[August]

Aren't there a lot of non-gaming specific reasons that would skew a distribution of gamers?

My wife works in psychology so we have these discussions a lot. When we play a game, my wife is way more excited about actually playing the game with me (ostensibly).

When I play, i'm way more stoked about winning. If i'm playing Settlers of Catan with my lame friends (all my friends are lame because I am lame) I'm very excited to win. If I don't win, i'm pretty much in a grumpy mood. As are all my male friends that sit around the table.

My wife, and my friends wives/gfs, are usually chatty afterwards and have a good time no matter what, and seemingly don't care if they win. To me this is a pretty standard occurrence, and I think that it really does play a role in being a 'hardcore' gamer. There's no question that people at the top end of any gaming sphere are there to compete and to win. If there's less motivation towards conflict (winning), I can see why female gamer distribution tends to favor more interactive facebook / phone games where the actual act of 'playing' is what is cherished.

That's not to say that women can't be competitive, or can't be just as good as men at gaming. I'm just saying that stereotypes typically stem from experience on a broad scale, and there's got to be something substantial behind it.

For what it's worth my wife is merciless @ Scrabble, and has been known to throw fits of rage when I score a 2x Triple Word Score with 7 of my letters. It was 'Goodwife' - best night of my life and highest Scrabble move i've ever made.