1
The Gendering of Computer Gaming: Experience and Space1

Jo Bryce
Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK
jbryce@uclan.ac.uk

Jason Rutter
ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC), University of
Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9QH, UK
Jason.Rutter@man.ac.uk


www.digiplay.org.uk



Abstract

The increasing popularity of computer gaming as a contemporary leisure activity,
together with the use of PCs and games consoles as leisure technologies are evidence
of the increasing convergence of new technology and leisure practice. The size and
popularity of the games industry stands out in contrast to the lack of understanding of
computer gaming as a serious leisure activity. Previous research on computer game
playing has tended to focus on the negative aspects of gaming such as aggression,
addiction, and social isolation, rather than viewing it as an activity which forms an
important part of many people’s leisure lifestyles. This paper presents a very different
image of gaming and gamers. It investigates computer gaming as a serious and
competitive leisure activity. The paper looks at the gendered use and negotiation of
leisure spaces by gamers in the context of the expansion of gaming into space and
place outside the traditional domestic contexts and which blur boundaries between
domestic and public leisure spaces. As such it assumes a perspective on computer
gaming in which the activity is seen as part of the everyday leisure routines of gamers
rather than a spectacular and notable stimulus or event. The paper argues that
although certain aspects of computer gaming involve technological mediation and
disembodiment, the changes in gaming texts and contexts have not radically improved
the leisure constraints associated with gendered space and technologically-mediated
activities. To this end, the paper draws on the existing gaming literature and
preliminary ethnographic research of public competitive gaming


Key words: computer games, Internet, gendered space, leisure constraints,
technology.


1 Preferred citation: J. Bryce & J. Rutter, 2003. “The Gendering of Computer Gaming: Experience and
Space”, in S. Fleming & I. Jones, Leisure Cultures: Investigations in Sport, Media and Technology,
Leisure Studies Association, pp.3-22.

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Introduction

Computer games2 have now been taking up room in people’s homes for over twenty-
five years. The black and white block graphics of the tennis game Pong first made
their way onto people’s television sets in the mid-1970s and since then the fad for
these games has turned into an industry worth almost $6½ billion in the USA alone in
2001 (IDSA, 2002). Gaming technologies have evolved during the intervening period
from the square ball being bounced between two rectangular bats to the near photo-
realistic images which are based upon the real life movements and physics of humans
and objects. However, the academic understanding of this leisure activity has,
unfortunately, not developed at the same rate. While there is a small but significant
body of work which has looked at computer games (some of which is reviewed
below), there is still a tendency to place games and gaming within discourses
associated with psychological and social well-being. Within these discourses games
are still predominately understood in the literature as technological stimuli that
produce measurable effects in the people exposed to them.

Investigations that attempt to place gaming within a broader social context are still
very much in their infancy. This paper is an attempt to contribute to this emerging
body of work. It seeks to reposition gaming within its social context by looking not at
the games themselves, or effects that may be associated with them, but by looking at
the social organisation of computer gaming, and the manner in which computer
gaming is a gendered leisure activity.

In order to do this the paper first provides a macro level examination of developments
in computer gaming as a popular leisure activity, arguing that the prevalence of
computer gaming and the constitution of gaming communities (real, virtual and
imagined) has often been radically underestimated in academic literatures. The
growing organisation, and to a lesser extent professionalisation, of these communities
has played an important part in the development of public gaming activities. The
paper specifically examines the gendered use and negotiation of leisure spaces by
gamers in the context of the expansion of gaming into space and place outside
domestic contexts.


Computer gaming as a leisure activity

Computer gaming as a contemporary leisure activity is undergoing a series of
concurrent change: The increasing popularity of computer gaming, the multiplicity of
platforms and gaming genres, changing social contexts of play, the expanded
functionality of gaming consoles, and the integration of gaming technologies into
devices such as mobile phone, digital television and digital organisers are all aspects
of the transformation of gaming into a technology of mass, popular entertainment.


2 In this paper we use the term “computer gaming” to cover gaming whether played upon a console, a
digital TV, LCD display, a PC (or less commonly a Mac) or self-contained devices such as a Gameboy.

