More women are picking up the pastime of champions, with the number of console gamers sporting a spare X chromosome rising five percent over last year’s figures, according to cold hard science.

The recently released NPD’s Gamer Augmentation 2009 report shows that approximately 28% of all console gamers are female, which is up from last year’s 23%. Of course, these numbers coincide with a 19% rise in the usage of the Wii, suggesting many of these newly minted gamers are playing Nintendo’s notoriously female friendly console. But hopefully the Wii will be their gateway drug to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I could stand fewer pitying looks when my friends find out that Nathan guy I’ve got a crush on is actually a videogame character.

Not to mention that windowless van I’ve got parked down by the docks, crammed with factory-sealed copies of Beautiful Katamari - they’re priced to move, ladies!