Brenda Laurel on making video games for girls

譯者: Allen Li 審譯者: Lucy Jaryen Hsu

Back in 1992, I started working for a company

1992年，我開始為一家

called Interval Research,

名為Interval Research的公司工作

which was just then being founded

當時這家公司才剛成立

by David Lidell and Paul Allen

創辦人是大衛利德與保羅艾倫

as a for-profit research enterprise in Silicon Valley.

是位於矽谷的一家營利研究企業

I met with David

我跟大衛見面

to talk about what I might do in his company.

討論我能為他的公司做些甚麼

I was just coming out of a failed virtual reality business

當時我剛走出虛擬實境生意失敗的陰霾

and supporting myself by being on the speaking circuit

只能靠著四處演講

and writing books --

還有寫作維生

after twenty years or so in the computer game industry

我從事遊戲產業廿多年來

having ideas that people didn't think they could sell.

知道這種遊戲一向不被看好

And David and I discovered

大衛和我發現

that we had a question in common,

我倆有一個共同的疑問

that we really wanted the answer to,

急待解答

and that was,

那就是

"Why hasn't anybody built any computer games for little girls?"

"為什麼沒有人專為小女生設計電玩?"

Why is that?

道理何在?

It can't just be a giant sexist conspiracy.

這不可能只是男性主導下的結果

These people aren't that smart.

這些人沒那麼精明

There's six billion dollars on the table.

這塊價值六十億美元的市場大餅

They would go for it if they could figure out how.

懂得門路的人肯定想分一杯羹

So, what is the deal here?

問題究竟出在哪?

And as we thought about our goals --

談到我們的目標

I should say that Interval is really a humanistic institution,

我得說Interval真的是以人為本的公司

in the classical sense

我是指傳統定義的以人為本

that humanism, at its best,

理想上，人本主義

finds a way to combine clear-eyed empirical research

能將慧眼獨具的實證研究

with a set of core values

與核心價值結合

that fundamentally love and respect people.

這套價值就是對人類充滿愛與尊敬

The basic idea of humanism

人本主義的基本概念

is the improvable quality of life;

是不斷提升生活品質

that we can do good things,

使人們願意行善

that there are things worth doing

有些事值得我們去做

because they're good things to do,

因為這些都是好事

and that clear-eyed empiricism

而慧眼獨具的實證研究

can help us figure out how to do them.

有助於我們發掘為善之道

So, contrary to popular belief,

因此，跟一般人以為的恰好相反

there is not a conflict of interest between empiricism and values.

實證研究和人文價值間不存在利害衝突

And Interval Research is kind of the living example

Interval Research公司就是現成的例子

of how that can be true.

證明的確如此

So David and I decided to go find out,

所以大衛和我決定

through the best research we could muster,

要盡力研究

what it would take to get a little girl

找出讓小女生

to put her hands on a computer,

願意接觸電腦的祕訣

to achieve the level of comfort and ease with the technology

從而享受科技帶來的舒適自在

that little boys have because they play video games.

小男生玩電玩時就是這種感覺

We spent two and a half years conducting research;

我們花費兩年半時間進行研究

we spent another year and a half in advance development.

接著又投入一年半時間深入研發

Then we formed a spin-off company.

然後成立了一家子公司

In the research phase of the project at Interval,

在本計劃的研究階段

we partnered with a company called Cheskin Research,

我們和Cheskin Research公司合作

and these people -- Davis Masten and Christopher Ireland --

而與大衛麥斯登及克里斯多福艾爾蘭等人共事

changed my mind entirely about what market research was

徹底改變我對市場調查的看法

and what it could be.

重新認識它真正的功能

They taught me how to look and see,

他們教我如何觀察調查對象

and they did not do the incredibly stupid thing

而且他們不會蠢到

of saying to a child,

直接問小孩子

"Of all these things we already make you,

"這幾樣東西裡頭，

which do you like best?" --

你最喜歡哪一樣?"

which gives you zero answers that are usable.