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The actual size of the computer gaming market and its influence on routine leisure is
often underestimated. It has been suggested that almost three quarters of people under
30 have played a computer game, and that the leisure software market is worth
approximately £1.5 billion in the UK (Screen Digest/ELSPA, 2001). The size of this
market can be usefully illustrated by comparing it to that for e-commerce. While
business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce has recently been the focus of much media,
academic and consultancy attention, the market is still worth considerably less than
that for gaming, especially when considering that about 40% of all B2C e-commerce
in the UK is purchase of computing hardware and software (McMeekin, Miles, Roy
and Rutter, 1999)
Gaming
E-commerce
0
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1400
1600
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2000
19
89
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Figure 1: UK gaming and E-commerce markets

Such a market size obviously calls into question ideas about the range of people
involved in computer gaming as a leisure activity. Although the well-worn, and
empirically unsustained, stereotype of solitary, male gamers continues to be prevalent,
available figures on gamer demographics do not support this stereotypical view.
Recent USA figures from the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) suggest
that 42% of computer gamers are over 35 (IDSA, 2001). As the gaming industry
continues to mature, so does its audience.

4
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Most Frequent
COMPUTER Game
Players
Most Frequent VIDEO
Game Players
<18 18-35 35+

Figure 2: Age Group Comparison of Most Frequency Computer and video
Game Players
Source: IDSA, 2001


In the UK games industry games development is a significant industry as well as
being notable in terms of revenue and consumption. According to the major gaming
trade association the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), in
1998 leisure software earned more in exports than other entertainment media: It
totalled £503 million compared with £427 million for TV and £444 million for film.
Similarly, although leisure software exports rose from £192m in 1997 to £284m in
1998, imports also grew and the balance of trade for 1998 stood at £219m. This
compares with the UK film industry that generated a surplus of £53 million while TV
recorded a deficit of £248 million.
-300
-200
-100
0
100
200
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Gaming Film TV
Figure 3: UK Balance of Trade for Entertainment: 1998


Given that the size of the market roughly indicates the popularity of the activity, there
is a need to examine the motivation for playing computer games and becoming part of

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the associated culture. Griffiths and Hunt (1995) investigated the frequency of game
play and motivations for beginning and maintaining gameplay in a sample of 383
twelve to sixteen year olds. The results suggested that 31% of the sample played
computer games everyday and that 33% played for 1-2 hours per day, with 18%
playing 2-3 hours. In terms of motivation, 31% began playing computer games with
friends, and 75% of the sample cited fun as the main reason for playing. These figures
are comparable with other studies examining similar age groups (e.g., Funk, 1993;
Griffths, 1997; Colwell, Grady and Rhaiti, 1995; Buchanan and Funk, 1996), which
report similar average hours played per week and motivations for playing.

The increasing popularity of computer gaming during the 1980s and 90s led to a rise
in concerns by academics, parents and governments about the consequences of
computer gaming. Along with rock music, attempts have been made in the USA to
link computer gaming with adolescent gun crimes such as the Columbine massacre as
moves are made to attempt to regulate young people’s leisure activities both through
legal and commercial pressure. These concerns, and the research which has attempted
to address them, has focused on the following areas; the physical effects of the use of
technology itself, and the effects of lack of physical exercise and addiction in those
spending significant amounts of leisure time playing computer games (Spence, 1993;
Griffiths, 1997; Maeda, et al., 1990). Further, concerns have also been raised over the
educational consequences of over reliance on computer gaming as a leisure activity,
although the claim that children and young adults who spend a significant amount of
their leisure time playing computer games may truant, neglect homework and
generally be less interested in their education is largely unsubstantiated (Griffiths,
1997; Creasey and Myers, 1986). The main focus of research, however, relates to
concerns over the negative psychological consequences of computer gaming such as
addiction, social isolation, and the encouragement of violent and aggressive
behaviour. Research in this area generally takes one of two opposing theoretical
perspectives on the psychological consequences of computer gaming; ‘catharsis’
(Fesbach and Singer, 1971) or ‘social learning theory’ (Bandura, 1986). Catharsis
theory (Fesbach and Singer, 1971) states that computer games can be used to release
aggressive or violent impulses. Social learning theory (Bandura, 1986) takes the
opposing view, that computer games lead to the modelling of the violent and
aggressive behaviour represented in computer games in real life. Research on the
negative psychological consequences of computer games have generally used three
methodological designs; observational studies (e.g. Irwin and Gross 1995), self-report
studies (e.g. Griffiths and Hunt, 1995), and experimental studies (e.g. Anderson and
Morrow, 1995). Each of these approaches has subsequently been criticized (see
Griffiths, 1997) and their focus on different methodologies and age groups make
drawing substantive conclusions regarding causality difficult (see Griffiths, 1999 and
Dill and Dill, 1998 for a greater discussion of the theoretical, methodological and
statistical limitations of research).

