as hardcore as sim nuts, gears of war chainsaw masters and rts freaks with uber micro. Sims & MMOs seem sad and pathetic to us but then to other people the fact that we can get a headshot on someone from 2kms is equally sad.

Ha! I was just thinking that.
I know a few girl gamers. I've got two ex-girlfriends that enjoy MMORPGs, a friend who is mildly interested in PlayStation games (mainly the casual sort, SingStar, EyeToy, etc..) and another who has a love/hate relationship with platformers.
They're out there, but I have noticed a lack of them in regards to communities. I don't blame them considering most of the reactions they get go something like, "ur a grrl? for cereal? *mount*"

Somehow I know exactly what you mean.

I laughed. A lot. :)

I've been gaming for about 20 years now and to be honest I don't see to many females that I'd call 'gamer" out there, I'd say 3:8 female to male would be a good ratio. This is up from say 10 years ago were the ratio was 1:13. Now if you include casual gamers and the 'I Bejeweled/Tetris on my phone" crowd to the list and I would say 45% of the total gaming population would be female.
As to what they play I've noticed that they they move to RPGs, platformers, and DDR, over FPSes and most bloodier action titles. They also tend to move more towards story based games with relatively simple controls over, twitch happy button mashers. (So Zelda over Street Fighter)
Of course there will be many exceptions to this observation as everyone has their personal preferences.

Well let's see:
My sister isn't as much of a gamer these days. She used to be though, having played Ultima Online, Horizons and Guild Wars (also a bit of Fallout, and a few other RPGs).
My mom.. heee, my mom used to have a Sega Genesis and would spend many hours playing the Sonic games. Then she got in to PC gaming and used to play DOOM heavily, for a long time she played UO, now mostly it's just POGO games and when the internet is behaving, Dungeon Runners.
One of my friends, who has a vagina, plays a lot of various RPGs, mostly JRPGs.
Haven't gotten any of the above mentioned in to GOG though.