As a typical bloke, I prefer the big-arse guns and guts games. I don't know it's a mainly male thing, but I know my sister enjoys UT2003 as much as I do. (Actually, she beats me at it, but that's beside the point.)
I always find the games/sex debate intresting; the one about the video games market being male dominated. That's probably true, but I think it's a matter of the type of game played. For instance, (pretty much obviously) blokes play action-y games like Serious Sam or Max Payne, and women gamers, in my experiance, prefer the puzzle and mind games.
Of course, this is a massively genralized point. My Father's favourite game is Civilisation 2, an epic stratergy game. He personally can't stand my favourite games, such as Half-Life or Medal of Honour, which he thinks are brainless, stupid shoot-em-ups. (Which they aren't, by the way
)
My sister likes management games such as Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper, but will still happily join in a game of Quake or Grand Theft Auto. She actually gets annoyed at my friends if they cannot complete the Kill Frenzy missions, as she is unnervingly ruthless when playing the game.
Nothing like seeing your sister scream "Die, you f*cking whore" as she guns down an old lady in the street, eh?
Ah yes, the violence/video game debate. I must say I do find it depressing whenever people come out and accuse video games of encouraging violent behavior in our children. The Parents Television Council (
www.parentstv.org) are a group that have come to my attention as one of these 'think-of-the-children' mentalities. They have a section on their homepage which focuses on violence in video games.
This I find annoying, as it always seems to be video games and 'loud' music which are singled out as the main reasons for violence in young people. I can see their viewpoint and concern as parents for the welfare of their kids, but I do think it is a little over-reactive.
Just becuase a person plays games dosn't mean that they are going to be violent in life. One of the first games I played was Carmaggedon, an 18-rated (in the UK, where I live) racing game where you are encouraged to kill pedestrians with your speeding car to gain money and time for the race. I was still in primary school at the time, which means I was probably about 9 or 10 when my parents bought it for me.
Do I have an urge to run people over with cars?
No.
Later on (when I was 10), my Dad got me the first Grand Theft Auto for my birthday. This is probably a widely known game, is it not? Do I feel the need to run into the street to steal cars, deal drugs and torch people with a flame-thrower?
No.
These games have not affected me in any way I can see. I'm still passive when it comes to confrontations. I'm not violent. Neither are my friends at school, my sister, or my dad (even though he commits massive genocide against every race on the planet every day during Civillisation 2).
Playing games does not make us more violent. Game players know that the thing on the screen is just a mass of pixals, not a real person. Crucially, gamers know this. Non-gamers don't. And that's a problem, in my humble opinion.
. I went through a big monopoly phase over the summer while i was stuck in a poxy room in uni halls with no tv or nuthin. That was good for passing the time! 
I have always loved that game. Stupid flying ostrichs with knights and pterodactyl eggs - what's not to love? Oh right - the part where I keep falling into the lava.
