This may be old news to some but lately I’ve been reading about M$ supporting the PMS Clan and how these girls are on the frontlines of war they (hopefully) had no intention of starting. Female gamers gaining some recognition on a vast scale should be pleasing the gaming community right now but that’s not the case.

The girls are having tomatoes thrown at them by people who say they’re undeserving of their positions because they’re “nothing but Halo 2 whores”. It’s a very simple understanding that playing one game in particular doesn’t make you a gamer regardless of gender. You can’t just play Tetris all your life and claim to be hardcore. It doesn’t work that way. It’s not hard to see why some gamers are a bit peeved that a group of girls that almost exlusively competes in one game has suddenly gained the support of the biggest powerhouse of the century while the hardcore gamers are forced to play scavenger hunt for their own sponsors.

There’s a very obvious fact that gamers seem to be missing. Microsoft is a business. Like every business it has an agenda, which is to make money. What sells the most nowadays? Sex! Supporting a group of girls that not only play video games but look good doing it (depending on your preference) is a completely justifiable expense because the geeks and nerds will come flocking. At the other end of the spectrum you’ve got girls who see that being a female gamer is socially acceptable, and comes with benefits. This also encourages their gaming habits and produces more business for M$. From a business standpoint there’s no downside at all. Microsoft knew exactlly what it was getting out of this deal even if the girls at Clan PMS didn’t.