Society & Video Games

Second Life Bans Traditional Banking

2008-01-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

Linden Labs recently announced a ban on all in-game banking institutions that "offer interest or any direct return on an investment" without the same government regulation that applies to banks in the real world.

SOURCE: Wired

This drastic step comes in reaction to the dissolution of the unregulated Ginko Financial, an in-game bank whose failure saw investors (read: players who had deposited money) lose the equivalent of $750,000.

The decision was widely seen as a necessary step by Linden Labs to avoid governmental intervention.Had the company not banned these unregulated banks, most presumed it was a matter of time before the state government of California (under whose laws Linden Labs operate) stepped in and forced regulations into every financial aspect of the title.

Linden Labs plans to remove all virtual ATMs and other such interest-granting banking institutions from the Second Life world by Jan. 22, 2008, and have politely asked "that between now and then, those who operate these 'banks' settle up on any promises they have made to other Residents."

A Career Where You Never Grow Old & You Never Grow Up

On Being a Visually Impaired Gamer

2007-11-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

SOURCE: GameSpot
Note: The writer did such a great job of writing the article that I didn't feel it was right to change anything. These are only the highlights of the posting.

I'm often met with baffled statements such as "But how do you even read the computer screen?" and "How can you possibly play games if you're blind?" Well let me tell you folks, it isn't easy.

Playing video games, on the other hand, is an increasingly difficult venture. It seems odd that, with all of today's technology, video games are becoming less and less accessible.

I use a special "high contrast" color scheme which changes the background color of every web page and most applications to black and, by contrast, turns the text color to white. This simple inversion of the colors improves the clarity of what I am looking at by about 400%, since the darker background color is much easier on my eyes.

Grandia 3 opted for a much more "modern" look, with smaller text windows and brighter backgrounds. If it weren't for the game's voice acting, I would have had trouble ever completing the game because I wouldn't have been able to understand the story…

It seems the RPG trend nowadays is to move away from the classic turn-based formula and in to an action-RPG style.

… despite the increasing number of games released each year, there are fewer and fewer titles which someone like myself can successfully play.

There is also the matter of other accessibility features which are simple to implement but sometimes ignored; I once read the plight of a deaf gamer on a message board asking for a copy of Grandia 3's script because the game lacks a simple subtitle feature for its voice acted parts!

I recognize that innovation is important, especially in the video game industry, but that doesn't mean we need to ignore some of the simpler things in life. I find myself playing fewer games, and getting less excited about games, because I fear that every new title I purchase (or even rent) may simply be too difficult to play these days. I know which genres in general to avoid, but isn't there some way that the industry can take a look at the needs of all its users and try to find some way – even something simple like changing text colors or including subtitles – to make games playable for as many people as possible?

Perhaps one day the technology will be in place to correct all visual impairments, but until that day I can only hope that people sit up and take notice of others' plights and do their own part to help.

SOURCE: GameSpot

Video Games Aide in Physical Therapy

Final Fantasy Energy Drink - Are You Game?

2007-10-02T12:07:00.001-07:00

Last year, Suntory came out with a limited edition set of Final Fantasy XII energy drinks as well as collectible bottles of Final Fantasy anniversary “potions.” When they first when on the shelves, it said that the sold out like mad, leaving convenience stores and supermarkets with empty racks in a week. They soon hit Ebay with prices set at $25 and above to be purchased by thirsty RPG geeks world wide.

Now, Suntory is back in collaboration with Square Enix with three new lines of tenth anniversary Final Fantasy VII potions and figures, and with a *bit* higher price tag than last time. The cans will be going for a mere $1.60, but the very cool potion bottle (limited to 77,777 pieces) will be traded for $32, which is nearly enough to get the game itself. In addition, there’s an entirely different set of eight cans combined with figures for $9 each which are limited to a million sets. Those are some hefty price tags for a “potion” that contains caffeine, B-Vitamins, and royal jelly, but that’ll never stop a thirsty gamer with plans to game all night long.

The Name of the Game Is Work

2007-08-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Source: Business Week

Corporations are increasingly using online games to recruit and train new employees, and just to better keep people in touch.

Companies around the world, including McKinsey & Co., Royal Philips Electronics (PHG), and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development (JNJ) are bringing games with 3D computer graphics into the workplace to appeal to the generation raised on Nintendo (NTDOF.PK), World of Warcraft, and Second Life. They are using games to recruit new talent, improve communication between managers and their far-flung staff, and train employees and new hires at all levels.

My Virtual Career

Since 2000, McKinsey's German headquarters has run a computer game called CEO of the Future, based loosely on the popular NBC reality show The Apprentice. The goal is to cast a wider net for new talent. In 2007, nearly 5,000 managers and students from all over the world between the ages of 22 and 32 tried their hand at challenges such as starting a European insurance company in Korea or developing an R&D strategy for a new pain reliever made of a genetically modified fruit.

Next year, McKinsey has decided to make the game downloadable from a Web site so you can play offline and then upload the results. This way, those who don't have regular Internet access won't be penalized. In next year's version of the game, competitors will tackle renewable energy businesses, says Marco Ferber, a Stuttgart-based engagement manager at McKinsey. McKinsey has hired several past winners of CEO of the Future. In 2007, the winners (there was a tie) also received about $20,000 each.

Read More

Do Video Game Opponents Just Suck?

2007-08-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Just in case you haven’t heard, anti video game protesters say, “video games will rot your brain!” Is that what they said about automobiles, Jazz and Rock n roll? Video games are just anther brain rotter to add to the list, regardless of the benefits it offers.

The force behind the rot is due to the discovery of a sex scene in some games which is only accessible if you hack the game… which of course is much more important than say the total count of how many zombies a player shoots up. Zombies have feelings and are people too…dead but they’re still people nevertheless.

The ‘give it a rest’ opponent believe video games can help prepare kids for the world they will end up working and living in. Video game fan Robert Florio who just happens to be paralyzed from the neck down is currently earning his bachelors degree in Videogame Art and Design with ambitions in creating My goal is to videogames for people with physical limitations.

Walter Reed Army Medical Center uses video games as a means of therapy for recovering soldiers. Chuck Ziegenfuss, a major in the Army and wounded in Iraq in 2005 said playing video games "gives them back a sense that they're normal," he said.

Today’s games force players to learn complex rule systems, follow shifting game environments in real time and prioritize between multiple objectives. Rules, decisions, thinking fast on your feet and being a team player are precisely the sorts of skills that employees need in the workplace.

What about the claims that violent video games lead to violent behavior? According to a variety of surveys today’s kids are less violent not more. Video Game Voters Network provides detailed information on the controversy of violence ad video games. Much of their information is provided and based on University studies, professional researcher documentation and healthcare reports. All of which prove that each and every one of us is responsible for our own actions.

Groups like Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence say they are educating parents of “the world's fastest growing addiction and the most reckless endangerment of children today.”

Last time I checked (and I surf the web on a daily basis) I found that the fastest growing addiction for kids have always included:

Fast Food / obesity
Tobacco
Drugs
Alcohol
Body image related addictions

I can not recall one article or news source listing video games as an "addition" let alone the “world's fastest growing addiction.”

MAVAV Articles include:
EverQuest: A Threat to Society?
Truth - EverQuest: Explore a realm of Adventure, Fantasy and Magic.

Oh yea….. Hordes of teenagers are threatening the existence of dragons world wide due to EverQuest. Stop the innocent killing of dragons!

Video Game Networks or Online Training Camps?

FOR EVIL! {baahaahaahaa}
Jeti Force: “you can stay up as late as you like and eat all the chocolate ice cream you want.”

E3: Evil Entertainment Expo
Truth - E3: The Electronic Entertainment Expo(E3) is the world's largest annual video game and entertainment industry conference where developers and journalists gather to witness the very latest games and technologies. This is where the iPhone was premiered...

Okay… that was a bad example maybe E3 is a little bit evil but so are a lot of industries… we don’t Mothers Against Videogames protesting cell phone use in their cars while driving. Lets see their driving records! I bet they’re not so spotless.

I have to wonder how many of those who attack these video games have spent much time trying to play them? Do they realize how hard they can be? Maybe they do realize how hard the games are and they just really suck at it…

Hot Markets Hot Careers

Cockroaches, Madonna, crime, Spam and gaming.

2007-07-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

The five things that will never go away.

From the year 2006 through the years to 2012, Parks Associates a market research firms states that in game spending will go from $370 million in 2006 to more than $2 billion in 2012. In addition, IBM and Seriosity teamed up for a joint research project that revealed
online role playing games are shaping the next generation of corporate leaders. The studies show that there are significant parallels between online gaming and the work force. Today's gamers are learning collaboration; self-organization, risk taking, positive influence, and networking as well as how to earn incentives linked to performance and be flexible in the way they communicate.

In game advertising expects an annual growth rate of 33% higher than that of TV, radio, print, and the Internet.

"If executed correctly, game advertising can provide a win-win solution for advertisers, developers and publishers, console manufacturers, game portals, and gamers." Said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, director of broadband and gaming, Parks Associates.

Advertisers are taking notice of the ever-growing industry with cheaper advertising and direct consumer attention. In game advertising helps pay for game creation and can also help make a game more real. Beyond sponsoring a game, some marketers are actually creating their own games as promotional content (called “advergames”) such as Burger King did with Blitz Games.

Jim Spohrer, director of services research for IBM Research center: "Smart organizations are recognizing valued employees who play online games and apply their skills and experience as virtual leaders to their 'real world' jobs."

Gaming is not only increasing in popularity, but also gaining new fans in the older generation. Seniors have slowly been experimenting with gaming as a way to connect with grandkids. Than again, some are simply playing because they didn’t realize how much fun they were. Advertising to seniors has always been a niche market and it’s one that hasn’t been touched for in-game advertising. After all, the gamers who fell in love with the games and demanded bigger, better, more in-depth games are aging.

