From a Session at E3:

"Jim: There’s a huge appeal of games for women. But women
are not going to go into stores to buy a game, however if
you put it in the home and make it easy for them to get..
ok there’s a porn analogy here, but you make it available
to them and they can sample it, it’s a great way of
introducing them. You have to break the mould, change the
development techniques and marketing techniques.

Russell: My wife loves games, and she’s my test case for
a long time because she’d only play what I brought home,
or ask for something. She wouldn’t go out and buy something.
This speaks volumes for the digital download model.

Gerhard: I disagree. The second biggest buying group is
females, in the UK. ...
***
So you put an xbox playable disk on the cover of a women’s
magazine, say.
***
Jay: Not on the magazine. On the phone. Put it on a device
that’s a natural part of their lifestyle.

Jim: Rather than on the magazine, you need word of mouth,
for all audiences. ...The closer you can get it to them
while making it their choice, and also using the social
community aspect, like a friend or like Oprah, then I
think you can introduce women to games if it has the right
elements for them.

Russell: Well for SOE we’re trying to broaden the demographics
that we attract. Marketing is not my expertise but we’re very
much trying to open up the gameplay styles and genres. If we
can just create a rich enough environment …"

Speaking as a female who's known by name on sight in my local Gamestop, I think these folks are overemphasizing women's reluctance to go into such a store and underestimating the content of their games and marketing.

Those of us who started with MUDs and other text-based games, such as British Legends, Gemstone III or DragonRealms, know to
look past the scantily clad, overendowed females screaming "This is for horny teenaged boys!" from the game ads and boxes. Those women who missed out on those games and didn't wander into them through a significant other or friend have NO idea there's anything to appeal to them in a computer game.

As a frequent beta tester for SOE, I can't begin to count the number of women who have begged, in vain, the developers for a normally proportioned female avatar and clothing that reasonably covered it in SOE's games. Thus, I find it rather amusing to see a SOE rep say their company is "very much trying to open up the gameplay styles and genres."

It's absurd for game companies to have men guessing at what women want, while at the same time totally ignoring what women SAY they want. (Hello? Decent clothing! Normal body proportions for our characters! Hello?) Those few male developers, such as David Gaider of BioWare, developer of SWG: Knights of the Old Republic's Carth romance, who have taken the radical step of asking women and then listening to what we say(what a concept!) have reaped the rewards.

Painful