I play Princess Peach whenever I'm given the choice in Mario games because I mained her for SSBB for a while, and that sort of transitioned over to just picking girls in general when given the option in non-RPG games.

The best are those incredibly skimpy costumes which actually have the highest armor ratings

Sometimes I want to play as myself (party games, giving Link my name, ect,) sometimes I want to have a change of pace from the usual muscled males so I pick a female character. Sometimes the female character has more useful abilities (Peach's hover). Sometimes the female character is Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect). Sometimes the female character is better suited for the narrative of the game (certain Fire Emblem Awakening scenes).

Once you can play Metroid or FF13 without caring that the main character is a woman there is no reason to care whether you make a 'choose your character' female outside of the considerations specific to that game.

If I'm going to watch an avatar for hundred of hours, i prefer it to be female. Males are almost always ugly IMO

One more reason to choose the loli whenever you can. She is the best in 4 player coop too =)

If a game shows the main character to be male and there is a female I option I always go the main character route. I usually do play female when playing MMO.

If enough people ask for it, they might make a Tifa size option.

I don't care to be honest what gender my character is but more games should have female protagonist when it works well for the game

I think this is nice sum up, though I think being one or the other doesn't always mean you pick the same sex, especially for completionists like myself.

Personally I think I am a Gamer B, I don't tend to think of the character as an extention of myself, and I tend to prefer a female protagonist... but when given a choice as in Mass Effect I often pick male first, and will try to make it look similar to me, but a second playthrough will have a similar amount of time and effort put into it and would be female, and subsequent playthroughs after that I am far more likely to be female (unless different character game mechanics mean I prefer playing as a specific male character)

I like a strong female lead, and strong female characters in general (AC:Brotherhood I deliberately only recruited female assassins... took a while as they seem more likely to be the opposite sex as your last recruit) but I still like to play as myself on occasion.

For me it depends on the game.

For example, in games where you create an avatar, I tend to choose male characters. This is because I'm not a female, and I could relate more to the male in the role. If the game offers any sort of choice and agency for the player, I choose male, at least initially.

In Mass Effect, my Male Shepard was a paragon, which is in line with my personality. When I played as a female, I went renegade, because I didn't feel like that character represented me in the same kind of way.

If however, I'm given the option to play as a male or a female, I'll usually choose females. Partially this is due to aesthetics, as I enjoy looking at male shaped pixels than females. Moreover though, I just like females better in general, and I see the character more as someone I'm spending time with than someone who represents me. I tend to be more interested in females, their personalities, and their histories. So, if I was given the choice between getting to know a guy or a girl, I'd rather get to know the girl, even if it's a virtual one.