We were amused by this graph from Sony's PSN presentation. According to their internal data, 92% of registered PSN gamers are male. Only 4% are female! It looks like hardcore gamers are still predominantly testosterone-driven. Should we be depressed, or disturbed, that there are as many female gamers as those whose genders are "unidentified"?

Developers and executives that are struggling to develop games that appeal to women now have a new excuse to fall back on if and when they fail. According to a study by Stanford University's Alan Reiss, men are hard wired to feel more "rewarded" playing games than women.

The study, which looked at 11 men and 11 women, asked participants to play a simple territorial point-and-click game while hooked up to an fMRI machine. The men in the study showed much great activity in the brain's "mesocorticolimbic center," which is associated with reward and addiction.

Interestingly, the amount of activity for men went up as they did better at the game, while the amount of activity for women stayed roughly constant, regardless of achievement. "The females 'got' the game... they appeared motivated to succeed at the game," Reiss said. "The males were just a lot more motivated to succeed." Yeah, yeah ... tell it to the Frag Dolls.

A Reuters report yesterday took an interesting angle on the conclusions of the Casual Games Association's recently released 2007 study. While others commented on the casual space's size and growth, Reuters decided to focus on how men are lying, stealing bastards when it comes to casual games.

According to the CGA report, while men are just as likely as women to play casual games, the fairer sex is much more likely to pay for these games (women make up 74% of paying players). What accounts for the difference? According to Retuers, men are "more determined to find a free version or try to thwart anti-piracy protections on games." Or, y'know, they could be playing the copies their wives bought. We hope that's it, because finding a crack for a $20 game of Peggle is just sad.

But that's not all -- the Reuters report also reveals that men are more likely to hide their secret casual gaming shame. "The hardcore gamer who is playing 'Halo' with his buddies isn't going to brag that he just beat the next level of 'Zuma'." CGA Managing Director Jessica Tams told Reuters. And if they won't cop to playing Zuma, what are the chances they'll admit to an undying love for Flower Shop: Big City Break? Not large.

Well it's time for the healing to begin. Men, use the comment thread below to come out of the casual gaming closet and announce to the world your proclivity for matching gems and dashing between diners. We won't judge you ... much.

A British Board of Film Classification description page reveals some potential sexual prejudice in Mass Effect, although it's not the type you might expect. According to the description, players using a female character can initiate a sex scene "between her and male human or a female humanoid alien." Male characters, on the other hand, can only initiate sex "between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien." If we're reading that right, it means the game allows for alien lesbian sex, but not any type of male-on-male sex. Furthermore, all non-alien sex has to be heterosexual.

The same-sex love issue is by now well-tread territory for BioWare -- most fans know by now that Juhani from Knights of the Old Republic is a lesbian and Jade Empire allowed same-sex romance for both genders. So why should it be different in Mass Effect? Does BioWare think that their audience will clamor for girl-on-alien-girl action while recoiling from man-on-man love? And why is lesbian sex only OK if it involves another species? Is this some sort of compromise to avoid a Bully-style controversy?

We'll have to wait until the final version of Mass Effect to see if the BBFC description is accurate, but as it stands now this odd double standard makes us wonder if the game will be a step forward or back for sexual politics.

[Via ProG, GayGamer]

The British Board of Film Classification published today research that they have conducted concerning video games. The report covers a wide aspect of gaming culture. Highlights include:

• Age: "Although children are beginning to start playing games at a younger age, the overall age of players is getting older. Younger games players are influenced to play particular games by peer pressure and word of mouth, but negative press coverage for a game will significantly increase its take up."
• Gender: "There is a sharp divide between male and female games players in their taste in games and how long they spend playing. Female games players tend to prefer 'strategic life simulation' games like The Sims and puzzle games and spend less time playing than their male counterparts; male players favour first 'person shooters' [sic] and sports games and are much more likely to become deeply absorbed in the play."
• Benefits of gaming: "People play games to escape from every day life and to escape to a world of adventure without risk which is under the control of the gamer, unlike the real world. Games provide a sense of achievement and are active, unlike television and films which are passive. However, games are better at developing action than building character and as such gamers tend to care less about the storyline than making progress in the game. Gamers claim that playing games is mentally stimulating and that playing develops hand eye coordination."

Every other week, Bonnie Ruberg contributes Playing Dirty, a column on sex and gender in video games:

I admit, I have a personal beef with this "women are bad drivers" thing. I'm one of those really daring people who never goes more than five miles over the speed limit. My friend's father, on the other hand, is a "zoom down the highway" type, complete with sporty convertible. Somehow it always ends up he's circling the supermarket, searching for a parking spot, when an SUV lumbers in and blocks the way. He shouts, "Come on, lady!" From where we're sitting, he has no way of telling whether that's a man or woman. It might as well be a yeti. Gritting my teeth, I wonder: If women are such awful drivers, how come it's men who go crazy behind the virtual wheel? How come racing games are "men's" games?

If you haven't heard enough about the ladies of Oblivion recently, this tidbit is an interesting look at gender and gaming. While the female characters manage to score bonus points on the "lack of scantily clad armour" scale, it seems that there are some inherent gender-based stat advantages under certain circumstances.

Gamers with Jobs have spoken to Bethesda about the perceived gender bias, and it seems that the differences are subtle, designed so that players have more choice when it comes to gameplay. While it may seem a little old-fashioned for male Redguards to have a higher strength, while females have a higher personality, the balance is all in the name of game diversity. For anyone wishing to experience the game free of any gender concerns, there's already a mod which equalises stats irrespective of gender.

[Thanks, SickNic]

Academic MMO weblog Terra Nova is looking at gender-bending in cyberspace at the moment, delving into the phenomenon by asking the simple question "Who's doing it?". While many men who play female characters use the "nice ass" line--if they're going to be staring at a pixellated posterior all day, it might as well be a pretty one--Terra Nova tries to go beyond this by looking at the personalities of gender-bending players.

The comments on the post are also interesting, covering identity tourism, transgender and GLBT issues as well as adding several more accounts of gender-bending (or not) into the mix.