British Bans Manhunt 2 - The First Video Game In 10 Years

2007-06-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

You can not buy Manhunt 2 in Britain. The decision by the British Board of Film Classification, or BBFC, means the game, from publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, creators of the controversial "Grand Theft Auto" series, cannot be legally supplied anywhere in Britain.

BBFC director David Cooke said "'Manhunt 2' is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing."

He continued by saying

"There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

The ban in Britain prompted one U.S. family group to lobby for an ‘Adults Only’ rating to ensure major American retailers cannot sell the game to minors. According to Gamepolitics.com, Manhunt 2 has been given an ‘Adults Only’ rating in the States, rather than the usual M (mature) rating which is non-prohibitive and acts merely as a guide for parents. This means that most major retailers will not sell the game.

Take Two/Rockstar still has online retailers and independent stores to channel the game through, but big superstore chains like Walmart account for 25% of game sold in the US.

Other global territories are likely to take a similar stance as the UK and US has -- so it seems the Take Two/Rockstar strategy for stalking success and creating Hellfire controversy may have backfired.

What’s The Big Deal?

In the game Manhunt 2, players become an insane asylum escapee sneaking up on “enemies” and killing them in gruesome ways.

If there was ever a game that deserved an “Adults Only” rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, Manhunt 2 is definitely it. What other game can you graphically decapitate someone and then use the head as a bowling ball? In Manhunt (original) players were able to suffocate somebody with a plastic bag and kill using razor wire. Sequels are follow-ups introducing bigger and better than the original – if razor wire and effective plastic bag instruments of death was used in the original and received only an M for Mature rating than what the hell do you have to do to get an “AO” (Adults Only) rating?

Manhunt 2 is a disturbing game. I’d like to think I’m not squeamish – at least when it comes to videogame violence. After all, it’s not real; it’s all make-believe, right? But Take Two/Rockstar video games have become nothing more than animated ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ snuff films

My opinion may not be what you were expecting from a self-described proud to be called Game Geek Gurl. There is no story without conflict and in interactive games, that conflict is predominantly played out in violence. God of War and Destroy All Humans have violence in mass quantities, no question about that. But the Manhunt series encourages players to be as vicious as possible in killing their “victims”. One game review of the original Manhunt encouraged this aspect by stating

“it’s certainly fun watching your enemies die and that is one of the main features of this game.”

Manhunt 2 Ban Questions:

What will be the result of censorship for future games?
How will the ban effect past, current and future video game classifications?
Does the ban purpose any serious threats to the long-term future of the gaming industry?

Censorship in any form is risky and further promotes the downwards spiral of a nannied nation. But is the merciless violence of Manhunt’s content video game entertainment or sensationalism of violence?

It’s Not Space Aliens, But It’s A Blast

2007-05-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

Cigna Corp. (Health & Life Insurance) said on May 30th, 2007 that it will offer HopeLab's access to "Re-Mission" the video game. The game features a teen appropriate sexy Roxxi nanobot with a blaster for her left arm and glides through the bodies of fictional cancer patients with her singular purpose of blasting cancer cells out of existence. Along the way, Roxxi also battles dangerous infections and manages side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatments. As you can read, the video game is to set to help teen cancer patients deal with their disease and help them visualize the destruction of cancerous cells.

Since the game's launch early last year, HopeLab said it has delivered 76,000 copies of "Re-Mission" which is available on disc or via download on its Web site. Cigna's will also offer the game on their website.

Pam Omidyar, a medical researcher launched HopeLab in 2001 to improve the health and possibilities of recovery for young people – and she did it with a mix of quality science and fun technology. HopeLab, a Northern California-based nonprofit organization, teamed with video game developers and animators and a medical specialist as well as young patients, in developing a quality video game that would educate as well as entertain.

Medical experts say that teenage cancer patients face unique challenges that adults do not always encounter. They are old enough to be responsible for their treatment, but may be too young to understand the potentially deadly consequences of skipping a required medication dosage.

HopeLab tested "Re-Mission" in a randomized, controlled trial of 375 male and female cancer patients aged 13 to 29, in the United States, Canada and Australia. The "Re-Mission" players maintained levels of chemotherapy in their blood and showed higher rates of antibiotic use than those in the control group, indicating that the game helped patients maintain they’re cancer therapy routine. It also demonstrates that the game is helping to instill confidence that the disease can be fought and encourages consistent implementation with their treatment.

Next on HopeLab's list: Obesity

If you are in the Los Angels area

2007-05-23T07:20:00.001-07:00

check out: Other Things To Do

MSNBC Goes Interactive in Movie Theaters

2007-05-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

From Online Media

by Les Luchter, Wednesday, May 9, 2007 6:00 AM ET
WHILE SPIDER-MAN 3 ENJOYED THE largest opening weekend box office ever this past weekend, those who saw the film at National Amusement's The Bridge: Cinema de Lux theater in Los Angeles received an additional treat courtesy of MSNBC.com: a pre-movie video game dubbed NewsBreaker Live that they could play from their seats.

Attendees were shown a live msnbc.com RSS newsfeed on the big screen, and as each person moved either to the right or left, their collective actions controlled paddles that "smashed up" the real-time headlines with a bouncing ball, causing them to fall. Simultaneously, the audience moved to "capture" the headlines before they dropped off the screen entirely.

"There's a single camera at the front of the theater that's recording the audience's movements," explained David Polinchock, chief experience officer for Brand Experience Lab, which developed the game with strategic communications firm SS+K and Etcetera Edutainment, part of Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center. "As they lean left and right, the camera records that, puts it in the computer system, and that's how they interact with the game. So they, in effect, become the joystick...."

Msnbc.com says NewsBreaker Live is part of the site's new branding campaign--"A Fuller Spectrum of News"--that also includes a NewsBreaker online game and a NewsStream screensaver, and is backed by TV, print and online ads.

NewsBreaker Live will run through July preceding such other major blockbusters as the sequels to Harry Potter, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean and Fantastic 4, as well as the new Transformers. Theatergoers in Philadelphia and White Plains, NY will also be able to enjoy the fun, which one 20-something male in Los Angeles called "the sweetest movie waiting experience I've ever had."

The Impact of Being a Gaming Parent

2007-05-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

By: twistedcaboose

We’ve all heard it before, “Video games are bad for kids”. The press, some celebrities, religious leaders and of course politicians want to blame events and actions of our children on video games. This is our opportunity as gaming parents to prove them wrong.

Video games mean so much more for parents. Being a gaming parent means more quality time with our children and more sharing. It gives us insight to what our children enjoy and gives us control over what our children do.

Although I was a gamer when I was a child and young adult, I lost touch with the gaming world until after my son was born. I am the mother of a 16 year old son. Being close to my son has meant stepping into his world and enjoying what he enjoys.

My son’s gaming began on the Nintendo Gamecube at around the age of eight. His game of choice then was Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It had been years since I picked up a console controller. I played badly at first but I would sneak into his room at night while he was asleep to practice and hone my skills. His gaming time was limited because he was young and reading and learning were more important at his age; each night we would play for an hour and on weekends a couple of hours per day. We would take turns on the controller. I would usually only play if he was having a hard time getting through something. We each would have our attempts at defeating the unbeatable bosses. I shared in the excitement when after 20 grueling tries he would finally beat a level or boss and I would bask in the hugs, kisses and pride when I beat a level or boss he could not defeat. And yes I even spent late nights while he slept looking for hints and walk-throughs.

After a few years on the Gamecube and a few years older his attention was set on the Xbox and PS2. His first love on the Xbox was Halo: Combat Evolved. I watched him play campaign and shared in his triumphs and then the ominous question came “Mom, can I play online?” This was my time to shine as a parent. My answer; “Get the other controller.” We hooked up to Xbox Connect and with some of my sons friends and were live within minutes. At first we created or joined rooms where only my son’s friends and a couple of their parents could play. Then together we ventured in to the world of multiplayer with unknown rivals. Sometimes we would get profane kids but they would be booted from the party immediately. I was REALLY bad at first. I had never actually played campaign with my son; just watched. My son and his friends constantly called me a “noob”. I practiced for hours at night just to be able to look up and walk at the same time. My skills and enjoyment of the game began to increase. My son would have his friends over and we would all play Halo until the wee hours of the night; laughing, giving each other high fives, eating junk food and ribbing each other if we died too quickly. On one of those nights my defining moment came that proved me a gaming parent. A kid we had been playing with was talking “smack”. Nothing profane just the normal stuff like “you suck” and “I can beat without trying” and “my dad could beat you”. My son, bless his heart, says “Dude my mom can beat your dad.” What? No pressure here! The kid gets his dad on and he and I exchange hellos and then game on. My heart was pounding, my palms sweaty and the boys were cheering for me. In the end I beat his dad. He and I had a great opportunity as parents to teach all the kids a lesson; sportsmanship. We exchanged the good games and talked about the game a bit and his son played with us a bit more. The light hearted smack talk continued and in the end my son’s favorite line to the kid was “dude my mom beat your dad in Halo”. They laughed. We still laugh about it.

With the release of Halo2 the gaming together continued for years with my son and his friends. We ventured into Match Making together and found a good group of friends to game with. I would hear some of his online friend’s stories about school, getting their drivers license, how they did on tests and some of his friends that were in college and how they were doing; a great group of friends and people in general.

I then found a website for older gamers that not only let me enjoy my gaming with my son but other gamers that had similar life experiences; 2old2play.com. The site offered me a choice from over 9000 gamers to play with that share a lot of what I share. Many are married, some are single. They have homes, cars, jobs and stress. Sometimes we talk about our kids, some ask for advice and insight or help; but we all share our lives and love of video games. Many of us have met face-to-face. We get together and play. We all relieve our stresses together. Many of us have children that we game with; the majority in fact. It is a safe haven for gaming adults. I have made real-life friends that share what I love.

