Video - We Cheer 2 on Nintendo Wii

I could say We Cheer 2 is one of the best-kept secrets on Nintendo Wii, but the truth is that Namco's rhythm-dancing series is a great hit with videogame's newest and most fervent fans: females.  Mothers, sisters and daughters have emerged as a real force, thanks to the success of dancing and fitness games, and, of course, the spectacular Wii Sports.

The gaming press - dominated almost exclusively by boys and stubborn defenders of the "hardcore gamer" clique, have thrown their hardest punches against games like Wii Music, Just Dance and We Cheer.  But that's their problem, not yours.  Speaking as Generation X male who grew up on Atari and Pac-Man, I can assure you this hostility will pass.  Women will become accepted in the gaming community as equals, as peers with their own interests and desires.

Watch this video closely.  Have you noticed the Pac-Man arcade attract mode playing in the background?  Namco has littered their We Cheer series with references to Pac-Man.  The hardcore Comic Book Guys won't understand or care why that is, but I'm here to tell you it's very, very deliberate.  Back in the 1980s, Pac-Man was most popular with...who?  Women.  It was the first great video game crossover hit, which grew into a pop culture phenomenon.

By name-dropping the greatest arcade video game of all time, Namco is staking its claim with We Cheer.  These are not throwaway "casual" games for girls too dumb to know better.  These are arcade games, just as much as any violent boys' game.  We Cheer is planting its flag and declaring its right to exist.  God Bless the Females for listening.