BB Offworld has a great essay on why there should be more female leads in games:
Ultimately, though, I need games to have a few more girls in them because it’s just downright *weird* that they don’t. Girls are pretty much an epidemic. We get everywhere. We do all kinds of stuff. There really are an awful lot of us around. That we still run out of entries for the Great Gaming Leading Lady Pantheon before we run out of fingers – Samus, Lara, Jade, Faith, Nariko, April, Yuna, the chick from Urban Chaos… – is just plain odd…
One of the great things about ‘geek’ is that it’s a gender neutral term. The price of entry is knowledge and enthusiasm, and anyone who can pay is welcome – regardless of sex, age, race, sexuality, religion, political affiliation or haircut. It’s one of the things I love most about this industry, and one of the things that frustrates me most about the products that represent it. We’re a diverse, welcoming and non-judgmental bunch, in my experience, but our games make us look like an outreach programme for the Ayran Nation.
And if that weren’t enough for you, try this vid, which asks why more women aren’t interested in blockbuster console titles:
So, here’s what would be cool: A Grand Theft Auto game with a female lead. One where she’s not a hooker, stripper, or waitress. Can she still be a con artist? Hell yes. Can she still beat up/shoot up/blow up cops, thieves, or whoever else she wants to? Absolutely. But she has to operate in an open world where gender has consequences. That means she’ll get hit on. All the time. GTA prides itself on gritty realism, and it’s time that realism got, well, real.
Don’t forget Commander Shepard from Mass effect. Despite the default being a male, you can play a female and all the dialogue (And there’s tons of it) is careful to be gender neutral towards the player character
I think you may have gotten your wish: http://wet.bethsoft.com/
BTW: I just ran across this blog and I LOVE it. nice work. I like your taste.