這種問法不可能問出有用的答案

So, what we did for the first two and a half years

所以剛開頭的兩年半

was four things:

我們做了四件事：

We did an extensive review of the literature

首先是大規模的文獻回顧

in related fields, like cognitive psychology,

探討相關領域的研究成果，例如認知心理學

spatial cognition, gender studies,

空間認知、性別研究

play theory, sociology, primatology.

遊戲論、社會學、靈長類動物學---

Thank you Frans de Waal, wherever you are,

感謝你 法蘭茲杜佛，無論你在哪

I love you and I'd give anything to meet you.

非常感激你，無論如何我要再見你一面

After we had done that with a pretty large team of people

接著我們與一個龐大的團隊完成文獻回顧

and discovered what we thought the salient issues were

並且發現我們認為最核心的問題

with girls and boys and playing --

和男孩、女孩以及角色扮演有關

because, after all, that's really what this is about --

因為，無論如何，這才是問題的癥結所在

we moved to the second phase of our work,

我們進行到研究工作的第二階段

where we interviewed adult experts

採訪學術界的成年專家

in academia, some of the people

他們之中有些人

who'd produced the literature that we found relevant.

出版了相關的學術著作

Also, we did focus groups with people who were on the ground with kids every day,

我們也與每天和小孩互動的人做焦點團體訪談

like playground supervisors. We talked to them,

像是遊樂場主管之類，跟他們聊一聊

confirmed some hypotheses and identified some serious questions

確認了一些假設

about gender difference and play.

找出和性別差異與遊戲有關的重要問題

Then we did what I consider to be the heart of the work:

然後我們著手我認為是核心的工作

interviewed 1,100 children, boys and girls,

我們訪談了1100位兒童，男女都有

ages seven to 12, all over the United States --

他們的年齡介於7至12歲，來自全美各地

except for Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin

但矽谷、波斯頓及奧斯丁的兒童除外

because we knew that their little families would have millions of computers in them

因為我們知道這些地區的小家庭電腦多到氾濫

and they wouldn't be a representative sample.

所以這些兒童樣本不具代表性

And at the end of those remarkable conversations

這些對話真的很特別

with kids and their best friends across the United States,

跟全美各地的孩子及他們的好朋友談完

after two years, we pulled together some survey data from another 10,000 children,

又過了兩年

drew up a set up of what we thought were the key findings of our research,

我們又蒐集了一萬名兒童的數據，得出本研究的重要發現

and spent another year transforming them into design heuristics,

再用一年時間將這些資料化為設計靈感

for designing computer-based products --

用以設計電腦相關產品

and, in fact, any kind of products -- for little girls, ages eight to 12.

實際上是適用於8到12歲小女孩的各類產品

And we spent that time designing interactive prototypes for computer software

我們花時間設計互動式電腦原型軟體

and testing them with little girls.

讓小女孩試玩

In 1996, in November, we formed the company Purple Moon

1996年11月，我們成立了Purple Moon公司

which was a spinoff of Interval Research,

作為Interval Research旗下的子公司

and our chief investors were Interval Research, Vulcan Northwest,

主要投資人有Interval Research、Vulcan Northwest

Institutional Venture Partners and Allen and Company.

Institutional Venture Partners 及 Allen and Company

We launched a website on September 2nd

我們的網站於九月二日開通後

that has now served 25 million pages,

至今累積了兩千五百萬網頁閱讀量

and has 42,000 registered young girl users.

並有四萬兩千名年輕女孩用戶註冊

They visit an average of one and a half times a day,

她們平均一天...造訪我們的網站一到兩次

spend an average of 35 minutes a visit,

每次平均停留35分鐘

and look at 50 pages a visit.

瀏覽50個頁面

So we feel that we've formed a successful online community with girls.