As such, the focus of previous research on the psychological consequences of gaming
stands out in stark contrast to the variety of social networks and technological
innovations which have developed around computer gaming, and academic writing
from the perspective of media and cultural studies. There is still a lack of research on
computer gaming which goes beyond textual analysis and draws upon contemporary

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cultural studies (e.g. Hermes, 1995; Miller and McHoul, 1998), audience research
(Lull, 1990; Moores, 1993, 2000) or the sociology of consumption (e.g. Warde and
Martens, 2000, Harvey et al.2001).

Hence we can see that the relationship between computer gaming, psychological
development and leisure practice is complex, and mediated by a variety of different
factors such as game genre and content, age of gamer, and motivation for
participation. Previous research on computer gaming has been criticised in relation to
the failure to recognise the diversity of games, gamers and gaming contexts. Gaming
now occurs in private and public spaces, as well as over networks – the biggest of
which is the Internet. Differences between play in these contexts is likely to influence
the leisure experience of gaming.

The increasing popularity of computer games, and the brief review of the gaming
literature, provided here demonstrates the need to investigate computer gaming from a
broader perspective. As this leisure activity develops and is experienced in many
different leisure contexts, it is useful to examine how an understanding of computer
gaming may be enhanced in respect of themes in the leisure literature. The specific
issues to be considered in the rest of this paper are:

• How an examination of computer gaming in relation to gender as a leisure
constraint can further the understanding of the dynamics of computer gaming.
• The extent to which computer gaming can be considered a social activity.
• The developing diversity of gaming contexts and game spaces as ‘new’
technologically mediated leisure spaces (virtual, physical and temporary).
• The influence of diversity of gaming contexts on the blurring of boundaries
traditionally discussed in leisure research; e.g., domestic-commercial leisure
spaces, public-private leisure spaces, producer and consumers of leisure.


Computer gaming and gender

Previous research has investigated the way in which various factors or leisure
constraints influence an individual’s ability to gain access to, and participate in,
desired leisure activities. Leisure constraints have formally been defined as ‘anything
that inhibits people’s ability to participate in leisure activities, to spend more time
doing so, to take advantage of leisure services, or to achieve desired levels of
satisfaction’ (Jackson, 1988). Commonly identified leisure constraints are gender,
race, income, class and health status (Shaw, 1994).

It has been particularly claimed that females of all ages are disadvantaged in their
leisure choices and activities by constraints such as time, income, class, marital and
parental status (Samuel, 1996). This has led to an examination of how gender
influences access to, and participation in, leisure spaces and activities (Henderson,
1990; Shaw, 1994). Research has investigated the ways in which males and females
differ in their preference for various leisure activities, their access to leisure, and how
males control women’s’ access to leisure (Deem, 1986, 1992; Bella, 1989;

7
Henderson, 1990; Shaw, 1994). Further, the ways in which gender constrains
women’s leisure has also been examined in relation to participation in technologically
mediated leisure activities such as internet use and computer gaming (Schumacher
and Morahan, 2001; Bannert and Arbinger, 1996). It has been frequently claimed both
anecdotally, through estimations of consumption of games and hardware, and in
academic research that computer gaming is a more popular leisure activity for males
than females (Buchanan and Funk, 1996; Colwell, Grady and Rhaiti, 1995; Griffiths
and Hunt, 1995).

