游戏玩家的性别差异一直是一个热议话题，许多游戏设计师都力图解释为什么女性玩家会比男性玩家涉足更多类别的游戏——至少此前的多份休闲游戏公司研究调查都显示这一结论。面对这一现象，人们纷纷议论：是不是脑部构造或其他内在差异引起了男女不同的消费文化。

性别差异

最近据游戏邦了解，一家名为Playscience的研究公司决定深入探讨这一问题，面向6至14岁的儿童展开问卷调查。通过网络问卷调查形式，Playscience公司对417名儿童的科技产品使用情况及所居住城市进行了解。研究显示，男生倾向于将视频游戏作为首选的数字活动，而女生则是会选择多种科技活动。“女生更倾向于挑战多种任务，在聊天，玩游戏，下载音乐和分享照片等活动上都投入一些时间，而男生则以玩游戏为主。”

据Playscience公司的问卷调查显示，男生和女生具有同样的社交性，同样会在所种平台进行游戏，差别在于时间分配和使用方式上——女生会将时间分成几个小部分用于进行不同活动，而男生则投入大部分时间于游戏。对此，Playscience认为这一差异将拉大平台、游戏及应用在获取女性玩家方面的差距。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

The gender divide in games’ audiences is a popular topic, as designers struggle to address the reasons women seem to play completely different kinds of games than men — at least, if the numerous surveys fronted by casual gaming firms are to be believed.

Much debate even surrounds the question of whether men and women have “different brains” or some kind of inherently different taste that helps explain some of the consumer culture differences that appear between the sexes.

A research firm called PlayScience has decided to have a look into the issue, looking at the gender divide in kids aged 6 to 14. The group studied 417 of these youngsters using an online survey that asked them about how they use technology and what they want from it.

The study found that boys tend to pick video games as their foremost digital activity. Girls, on the other hand, appear more interested in an array of social uses for technology, the firm says.

“Girls tend to be either multitasking or moving quickly between different activities during a single sitting — chatting, playing a game, downloading music, and sharing pictures all within a short time frame,” says PlayScience president Dr. J. Alison Bryant.

“Boys, however, tend to prioritize gaming above other activities,” she adds.

The firm’s research says that boys are nearly as socially oriented as girls, and that girls are as likely to play video games on many platforms — the difference is the amount of time spent and the usage behavior. Girls are much more likely to distribute their time in short bursts across numerous activities, while boys spend more time playing, says PlayScience.

“We think that this disconnect speaks to the continued gap in the potential of console platforms, games, and applications in reaching girls,” Bryant says. She says firm’s primary interest in approaching this kind of research is to help discover methods of “applications and outreach that speak more to these social, multitasking tendencies in girls.” （Source：Gamasutra）