女兵攻城：研發電玩遊戲 不再男性獨尊

策劃、編譯■李威撰 一個多月前，美國一名男性電玩專家在推特上寫道： 「為何投身電動產業的女生這麼少？」 這個話題立刻在#1reasonwhy的主題標籤下引發熱烈討論， 包括強暴、男性凝視及個人經驗的分享，話題涵蓋範圍甚廣， 其中主要圍繞的議題，則是電玩業職場的性別偏見問題。 電玩開發人員布拉斯維特於1980年代剛入行時，她用一隻手就能算出業內有幾名女性開發人員。 如今，她去參加許多「電玩界女性」圓桌會議時，看到很多新面孔出現。現年46歲、有時被指稱是電玩領域從業最久的布拉斯維特打趣地說道，現在在遊戲開發人員大會（該產業最大的聚會之一）裡，甚至可以看見女廁外大排長龍。 更多女性走入遊戲世界 布拉斯維特表示：「幾年下來，拜社群網站及行動通訊蓬勃發展之賜，許多許多的女性進入了電玩開發產業。」 ▲電玩遊戲公司Loot Drop的遊戲設計師兼執行長布拉斯維特（Brenda Brathwaite Romero），圖攝於2013年1月11日。 受雇於電玩產業的勞動力當中，每10人只有1人是女性。在向來由男性掌控的科技業中，電玩業被視為是最受男性賀爾蒙主導的其中一項產業。但由於行動通訊的革新，業界主管們表示，情況正發生變化。 隨智慧型手機蔚為主流，更多新成員加入打電玩的行列，使得遊戲出版商及開發業者，渴望將玩家拓展至年輕男性以外的族群。毫不意外，當女性發現有越來越多的手機遊戲出現在臉書及其他平台上時，她們也發掘了進入電玩產業工作的魅力。 一直以來，打電動讓人聯想到的畫面，就是年輕男子連續數小時流連在閃爍的螢幕前，靠能量飲料提神，在線上開戰直到死掉為止，像是《決勝時刻》裡的射手或戰略遊戲《星海爭霸》。 ▲日本千葉縣的幕張展覽館舉辦東京電玩展，圖攝於2006年9月22日。（圖文／路透） 然而，智慧型手機、平板電腦及社交媒體的竄起，迎來一全新的電玩世界。那些從未被誘惑砸下數百美元買遊戲機的人，發現自己受到全新遊戲類型的吸引。 現在，打電動可能只是指在《憤怒鳥》裡攻擊小豬，或《水果忍者》那樣猛劈水果，而這些遊戲都獲得了巨大的成功。 在Storm8上班的遊戲設計師桑巴特表示：「基於吸收的概念，手機仍是一片蠻荒西部，因為每個人都有手機設備，而且每個人都想玩。」Storm8是社交類遊戲製作公司。 電玩遊戲研究公司EEDAR指出，這部分解釋了何以美國的社交類遊戲及手機遊戲，有超過半數的玩家都是女性。與此同時，用遊戲機玩像是微軟出的《最後一戰4》等暴力電玩的玩家，女性只占了3成。 職場歧視逐步改善 不過，有些女性電玩專業人士表示，在電玩大會，從與會者身上可以看到最糟糕的狀況發生。布拉斯維特就講述了一個發生在去年夏天電子娛樂展（簡稱E3，該產業最大的聚會）上的鮮明案例。 ▲美國洛杉磯舉辦的電子娛樂大展（E3），圖為藝電（Electronic Arts）推出的Wii版運動遊戲，攝於2009年6月3日。 「我正在討論可能會跟某人簽約，而我正右方的男性則討論著某個模特兒的──用他的話來說──『乳頭跟屁股』。然後一直在這上面打轉，講個沒完沒了。」她說：「這是不對的。」 布拉斯維特說：「我很幸運，沒遇到任何的厭女情結，我聽說過有其他人遇上。」 「早期這個產業裡，顯然有些人是縱情聲色犬馬的，像在脫衣俱樂部開會、在派對上找來脫衣舞孃，這類的情況已經消失，已不可同日而語了。」 桑巴特表示，在某些工作場合，不過不是她現在任職的Storm8，女性經常被期望去容忍黃色笑話，而她們經常是被開這些玩笑的對象。 桑巴特說，前幾年她去一家線上電玩公司面試，一名女性人資部門員工告訴她：「妳知道的，我的職責是確認所有可能應徵上的人是能開得起玩笑的。」 桑巴特說：「我忍不住想知道，如果在我之前進來的是一名白人男性程式設計師，她是否也會詢問他開不開得起玩笑的問題。」 美國以外的地方，女性也面臨相似的挑戰。Game Insight的執行長兼創辦人丘馬琴科認為，高階職務聘用更多女性以及讓女性扮演更多元的角色，都是有助益的。Game Insight是俄羅斯一家正在快速發展的手機及社交遊戲公司。 （路透） When video game developer Brenda Brathwaite Romero started her career in the 1980s, she could count the number of female developers in the industry on one hand. Today, many "Women in Games" roundtables she attends are filled to capacity with new faces. The 46-year-old, sometimes referred to as the longest-serving woman in the video game arena, jokes that these days one can even encounter long lines for the ladies' room at the Game Developers Conference, one of the industry's largest gatherings. "Over the years, greatly helped by the social and mobile boom, there have been many, many women coming into game development," Brathwaite Romero said. With women comprising just over 1 in 10 in the video game workforce, the industry has a reputation for being among the most testosterone-fueled of the traditionally male-dominated technology sector. But thanks to the mobile revolution, industry executives say that's changing. With smartphones going mainstream and delivering gaming to a new, broader population, publishers and developers are keen to tap an audience beyond young males. And, not surprisingly, as women have explored a growing range of mobile games on Facebook or other platforms, they