Although boys and male adolescents appear to be more frequent gamers, even those
studies from the early and mid 1990s suggest that a large percentage of females of a
comparable age range report playing computer games with friends and family for
approximately 1-2 hours a week. For example, Funk (1993) found that 75% of
females, compared with 90% of males played computer games in the home. Colwell
et al., 2000 provide evidence that 88% of those 12-14 year old females surveyed
played computer games on a regular basis. Such findings have been explained in
terms of gendered preferences for different game genres, and there is evidence that
males and females prefer different types of game (Mehrabaian and Wixen, 1986;
Barnet, Vitaglione et al., 1997; Yates and Littleton, 1999).

Various explanations have been advanced to explain this apparent difference in the
popularity of computer gaming between males and females. Within this two strands of
argument can be discerned: game content and gaming contexts. Obviously aspects of
these are interlinked in complex ways and generally relate to social gender dynamics
and the manner in which these influence the production and consumption of
contemporary leisure activities.

The first strand of argument relating to the lack of female participation in computer
gaming relates to the nature of the games themselves. It has been claimed that games
are gendered in such a way as to make them uninteresting and/or offensive to females.
Such arguments point to the violent content and generally ‘male’ themes of games
(Kafai, 1996; Dietz, 1998), and evidence that males show greater preference for
games with a violent theme (Buchanan and Funk, 1996; Colwell, Grady and Rhaiti,
1995). These explanations claim that the gendered nature of computer games prevent
females from identifying with game characters, goals and settings. It has also been
claimed that the lack of female characters in games, and the stereotypical and
sexualised portrayal of those female characters which are included is another factor
explaining the lack of popularity of computer gaming as leisure activity among
females (Greenfeld, 1996; Kafai, 1996; Dietz, 1998). These explanations tend to focus
on gendered aspects of computer games as produced by males, for a male audience,
and incorporate themes recognisably ‘male’.

It has been claimed that the increasing sophistication of graphics, narrative and game
play in contemporary games allows greater immersion in the game environment and
involvement in the game space. Game spaces are essentially expanded and more
complex game or leisure environments which support multiplayer and competitive
gaming, highlighting the use of the internet for online gaming and competitive
multiplayer gaming. (See below for further discussion of gaming spaces.) Games

8
developers have also become increasingly sensitive to claims regarding the
stereotypical portrayal of women in computer games and the lack of female
characters, and many contemporary games allow the choice between a number of
male and female characters. But it remains to be seen whether adding more female
characters will encourage character identification and increase female participation in
gaming.3

It has also been claimed that the contexts in which gaming occurs are gendered in
such way as to prevent female access to the technology, and communicate the view
that gaming spaces are male spaces.

The lack of popularity of computer gaming in females has also been discussed in
relation to access to technology, gender role identity and socialisation, and the
gendering of particular leisure experiences and activities (Greenfield and Jenkins,
1998). There is evidence that due to societal notions of masculinity and femininity,
and gender socialisation, females are more affiliative and prefer more social leisure
activities (Grusec and Lytton, 1988). This suggests that females simply are less
interested in computer gaming and the types of leisure experiences they provide
(Cassells and Jenkins, 1998), consistent with the stereotypical view of computer
gamers as adolescent males, lacking in social skills.

It is important to recognise that much of the empirical research on which these claims
are based was conducted during the 1980s or early 1990s, and it is possible to claim
that they take an overly simplistic view of the dynamics of gender in contemporary
society, and the increasingly diverse experience of computer gaming as a leisure
activity.

Technological innovations in both the hardware and software associated with
computer gaming mean that earlier theoretical and empirical examinations of
computer gaming in general, and of gender in particular, may not be applicable to
contemporary gaming experiences. Technical developments such as those in
hardware, graphics, processor power and the increasing interactivity of games have
changed the dynamics of play and the contexts in which gaming takes place. This
highlights the need to re-examine the arguments made in relation the gendering of
games themselves and the contexts in which gaming takes place in relation to the
experience of gaming in contemporary society.