Present day; my son has moved onto PC gaming while I remain a console gamer. He still picks up the Xbox 360 controller every once in a while and still games with me when new maps come out for Halo2 and still enjoys playing some of the other games with his friends every once in a while. I am still a die hard Halo fan and play every night with my friends and am involved with 2old2play.com doing whatever I can to help. Even though I don’t play PC games I understand what my son does and still share in the joy when he reaches a goal. A couple of months ago I found myself dropping everything to watch my son play Shadow of the Colossus on his PS2. It was a beautiful game to watch, the creativity and game play; I sat in awe. My son even appreciated the artistry involved in creating this game. I watched almost every minute that he played and we talked about the features in the game. Gaming has brought a new level of closeness between him and me.

Now that you’ve read my tale of our gaming experience you may ask, “What is the impact of being a gaming parent?” Look closely at the text that I’ve bolded. You notice words like closeness, joy, share, talk, love and many more. These experiences are the impact. We as adults are the purchasers of these games for our kids and ourselves. We are the leading buyers in the industry. At some point as parents we can choose to let video gaming be another wall between our kids and ourselves or we can pick up a controller or put our hands on a keyboard and become part of our children’s lives. In the time of technology our kids will game in some way. Parents have the opportunity to venture into the world of technology with their kids or stand on the side lines.

I challenge any politician to read this story and tell me that video games are bad for MY son. In fact the opposite is true. What you find in this short story of our lives is an experience of togetherness, love, understanding, friendship and sharing. One simple thing, gaming, it is what makes us closer. For some families it’s sports or music; for my little family it’s video games. In fact this is only a small sample of why video games are good for our family and others like us. Go ahead, tell me that all of these things: quality time, limited, excitement, hugs, kisses and pride, shine, together, laughing, defining moment, gaming parent, cheering, sportsmanship, real-life friends, love, understand, share, joy, we talked and closeness, are bad for my son. Then I will ask you what you do with your children that leads to a better understanding of them, sharing with them, talking with them, that allows them to open up to you, that impacts their lives.

I control what my son sees, plays and hears. I have taught my son lessons through video games and made myself available to him to open up and communicate. I control what video games my son buys. I share in my son’s life and love of video games.

I am an impact on my son’s life because I am a gaming parent.

Advergaming

2007-05-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Video Game advertising, where is it heading?

Advergaming is the business of placing advertisements in video games to advertise or promote a product, organization or sometimes a viewpoint. There are two types of Advergaming

Static in-game advertising
Dynamic in-game advertising

Static in-game advertising consists primarily with virtual billboards and in-game product placement that can not be altered once placed in the game.

Dynamic in-game advertising can be altered remotely by the advertising agencies and can be product tailored according to geographical location or time of day. This allows the agencies to delivery time-critical advertising campaigns, such as movie launches.

A report by eMarketer is showing a huge increase in spending when it comes to marketing inside of the video game space and analysts expect a minimum of a 22 percent increase by the year 2011. Personaly, I believe the percentage will be much greater than the 22 percent.

Looking at some recent cases of video game advergaming, a successful new marketing trend has developed. Burger King was immensely successful in their advergaming campaign by launching three Xbox and Xbox360 titles -- Gamers actually spent money to play a game created with one purpose in mind: advertising.

Pocketbike Racer - Racing game pitting Burger King mascots against one another.
Big Bumpin - Bumper car game pitting Burger King mascots against one another.
Sneak King – An adaptation of the stealth action genre, but instead of sneaking up and snapping someone's neck, you gives them the gift of food.

Advertising in video games will continue to build heat and produce stacks of profits. What scares me is how far will it develop? The last thing I want and I truly mean this… The very last thing I want to see is Mariah Carey at the glamorous age of 90 in short shorts singing ‘Vision of Love’.

We've all grown used to ads on google, personal blogs, and social networks; video games is just the newest kid on the block. With approximently 50% (or more) of the entertainment hours being spent with a controller in-hand instead of watching TV, how will advertisers market products to you? Advertisers are simply taking the advertising to where your eyeballs are in hopes of re-capturing the demographic of people not watching TV.

I believe gamers do appreciate the presence of in-game advertisements because it makes the game more realistic. However, how much advertising will be considered too much? Where will advertising placement be considered inappropriate?

How will advertisers tap into millions of subscribers of fantasy role playing games?

A Toyota billboards in racing games, a Subway banner behind home plate or a crate of Red Bull in first action shooter games – realistic. But an advertiser trying to blend a product into a medieval or even a fantasy realm setting and keeping it relevant seems impossible. Can you imagine seeing an Elvaan character eating a Burger King Whopper in Final Fantasy?

At the moment, it seems as if everyone is winning with in game advertising. Gaming companies have a promising revenue source. The companies behind the advertising have seen significant increase in product purchases, game developers feel the extra revenue allows them to introduce and experiment with new ideas and gamers appreciate the realism.

But if I start seeing Mariah Carey or any other pop tart ads, I’m going back to television!

Is there such a thing as virtual rape?

2007-05-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

As life moves online so does crime. Is there such a thing as virtual rape?

Definition: Rape is a form of assault where an individual forces another to have sexual intercourse against that person’s will.

Does this apply to avatars? Technically, avatars are codes, software programs controlled from a keyboard. They look like humanoids, but in fact they are still software programs. A person with the ability to create and manipulate coding can in fact “hack” into anther code (avatar) and take control of what that avatar does.

If a person does take control of anther’s avatar and directs the avatar to have sex with someone that they otherwise would not have sex with -- does that make it rape?

A thesis written by Wesley Cooper of the University of Alberta believes

“Although a virtual rape is not a rape, it can be a betrayal of the values that a virtual community builds itself around, and a humiliating insult to the player whose character is victimized.”

However in Julian Biddell's "A Rape in Cyberspace" she says

“Where before I'd found it hard to take virtual rape seriously, I

now was finding it difficult to remember how I could ever NOT have taken it seriously. “

The action was an assault and it did indeed force an individual’s avatar to have sexual intercourse against the live person’s will. Rape?

In most jurisdictions there can be no rape without penetration – which seems like an impossible concept in virtual worlds. Yet stalking and harassment definitely exists and laws now include internet stalking and harassment as a crime punishable by law.

As business and social interactions online increases, so does the need for mutually agreed upon law and or conventions covering property, copyright, contracts, crime (including sex crimes), tax, privacy, gambling and money laundering. Already US tax laws are being considered and drafted based on the dollars earned ‘in-world’ and taken out of the virtual world.

When a “crime” happens where is the jurisdiction?

If the victim is in the US but the attacker is in Australia, where is the case to be dealt with?

Can the owner of a game / virtual world dictate certain laws to apply to gamers?

What are the consequences of letting private companies make laws for millions of people?

Atari will lay off 20% of it's staff

2007-05-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

When you hear an industry is making billons, it can be a bit of shock when you hear a major company will reduce its work force. However, that’s exactly what’s happening at Atari. Atari employees received some unfortunate news this week when the company announced that they would lay off 20% of their overall workforce, across a wide-range of positions. Administrative positions will be hit the hardest.

Following a lengthy financial restructuring program that included the sale of numerous internal studios and brands over the last eighteen months, and the resignation of CEO Bruno Bonnell, Atari Group's parent company, Infogrames Entertainment made the workforce lay off announcement this week.

Apparently, Atari is still having financial problems and because of them, the company's board of directors approved the reduction of employees. The plan was approved on April 10th and it will be completed by the end of July. Commenting on the recent move, Atari president and CEO David Pierce declared:

"We expect that today's reorganization will continue to reduce Atari's general and administrative cost. These actions, though difficult, are a significant first step in reorganizing Atari and demonstrate our commitment to restoring shareholder value."

With the announcement of the lay offs, some sources are wondering what this could mean for they’re "PlayStation Home " project. The potential home entertainment system project was revealed to UK trade magazine earlier this year and is said to be available this summer.

While this is unfortunate news for employees, it may end up being great news for consumers if Atari can hold onto customer loyalty. The Atari brand has been on a downward spiral for a long time. Dragon Ball Z games have made up the majority of their release schedules and only speculative upcoming projects have held customer interest.

Shakespeare In Video

2007-04-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

A virtual rose by any other name is still a rose.

Since children typically spend hours battling trolls, aliens and a variety of other bad guys, a Canadian university is going to try introducing them to Shakespeare with a video game. "Speare" contains a link to a database about Shakespeare called Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare that was developed by the university as an educational resource.

While zapping enemy spaceships players will have to help recover stolen pages from Romeo and Juliet by memorizing lines from the famous play, learning facts about Shakespeare's life and creating synonyms and homonyms for parts of the missing text.

"The game is a way to capitalize on the time that kids spend on computers," said Professor Daniel Fischlin who headed the team at the University of Guelph in Ontario that developed the game called "Speare."

"I don't know of another medium that has seven-year-olds spouting Shakespeare," Fischlin added in response to charges the game might trivialize learning.

The Shakespearean game available online was tested on more than 100 grade six students and was launched to coincide with the anniversary of Shakespeare's death. With the introduction of the game, Daniel Fischlin plans to publish his findings in an academic journal.

The orignal purpose of the website was a site for Shakespearean lesson plans, video interviews and e-books of his plays. When professors realized the site's multimedia features were accessed mainly by young people, the idea for Speare was born.

A 12-year-old student, tested the game while it was being developed and said it taught her more about Shakespeare than books used by her older sister.

“Some of my grade 8 friends have just been learning from a book, and they say this is a more hands-on approach, and they learn more because it's fun," she said.

