How to be a Good Gamer Girlfriend

It doesn’t always feel easy competing for your boyfriend’s attention; especially when you know just how enticing his distractions can be. Even if you are just as much of an addict as your boy, there will be times when he slips off into his own personal bubble of gaming bliss. Most girls would not understand the fundamental necessity of this time, but unlike most girls, you understand games as well. Just think, you wouldn’t interrupt a man while he was hunting for food. The primordial instinct of man to kill for satisfaction has just evolved into a more "docile" pastime.

Personal life experiences and little bit of research has allowed me to put down a few guidelines for the gaming girlfriend of a gamer. Hey, maybe even a non-gaming girlfriend could learn a few things!

• Relate. Remember those two weeks that you couldn’t get enough of Mass Effect? Your boy does. He was probably straining more for your attention during that time than ever before in your relationship. Unfortunately, that’s just how most guys work. When they feel threatened by something else stealing your attention, they freak out and try to squeeze their way back into your lap. So if he needs some time to conquer a new virtual terrain, be understanding and let him have it. Who knows when the tables will be switched again? Maybe the game he’s playing is worth a bit of your time when he’s done.

• Participate. If the situation permits, ask if you can join in or have a turn. Usually a permissible situation involves ONE boyfriend and NONE of his friends. Have at least a reasonable idea of how the game works to avoid asking "Now what do I do?" fifty times. Boys like to gloat, so if the game is multiplayer he will certainly have fun beating another human. That is, until you get the hang of it (or get lucky) and kick his butt a couple of times. He’ll recognize your skill by offering his advice for improvement, though you’ll ever be marked as a possible threat and that much hotter!

• Know Your Boundaries. When boys get together to play games, it is best to leave the whole "male-bonding" situation alone. A Soul Calibur match against AI is one thing, but a 4-on-4 online Left 4 Dead zombie massacre makes your man virtually untouchable in the real world. Nonetheless, you should realize the difference between new shoes important and car accident important. If his fingers are moving faster than your lips are, he’s most likely tuning you out anyway. It’s best to just hold all avoidable communication until later. Wait until the round ends; or he dies.
  

• Public Display of Information. It is only fair that if your boy has to tag along while you try on every sundress in the mall, you wait patiently while he tests out yet another year of Madden in the game store. This actually sets up for an ideal moment to flaunt your cute gamer-girl powers. Browse the shelves for anything familiar to joke or make references about with your boy or the sales clerk. If any of the test games look interesting, grab a controller and play around. The more knowledgeable you appear, the hotter you start to look to the other guys in the store. Your man will be proud of his rare find in a girlfriend, though may think twice before bringing you along again--just in case.
  

• Be Tech Savvy. NEVER unplug, uninstall, or undo anything you won’t be able to redo later on. As a girl who also games, you’ve felt the overwhelming frustration and sensitivity toward your gaming apparatuses when someone mistreats them. Leaving a system in any condition other than how your guy last left it is the equivalent of him leaving your toilet seat up. You could easily return it to normal, but it’s the principle behind it! Most systems play movies, music, or even allow internet access, so there really is little need to play around with wires and cables. On the rare occasion that you feel you must, simply turning the TV off is just as affective of an attention-grabber as touching or unplugging a console (which I have heard of some girls doing)! Not to mention it is in many ways less risky.
  

• Get Naked. Okay, maybe not literally! Still, here is a good way to draw your significant-figure away from the controller long enough for some quality time together. After exhausting every other possible way of grabbing his attention, fight dirty! No grenade launcher, magical sword, or dark elf spell is as deadly as the female figure. Slip into that thing that you know he’ll like (or out of it if that’s how well you’ve got it!) and casually pass by or tinker with something close to the television set. If you’re bold enough, drop the subtleties and go in for the kill! Remind your boy that even though games are fun, you can be even more entertaining!***