Of the 1,541 girls surveyed, over half of the girls surveyed claimed that they are devoting more time to playing video games and using consumer electronics now than they did in the previous year.

The report shows that though girls age 9 to 12 still prefer to play with traditional toys over games or electronics, the number of 'tweens migrating to computer and video games is increasing.

According to the study, girls age 6 to 8 are also spending more time in 2008 with virtual worlds, attracted in particular to their social elements, as well as board games and arts and crafts.

"Girls, in general, are famously social creatures," says NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier. "The growth in use of social networking and virtual world websites by girls is a natural extension of this core value which needs to be recognized by manufacturers who count girls as primary market for their goods and services."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]