Katie Williams writes for Kotaku of her experiences at E3, where, apparently, pretty girls do not play games.  One experience in particular is described below, as a PR representative for a game she had signed up to try out mistakes her amazement at the graphics for total lack of comprehension as to how PC games, shooters in particular, are played.

FTA:  “I think I better play it for you,” he said finally, prying my hands away and turning the keyboard towards himself.

And so there I was, hands twisted awkwardly and uselessly in my lap as a guy walked me through his game. In laboured detail, he explained to me simple mechanics that any shooter player would be well-acquainted with. He avoided the gameplay due to some apparent strange belief that I was not there to learn about shooting things in a shooter game, that perhaps my delicate girl senses might be offended by killing with guns and missiles. He pointed out rabbits in the grass with all the condescension of an adult trying to distract a noisy toddler, as if my interest in this simulation-grade shooter lay in some wildly misguided assumption that it would be full of adorable, fluffy animals.

I looked down the booth and saw gamers at the other computers playing their own games, their own hands controlling the avatars. No PR representatives were hovering at their shoulders, pre-empting that a lack of knowledge would lead to them playing the game “wrong”. I felt ridiculous and unwanted. I felt it ridiculous that I should feel unwanted.

I can’t with this.  ”Look at the bunnies!  See!  Look here, sweetie, let me do this for you.  Looky!  Pretty flowers!”  I would like to have punched that guy square in his condescending, smarmy, idiot face.  Why she just sat there and let this guy treat her like that is totally beyond me.