The view that female gamers are not interested in games with a violent content, or
with recognisably male themes has been challenged by female gamers themselves.
The tension between the ‘girl gamers’ and ‘grrl gamers’ is highlighted by Cassell and
Jenkins (1998). It has been claimed that developing games which are targeted towards
female markets is the best way to encourage girls to participate in computer gaming.
However, this view has been challenged by some girl gamers have challenged this
view, suggesting that there are many female gamers who have similar game

3 For most games developers and publishers this inclusion of female characters and narratives is done
as an attempt to expand potential market rather than through political reasons. Purple Moon is one
company which stands as a counter example.

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preferences and involvement in gaming as males. This is consistent with the declining
differentiation between so-called ‘male’ and ‘female’ leisure activities, and whilst this
may be met by stereotypical responses by males, this does not appear to be preventing
females engaging in leisure activities that have been traditionally considered to be
male, particularly in sports such as football and rugby. It would appear that the
increasing popularity of computer gaming among females is characteristic of a decline
in the gendering of certain leisure activities. This is consistent with recent critique of
the notion of leisure constraints as static and enable to be challenged or resisted
(Jackson, Crawford and Godbey, 1993), and the view that leisure spaces my act as
sites for negotiation and resistance to dominant cultural stereotypes of the gendering
of leisure activities and gender-appropriate behaviour (e.g., Wearing, 1998).

Further explanation for the increasing popularity of gaming amongst females can be
found in the idea of oppositional readings and productive consumption of texts. Since
the work of The Birmingham Centre for Study of Contemporary Cultural Studies in
the 1980s (e.g., Morley, 1980) there has been little doubt that audiences for popular
culture texts have demonstrated a variety of ways of understanding texts. Fiske
(1989a, 1989b) has demonstrated how people can adopt texts in a fashion which does
not necessarily follow those intended in any authorial intention, demonstrating active
play with power and culture. Other cultural studies orientated research has explored
the relationship between consumption of texts and the production of meaning and new
texts (e.g., Ang, 1982; Radway, 1987; Jenkins, 1992; Stacey, 1994; Abercrombie and
Longhurst, 1998). As such there has been little real doubt about the active nature of
media audiences, including TV and film. Given this it is not unreasonable to
hypothesise that not only are grrrl gamers playing games in a “masculine” fashion, but
female gamers are finding gaming an attractive leisure activity because they bring
with it their own readings of the gaming texts.

Although work which looks at computer gamers through the gamer’s perspective is
still lacking work done by Yates and Littleton (1999) has drawn on some of the above
literature. Their research supports this view, with female interviewees using games
strategy management tools and taking non-voyeuristic perspectives on the hyper-
voluptuous Lara Croft. Although such work is still in its infancy in the area of leisure
and computer gaming, it takes a context-orientated approach to investigating
computer games and focuses on the experience of gaming, rather than the
consequences (see also Bryce and Higgins, 2000). Such research highlights the need
to investigate the social significance of computer gaming from the perspective of
gamers themselves (Barnett, Vitaglione et al., 1997; Yates and Littleton, 1999). This
allows an examination of the social construction of computer gaming, and gamers’
definitions of and engagement with games in the context of their social lives and
leisure practices. Such an approach can also provide useful perspectives on other
individual gaming contexts, as well s the gender dynamics of gaming.


Public gaming contexts: gendered gaming contexts

As we have seen from above, the claim that females do not play computer games, or
are uninterested in the themes of computer games may represent a simplistic

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examination of gender dynamics in providing access to gaming contexts. Following
the cultural and leisure studies lead it is therefore useful to look at one aspect of
gaming context: namely the places in which gaming takes place.

The history of sport and games has a history that significantly predates computer
gaming. Games such as chess, cards, or dominos have been played in public as well
as private spaces even when not undertaken as a competitive sport. Fairgrounds have
routinely offered the change to play variations of darts, quoits, or air rifle shooting as
part of the spectacular leisure and consumption opportunities they provide. Similarly,
as well as traditional English pub games such as cribbage, dominos, bagatelle, and
skittles/ninepins, pubs have becomes sites in which pinball machines and arcade
games such as Space Invaders have been located. The rise of arcade games during the
1970s from SPACE in 1971 to Space Invaders in 1978, PacMan in 1980 and beyond
to current machines has maintained a public space for computer games in bars, fast
food restaurants, motorway services stations, fairs, arcades etc.4

Not surprisingly these gaming sites tend to be highly gendered and patriarchal spaces
(Hey, 1984). Differences in participation in computer gaming in private and public
contexts may explain the invisibility of female gaming. It is possible to claim that
public gaming contexts are male dominated and gendered. There was evidence of this
from observations of the UK Console Championships (UKCC) and I-Series LAN
(Local Area Network) parties.