I went over to the site and it's very Final Fantasy like. It's slow but the graphics are nice and the game is simple and well done.

From the game:
The Prospearean Galaxy is named for a powerful and wise sorcerer whose knowledge comes from ancient storytelling. All resources are devoted to creating poetic codes, containing great wisdom to be used only for peaceful purposes. The power to speak is the power to do.

Peace reigned in the galaxy until a civil war broke out in the Verona System between planets Montagor and Capulon, who were entrusted with guarding Shakespeare’s ancient text Romeo and Juliet. Distracted by their squabbles, the Verona System is left open to invasion by the ever-encroaching drones of the power hungry Insidian Army.

The Verona galaxy was in charge of guarding the text of Romeo & Juliet. The player is Spear, in charge of retrieving the missing text.
"Speare"

One Day Blog Silence campaign is ridiculous

2007-04-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

From the campaign website: "All you have to do is spread the word about it and post the graphic on your blog on 30th April 2007.
No words and no comments. Just respect, reflect and empathy."

One Day of Blog Silence is supposed to show honor for Virginia Tech victims?

You want to show Honor?

Blog about someone who went out of their way for a good deed

What to show respect?

Blog about peaceful methods of disputing disagreements

Want to show empathy?

Blog about tolerance and acceptance

Want to show reflection?

Blog about how to interact with total strangers of a different culture.

Blog about anything positive

But blogging about nothing produces NOTHING

Change the world by changing how you look at it and how you act in it.

April 30th, 2007
One Day Blog of Positive Solutions NOT Silence!

Inspiring Teenagers

Society & Video Games

2007-04-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Video Game Violence Myth

by Gaming Insider
Summary:

This past Monday bore witness to a horrific event, when a Virginia Tech student killed more than 30 other students and professors. Such a massive and sudden loss of life in a setting intended to be one of safety and growth is absolutely worthy of personal reflection and sorrow. Unfortunately, this tragic event, like others in the past, has also been seen as a prime opportunity for politicization.

The problem is, millions of normal, well-adjusted individuals play and enjoy video games. They play when bored and when stressed; they even organize social events around games. And they really don’t like being compared to individuals responsible for heinous acts, solely on a common form of recreation. In fact, according to an FBI report on school shooters, potential shooters focus not on enjoyment of the game itself, but primarily on a constant exposure to violent stimuli (page 20), whether video games, movies, literature, or torturing the neighborhood cat. It’s also worth noting that in the entire 52-page report video games are mentioned exactly once.

Only hours after the events on Monday, before the identity of the shooter was even known, video games were being mentioned as the primary influencing factor behind the shootings. From Fox News, to Jack Thompson — the systematic rabble rouser on the topic — to Dr. Phil, all levied charges against video games. And I’d be willing to wager that in the near future there will be some government figure pointing a finger and pushing for a bill regulating this “threat.”

The Video Game Violence Myth

Donkey Kong Climbs Again!

2007-04-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

Donkey Kong (Miyamoto, et. al.,1981) is best known for it's Italian Mario who is out to save his girlfriend. because the carpenter mistreats the ape, so of course as revenge Donkey Kong escapes and kidnaps Mario's girlfriend, originally known as the Lady, but later renamed Pauline. Upon reaching the top of the steel stage, a heart appears between Mario and Pauline, but Donkey Kong grabs the woman and climbs higher, causing the heart to break. And the game then starts over at a higher level of difficulty.

Even today Donkey Kong is ranked as the 3rd most popular arcade game of all time and the Engineering students at UC Santa Cruz helped Donkey Kong climb his steel stage again using 6400 post it notes.

Total Number of Post-It® Notes: About 6400

Total People: About 10 Involved

Total Time: 5 hours

Currently visible at the E2 building at UCSC, it is scheduled to be removed on or before May 1.
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064

You can see more pictures on the website
here

A Career Where You Never Grow Old & You Never Grow Up

YouTube Videos & Video Recorded Games Are Dangerous

2007-04-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

YouTube is a popular, interactive website that allows people to preview, create and post videos for free. Anyone can upload content, and it is accessible for all, even if the content is inappropriate for kids.

While pornography is now "a given,” there are now other hazards inappropriate for children to view. A new dangerous trend is experimental videos uploaded to YouTube with a 'try this at home,' influence that is resulting in injury and death.

Think & Ask is a nonprofit news agency that produces online articles reflecting cultural references and investigative reports. Approximately 200 questionable videos viewed by Think & Ask during a three day period in January 2007 did not require a login. The videos show a variety of dangerous actions and instructions such as 'how to be cool with drugs'. One teen smokes marijuana and then points a gun to his head after several rounds with his bong, calling his video 'we gotta stay high.'

YouTube has no form of regulation for posting videos, but the videos will be removed from the site if viewers decide to complain and claim that it has inappropriate content. There have been several allegations that kids have been influenced by the violence from YouTube and were encouraged to produce their own experiments and footage.

For example, a recent arrest was made when four teenage boys from Mississauga gang-raped a 16-year-old girl. They were caught by the police because the boys had made a YouTube video of it that was being sent to students around their school. The victim was drugged and had no recollection of the crime committed against her, so if it wasn't for those boys filming it, they might not have been caught.

It is arguable to say that the boys made the video because of the hype that homemade videos are receiving from YouTube, but there is no way to prove that violent video postings on YouTube is a real issue or not.

In our society, violence is entertainment, whether it is real or just staged. Nevertheless, even if YouTube / viewers cannot prove that a video is real or fake, banning all types of violent videos is not the answer. It does not seem right that a website, which is just a medium for providing entertainment, is being blamed for influencing people to commit crimes.

It is also not fair to say that violent video games, YouTube videos or certain music causes violent happenings. It is up to the parents as well as the people who listen and watch videos as a form of entertainment to make decisions for themselves. We can not and should not have to babysit.

Than again, where should viewers, parents, businesses and or the government draw the line?

A 19-year-old shows viewers that holding a lighter to an aerosol stream of bug spray provides a torch to play with.

Is this entertainment, freedom of speech, his right to be stupid or should this be a video deemed inappropriate and not allowed to be viewed on YouTube?

The Chocking Game

There are numerous videos that show how to do a sleeper hold, also known as The Choking Game at teen parties. The choking game has been attributed to a number of teenage deaths as well as numerous victims who have suffered permanent neurological damage from the game.

A British motorcyclist constantly toys with police by recording his careless speed driving and posting the video on YouTube minus the date. Because the laws state that a ticket must be issued within 14 days of the act, police can not issue the motorcyclist a citation.

Other games that inspire dangerous actions are fledgling sponsors that announce “Can You Top This” contests where kids are doing incredibly stupid stunts or lighting themselves on fire in front of cameras, in order to win prizes.

At Break.com, site owner Keith Richman holds video popularity contests and pays the winners. Last year, he paid $500 for rights to video of a dry ice bomb blowing up in a man's hand, according to Charlie Dyess – the man featured in the video.

"At first, I thought my fingers were gone. I thought I blew them off," Dyess said. Shrapnel from the bottle tore into his arm, and he temporarily lost hearing in his right ear.

Dyess recovered, and not long after, he and the man behind the camera decided to enter Break.com's contest. They won second place and he gloated about receiving $500 for the act of stupidly.

However, the scarier part is that at the time of the filming, Charlie Dyess said he was working on a movie project with his church's youth group – there are several teens in the video. He agreed the video may in fact inspire other stupid pranks but doesn't see any problem or conflict of interest in creating stunts of stupidly.

"I know from working with youth that no matter what you preach they're going to do anything they want," he said.

Somewhere in his mind I guess he figured if you can't beat em join em... I smell a future Darwin Award winner.

As if joining them wasn't bad enough, Charlie Dyess continued his praise of stupidity by saying:

"These kids are bored and they want to do something," he said. Video cameras and Web site distribution have "brought the prankster out in everybody."

Pranksters or modern day Gladiators?

One college student said in an interview

"I think people can post whatever they want. It's obviously not cool if someone posted videos of beating people up or killing them. But what about the news that shows people all the time like that. Or movies? That's allowed. You can't allow one without the other," said Kevin Welsh, a Brock University student.

What is the difference?
Is there a difference?
Where should the line be drawn?

Inspiring Teenagers

Trips to the doctor haven't reduced, they're just different.

2007-04-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am still on my When I was Your Age kick.

Now days I take pride in my adventurous kid caused scars and laugh at fond memories of some of the dumb stuff I did and tried to do. I was so ' adventurous' that my doctor told my dad not to bother taking me to the emergency room, just call him at home.

However, a new study in Britain shows that children have become less active in adventures, largely due to video and computer games.

The report showed a sharp decrease between 1999 and 2006 in the number of children who visited the hospital due to injuries from activities such as tree climbing, bike riding, chasing cats on your skateboard while holding your dog's leash... or was that just me?

Instead of physical adventurous injuries, almost 600 children went to the hospital last year suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury, a condition which normally affects assembly line workers and office computer professionals.

Child health advocates are worried saying children are increasingly being robbed of their childhoods.

I don't know if children are necessarily being robbed of a childhood, but they are definitely missing out on beloved memories of outdoor fun. Skateboarding, swinging from a tree rope and diving into water, stupid stunts and bruises and scars are all part of growing up. Having small injuries helps children learn about risk.

A Career Where You Never Grow Old &

You Never Grow Up

Brain Freeze

2007-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Game Daily’s Top 10 Games That Hurt Your Brain

10. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

9. Viewtiful Joe

8. Battletoads

7. God of War Series

6. Devil May Cry 3

5. Contra: Shattered Soldier

4. Star Wars Trilogy

3. Ikaruga

2. Ninja Gaiden Black

#1 Game That Hurt Your Brain is

Ghosts 'N Goblins Series

Capcom's famous adventure games give people migraines, thanks to extremely tough bad guys and seemingly impossible jumps. The heroic knight Arthur springs into battle, only to be cut down by waves of zombies, crows, man-eating plants and ghosts. Scores of gamers admit to slamming controllers and punching walls in disgust after failing to reach even the second level, and those lucky enough to reach the end of the original game must go back to the beginning and start over in order to beat it.

