A guy abruptly skirts to the edge of

the couch cushion as testosterone surges and he pounds away at the

buttons of a game controller, as if that would prevent his demise.

With eyes glued to the electronic gateway of a realm of endless

re-spawns and reloads, he watches his inevitable death again. And

again. And again.

Growls of resentment ensue as he

glares at the virtual figure that is his assassin. A flame of

frustration transforms into an impulsive plan of retaliation, which

translates into firing a rapid spasm of curse words into a mic

protruding from a headset.

His executioner responds with

laughter, although not in a hardy chuckle like he was expecting. It

was lighter, more high-pitched, almost like a giggle.

“Hey kid, what’s wrong; haven’t your

balls dropped yet?” he spits into the mic.

With an unraveling grin of great

satisfaction, I respond, “No, man. I’m a chick.”

Then, as if I had slashed him in real

life instead of repeatedly in the game, he was dead silent.

Even though I find great amusement

with the jaw-drop reactions of guys who unmask my secret gamer

persona, I cannot help but think that the dramatics of it all are

unnecessary.

Girls have the ability to beat guys at

any video game, and we have the game stats and the body count to

prove it.

I am not going to tell you that girls

naturally excel at video games, (even though I picked up eight

strikes in a row the first time I put my hands on Wii Bowling,

which may have been a fluke) and I am not going to tell you that

girls master the virtual world through superior intellect.

Everyone-whether a girl or a guy, age

7 or 70-becomes a video-game dominator through good old-fashioned

practice and dedication.

Having grown up with two older

brothers, I was introduced to video games as a child during the age

of SEGA Genesis with the great entertainers like “Mortal Kombat”

and “Sonic the Hedgehog,” among others.

Sometimes I miss participating in the

tradition of blowing the dust out of the game cartridges and being

yelled at for “accidentally” pressing the reset button with my foot

when I was losing beyond a reasonable measure. Nintendo also played

a part in the beginning of my affair with video games, but I do not

recall playing anything other than “Duck Hunt.”

My training continued with games on

the Sony Play Station and Play Station 2 with games like “Twisted

Metal,” “Crash Team Racing,” and “Resident Evil.” Then something

wonderful happened.

Instead of embarrassing myself too

badly by failing to master button-and-stick coordination, I began

to defeat my brothers often.

With each new generation of game

consoles, it took time to adjust to new operations, graphics and

stories, but that did not discourage me.

I found my love for first-person

shooters with the “Halo” series, and that led me to my favorite

stress relievers, like “Left4Dead2” and the “Gears of War”

installments.

It may be flattering from time to time

to awe a guy with my gaming skills, but it should not be surprising

that girls commit themselves to the craft.

The moral of the story is to not

assume that only guys are interested in video games and to not act

so emasculated when a girl slaughters you on the gaming

battlefield. Gamers come in different sizes, ages, nationalities

and, of course, different genders.

Rachel Rodgers is a junior

journalism major.

She can be reached at 581-7942 or

DENopinions@gmail.com.