The UKCC was a national gaming competition held in association with the Daily
Mirror, supported by Official Dreamcast Magazine, Official UK Playstation
Magazine, N64 Magazine and organised by London gaming company, The Playing
Fields. It was the UK’s first national console event to encompass all three of the
current major consoles; with 64 gamers competing on each console Playstation,
Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast.

LAN parties are weekend events at which gamers congregate to play online via hosted
servers in tournaments for a variety of games. Competitions, particularly clan or team
tournaments are an important feature of these events, but the social aspect of these
events such as meeting other gamers, and being in face-to-face contact with people
who are familiar in online gaming contexts are also important aspects of these events.

Male participants dominated these events. The majority of females who did attend
appeared to fit into acceptable non-gamers roles. Mothers accompanied their sons to
the competition, alternately sitting around looking bored or offering support and
encouragement to their sons. Other females played the role of ‘cheerleader’,

4 Besides location the significant difference between these two loci of innovation has been that
machines that ran games such as Pong, Donkey Kong, Doom or Black and White have belonged to
those who played the games. The development of domestic and public computer gaming technology
has provided the ability for gamers to use their own computer hardware (or hardware identical to it) in
order to play against other in public environments. As women tend not to buy gaming hardware and
software less often than male gamers they again become invisible as they are not economically active.

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girlfriends who provided support and encouragement to the male competitors they
accompanied. This is consistent with ethnographic observations of the gender
dynamics in video game arcades (Griffiths, 1993).

Though there is a high level of invisibility of female gamers at public gaming events,
it is our contention that this does not truly reflect females’ domestic participation in
computer gaming, and the previously cited research supports this view. There is
anecdotal evidence that many females participate in gaming within the family context,
with friends, families and boyfriends etc., as well as some evidence in the previously
cited studies (e.g., Griffiths and Hunt, 1995; Buchanan and Funk, 1996) of the
domestic and family context of computer gaming in general.

Computer games form part of joint leisure activities in existing social networks.
Although there has been relatively little empirical research investigating the
prevalence and motivations of computer gaming, there is evidence that shows a
majority of computer gamers begin playing with family or friends (Griffiths and Hunt,
1995). This suggests that computer gaming forms part of many people’s leisure
activities, and it is likely that to a large extent the fun and enjoyment computer
gaming is through the social interaction and competitive participation with friends and
family which computer games provide. The importance of the social and affiliative
function of leisure is well documented (See Iso-Ahola, 1997), and from this
perspective it would seem that computer gaming provides similar social opportunities
as other leisure activities.

Further, computer gaming provides the opportunity for the creation of new networks
of social relationships between gamers. Online gaming and the communities which
have developed around it have led to the development of clan groups, social networks
and friendships which are based around sharing knowledge regarding technical and
game skills. There has been little consideration of the development of new social
relationships around gaming, but the development of these social networks is also
consistent with the importance of the affiliative functions of leisure.

This invisibility of female gaming may also be reflected by a more casual
commitment to gaming as a leisure activity, and also reflect the lower numbers of
females who are frequent consumers or purchasers of gaming hardware and software.
There is also increasing evidence of the popularity of online gaming among girls,
which may be related to anonymity and reduced stereotypical behaviour towards
female gamers in online contexts. This demonstrates the need to consider how
differences between private and public leisure spaces may influence the apparent
popularity of any given leisure activity in young females and women.

It may be that comparative studies of the frequency of gaming in males and females
are compounding the invisibility of female gaming, which may be largely private and
occur within the family context where males and females of varying ages actually
play computer games together. The lack of females participating in public and
competitive contexts may be explained by self-consciousness and lack of confidence
in competitive ability because of the stereotypical view that computer gaming is a
male leisure activity. This is likely to be compounded by stereotypical reactions

12
towards girl gamers from male competitors. So whilst there is evidence that gender
may not be a significant leisure constraint in private gaming contexts, it appears that
stereotypical views of gamers may act as a psychological constraint against female
participation in public gaming contexts.