- Chris Buffa and Robert Workman

Video Game Tester Jobs

Game Over: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc

2007-03-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

New Players: Begin

Routers

San Francisco - A feisty shareholder revolt at Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. this week offed nearly as many executives as

virtual characters in the video game company's violent titles.

The result was a new CEO and several new board members now leading the company.

Take-Two's stock shares rose $1.36, or 6.5 percent than climbed to $21.10 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. in extended trading Thursday.

Strauss Zelnick, former chief executive of BMG Entertainment, which became part of Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). in 2004, is the company's new non-executive chairman.

Ben Feder, formerly a senior executive at News Corp was named acting CEO, as the replacement for the now the former CEO and president Paul Eibeler.

In a statement confirming the shareholder vote, Zelnick praised the company's "exceptional brands and creative resources" and vowed that the game maker's new leadership would focus on maximizing its value to shareholders, gamers and employees.

The coup caps several years of drama at New York-based Take-Two, one of the world's biggest video game publishers and a rival to Activision Inc., THQ Inc. and top-selling Electronic Arts Inc.

Take-Two's former chairman and CEO, Ryan A. Brant, became the first chief executive to be convicted of backdating stock options. In February, he pleaded guilty in a New York state court to first-degree falsification of business records in a deal that lets him avoid prison.

In the past, financial analysts have criticized Take-Two for relying too heavily on relatively uncreative sequels, sports games and bloodthirsty "first-person shooters." While so-called hardcore games remain popular with teens and young men, new online genres — trivia quizzes, word games and multiplayer role-playing games — are catching on with women, older players and millions of mobile phone users.

Child advocacy groups and legislators are Take-Two's biggest foes, complaining that the company produces the industry's most violent, mean-spirited games.

In "Grand Theft Auto," players shoot pedestrians and police with reckless abandon. Another hit is "Bully," about a slingshot-wielding 15-year-old at Bullworth Academy boarding school, whose motto is "Canis Canem Edit," Latin for "dog eat dog."

Take-Two is best known for a version of "Grand Theft Auto" that included a hidden, lewd scene that sparked a 2005 congressional uproar.

Programmers at many game publishers hide bonus material or tricks that players may unlock with special codes. "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" had a modification distributed online known as "Hot Coffee," which allowed players to download modifications to reveal oral sex scenes.

The House voted 355-21 to pass a resolution asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Take-Two and its subsidiary, Rockstar Games. With the house vote, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc. pulled the game, which was the top seller of 2004.

Take Two initially said the scenes were not part of the retail version of the game but were created by third parties. However the company later acknowledged the scenes were contained in its version.

Video game industry analyst Tom Gardner, CEO of Alexandria, Va.-based investment company The Motley Fool, praised the revolt.

"Sometimes institutions play football with small public companies, and they can inflict a lot of damage if companies don't have a large enough ownership stake to protect against institutions that squeeze out profits in the near term," Gardner said. "But in this case, the institutions look quite good: You have backdated options, hidden porn, accounting issues and mismanagement. You have management that was at best incompetent and at worst dishonest."

Video Game Tester Jobs

Computers and Xbox For Guns

2007-03-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

MEXICO CITY
(Reuters)

Police have launched a program in the notorious inner-city barrio of Tepito, which police stormed last month, city police chief Joel Ortega said anyone who turns in a high-caliber weapon like a machine gun will get a computer. Owners can swap smaller guns for cash or Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox video-game consoles under the plan.

Newly elected Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has moved quickly to restore order to the chaotic capital by going after well-known crime dens and clearing the city's narrow streets of informal vendors whose stalls have blocked sidewalks for years.

His moves echo those of new conservative President Felipe Calderon, who since December has ordered the military into several states infested by ruthless drug gangs who killed about 2,000 people last year.

Organizers say they have 100 computers ready for the first wave of the program, each worth 8,500 pesos ($769) and equipped with software donated by Microsoft. On the first day, Olayo said the city received 17 guns, including 12 from Tepito
If successful, the program will be extended to Iztapalapa, another area targeted by police where last week 800 officers expropriated a six-block neighborhood filled with stores selling parts torn from stolen cars.

Guns that are handed over will be destroyed by the army. The city promised to protect their owners' anonymity.

Imagine a future where teenagers from all walks of life are inspired to achieve their dreams and goals.

Videogames Driving

2007-03-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

It hardly needs repeating that videogames continue to take the blame for many of society’s violence and obesity ills. However, people have become anesthetized after the hundredth ‘Video Game Kills’ article. Increasingly people are looking for new evils that videogames trigger. The hot new issue is bad youth drivers. Several police agencies, communities and insurance companies are blaming videogames for bad driver ‘Need for Speed.’ In one case, a man used the game Grand Theft Auto as an excuse for thinking he could outrun the cops.

In New Zealand, the government has responded to a recent fatal car accident involving teenagers by pointing the finger at videogame, saying they make teenagers feel "bulletproof" when they drive. Anyone who has ever spent a day playing a racing videogame might find feel this way for a moment when you get into a car, but as your brain adjusts back to reality, the reality that you drive a vehicle that probably doesn’t top over 100 mph should also sink in. I

It's hard to imagine that anyone would actually change their driving habits because of a game, unless they were really, well, stupid and reckless. Of course, young drivers have always been known to make stupid and reckless decisions, long before the advent of videogames, just as there has always been violence and obesity too. Why blame video games for human stupidly?

Back before the times of cars and video games, how many dumb youths would get drunk and then race the train jumping across the tracks in front of the train? It happened and there were no video games to blame back than. Stupid people do stupid things regardless of the video game they might have or not have played. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and people need to stop hunting for reasons to support why a dumb deed was done.

Video Game Exercise

2007-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Why haven’t better video games infused exercise equipment been developed yet? The very simple Dance Dance Revolution is a great introduction, but the novelty soon wears off. Game/exercise devices fall into two categories: overly expensive exercise machines with sucky games or games with amateur like exercise machines / gear.

Video games are a multi billion dollar industry looking for new ways to entice gamers and potential new gamers. Video games becoming part of the exercise routine in gyms and homes would transform gyms into new fashionable arcades.

Companies have offered gym equipment particularly stationary bikes with virtual-reality capability for years. But these days, fitness equipment executives are becoming more confident with new graphic capabilities. The increasing need to get people off the couch are helping to build a new path of sales for both the fitness industry as well as video game industry.

One company in Hawaii has developed a surf simulator that is said to be great for balance, coordination and exercise. Both children and adults can surf the world's first patented indoor video surf simulator. The game is based on balance as you stand on a genuine, hand made, fiberglass competition shaped board and surf 30 foot video waves.

Video Game Tester Jobs

How Can Video Games Be Good For Kids!?

2007-03-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Video games received a lot of negative press since they have become so popular. They have a reputation of creating killers kids, teenagers, and sometimes even grown adults.

While they may have influence in the mainstream society, it's time for video games to get some positive credit for their good aspects. Gamers are happily voicing the positive and exciting ways that video games are helping people.

It’s said that the skills needed to play games are similar to the skills needed to perform an examination surgery of the internal organs of the abdomen using a laparoscope aka laparoscopic surgery.

In a relatively unheard of study recently published within the medical community, surgeons who at one time in their lives played up to 3 hours of video games a week made 37% fewer errors in the simulated laparoscopic surgeries performed during the study.

They were faster and better overall than the other surgeons who played less than 3 hours or none at all. This is not a perfect study but it is definitely an exciting development that will be followed by researchers for further possibilities.

Another study which is currently being performed is using Virtual Reality Therapy with soldiers that suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is estimated that more than 20% of American soldiers who have returned from Iraq suffer with PTSD.

A game that has been created and modified from the Xbox game, Full Spectrum Warrior, is being used to help soldiers face their fears with similar landscapes, scenes, and even smells that resemble what they experienced in the Middle East. One female soldier that has completed this form of therapy has continued to see improvements three months after receiving the therapy. The psychologist that has created this therapy is not making any grand claims at this point but is very hopeful for continued future success.

Another way that video games are beneficial is in fitness. A Canadian fitness company is now hooking interactive games up to exercise machines.

This facility is geared specifically toward teens. You can pedal and steer your way into victory against friends through playing the game on your stationary bike. The bike is connected to a biking PlayStation game and the pedals and handlebars give you movement and steering in the game. This is a truly inventive way to merge teenagers' love for video games with physical activity.

The resistance to video games is nothing but the continuing conflict between generations. In the 1940’s to 1950’s, rock ’n’ roll was thought to have a clearly negative influence. Parents, preachers and politicians all thought it changed young people in to lazy mindless zombies. According to one U.S. preacher, rock and roll turned kids into “devil worshippers” who defied both the law and common decency. Elvis’s dancing was considered sacrilegious to the human movement.

Jazz, novels, comic books, movies and even the waltz were criticized as corrupting influences that would dull the minds of young people. However, I think we can all agree those influences weren’t so bad.

When used with a want of positive results, Video games can allow for creativity and individualism. A game can allow a player to see how events can happen differently and for what reasons.

Children and teenagers use popular culture to deal with escalating stress at school and home. Advertisers constantly focus what many people consider inappropriate ads to young consumers, yet they receive less than half the grief that video games do.