所以我們覺得這個線上女孩社群相當成功

We launched two titles in October --

我們在十月份推出了兩款遊戲

"Rockett's New School" -- the first of a series

"洛綺特的新學校"

of products -- is about a character called Rockett beginning her first day of school

這是系列產品的第一款，描述女主角洛綺特第一天上學的經歷

in eighth grade at a brand new place, with a blank slate,

敘述八年級的她如何在新環境裡展開新生活

which allows girls to play with the question of, "What will I be like when I'm older?"

藉這遊戲女孩們能夠思索一些問題，像是"長大後的我會是甚麼樣子?"

"What's it going to be like to be in high school or junior high school?

"上高中或國中後會是怎樣的生活?"

Who are my friends?";

"誰會跟我交朋友?"

to exercise the love of social complexity

體驗複雜社交生活

and the narrative intelligence that drives most of their play behavior;

有哪些迷人之處，並享受引導遊戲的故事情節

and which embeds in it values about noticing that we have lots of choices

遊戲情節中隱含了一種價值觀

in our lives and the ways that we conduct ourselves.

就是無論是生活或做人處事，我們都有很多選擇

The other title that we launched is called "Secret Paths in the Forest,"

另一款遊戲叫做"神秘森林小徑"

which addresses the more fantasy-oriented, inner lives of girls.

描述少女夢幻的內心世界

These two titles both showed up in the top 50 entertainment titles in PC Data --

這兩款遊戲都擠進北美PC遊戲銷售榜前五十名

entertainment titles in PC Data

PC遊戲銷售榜前五十名

in December, right up there with "John Madden Football,"

12月時竟然跟"約翰麥登橄欖球"這款暢銷遊戲並列

which thrills me to death.

差點沒把我給嚇死

So, we're real,

是阿，我們辦到了

and we've touched several hundreds of thousands of little girls.

我們成功觸動了數十萬少女的心

We've made half-a-billion impressions

我們創造五億多的曝光率

with marketing and PR for this brand, Purple Moon.

透過行銷與推廣Purple Moon這個品牌

Ninety-six percent of them, roughly, have been positive;

大約96%的人對我們印象不錯

four percent of them have been "other."

剩下4%的人有不同看法

I want to talk about the other,

我想談談這4%的部分

because the politics of this enterprise, in a way,

因為這家企業的戰術運用就某方面而言

have been the most fascinating part of it, for me.

是最吸引我的部分

There are really two kinds of negative reviews that we've received.

我們收到的負面評價分為兩大類

One kind of reviewer is a male gamer

一派是男性玩家的評論

who thinks he knows what games ought to be,

他們自以為很懂遊戲

and won't show the product to little girls.

不會給女孩子玩我們的產品

The other kind of reviewer is a certain flavor of feminist

另一派帶點女性主義調調的評論家

who thinks they know what little girls ought to be.

自以為很了解小女孩該有的樣子

And so it's funny to me that these interesting, odd bedfellows

奇怪的是，這些奇怪又難相處的傢伙

have one thing in common:

有一項共同點

they don't listen to little girls.

就是不會傾聽小女孩的心聲

They haven't looked at children

他們從未好好觀察過孩子

and they're certainly not demonstrating any love for them.

哪有可能做出甚麼愛孩子的舉動

I'd like to play you some voices of little girls

我想讓你們聽聽小女孩的心聲

from the two-and-a-half years of research that we did --

取材自我們過去兩年半的研究材料

actually, some of the voices are more recent.

事實上有些部分是最近才錄製的

And these voices will be accompanied by photographs

這些聲音將搭配照片一起播放

that they took for us of their lives,

這些照片是她們拍自己的日常生活

of the things that they value and care about.

和她們珍惜的事物

These are pictures the girls themselves never saw, but they gave to us

這些照片她們自己也沒看過，卻交給我們

This is the stuff those reviewers don't know about and aren't listening to

全是那些批評者不了解也不想了解的東西

and this is the kind of research I recommend to those

這個研究題目，我要推薦給

who want to do humanistic work.

