The Gender Divide

Video-gaming has been largely a man's - or boy's - world, but with games by and for women, that's starting to change

For instance, in the game Imagine Babyz, the player feeds and plays with babies while cleaning and decorating the house.

"Women aren't this one collective group," she says. "What amuses us and what entertains us is different from person to person. [Game makers] know that about male players but they think women all fall into the same group."

But with the Iron Chef game, where people can play as chefs Mario Baltali or Cat Cora and vie to concoct dishes like shrimp ravioli and wild boar pita pockets, men and women are on equal footing and, she thinks, just as likely to be engaged in the competition. The game builds on the success of Cooking Mama, a kitchen-oriented game that was a hit with men and women alike.

Dave Degnan, producer for the Iron Chef game, says his girlfriend, Darci, who's 30, has shown interest in just two games he's brought home - Iron Chef and something called WordJong, a word puzzle game that's a cross between Scrabble and MahJong.

"One day I was working on WordJong and I said, 'Hey babe, you should try this out.' She spelled one word, turned her shoulder to me and said, 'You're not getting this back.' She's had my DS ever since."