Grand Theft Auto. I agree - it would be great to have a female star.

GTA. Why can't I be a female and still kick ass, steal cars, and be trouble? It would be perfect. And maybe the female lead should have a little bit more clothing than their usual females.

To be honest, I'm perfectly happy playing as a guy in these games. My favourite games include Devil May Cry and the Legacy Of Kain series, and I love them!

I wish that in saints row you could have been a girl! .. i Hear that in saints row 2 you're going to be able to be a girl!

I used to love the skins cheat in GTA Vice City so I could play as a female, even if she was slaughtering everyone in a bikini.

Guitar Hero? LOL!
GTA, please. Although I don't have anything against playing as a male... being a female is just nice.
This reminds me of when I was a kid, playing the Pokemon games, and I got the first game in which you could be a girl (Crystal, I think? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!!) and nearly fell over with glee.

in fable 2 you get to choose if you want to be a girl or not! i'm so stoked! i don't mind being a guy when i play but if i can be a chick it gets me all excited.

I played the skin cheat in GTA, but I still wish I was a miltary boot wearing girl kicking people. It is a mucho game. I don't think Guitar Hero is bias. I love playing with my bf because we sing to each other (and he has the better voice). Halo is something I can only play with my brothers because we are brutal with each other. I just pretend there's a girl in the suit (like I'm Samus). I think Smash Bros. is the most hilarious game ever so I never had a beef with it. God of War looks cool, I bought it for my brother on his birthday, but I never played it now I have to "borrow" it from him.

Some GTA. Why can't I be a pimpette?

Super Smash Brothers is one of my favorite games. I think it is girl-friendly - it is like Mortal Kombat (another favorite), but with cute cartoonish characters.

All games where you play a character, unless they're extremely story driven (like Max Payne) should have a female avatar available. Preferably without too much "bounce physics." They should be as customizable as budget and disk space allows. In a perfect world, you'd be able to play as your "ideal self" or someone completely different, as you choose.

I don't play GTA (it just doesn't appeal to me). I thought Halo was girl-friendly because I thought Cortana rocked. I don't play the others, so I don't know.

It's nice to have options, though. I'd definitely be more likely to play new games if they were made so that you could either play as a woman, or had strong woman characters with a minimum of "oh look at me, I'm just here for eye candy".

The games are fine just the way they are I love my Halo Games (all three)Guitar Hero, and I'm playing Tomb Raider Legend for the upteenth time lol.

Depending on the story, I think having a female option would be great for many games. When there's a female available I always choose her.

Isn't it funny that no matter how old we are, we're always referred to as "girls"? At least he didn't say "broad - friendly".

i think i would enjoy a game that has an option of being a female character instead of a male. being able to customize the character to make it unique like you would be great too.

"Girlfriend"-friendly? What a fxcking jackass. And yeah, GTA WOULD be lots of fun with a girl for the main character. How come I never thought of that? (:

Hkmarks -- "bounce physics" -- what a great term.

I like that Lara Croft is a kickass female... I just wish her figure was a little more realistic. I definitely think GTA could use some improvements in the sexism factor, but I don't really play that game.

Why is Guitar Hero on the list? You can be Judy Nails. I have to admit that I'm a huge fan of music games... I rock out pretty effing hard in Rock Band and my character looks just like me, purple hair and all.

This article amuses me because I'm the one who bought Gears of War and said to my boyfriend "look it has a co-op mode, come play with me." I do wish there were more options to play female characters in games- and not just gals in skimpy outfits with boob jiggle that defies gravity.

.......Girls play video games???

Guitar Hero is mentioned because it's popular and there's an unequal number of avatars, gender-wise.

God of War!

girlfriend friendly to me means co-op.
SERIOUSLY!
i don't really care if i play as a guy or a girl (i do enjoy being a girl though) i just want to be able to play with my boyfriend. there are so many good games we can't play together.

I am a huge fan of video games and I think its funny that they used the term "girlfriend-friendly" In my world it more like they need to be "boyfriend-friendly"

I think GTA would be awesome if the main character were a girl, but I somehow don't think that would happen unless she were a hot tamale in a skimpy outfit.

And @FredLero: I use the skins in GTA:VC too! It's hilarious, because I'll be a gun-wielding stripper with a man's voice.

Video games are a fantasy. Do they think we model our body image by video game characters? Any girlfriend complaining about video games with busty characters is really just complaining about not getting the attention they need and should probably consider getting over it or getting a new boyfriend.

Me and my bf play GTA co-op *swoon*

Upon further reflection, "girlfriend-friendly" really irritates me. I'm not someone's girlfriend. I'm not a "girl". I'm a grown woman. I'm a consumer. I'm a video game enthusiast. Reducing me to just a "girl" or to just the girlfriend of some gamer is annoying and disappointing.

When video game makers recognize this and treat their female consumers with as much thought and respect as their male consumers, I'll bet more women will buy video games.

For what it's worth, I adored Gears of War. Making the second one more female-friendly sounds interesting- I'll be curious to see how that pans out.

And the problem with busty female characters is that they're just eye candy. They're not interesting, except to look at- so frequently they're just one-dimensional characters meant only to get the interest of men. When I come across them, I roll my eyes. I played Tomb Raider: Legend, but even as I was playing it, I kept thinking "how do those ginormous breasts not get in the way of all this gymnastic activity?" and it was just a bit ridiculous.

I think that these Playboy-ready video game characters are just for guys, and that when game developers put them in a game, they might as well be saying to female gamers "this game isn't made for you, move along."

Of course, this is just my opinion, and I'm just one female gamer. But that's how I feel about it.

OK so I realize that the marketing types are all about pitching their product to a 'target audience.' I think they should quit over-analyzing it and assume that women/girls are just as likely to pick up any given game as the guys are.

Yep, I'm the primary gamer in my family. I'm also a homeschooling mom in my mid-30s. How would one pitch to that? LOL

I love GTA and I wish that I could play as a woman like ALSW. GTA4 is one of my reasons for going nextgen!

the only one of those i play is super smash brothers. i wish there were more, different looking females in it.

i think it'd be cool to have more females in ssmb but, which characters? i love ssmb and i think the characters should stay that way.
as for gta, that'd be fcking awesome if i could play as a female ^o^

First for me would be my all time favorite Halo. I would love to see females represented in as many games as possible. Definitely GTA, but why not Uncharted or any other action game out there. I know there are some games out there, but do they all have to suck? I remember the Princess Peach game on DS that missed the mark. Why not give the player the option to choose who they want to control.

BTW: I totally agree with bookish.