For the guy gamers, they usually started with gaming leisurely, then when eventually becoming better in the game and realised that they do have some talent in the game, then they will proceed to look out for fellow gamers test their skills again. Just like in many situation in normal life, males will become aggressive when facing off with challenges and this kind of thirst will manifest and they will go on and on, forgetting or even neglecting about other important things around them. They will prioritise that desire over everything else.

Now coming to point whether doing so would affect their other aspect of daily life and what are the sacrifice? I should say the guys really had it easier, especially so when gaming is something that guys naturally like as a hobby and then doing it as a career. Both of the two simplest desire are mostly fulfilled. What need to be sacrifice most to fulfill these two desire would most probably be "time". Time to spend with their families or love ones will be sacrificed because much time is needed to be spent on practicing in order keep their foothold in professional gaming. So their families and love ones in this case are the victim, but most of the time guys are lucky as those people are understanding and more accommodating to our quest for glory. Professional gaming would more or less be guys' everything in term of career, goal, leisure and long term ambition all rolled into one.

Now looking from the angle of gal gamers. For them to turn pro in gaming, the path would be tougher with more bumps ahead. About being to game on equal ground. First and foremost, gal gamers are in a profession that till the very day today, is still mostly dominated by the guys. Just like any other professional which are dominated by male, this path will require the girl to sacrifice more than the guys in order to share a piece of the ground to gain their foothold on. With no difference from guys, the gals will need to sacrifice time which in turn lead to sacrifice or relationship with their family and love ones. But unlike guys, doing this might not be the priority as the gals are most sensible creature where they will try their best balance those aspects of life. When face the tough situation of sacrificing time again relationships when they need to choose between both, being the more sensitive and sensible ones, most of the time they will prioritise relationship over time, leading to less dedication to gaming when comparing to the guys. And we haven't even talk about other aspects like leisure, goal and long term ambition yet, so let's not go too far today. It is not totally impossible for some gal gamers to perfectly find the balance such that their gaming career are not affected, but the ones who are able to do so are extremely rare.

A simple conclusion, gals gamers will mostly choose relationships over career, not to the extent to totally give up on gaming, but maybe they still could not sacrifice as much in key area needed for gaming as compared to the guys. Thus, at the moment will not able to play on equal ground yet as far as concern. Only exceptional ones with superhuman talent or multitasking skills are able to achieve close gaming career results as guys. We can clearly see the gap between the guys and gals when talking about gaming professionally. It will definitely change and the gap will be narrow as time passes, but how long till the day come? No one knows for sure. Still. the Itagaki Challenge that took place in CGS's 2007 World Final is a good start.

This little analysis is spurred by a conversation with our Sword's Dead or Alive female gamer, Daphne "Perpertiel" Chow. Do feel free to express your views and comment here.

Once again, please take this with a open mind and have a constructive discussion on this topic.

Enjoy!!