The excellent Guilded Lilies blog, which looks at gaming from a female perspective, is now discussing a woman's view of first-person shooters, and suggesting that, hidden under the "exaggerated masculinity" could be some attributes of use to today's metropolitan lady.

In fact, author L Laughy suggests: "...I think the violent content is exactly why women should play shooters. I think the opportunity to role play violent situations has the potential to be a good experience for balanced individuals, including women. Having the opportunity to experience a sense of accomplishment in a life-threatening situation, for example, such as being under attack by wave after wave of Covenant aliens in a game like Halo, provides a chance for a woman to gain a sense of confidence not normally available to her while playing Bejeweled."

She concludes: "Does that confidence carry over in the real world? It is difficult to say, especially since all the psychological studies I have seen so far are looking for the negative effects of computer game violence, not for any potentially positive effects." We will now refrain from saying 'Girl Power' like happened on Spaced that one time.