It doesn’t take a lot of insight to recognize that the modern public educational system is crumbling. Fresh ideas and computer involvement is needed. Video games is a talent that could be fully developed using traditional textbooks and instructions. More and more studies are showing that video games can have positive effects. Some public school have already begun experimental programs utilizing computers with instant success. Therefore, the advance of video games into classroom education, is not only unavoidable; it is necessary.

Video Game Tester Jobs

These boots were made for walking
Help support me in the Walk America event.

PS3 - The Trojan Horse For Blu-Ray's Success?

2007-03-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

All games are now formatted in Blu-ray technology which was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association. Blu-ray is a group of 170 entertainment and technology companies that came together to develop Blu-ray technology (some of the big guys include: Disney, Fox, Sony, Samsung, Warner Brothers, HP, Dell & Apple.)

Supposedly, gamers love the PS3's new high-def graphics and capacity, but are annoyed that the console costs over $500, roughly $100 to $200 more than the XBox 360. The perception is that the console is more expensive because Sony included the Blu-ray player.

Was it necessary?

Sony is dangerously trying to give Blu-ray a boost as it battles the Toshiba-supported HD-DVD format in the new high-def disc category.

The biggest complaint among gamers is the price. A lot of people don't have HDTV's yet, and haven't any need for Blu-ray, and wireless internet is only a marginal deal. Until Blu-ray becomes mainstream, Blu-ray technology in gaming is meaningless, in the future they won't be.

When the PlayStation 2 and Xbox launched in the '90s, analysts speculated that the consoles might be in home gaming Trojan horses for DVD players and home computers. While this helped build awareness for the DVD format, the takeover predictions didn't develop. Sales of PCs and standalone DVD players continued to attract consumers.

“PS3 will live and die by the games it plays. The fact it's a DVD player is a bonus, but not why people bought it," says John Davison, editorial director of IUp Network, a gaming network.

Video Game Tester Jobs

At Home With Games

2007-03-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Yahoo News

More than one-third of U.S. adults who go online own a video game console and 16 percent own a portable gaming device. Among the top three gaming heavyweights -- Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft -- Nintendo leads the pack of the most Web traffic growth over the past year, likely due to the success of Nintendo's new Wii console.

Unique visitors to Nintendo.com increased 91 percent, from February 2006 to February 2007. Xbox.com also saw significant year-over-year growth in February, increasing 47 percent. The numbers show a shift that will most likely position the gaming console against the PC and TV as the entertainment source for the entire family. Both Microsoft and Sony are pushing their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles as multimedia hubs for gaming, watching movies, and viewing pictures.

IBM announced on Monday that it is beginning production of a 65-nanometer version of its Cell Broadband Engine, the multicore chip that powers the graphics processing of the Sony PlayStation 3. Among other things, the chip has nine processors with a top clock speed of over 4 GHz, and can operate multiple operating systems at the same time. The announcement this week by IBM that it is shrinking the size of the Cell chip by more than 25 percent raises the possibility that the cost of the PlayStation 3 might come down. The smaller Cell will use less power than its 90-nanometer predecessor and should cost less.

Microsoft announced that its Live online service will be extended to PC users in May, broadening its reach beyond the Xbox 360 console gamers now using Live. The PC version of Live will launch with a version of "Halo 2," a popular game featuring alien battles, and will be geared for Windows Vista.

A few months later, Microsoft Game Studios is scheduled to release a title, called "Shadowrun," that will encourage competition between Xbox 360 and PC players.

Product Development

Video Game Tester Jobs

2007-03-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Full Time Company Game Tester - The nirvana of video game testing. Here is a look at the different types of video game tester jobs that are available.

Movie Theater Offer Interactive Video Games To Fight Declining Ticket Sales?

2007-03-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

Edited by Danielle Shriver

Let’s face it. Movie theaters aren’t as appealing now that prices are so unreasonably high. Combined with low quality films the reasons to attend a movie theater have hit an all-time low. Movie theaters have made subtle changes to theaters in an effort to entice audiences. Such as larger screens, comfortable chairs, and surround sound. There is also dining available in the lobby of some theaters. But the cons outweigh the pros and patrons walk away feeling like the experience was unsatisfactory. What else could they offer people to increase attendance?

Video games! CineGames in Spain has created a new concept of pre-movie entertainment by bringing gaming into theaters with black lights, flashing green lasers, vibrating seats, and 17- inch screens attached to individual chairs. There is a hybrid theater in Madrid, Spain has all the excitement of an arcade and the classic feel of the true cinema experience. Enrique Martinez of CineGames developed the idea as part of an executive MBA program at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. "We see the future with multiplexes with five screens, one for the traditional Hollywood spectaculars and the others for screens for video halls and 3-D. That’s the next step." The Yelmo Cineplex aims to expand the concept throughout Europe and into North America by allowing other theater companies to use the system. CinemaxX, one of the top movie exhibition chains in Germany, carried out a four-month trial with this innovative idea on one of its screens in Essen last year with success.

Time Play Entertainment in Toronto, Canada is also developing theater technology that would allow moviegoers to play up to twenty minutes of interactive, ad-sponsored games before the start of movies. They will offer packages that allow movie theaters to retrofit their screens so patrons can bide their time before a movie starts. With the new video game system, moviegoers can play on small individual touch-screen devices that will allow audience members to interact with one another, or individually. Ultimately, Time Play Entertainment wants to develop a system that opens up screens for a wide variety of uses, from popular games as basic as bingo to online computer role-playing games in a virtual world. We can only wait in anticipation for the day when it is available at our local Cineplex’s in the States.

Yelmo Cineplex is now trying to develop an educational arm that would rent out the hall to schools that could use the system for learning and testing. In addition to pre movie entertainment the theater is busily organizing game tournaments for Manga video games and Pro Evolution Soccer, a popular soccer game produced by Electronic Arts. This should not only help boost ticket sales, but also make us, the moviegoers, and a happy bunch.

If movie executives and shareholders want to return customers they need to pick up a similar technique, and fast. Especially since ticket prices have continued rising while movie quality has been going down. Remember Snakes On a Plane? Video games could be incorporated into the movie experience to entice audiences to come back for the whopping fourteen-dollar entrance price. American movie theaters should upgrade the movie experience with more than leather seats and cup holders. It’s only a matter of time until we see theaters remodeling their spots with snazzy pre-movie entertainment like Spain and Canada.

Be proactive - take responsibility for your own success

Three Best Video Games In A Movie Plotlines

2007-03-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

Long before it became standard practice to turn every video game into a movie, the video game’s place in a film was more of an object of curiosity then a mere marketing tie-in. In film, the ability to control the GUI (Graphical User Interface) tapped into fears of a machine-dominated world or fantasies of being whisked away to a far off future to save the universe.

I’ve come up with a list of what I considered the best in-movie video games plotlines. If you can add to it, please do.

Wargames (1983)

A high school student whose gaming addiction caused his grades to suffer and like any good gamer, he hacks into his school system to change his marks. Somehow, changing his grades leads him to a super-secret government program that oversees nuke launches. Thinking it’s just RISK Online, he nearly starts World War III due to a poorly-guarded Firewall / gate keeping program.

The Last Starfighter

One of my all time movie favorites

Alex lives in the boonies with nothing to do but get drunk, have sex and play video games. What else does a good game geek do? The trailer-park teen spends his days battling Space Invaders by means of an arcade game. My kind of guy! Little does our hero know, the game is actually an intergalactic recruiting device used to find the best and brightest starfighters for nothing less than saving the universe.

When Alex hits the intergalactic Top Score, there’s no one around to congratulates him. Soon after, an independent contactor for the intergalactic recruiting video machine arrives to enlist him for the purposes of battling the evil Kur and the Ko-Dan armada.

Tron

Definitely one of my top twenty all time favorite movies

Time hasn’t changed too much. The kids of the parents who were scared of their kids getting too sucked up into games are now the parents of the kids who are sucked into today’s games. Tron took the 80’s fear to the literal extreme. The death of in-game characters brings back memories of frustrations and dry tears over the death of characters developed over weeks of game play and the unnatural bonds we formed with them.

Jeff Bridges, gets sucked into his character’s neon-colored game world where he and a security program (the aptly-named Tron) must race bikes, navigate through mazes, and throw discs at square beasts just so that he can escape but to his own world.

More Than Just Fun And Games

Mind Games

2007-03-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Hasn’t there been at least a couple of times you wished you had the power to move things with your mind? However no matter how hard you concentrated the person in front of you kept talking relentlessly. Gamers will soon be given the power to move things with their minds…in a game world at least.

Emotiv Systems has developed a neural-processing technology that lets players control game environments with their minds alone. Sensors in the helmet pick up on electric signals from the brain. The system software analyzes the signals and then wirelessly relays what it detects to a receiver, which is plugged into the USB port of a game console or PC.

Just as motion control has opened up a whole new world of interaction and gaming experiences, so could thought control gaming lead to a whole new host of innovative titles such a Drunk Auto Theft or Who Will Be The Next American Jedi?

The prototype device looks sort of like a smaller version of Professor X’s Cerebro and is designed to take video games to the next level. As with handwriting or voice recognition, the machine itself has a learning curve, improving as it better understands what the player is thinking, but there is also a skill level involving visualization on the part of the gamer.

The system seems to work best with children and those open to believing in their capability, according to Randy Breen, Emotiv's chief product officer.

"We have had a number of kids try the equipment, and they often get the best results right away," Breen said. "Part of that is because the kid doesn't have the same kind of barriers as an adult does. Lots of kids can fantasize about moving a cup and believe it."

Adults, on the other hand, are more restrictive in their thinking and therefore have a obstacle to believing that they can do something out of the ordinary, Breen said.

I have to admit that I find it amusing that Emotiv Systems has focused they’re first mind control product for gamers instead of some nobler cause such as helping quadriplegics or even enabling us to translate cat thoughts. I for one would love to know why they choose to sit on the laps of people who are allergic to them.

