Walking into the Evo Championship Series at Caesars Palace, one of my first thoughts is, wow, there are a lot of joysticks here — terrible euphemism intended.

It's dude central, no doubt, and only place where a female presence is noticeable is the all-female side tournament/invitational. Billed as a way to encourage female players and make amends for past sexism in the community, the event was criticized as being either "too PC" or a chauvinistic sideshow. Yet standing at ground zero of testosterone town, it's easy to see there is a definite need to acknowledge the oft-overlooked demographic.

One female gamer, Lina, tells me she appreciated meeting and bonding with like-chromosomed gamers, but originally thought the concept was stupid. The Cali resident has played Super Street Fighter 4 for more than a year and never felt the need to prove her worth to anybody. (In the Halo community, though? Different story.) "Guys have so much more respect here," she says.

Evo Championship Series

Fellow gamer BurnYourBra, who takes second place in the all-female invitational, likewise has no horror stories for me — well, not about her gender, anyway. "I've gotten way more shit for not being an Asian woman," she says, "not so much about just being female."

That outlook ain't perfect, but it isn't terrible, either — especially considering that 31-year-old BurnYourBra has played for more than two decades.

Better yet, when the female-vs-female battles begin, the packed ballroom audience is just as engaged as in the previous unisex (read: inevitably all-male) finals. The proof is in the pudding. Acceptance from a subculture that typically puts forth female characters in short skirts and with inflated boobs? I wouldn't have guessed, but I'll take it.