Though the gaming industry regularly frets about the dearth of female gamers, it’s not totally true.

Oh sure, good luck finding a lady to frag in a raucous round of Gears of War multiplayer--unless you joined Gaming Angel‘s co-ed “Love and War” tournament on Feb. 17--but a recent study by gaming statistics company Comscore reports that 52% of gamers are women.

Other reports range from 30-40%, but Comscore’s survey included mobile phone and “casual” computer games like Solitaire and Bejeweled 2, rather than just console and PC killathons.

Regardless, the biggest-selling game of all time is The Sims, a 70-million-strong franchise that’s played by more girls than boys. Electronic Arts cottoned on to this fact, which explains their recent release of The Sims Life Stories, an even female-friendlier version that is, essentially, a romantic-comedy game.

Don’t get me wrong, lotsa chicks like virtual death-dealing as much as the next bloke--“We are serious gamers. We are serious competitors,” PMS Clan founder Amber “Athena Twin” Dalton told CBS News: “We're not just interested in our Barbie dolls, we are not just interested in the Sims. Get past that stereotype.”

Fair enough, but many women do have less-violent gaming tastes to which Life Stories, as well as oddball god games like Viva Pinata or Animal Crossing, appeal. This new Sims title leaves behind the series’ traditional sandbox gameplay to tell a pair of love stories, that of Riley Harlow, who must decide between two suitors, and Vincent Moore, who can’t find even one.

But these are still solo games. What about playing a round with your loved one? Women’s Health mag actually recommends it--psychologist Susan Perry, PhD argues, "playing video games allows you to bond and learn how to problem-solve as a team."

Indeed, my wife is a backseat gamer. I man the controller and handle combat while she navigates the onscreen map, keeps track of health points and occasionally tells me who to kill. Of course, there’s an even better way the romantically-inclined can game together. Let’s just say it brings a whole new meaning to the phrase play with my Wii.