have discovered the allure of working in the industry. Gaming still conjures up images of young men glued to flickering screens for hours on end, fueled by energy drinks and waging online battles unto death in such "shooters" as "Call of Duty" or tactical war games like "Starcraft." But the advent of affordable smartphones and tablets and the burgeoning world of social media has drawn in a whole new world of gamers. Individuals who had never been tempted to plunk down hundreds of dollars to buy a gaming console found themselves enticed by a whole new genre of games. These days, gaming might just as easily mean launching attacks on pigs in "Angry Birds" or slicing produce with swiping motions in "Fruit Ninja" -- games that have mass appeal. "Mobile is still the Wild West and it's founded on this idea of inclusion, because everyone has these mobile devices and everyone wants to play," said game content designer Elizabeth Sampat, who works at social game company Storm8. That's partly why more than half of America's social and mobile gamers are women, according to research firm EEDAR, while they comprise just 30 percent of those who play violent games like Microsoft's "Halo 4" on game consoles（1）. But, gaming conventions can bring out the worst in attendees, said several women gaming professionals. Brathwaite Romero recounts a jarring instance at last summer's Electronic Entertainment Expo, the industry's biggest gathering. "I was discussing a potential contract with somebody and the guy right next to me is talking about -- to quote him -- 'the tits and ass' on this particular model. And he's going on and on and on about this," she said. "This is wrong." "I've fortunately not experienced the level of misogyny（2） that I've heard other people experience," Brathwaite Romero said. "Some of the debauchery（3） that was evident in the early days of the industry, like meetings at strip clubs, having strippers（4） at your party, that sort of stuff has gone down way, way down from where it used to be." Sampat said in some workplaces, though not at her current employer Storm8, women are often expected to tolerate off-color（5） jokes - of which they're often the target. Before stepping into an interview at an online game company a couple of years ago, Sampat said a female human resources employee told her: "It's my job to make sure that all potential candidates can, you know, take a joke." "I couldn't help but wonder if she asked the white male programmer who came in before me whether he could take a joke too," Sampat said. Women outside the United States find similar challenges. Alisa Chumachenko, CEO and founder of Game Insight, a fast-growing mobile and social company in Russia, thinks having more women in senior and more diverse roles will help. （Reuters） 關鍵字詞 1.game console（n.）遊戲機 2.misogyny（n.）厭惡女人、厭女症 3.debauchery（n.） 放蕩、飲酒作樂 4.stripper（n.）脫衣舞孃 5.off-color（a.）下流的