Game Changers

One of the final frontiers for women and gaming might be competitive online action games in which players try to blow up, or "frag," their adversaries.

The tone of the trash talking in these games can scathe even the most thick-skinned player, guy or gal. So Microsoft, with its Xbox 360, has started a club where women can play together online, away from the testosterone-fueled chatter that is common in matches for action games.

It's a "kiddie pool" for girls and women who enjoy playing but who want a more relaxed environment, says Christa Phillips, 39, better known in the Xbox online community by her handle "Trixie." Guys occasionally sneak into the group, the Redmond, Wash., resident says, though they don't usually last long. "They usually act like a dude," she says. "I can usually tell because their spelling is terrible."

Outside the kiddie pool, some serious women gamers are starting to take on men in a growing number of tournaments that pit the best players against one another. Irvine, Calif., resident Morgan Romine, 27, is the captain of a Ubisoft-sponsored all-female gamer team called Frag Dolls and plays shooter titles such as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for dozens of hours a week to stay sharp. At this point, she's used to hearing guys tell her to "get back in the kitchen," or worse, when she battles online, but it just makes her play more aggressively.

"I really like to win in those situations," she says.

But most gamers, male and female, keep their playing a little more casual.

Back at the Burguieres house, Tory, 24, has won the baseball game with two home runs, and the women have moved on to Wii bowling. Mom Jan, 57, appears to be a natural, pulling off strikes and spares that keep her ahead of her daughters.

"Thank you very much, thank you very much," she gloats after clearing the pins each time, before they switch games again and she skillfully manages to carry her team through a few rounds of Wii tennis.

A little while later in the evening, the women switch to Mario Kart, which Jan doesn't play nearly as well, steering poor Mario off the track and into a virtual ocean. Maybe she needs caffeine.

"Tom, you want to put some coffee on?" she asks her husband, who is catching up with the guys over in the dining room.