gears of war 2

Video games

Gears of War 2 Review: My Boyfriend Loves It

As I'm writing this, my boyfriend is playing Gears of War 2 with a buddy via online co-op play.

As I'm writing this, my boyfriend is playing Gears of War 2 with a buddy via online co-op play. He is also wearing an Xbox Headset so that they can communicate and strategize their mission.

So to say that my boyfriend loves GOW2 is a bit of an understatement. Besides the fact that there was a permanent butt imprint in our last couch when the first installment of the series hit the shelves, it seems that in some weird way the game re-establishes a sense of manliness that is lost from days of working in customer service, IT support, or just bending to the wants and needs of others. It brings an aura of brotherhood as you battle the "Locusts" together, lending a hand with your chainsaw to amputate the enemy that chokes your brother-in-arms. It's a phenomenon I'll never be able to explain.

I can't say that I've had much time to play Gears of War 2 myself — you know, since there are always at least four guys on my couch taking turns high-fiving each other for destroying the "horde" — but I can give you some observations I've made over the past few days. To find out what they are, just read more

Video games

What Video Game Should Become More Girl-Friendly?

The designer of Gears of War 2 recently told Wired that the sequel to Gears of War would be more "girlfriend-friendly," namely, by making the female avatars' breasts smaller and having them not be "bad stereotypes."

The designer of Gears of War 2 recently told Wired that the sequel to Gears of War would be more "girlfriend-friendly," namely, by making the female avatars' breasts smaller and having them not be "bad stereotypes." My knee-jerk sensitive reaction is with him using the term "girlfriend-friendly" — let's be clear — girl gamers do buy and play their own games and don't need to be classified generally as girlfriends (talk about bad stereotypes). The term girl-friendly is just fine.

In any case, I do appreciate that video game makers are recognizing that girls are playing these games and that some tweaks should be made to certain games to make them unisex. I know a lot of you girls will play a game whether you feel represented or not, but I know that the addition of less-polarizing features will make some girls pick up that controller, even if it's something as mild as adding an even number of female avatars.

It would be nice to see other video games follow suit too — wouldn't it be great to have a girl play as much of a starring role as Nico or Vlad in GTA IV?! On that note, what video games do you think could stand to be a little more girl-friendly?

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