The research studies reviewed earlier suggest that a high percentage of adolescent
females play computer games regularly (e.g., Colwell et al., 2000). This would
suggest that whereas males dominate computers in competitive gaming and
educational contexts, female gaming, like the leisure activities of many female
children and adolescents, has tended to be in large part a ‘bedroom culture’
(McRobbie and Garber, 1976; McRobbie, 1991; Livingstone and Bovill, 2001) as
more homes had television sets, and later PCs, in children’s rooms. According to
Livingstone and Bovill two thirds of children in European households have a
television in their bedroom; 53% have access to a PC in their homes which provides
an indication and 72% of working-class families have a games console.5 Children and
young people have during the last twenty or so years developed leisure routines which
increasingly involved spending time in their own domestic space interacting with
technology. This leisure culture is one that is potentially very fragmented, and like
music and fandom (Frith, 1978), computer games offer a method of bridging that
isolation both in the real sense of offering a shared topic of conversation in face-to-
face meetings but also as part of a larger “imagined community” (Anderson, 1991).

This cultural and social fragmentation has reinforced the stereotype of computer
gamers as adolescent male ‘nerds’ with poor social skills who prefer the company of
technology rather than other people, even though this has been strongly challenged by
the expansion of gaming into a form of mass entertainment in contemporary society.

As such there can be seen an unequal transition of leisure spaces evolving. Despite
the fact that male computer gaming has increasingly taken place in the living room,
bedroom and other areas of the domestic space, there is little evidence to suggest that
female gaming is moving into public spaces in the same manner. What has been seen
as female space – namely the home – is becoming a site of male leisure activities
while gendered public spaces – such as those found at UKCC and LAN parties – is
still proving largely inaccessible to women.

However, the expanded functionality of the new generation of consoles (e.g.,
Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 and the Xbox) are now bringing the technological
capabilities for internet access and online gaming into domestic leisure spaces without
the requirement of PC access. This has facilitated the expansion of computer gaming
as a contemporary leisure activity to an increasing audience as more gamers than ever
before are able to play across the Internet and become part of online gaming
communities. This is reflected in the large increase in online gaming in the last few
years.

5 The class-orientated aspects of gaming are apparent when noting that middle-class families are less
likely to own a games console (61% own a device such as a PlayStation, N64, Dreamcast etc.) than
those in the working class. This compares to 46% ownership of a multimedia computer in middle class
households and just 19% in working class families. (Livingstone and Bovill, 2001)

13

Online gaming provides the opportunity to compete against people without the
constraints of geographical location, and allows the formation of social networks
based around the skills, technical knowledge and the game preferences of different
groups of gamers. The Internet offer gamers a different way of negotiating their own
leisure spaces and potentially transforms the bedroom culture associated with gaming.
The ability to play computer games between people who are not co-present has
moved from the realms of IT labs and computer hobbyists into the mainstream. For
example, IDC (2000) have estimated that during December 2000, almost 24 million
Americans (approx 28% of Internet users) visited game-orientated web sites (this
compares with 2.4 million UK users), and they predict that 40 million US households
will be playing games online by 2004. The “Which? Annual Internet Survey 2001”
estimates that currently 36% (approx 16 million) of people in Britain have accessed
the Internet. (Which? 2001)6

Given the twenty five year history of computer games as leisure activity, it is difficult
to claim that game environments are a new leisure spaces. However, third places are
now beginning to open up to computer gamers which offer new leisure opportunities.
There is evidence that online gaming is becoming particularly popular with female
gamers as the anonymity of online gaming provides a context for competitive gaming
against male opponents free from the constraints of stereotypical attitudes and
assessments of the abilities of female gamers which are often reported in face to face
gaming contexts (PC Data – reported at
http://cnnfn.com/2000/12/14/technology/gaming/.)