想從事人文研究的諸位

Girl 1: Yeah, my character is usually a tomboy.

女孩1：對阿，我的個性比較男孩子氣

Hers is more into boys.

她比我還像男生

Girl 2: Uh, yeah.

女孩2：呃，沒錯。

Girl 1: We have -- in the very beginning of the whole game, always we do this:

女孩1：我們每次...剛開始玩遊戲時會這樣做

we each have a piece of paper; we write down our name, our age --

每人拿一張紙，寫下自己的名字、年紀

are we rich, very rich, not rich, poor, medium, wealthy,

我們有錢嗎？超有錢、不怎麼有錢、窮酸啦、小康啦、家財萬貫啦

boyfriends, dogs, pets -- what else -- sisters, brothers, and all those.

男朋友啦、小狗啦、寵物啦..還有什麼?...兄弟姊妹..等等之類的

Girl 2: Divorced -- parents divorced, maybe.

女孩2：離婚...爸媽離婚，之類的

Girl 3: This is my pretend [unclear] one.

女孩3：這個是我想像出來的

Girl 4: We make a school newspaper on the computer.

女孩4：我們會在電腦上製作校刊

Girl 5: For a girl's game also usually they'll have really pretty scenery

女孩5：給女生玩的遊戲通常場景都超華麗

with clouds and flowers.

又是雲又是花

Girl 6: Like, if you were a girl and you were really adventurous and a real big tomboy,

譬如說，你雖然身為女生偏偏天生愛冒險又非常男孩子氣

you would think that girls' games were kinda sissy.

你八成會覺得這種女生遊戲太女孩子氣了

Girl 7: I run track, I played soccer,

女孩6：我跑步、踢足球

I play basketball, and I love a lot of things to do.

也打籃球，我喜歡做的事情很多

And sometimes I feel like I can't really enjoy myself unless it's like a vacation,

有時候我實在開心不起來，除非放假

like when I get Mondays and all those days off.

最好放禮拜一，或者天天放假也不賴

Girl 8: Well, sometimes there is a lot of stuff going on

女孩7：嗯，有時候我好多事情要忙

because I have music lessons and I'm on swim team --

因為我要學音樂，又是游泳隊隊員

all this different stuff that I have to do,

一大堆亂七八糟的事情等著我

and sometimes it gets overwhelming.

有時候實在忙不過來

Girl 9: My friend Justine

我朋友賈斯汀

kinda took my friend Kelly, and now they're being mean to me.

拉攏我朋友凱莉，兩個聯手起來對付我

Girl 10: Well, sometimes it gets annoying when your brothers and sisters,

女孩8：唉，有時候家裡有兄弟姊妹超煩的

or brother or sister, when they copy you and you get your idea first

他們會抄襲你的主意，雖然明明是你先想到的

and they take your idea and they do it themselves.

他們偷了你的點子然後自己拿去用

Girl 11: Because my older sister, she gets everything

女孩9：都要怪我老姊，她要什麼有什麼

and, like, when I ask my mom for something, she'll say, "No" -- all the time.

我跟老媽討個東西她就說"別想"，每次都這樣

But she gives my sister everything.

但對我老姊卻有求必應

Brenda Laurel: I want to show you, real quickly, just a minute

布蘭妲：我想很快地給各位看一下，一分鐘就好

of "Rockett's Tricky Decision," which went gold two days ago.

這個遊戲叫"洛綺特的難題"，兩天前才大功告成

Let's hope it's really stable.

希望它很穩定

This is the second day in Rockett's life.

這是洛綺特生活的第二天

The reason I'm showing you this

我之所以給各位看這個

is I'm hoping that the scene that I'm going to show you will look familiar

是希望待會兒秀出來的場景不管看起來

and sound familiar, now that you've listened to some girls' voices.

或聽起來都有種熟悉感，尤其各位聽過女孩子的心聲後

And you can see how we've tried to incorporate the issues that matter to them

各位將明白我們如何把她們關心的問題

in the game that we've created.

