I think it is sort of sad that off the top of my head, the last time a Rockstar game had a playable female narrative character was Red Dead Revolver from back in 2004, which was another story with multiple characters telling the same story.

I was evangelical about the GTA series on the PS2 in the mid-2000's, and in fact, GTA San Andreas was the reason I ended up getting a PS2 in 2005. I loved those games and I hyped them in much the same way that your friend at EA did... as these cunning works of satire, and in retrospect, I realize that I had set the bar really low. I still enjoyed playing them and it is fun to putter around in their environments, but really, as works of satire, they could have been a lot better. I played more games and had experiences beyond that box.

I am a straight white male gamer in his mid-30s. I want to play more games as female characters, and I like having that option. I enjoyed Mass Effect, Dragon Age Origins and Saints Row The Third playing as a female character, and having experienced that as a consumer, I'd like more of that, and I think it is more than fair that potential paying customers should tell the people making things for them to buy that that is something they want is more than fair.