There has been some consideration of the blurring between different leisure spaces
through leisure-related computer use in the home (Bryce, 2001). The experience of
contemporary leisure spaces as multiple and simultaneous is illustrated by the advent
of e-commerce – online shopping. This not only facilitates the management of
rescheduling of time – most grocery shopping is still done by female members of a
household – but allows activities which usually involve entering public spaces to be
done whist in a domestic one (Rutter and Southerton, 2000).

From this perspective, simultaneous immersion in public and private leisure spaces is
also possible through online gaming. All of these boundaries are becoming
increasingly blurred as PC, gaming, digital television and mobile phone technology
allow commercial and business transactions to take place in the home. Online gaming
allows competitive leisure activity in the domestic context, and this has implications
for the spatial organisation of leisure, as this represents the blurring of geographical
space and game space. In these situations gaming is neither entirely domestic nor
entirely public as it occurs in virtual space (See Bryce and Rutter 2001, for a
discussion and taxonomy of ‘presence’ in gaming). Competitive gaming may take in
virtual online contexts in which gamers compete against opponents in the same virtual
game space whilst they may, in reality, be located in geographically diverse locations.

6 This intention here is to demonstrate size and growth of Internet use and online gaming, the authors
have no intention of minimising the importance of the economic class, ethnicity, gender, age and other
factors will still have real influence on access and use to new technologies and the service they offer.

14
In Local Area Networks (LANs) gaming, competitors often inhabit the same virtual
space and geographical space. The virtual game spaces create by online and LAN
gaming are a development of game space but this is an evolution of the early game
space created by games like Pong and Myst. The competitive aspect of these spaces
makes them similar to other competitive leisure spaces such as football fields, athletic
tracks etc. (and the UKCC and LAN parties described above) with the distinguishing
aspects being that not only is the competitive nature of gaming mediated by computer
and network technology, but so too is the community and geographical space.


Conclusions

Computer gaming appears to have similar psychological dimensions to other leisure
activities, and compares favourably with the experience of a variety of sporting
activities. It appears that gaming forms part of a varied leisure lifestyle for many
adolescents and young adults. Therefore examining gaming can add to understanding
the dynamics of contemporary leisure activities and experiences. Previous research
and ethnographic observations of public gaming events, such as the UKCC
Championships, suggest that gaming is an increasingly social, yet male dominated,
activity. Various explanations for this apparent gender-bias have been examined and
the need of critical evaluation of the gendered assumptions underlying explanations
for lack of female participation in gaming highlighted. Despite the accepted view of
gaming as a male leisure activity, particularly in public leisure spaces, there is
evidence that online and private gaming is not as male dominated as previous research
suggests. It has been suggested that increasing female participation in computer
gaming may be part of wider change in the gender stereotyping of leisure activities.
As with traditional sport, computer gaming may represent a leisure context in which
resistance and renegotiation of gender stereotypes can occur. This paper has also
investigated the spatial organisation of gaming and the blurring of boundaries
between private and public leisure spaces, both in relation to the gendered nature of
gaming, and in wider contexts of how this influences the experience of gaming as a
leisure activity. The development of multiple contexts for computer gaming also
highlights the increasingly social nature of gaming, which has been facilitated by
greater technological sophistication of gaming technology. This diversity of gaming
contexts, and the social aspects of gaming, suggests the need for continued research
on the leisure-related aspects of computer gaming, and how these change in
accordance with technological innovation, increasing diversity among gaming
contexts, game genres, and gamers themselves. This diversity has implications for the
experience and consequences of computer gaming as a popular, technologically-
mediated leisure activity.


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Author biography

Jo Bryce is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Central Lancashire. Her
research interests include; technological development and changing leisure practice,
gender and leisure, social and psychological aspects of computer gaming.

Jason Rutter is a Research Fellow at the ESRC funded Centre for Research on
Innovation and Competition, at the University of Manchester. His research interests

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include social aspects of e-commerce, computer gaming, sociability in online
communities and humour research.

The authors are currently working on the Digiplay Initiative (www.digiplay.org.uk), a
broad ranging investigation of computer gaming as a contemporary leisure activity
from the perspective of the individual, community and computer games industry.


Last Revised: 17/8/01