Democracy: are you a portable gaming guy or girl?

I have a theory about handheld gaming. If the female demographic is the final holdout against the proliferation of video games into every single pair of hands in the world, then the Nintendo DS might just be the Trojan horse that finally accomplishes this feat of world domination. Much has been written about the wide appeal of the Nintendo DS and its ability to draw in players who might not usually play a video game - indeed, this is part of Nintendo’s aggressive marketing strategy for the device. I have even seen heaps of anecdotal evidence on the Internet suggesting that boyfriends everywhere have had to literally fight for their DS Lites once their significant others have had a taste of games like Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright. Funnily enough and luckily for me, my fiancée hasn’t been tempted to pick up and play my DS, and so far she has violently mocked my attempts at getting her into gaming with upcoming titles like Cake Mania and Housewife Superstar. In fact, my jaw is still sore from that particular conversation.

As part of a bet to determine how popular each handheld system is with female gamers, I have devised a poll. Check one of the boxes below and view results to see just how popular your favorite handheld system is with members of the opposite sex.

Update: The results of yesterday’s poll are in and they show a strong preference for the DS among both Female and Male readers. What’s up PSP owners? Are you just in hiding or are you too busy playing DJ Max Portable to vote in silly Internet polls?

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