Cats thoughts will have to wait as Emotiv is not yet ready to announce any partnerships. However they did announce that they are developing its technology for use in other industries, including medicine, security, market research, and interactive television.

Nowadays everybody is talking about Xbox and Nintendo Wii’s revolutionary controller, but what may be on everybody’s mind in the near future is the Emotiv System. However… lets not get too carried away, the last thing I want is a Demolition Man kind of Vir-Sex.

Virtual Property Tax?

2007-03-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

Edited by: Bellaluna from Purusha Studios

Come April 15 profits earned in online communities must be reported to the IRS.

Second Life has become a second life to many current and hopeful entrepreneurs. Second Life is thriving and many people are dancing to the beat of a virtual income. Entrepreneurs have flocked to Second Life - a computer-based 3-D virtual world where users create a second life all online in pursuit of making real money. The Second Life residents can buy and sell goods for Linden dollars, an in-world currency that can be converted into real U.S. dollars.

I've talked to a couple of Lifers that claim that Second Life pays their apartment rent. Anshe Chung claims to be the first virtual world millionaire made entirely from Second Life.

However, eCommerce reality is getting a virtual wake up as the reality of the tax man and tax reporting has come knocking. Under current tax law, it's clear that earnings in real U.S. dollars generated within virtual realities are reportable to the IRS. If a Second Life real estate mogul cashes out of her Second Life in-world property portfolio, she's liable to pay income tax on any profit that's been exchanged into real dollars, just as an ebay seller is responsible for reporting income generated from an online sale.

On the other hand, the tax law is shadowy when it comes to virtual money where money is part of the game and has created its own currency. The big Life question: Is a transaction that occurs only in Linden dollars and doesn't involve any real-world, currency exchange taxable?

The logical answer would seem to be no, but questions like that have the tax community animated about the issue. Taxable exchanges have gained enough buzz that it has attracted the interest of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. As virtual worlds gain popularity, they're studying issues related to the economies of virtual realities such as Second Life and World of Warcraft, (online role-playing games).

The results of the study are due to be released before the end of the month - and suggest that "as long as virtual activity stays within the virtual economy, it shouldn't be taxable," said Christopher Frenze, executive director of the JEC, which conducts policy research on economic issues facing Congress

Many people are arguing that even the profits that are generated and stay within the virtual world are taxable. "As soon as you start looking at what's going on in these worlds, they look a lot like real economic transactions," said Bryan Camp, a professor at Texas Tech University School of Law.

”Even if profit isn't realized in real dollars, there's still an exchange of items of economic value. In the real world, if someone trades goods or services without the exchange of real money - also known as bartering - that's a taxable event,” Camp noted.

With all of the attention drawn to Second Life and the thousands of Linden dollars that can be made the IRS eventually will have to respond to the debatable situation. "I think it's on the IRS's radar screen in a way it was not six months ago," Camp said.

Dan Miller, senior economist for the Joint Economic Committee became interested in the issue when he began exploring some of the virtual worlds in his free time. He says he has an open mind about how real world tax authorities should interact with virtual economies.

"We are starting with a blank slate and going through the various dimensions of virtual economies, and seeing where they might intersect with public policy," he said. Miller hopes to have a rough draft of his report done by the end of the year, although he admitted that some of his colleagues may need some convincing.

A CNN Money article on Second Life income stated that an IRS spokesman offered the following comment via e-mail: "Any time someone wins a tangible prize or award, the value is reportable as taxable income. An accumulation of 'points' would not result in tax consequences, but redeeming or selling them for money, goods, or services would."

Second Life operator Linden Lab doesn't seem overly concerned about potential tax regulations on virtual economies, at least not yet.

"I found that talking about this issue with some of the other economists on the committee, they are not really familiar with what a virtual economy is. The idea of Second Life or World of Warcraft or some of these other synthetic universes, [is something] they have trouble wrapping their head(s) around. So there's an educational hurdle to overcome here," Miller said.

However, there are some on Capitol Hill who won't require much explanation.

"I can almost guarantee that there are some members of Congress spending time in Second Life or World of Warcraft," Miller said.

Future Telecommuting Positions

Does Video Games Encourage Dangerous Driving?

2007-03-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

A survey for driving school BMS in the UK revealed that more than a third of motorists aged 16 to 24 said they were more likely to go faster on the roads after playing driving games. The study findings come just weeks after a teenager was accused of causing the death of a widow while driving. After the accident admitted he had played a computer racing car game shortly before the accident. A jury accepted that Christopher Hayden, 19, and his co-accused James Budden, 28, were not racing and were convicted only of careless driving.

In the US video game violence such as first person shooter games and online role playing games have always been in the blame game by the governments and child safety watch group targets. However, a recent study has once again shifted the potential blame back over to racing games.

Some people are saying that driving games should carry warnings to prevent young drivers from confusing fantasy with reality. However, there are some people who have video racing games to thank for keeping them safe. One voiced opinion said

“I can say though from personal experience, video game driving once saved me on the road during a bad winter storm when I lost control. Instinctively, I reacted as if I were playing a video game, and everything worked out perfectly. I did a full 360 on the road and regained control exactly when I needed to keep moving straight down the road. Thank you video games.”

In a generation of "game boy racers" driving recklessly in the game, does this mean they go into automatic behind the wheel?

Game Consoles Have Earned Their Place In The Living Room

2007-03-06T12:01:00.000-08:00

The average household entertainment axis now consists of a television, DVD player and a gaming console. The Nielsen Company announced a Press Release that said their study conducted between 2004 and 2006 found 41.1 percent of households have gaming consoles. In the fourth quarter of 2006 there were 45.7 million homes with video game consoles, compared to 43 million in 2005, and 38.6 million the previous year.

"The video game console has become a major player in the battle for the living room," according to Nielsen's vice president of wireless and interactive services, Jeff Herrmann.

"In households across the country, consoles are successfully competing for consumers' time and attention; not simply as gaming platforms, but as multimedia hubs that also can deliver high quality digital movies and IPTV."

What about online gaming?

World of Warcraft is still the dominating force of online gaming, but Second Life’s real time second life is catching up and Microsoft announced today that Xbox now has more than 6 million gamers worldwide connected to Xbox LIVE. This was a goal they set last year at the E3 convention and have now accomplished four months ahead of schedule. Nintendo introduced three new titles and Activision has now jumped into the web with they’re online gaming investment by acquiring DemonWare.

What will be interesting to see is a study of online games in the household. While gaming consoles have earned their rightful place next to the DVD player, online games have continued to build popularity with bigger, better and more realistic worlds.

Obviously, the demographics of console ownership was partial to age and gender lines - males between 12 and 17 being the group most likely to have access to a console at home, while males between 18 and 34 recorded the second highest penetration level, at 67.7 per cent.

If your feeling any shameful geek thoughts for playing with your Nintendo Wii or Xbox on a Saturday night, let it go because you're not alone.

Computer Animation Careers

Study shows that killer games do not make killer kids.

2007-03-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

University of Southern California sociologist Karen Sternheimer, has been researching the possibility of the missing link between video game violence and kids since 1999. She said blaming video games for youth violence fails to take into account other major factors.

"A symphony of events controls violence," said Sternheimer, who began her research after experts blamed the video game "Doom" for the gun rampage at Columbine High School in Colorado in which two students killed 13 people and then themselves.

"It was a tragic and, very fortunately, rare event and it was discouraging to see that the conversation often started and stopped at video games."

Sternheimer's article, "Do Video Games Kill?," will appear in the American Sociological Association's Contexts magazine as the European Union weighs outlawing certain violent games and harmonizing national penalties for retailers caught such products to under-age children.

Her research, involved studying media coverage and FBI statistics detailing trends on youth crime, found that in the 10 years after the release of "Doom" -- and other violence targeted titles -- juvenile homicide arrest rates in the United States fell 77 percent.

In addition, Sternheimer found that students have less than a 7 in 10 million chance of being killed at school. “If we want to understand why young become homicidal, we need to look beyond the games they play or we miss some of the biggest pieces of the puzzle," she said. Karen Sternheimer lists other factors such as community and family violence and less parental involvement as other possible factors.

Sternheimer said violent video games have come to carry the baggage of social angst over youth violence as the industry has grown into a $10 billion-plus giant that towers over Hollywood box office sales. Blaming video games is a quick fix for when the public demands an explanation for why children become murderers.

In the US, the video game industry is self-regulated and retailers have the deciding factor whether or not to sell a video game. Due to demands from concerned consumers, the industry has given combat video games an age appropriate grade. An M-rated game is intended for mature audiences. These games contain content judged appropriate for people aged 17 and older. However, if is up to the buyer / parent on whether or not to buy the game for a child.

Putting the blame on video games gives a false impression that society should forgive the environment in which the child was raised and removes the responsibility of the criminal. However, youth criminal activity is more complicated than any video game and there is no one simple solution to answering why do kids kill?

Teaching in the Juvenile Justice System

More Than Just Fun And Games

Video games good teachers?

2007-03-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Source: Researchers weigh in on value of digital lessons

HOUSTON - Tired of badgering the kids to quit wasting time with those computer and video games and get started on homework? Here's a news flash for the 21st Century: It turns out many of the games might be better than homework.

In a series of research projects as likely to thrill young people as they are to horrify their parents and teachers, academic experts across the country are unearthing educational benefits in the digital games that surveys show are now played by more than 80 percent of American young people aged 8 - 18.

At the top of the experts' lists are simulation and role-playing games, often played on the Internet alongside thousands of other participants, because of the vocabulary, reasoning and social skills they can boost. But even some of the most violent games, such as the notorious Grand Theft Auto, have some valuable lessons to teach in the right circumstances, researchers are finding.

