作者：Audrey Watters

固有电子游戏玩家：年轻男性（游戏邦注：20岁以下）；通常在父母的地下室通过掌机玩数小时游戏。但这个固有观念如今已难成立，因为研究表明游戏人口已呈现不同分布态势。

其实电子游戏并不局限某个年龄或性别族群。相反，游戏遍及各个群体，72%的美国家庭表示他们玩游戏。其中只有18%玩家年龄在18岁以下，而有53%介于18-49岁之间。这意味着有约1/3（29%）玩家在50岁以上。男性玩家比女性玩家略多，他们的比例分别是58%和42%。但值得注意的是18岁以上女性玩家比例（37%）高过17岁以下（包括17岁）男性玩家（13%）。

从这些数据，我们能够清楚发现手机和休闲游戏的飞速增长已撼动传统游戏原有地位。游戏软件销量下滑，但社交游戏却日渐蓬勃。

那么行业是否调整策略，掳获那些传统游戏之外玩家的芳心呢？

女性玩家是电子游戏忽略群体

虽然Facebook之类的网站持续涌现新作品，但娱乐市场研究公司Interpret表示，女性玩家尚未能够获得需求满足。该公司本月初曾发布一份《游戏和电子游戏忽略群体：女性玩家》报告，据该报告称，女性游戏市场远比“休闲类型”复杂得多。

报告显示，女性玩家同掌机的接触在过去两年增加显著，她们熟悉的掌机不再仅仅是Wii。如今有21%的女性玩家使用Xbox 360，而两年前这个比例只有17%。女性玩家同时也渴望体验新游戏类型，44%调查对象表示她们希望体验休闲、运动和音乐类型之外的游戏作品。此外，相比战斗游戏，她们更偏好强调叙事性及人物发展的游戏，喜欢单人体验胜过集体玩法。

瞄准女性群体开发游戏

社交游戏的兴起和女性玩家密切相关，但Interpret报告表示，认为女性玩家偏好或只偏好休闲类型（游戏邦注：就像Zynga的《FarmVille》和《CityVille》）的观点是错误的。当然为追求更多MAU（月活跃用户），开发商们不断推陈出新以吸引新用户。

School 26 from punchingsnakes.com

有些初创游戏工作室瞄准女性群体。早前我们曾谈到温哥华女性游戏工作室Silicon Sisters推出的首款游戏《School26》，这款游戏瞄准中学女性群体，融入学校生活的各种社交场景。以下是游戏内容的相关表述：

这款游戏的目标和活动与大多电子游戏不同。这里没有剑术，没有需要拯救的公主，也没有需要征服的外国入侵者。这里有的是“行动”，是“交流”。奖励既非现金也非武器。《School26》培养的技能不是如何提高跳跃速度，如何躲开子弹或展开屠杀。

作为一个长期玩家，我不得不说这并非我感兴趣的游戏玩法。我喜欢屠杀游戏，当然这是针对游戏。

换而言之，开发吸引女性群体眼球的游戏绝非易事。

玩家无处不在

虽然很多社交游戏公司都将游戏瞄准女性群体，但据社交游戏公司RockYou首席执行官Lisa Marino预测，玩家未来将会重返游戏中心。她表示，随着社交游戏准则日益增多，未来将有更多游戏瞄准男性族群。她表示Zynga最近的《Empires and Allies》就是个例子。

Empires and Allies from cache.g4tv.com

她还表示，休闲玩家未来将会日益老练（游戏邦注：不论男性，还是女性），他们会要求更复杂的玩法，会希望体验更具制作价值的作品。但她表示，最终对玩家来说最重要的是能够随时随体验游戏。毕竟现在几乎人人都是玩家，所以相比以往的17岁地下室少年或55岁老人而言，取悦玩家将会变得更加困难。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Do Video Game Developers Ignore Women Gamers?

By Audrey Watters

The stereotypical video game player: he is young (under 20) and male; he plays for hours on his console, all from his parents’ basement. But that stereotype is becoming increasingly difficult to justify as study after study has shown that gaming population to be comprised of a very different demographic.

Indeed, video gameplay is not restricted to one age group or gender. Rather, game playing is ubiquitous, with 72% of households in America saying that they play some form. Just 18% of gamers are under age 18, while 53% are between the ages of 18 and 49. That means almost a full third – 29% – of gamers are over 50. The gaming population is skewed slightly more male than female: 58% to 42%. But it’s important to note that women over age 18 represent a significantly greater proportion of this population (37%) than do boys age 17 or younger (13%).

Looking at these statistics, it’s clear that the explosive growth of mobile and casual gaming has challenged what’s long been seen as the traditional gaming market. Sales of game software is declining, but social gaming is booming.

So has the industry adjusted to account for gamers that don’t fit that old stereotype?

An Ignored Audience?

While there’s a steady stream of new social gaming titles available on Facebook and the like, the entertainment market research firm Interpret says that women gamers still aren’t having their needs met. The firm released a report earlier this month entitled “Games and Girls: Video Gaming’s Ignored Audience,” arguing that the female gaming market is far more nuanced than some of the “casual-centric reputation” suggests.

The report found that console use among female gamers has increased significantly in the past two years – and not just for the Wii. 21% of women gamers now use an Xbox 360, up from 17% two years ago. Women gamers are also demanding new types of games, with 44% of those responding to the Interpret survey saying they preferred genres other than casual, exercise, and music. They also tended to prefer games that emphasized narrative and character development over combat and preferred solo to group gameplay.

Changing Demographics, Changing Game Development

The rise of social gaming has largely been associated with women, but the Interpret report suggests that it’s wrong to assume that women want – or only want – casual gameplay, the likes of Zynga’s Farmville or Cityville, for example. Of course, in the rush for MAU (monthly active users), new games are constantly under development in order to lure new players.

Some of new gaming studios are developing with female audiences in mind. Earlier this year, we wrote about the first title released by Silicon Sisters, a Vancouver-based and women-run gaming studio. The game, School26, is aimed at middle school-age girls and involves negotiating various social situations at school. Here’s what I wrote back then:

That’s a very different set of goals and behaviors than most video games. There isn’t swordplay here. No princesses to rescue. No alien invaders to vanquish. There isn’t “action.” There’s “talk.” The rewards aren’t cash or weaponry. The skills honed in School 26 aren’t the ability to time your jumps or dodge bullets or land killing blows.

As a long-time gamer, I have to say that this isn’t the sort of gameplay that interests me. I like killing things. In games, of course.

In other words, it’s actually pretty hard to develop a game that, de facto, “girls love.”

We’re All Gamers Now

Despite the emphasis among some social gaming companies to market to women, Lisa Marino, CEO of the social gaming company RockYou predicts that we may see what she calls a “return to center.” She contends that as social gaming gains more credo within the gaming industry, we’re likely to see even more titles aimed at men. She points to Zynga’s recent Empires and Allies as an example.

She also believes that the casual gamer is becoming more sophisticated and – male or female – is demanding more intricate gameplay and higher production values. But at the end of the day, she argues, the most important thing for gamers is that we’re able to play these games where we want and when we want. After all, we’re almost all gamers now, and so appealing to us will take a lot more sophistication than simply assuming we’re all 17 year old boys in the basement or 55 year old.（Source：readwriteweb）