融入遊戲中

Miko: Hey Rockett! C'mere!

(影片)蜜可：嗨 洛綺特！過來一下！

Rockett: Hi Miko! What's going on?

洛綺特：嗨 蜜可！ 怎麼了嗎？

Miko: Did you hear about Nakilia's big Halloween party this weekend?

蜜可：你知道娜其莉周末要辦一個大型萬聖節派對嗎？

She asked me to make sure you knew about it.

她要我問你知不知道

Nakilia invited Reuben too, but --

娜琪莉也邀請魯本參加，不過...

Rockett: But what? Isn't he coming?

洛綺特：不過什麼？他不來嗎？

Miko: I don't think so.

蜜可：我想他不會來了

I mean, I heard his band is playing at another party the same night.

聽說他的樂團當天晚上要去另一個派對表演

Rockett: Really? What other party?

洛綺特：真的嗎？哪一個派對？

Girl: Max's party is going to be so cool, Whitney.

女孩：麥斯的派對一定很酷，惠特妮

He's invited all the best people.

他邀的人都超讚

BL: I'm going to fast-forward to the decision point

(布蘭妲羅莉)我必須快轉到她做決定那段

because I know I don't have a lot of time.

我知道我沒有太多時間

After this awful event occurs, Rocket gets to decide how she feels about it.

發生這麼糟糕的事之後，洛綺特必須決定她該如何應對

Rockett: Who'd want to show up at that party anyway?

洛綺特：拜託，誰要去那種派對阿？

I could get invited to that party any day if I wanted to.

只要我願意，隨時都會有人邀請我去

Gee, I doubt I'll make Max's best people list.

唉，我不確定麥斯會不會邀請我耶

BL: OK, so we're going to emotionally navigate.

好了，接下來我們讓感情來引導

If we were playing the game, that's what we'd do.

把玩遊戲當作真實人生

If at any time during the game we want to learn more about the characters,

假如玩的過程中我們想更了解遊戲主角

we can go into this hidden hallway,

我們可以走入這條隱形走廊

and I'll quickly just show you the interface.

我很快地給各位看一下遊戲介面

We can, for example, go find Miko's locker

例如，我們可以找出蜜可的儲物櫃

and get some more information about her.

獲得一些跟她有關的情報

Oops, I turned the wrong way.

哎呀，我轉錯邊了

But you get the general idea of the product.

不過你們應該抓到這個產品的概念了

I wanted to show you the ways, innocuous as they seem,

我向各位展示的這些方法，雖然看似泛泛之談

in which we're incorporating what we've learned about girls --

但裡頭加入了我們對女孩子的理解

their desires to experience greater emotional flexibility,

她們渴望體驗更細膩的情感變化

and to play around with the social complexity of their lives.

遊走於複雜的社交生活之間

I want to make the point that what we're giving girls, I think, through this effort,

我想強調的是，藉由這份努力，我們給予女孩子

is a kind of validation,

一種自我肯定

a sense of being seen.

一種被關注的感覺

And a sense of the choices that are available in their lives.

告訴她們生活可以有各種選擇

We love them.

我們愛她們

We see them.

關心她們

We're not trying to tell them who they ought to be.

我們不是要告訴她們要成為什麼樣的人

But we're really, really happy about who they are.

得知她們原本的面貌令我們開心不已

It turns out they're really great.

她們真的很棒

I want to close by showing you a videotape

我想用一段影片作為結尾

that's a version of a future game in the Rockett series

這個洛綺特系列遊戲的未來版

that our graphic artists and design people put together,

是我們的插畫師跟設計團隊合作的結晶

that we feel would please that four percent of reviewers.

我們覺得應該會讓那4%的批評者滿意

"Rockett 28!"

"洛綺特28" 世界末日

Rockett: It's like I'm just waking up, you know?

洛綺特：我好像剛剛醒來...

BL: Thanks.

謝謝大家