Replacing rote memorization |

Some researchers even suggest supplanting much of the traditional back-to-basics K-12 curriculum with a new generation of game-based materials to capture the increasingly short attention spans of today's youth.

"Right now, in American schools, we spend most of the first six or seven years of math education teaching kids to do what a 99-cent calculator does," said David Williamson Shaffer, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of a recent book, "How Computer Games Help Children Learn."

"We have this view that schooling is the natural and inevitable way to get kids ready for life in the world," said Shaffer, a leader in the field of digital learning. "But it shouldn't come as a surprise that when our economy has changed, when innovation and creativity are much more important than rote memorization, that the system needs some real updating to train kids how to use computer games to solve problems in the real world."

"We realized that over 80 percent of American kids have game consoles at home, 90 percent of kids are online and 50 percent of them are producing things online, so we really need to understand what is going on here," said Constance Yowell, director of the MacArthur Foundation's digital research initiative.

"This is what kids are doing, so we need to know both the positive benefits and the unintended consequences."

Simulation games in particular have already been embraced by some educators, as well as many businesses and the U.S. military, as effective ways to introduce people to environments and situations that would otherwise be too expensive, dangerous or impossible to gain access to.

The computer games and tools being studied are generations removed from the static, linear educational software commonly found inside many of the nation's schools today -- software that girls and boys quickly master and then discard as boring.

"There are a lot of terrible educational games out there, where you have to do something un-fun, like solve five math problems, so you can do something fun, like play a game," said Ben Stokes, a games expert at the MacArthur Foundation.

Instead, the experts are interested in the educational benefits of commercially available games that were not expressly designed for school use -- simulation games like Zoo Tycoon, in which elementary school-age children build virtual zoos by selecting animals, creating appropriate habitats, managing food budgets and even setting the prices of popcorn at the concession stands.

The verdict on the potential benefits of computer and video games is not unanimous, however. Some critics worry about the persistent racial and economic gaps in access to computers and the Internet: 60 percent of white households, but only 36 percent of black households, had Internet access at home in 2003, according to the Census Bureau.

"The only thing we know for sure is that video games are effective at desensitizing people to extreme violence," said Edward Miller, a senior researcher at the Alliance for Childhood, a nonprofit child advocacy group. "There is no evidence that video games are good at teaching problem-solving or collaboration or the other higher-order skills that these proponents are claiming."

More Than Just Fun And Games

Chases linked to video games

2007-03-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Source: Pursuits: Police say speed, testosterone and cars are lethal

A "lethal cocktail" of testosterone, powerful cars and the influence of video games is being blamed for youths attempting deadly high speed getaway attempts.

On February 5, Rotorua 14-year-old Pehi Tahana was killed after he lost control of the stolen car he was driving. He was being chased by police after he took off from a Papamoa service station without paying for petrol.

On Tuesday afternoon three youths being pursued on State Highway 30, east of Rotorua, crashed head-on into a car carrying a family.

"It was only through the grace of God that someone was not killed in that crash," said Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne.

He blamed a "lethal cocktail" of testosterone, the cheapness and availability of high powered vehicles, and the boy racer culture for the increasing number of high speed fatalities. Part of the culture was influenced by video games like Grand Theft Auto and Need for Speed.

"It's not just the games but TV as well," Mr Horne said. "There's been a lot of research on it, but young men driving fast is not a new issue.

"You can go back decades and still find cases of young guys inclined to take risks. The difference between then and now is that they did not have the fast cars available to them."

The problem was not restricted to Rotorua and was happening because young men were frequently speeding recklessly, regardless of whether they were being chased, he said.

Acting Bay of Plenty road policing manager Inspector Ed Van Den Broek said that if people tried to flee from the police it was usually because they had something to hide.

"The car may be stolen or they may have stolen property or illicit drugs inside."

"The thing we have noticed is that the people who try and run from us have very poor driving skills.

"I have yet to be involved in a pursuit where I have thought, 'Gosh, that was good driving by the guy we were chasing' ... They [drivers] think they are 10-foot tall and bullet proof."

Gareth Schott, who lectures in games studies and media psychology at Waikato University, said while people frequently blamed video games for things like car chases, there was not a lot of research on the subject.

He was about to begin a two-year research project investigating the issue, which would include interviews with youths to find out to what degree their behaviour was influenced by games.

"Most of the research that has been done has a very poor understanding of [video] games and ... is inconclusive."

It was also difficult to isolate games as the major influence, given the wide variety of media in teenagers' lives such as film, television and the YouTube internet site.

"Years ago people were asking the same questions of comic books, saying they were immoral and having a bad influence on the kids, even what we now regard as fairly harmless stuff like Superman.

"People underestimate how media-literate young people are. Even very young children have a very sophisticated understanding of what they are watching."

Meanwhile, two Rotorua 16-year-olds were found in a stolen car during a routine stop by police last night in Union St about 11.30pm. Senior Sergeant Scott Fraser said one of the youths was appearing in the Rotorua Youth Court this morning charged with unlawfully taking a vehicle.

Beating violence to the punch

2007-03-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Source: Hurley School takes proactive approach to preventing the problem

Globe Staff Writer

HURLEY -- Violence is infiltrating our schools, and the video game industry and television are major contributors to that aggressive behavior, according to a national speaker on school violence.

With no violent acts at the Hurley School to date, school officials are taking a pro-active approach to the problem.

"It is preventable. It is treatable," said fourth grade teacher Ronda Olkonen, who attended a Student Media Awareness Reduction Training conference in Escanaba presented by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman of Jonesboro, Ark.

Fourth grade teacher Monica Kolpin and second grade teacher Michelle Santini also attended the SMART session.

A leading expert in the study of school violence, Grossman will be at the Hurley School on Sunday and Monday to talk with parents and educators about the "virus" of violent crime.

On Tuesday, Grossman said he hopes his presentation will accomplish three things: Save lives, increase the quality of life and increase the quality of education.

Grossman has been presenting the Student Media Awareness Reduction Training program to schools throughout the nation.

The SMART program shows how television and video games have a detrimental effect on our youth.

Grossman said studies show those involved in the SMART program have shown enormous cuts in violence, bullying and obesity.

He talked about the brain.

Dividing it into two sections, he stressed the importance of "detoxing" students from the impacts of TV and video games, and reintroducing them to human behavior.

"The forebrain is that which makes us human -- reading, writing, arithmetic, decision making, social skills, etc. -- everything people can do that a dog cannot do," he said.

"The mid-brain brings out the animal instincts -- basic survival, fighting, reproduction," Grossman said.

"When we read, we exercise our human side. Violent visual imagery brings out our animal instincts," he said.

Grossman was in Escanaba in October. His presentation there was the start-up of the SMART program in Escanaba.

Noting that within three days, kids can be "detoxed" from the impacts TV and video games have on the brain, Grossman said after the SMART program was enacted in Escanaba, "They got a double-digit increase in test scores."

A West Point psychology professor, professor of military science and an Army Ranger, Grossman has combined his experiences to become the founder of a new field of scientific endeavor, killology.

Grossman said killology is his personal area of study. It teaches about how people in the military are taught to kill and how video games do the same.

"The military has a safeguard built in, discipline," he said. "It's being done to our children without the safeguard of discipline."

Grossman will be at the Hurley School on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. to talk with parents about media violence and its effect on children.

This session is free of charge.

He will talk with educators and other area agencies on Monday beginning at 8 a.m.

Presentations will be held in the high school auditorium.

Porn Through Video Games

2007-03-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Source: Porn Through Video Games

It seems some porn web sites have found another way to sneak into your home uninvited. Players say some are now coming in through video games.
Michael Gatson is a self proclaimed video gamer. He says he was shocked after recently playing a friends Nintendo Wii and porn popped up. "When we went on line, we were going to play some football when we went on a big screen like a pop up like on the internet, 'would like to see this?' and it was a young lady, very erotic."
The Nintendo Wii video game is so popular stores can't keep it on the shelves. At Replay Gameware they only had one.

Players say video gaming isn't just letting kids play ping pong. It could be letting them see porn through it's internet connection.

Cpt. Bill Duncan is with the Caddo Sheriff's Dept. "They are actually accessing Wii consoles through their sites and enticing people to come into their sites."

Gatson says, "Before we knew it we had a house full of guys and they were flipping out, I mean, they really had some hard core stuff which I don't think would be appropriate for the youngsters."
So what's a parent to do? You can begin with the games privacy controls and install some blockers, but police say nothing is more fullproof than a parents supervision.

"I'm not sure that it blocks everything and I don't think you'll find any filtering device that will block 100% of anything." Duncan says.

He goes on to say, "Parental involvement is the number one thing."

The gaming-violence connection: why society finds it comforting

2007-03-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

Source: The gaming-violence connection: why society finds it comforting

Ars has extensively covered the attempts to legislate restrictions on violent video games and the ambiguous science that supports those efforts. An aspect of this that frequently escapes analysis is why these legislative efforts gain so much traction despite their lack of a solid scientific foundation. Writing in the journal Contexts, USC sociology lecturer Karen Sternheimer analyzes these efforts in terms of ongoing societal fears regarding the influence of media on children.

Sternheimer notes an obvious but underemphasized figure: despite the proliferation of violent, first-person shooters in the wake of Doom, juvenile homicide rates have fallen in the decade since its release. Random school shootings remain incredibly rare; for all forms of homicide, students face a seven in 10 million chance of being a victim.

Random school shootings remain so rare, in fact, that Sternheimer reports that the FBI found it impossible to generate a profile of a "typical" shooter. This leads to a number of difficulties. Linking violence to the perpetrators' background might wind up revealing aspects of the shooter's predominantly white, middle-class origin that helped foster their violence. Nobody seems interested in doing this sort of analysis, perhaps in part because much of the media belongs to that same group.