To all the ladies: Get your game on!
Find out why Xbox 360 is more than just a gaming console
By Jessica Padykula with files from Mara Gulens
If you thought video games were just for the guys, think again. Times are changing as more and more women are getting involved in the world of gaming. Women everywhere, of all ages, are sharing game time with friends and family, and learning that gaming consoles today — such as Xbox 360 — are nothing like they used to be and can be used for much more than gaming.
When Oakville resident Anissa Hilborn first purchased an Xbox 360 with her husband, she wasn’t sure if she’d get any use out of it, but she soon realized it has a lot to offer. “I say it was my husband’s choice, but I enjoy it now,” she says.
Not just for gaming
Hilborn uses her console regularly but for more than games. “We stream music from our MP3 player through our Xbox 360 and also use it as our DVD player because it has HD capabilities,” she says.
Karen Koski, a Sudbury mother of two, also admits to being won over by the Xbox 360 purchased by her husband.
Connecting the console through her Windows Media Center PC has allowed for a totally integrated home entertainment system, she explains. “We can coordinate it to everything we already have in the family room.”
To access your videos, music and pictures from a PC, simply connect your console to your home network through a standard Ethernet cable or wirelessly using the Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter. Click here for more information on connecting your console to a computer.
Like Hilborn, Koski watches DVDs and plays music through her console. “We use it for so many different things, I can’t imagine not having it,” she says.
She also uses her Xbox 360 to view digital photos and watch slide shows. Since it’s connected to Windows, when she has family visiting, Koski likes to show them her digital family albums, and Xbox makes it easy for an impromptu slide show, she says.
Connected by gaming
Hilborn and her husband joined Xbox Live to keep in touch with their friends in B.C. and the United States.
“With Xbox 360 you can have conversations over the Internet. It doesn’t matter what game you are playing,” she says. Using headphones and a small microphone, you can talk to anyone, anywhere as long as they are online, too.
For instance, her husband uses it to keep in touch with his university friends. “I don’t think he would pick up the phone to chat with them as often as he does while he’s gaming,” she says.
“His friends will also get their spouses and significant others involved, and the four of us will get online to chat and play — it’s becoming part of our social scene.”
Xbox Live Vision is available as a peripheral and is a great option for video chat. It works as a webcam for your console and allows you to see the person whom you’re playing against.
Gaming and family time
Koski and her husband use game time as couple’s time. ”When you have two kids, it’s not the same as when you’re 20 and just dating,” she laughs. “Now, for the price of maybe a few dates, we have hours of entertainment.”
She says often there is nothing on television, or they don’t feel like watching a movie, so instead they will play video games together. She’ll play one level, then her husband will play a level, and they’ll beat the game Kameo: Elements of Power, she says. “We’re both playing the same game, but we each have different strategies so we can learn from each other.”
Some games even have a co-op play option, which allows users to play at the same time instead of against each other.
Koski’s daughter has also started gaming. When her son gets older, he’ll be part of game time, too. There are a myriad of multi-player E-rated games the whole family can enjoy, making game time into family time, she says. The colourful Viva Piñata, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and Cars are suitable for all ages.
If you are concerned about what games your youngsters are allowed to play, Xbox makes it easy to monitor their game time with parental controls. “I can put them on and limit what my daughter can play or watch,” Koski explains. “It just makes things easier so we don’t have to worry about her getting into zombie games or shooting games.”
Click here for more information on using the family-friendly settings that come with Xbox 360.
A growing trend
Research in Canada shows that 38 per cent of gamers are women. While more women tend to play PC games than console games, the next generation of gaming consoles is starting to change all that, says Danielle LaBossiere Parr of the Entertainment Software Association of Canada.
A lot of women are more interested in casual gaming, explains LaBossiere Parr. They tend to enjoy games that are easier to play and more relaxed. With Xbox 360 you get access to Xbox Live Arcade, which incorporates many of those casual games that are usually played on a PC, in addition to many arcade classics such as Pac-Man and Frogger.
“I have been surprised at how much women are becoming more interested in gaming,” Hilborn says. “I find with my friends, there is an acceptance that has become exuberance.”
The idea of interactivity — being able to play against other people around the world — and the chat function of Xbox 360 are the things that will appeal to all types of gamers, she says. “It really is a changing landscape in the video game industry.”
“I think this is a really interesting time in the industry,” says LaBossiere Parr. “In the past, video games were in the tech section of newspapers. Now they are featured on the entertainment and mainstream pages. That is evidence of a shift,” she says.
For more information about Xbox 360, visit www.Xbox.ca or read Help! Find Xbox answers.
