do girls and boys play with their DS"i" differently?

[meemee]

i guess this applies esp. to DSi's.

dd just got hers after she turned 8. most of her classmates in 3rd grade have one.

here are few of my observations:

- there is a difference i notice with the kinds of games the kids buy. 

- i have noticed with the girls - playing on it is a social past time. they both play on their own and keep talking and exchanging notes. or a couple of them play together on teh same game. or one plays and a group of girls surround the player (some boys do join too) and they talk about the game. 

- but the reason why i started this thread was to ask if your kids use the camera and decorate photo feature more than others. THAT seems to be what dd and her friends love to do. the games are secondary. 

- is it me or when i go out i see more boys totally engrossed in their gameboys hardly talking to anyone. yet i dont see that many girls playing the games or being totally engrossed in it as boys. 

dd loves xbox and wii. but as a social game. to play with someone else. not by herself. i've seen her other gfriends do that too. 

with her boy friends i have seen left by themselves they play silently. but when dd joins them they become actually more chatty and talk about the game. 

i've never really seen dd totally engrossed in a game. i've seen her engrossed editing photographs. 

even with xbox or wii - the boys will play silently totally focusing on the game, but dd keeps chatting and asking and discussing. 

what i am seeing - is that the norm or the exception?

dd has been asking for a DS for years now. and i was afraid what it would do to her. but i find that's not true in her case. the scary one would be itouch in her case as she enjoys watching a lot of anime shows. but video games did not turn out to be the way i feared it would be. she can be playing with it for hours if she has nothing to do - like when she is in class with me. but she usually chooses not to do so. 

[4evermom]

My son has a ds not a dsi so I can't comment on the photo aspect.  But the boys totally connect and talk about the games.  My son loves getting together with a friend, playing multiplayer mode, exchanging advice, etc.  It is a major source of connection though they may not be chatting about unrelated things or even talking a ton.  However, most of my son's friends aren't allowed to play with their handhelds or other gaming equipment when they are with friends.  It's reserved for long car rides and running boring errands.

In what context do you see boys using them?  Are they ones that girls stereotypically enjoy more than boys, like shopping or restaurants?  Are the boys with other boys, especially friends?  Boys tend not to be as social with casual acquaintances as girls so may seem more withdrawn if they aren't with true friends.  

[Alyantavid]

We have ds's, not dsi's.  It depends. Both of my boys play with others and talk quite a bit.  (ds2 talks constantly no matter what he's doing)  They also play alone sometimes when there isn't someone else to play with.

The only difference I've noticed between is that when my niece and nephew are playing with my boys, my niece gets bored with it sooner and finds something else to do while the boys will keep playing.

[~cassie]

When my boys play their dsi, they are totally engrossed in it and completely quiet.  If I have a headache and need a break from the loudness, I just give them their nintendos and absolute silence!