The Magi and The Sleeping Star is the creation of Oklahoma-based Game Equals Life, formed by video game enthusiast and diabetic Adam Grantham. Adam wants to deliver a video game experience that teaches children and young adults to manage their disease, without feeling like they are being force-fed an edutainment title, and he might just succeed.

The Magi and The Sleeping Star looks like your average third-person shooter, with giant boss monster fights, blazing weapons, and a robotic companion named Momo who guides you along your path. The difference lies in the diabetes management portion of the game, which is directly linked to your magic attacks and special moves. By correctly balancing healing food items with insulin, the player can maintain ideal blood sugar levels, making his magic more powerful and his special moves more...special. Fail to properly maintain those levels and your magic and special moves will fail you.

The game, which is still in early stages, also allows players to enter in their own blood sugar information, making for a personalized experience with relevance to each individual person's situation.

Grantham spoke to NewsOK about the feeling of empowerment he hopes the game will convey.

"It's like I can totally kill thousands of monsters just by staying on top of my diabetes. It's a tool for empowerment rather than bringing them down, and we're using game play as a language to teach complex ideas. A kid thinking that way can apply it to real life at school or soccer or anything else."

You can visit the game's official website to see how much work Adam has accomplished with a four-person team. He's currently negotiating with various nonprofit organizations and pharmaceutical companies in order to further develop the concept.

Perhaps one day The Magi and The Sleeping Star will be distributed by children's hospitals as a tool to help kids learn about dealing with the disease. As it stands, it's a heartwarming example of how video games can be used in a positive manner to enrich the lives of those who've been dealt a less-than-optimal hand.

Norman video game company gives lessons on diabetes [NewsOK via GamePolitics]

Deniz Ince, 11, is the lead author on the study, to be presented Monday in Philadelphia at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. Ince, who enjoys playing the Wii, found his fingers ached when he squeezed oranges. He set about researching the matter to determine if video games were linked to it.

The study surveyed 171 of Ince's schoolmates, aged 7 to 12 years old. Eighty percent said they played consoles or handhelds, and half of those said they played less than an hour a day. A third said they played one to two hours daily, and 7 and 6 percent said they played 2 to 3 or 3 or more hours a day, respectively.

The study found that each additional hour of use increased the likelihood of experiencing pain by 50 percent. It also found a higher pain incidence in younger children than older.

The study's senior author, Dr. Yasuf Yazici of New York University, said "the younger the kids, the more significant the pain." Why exactly couldn't be proven by the research, although the researchers believe it might be because muscles and tendons in younger kids are still developing.

The survey respondents said the pain they felt was "generally mild," although some 22 percent found it enough to limit how much they played. Interestingly, playing a Wii exclusively resulted in more self-reported pain, regardless of the player's age or how much he or she played per day.

Video Games Can Play Havoc With Kids' Joints [HealthDay on U.S. News & World Report]

The Oct. 17 event will give players a chance to check out the game, due out on on Oct. 20 for the DS, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. Attendees will also get a chance to try their hand at the "Maxus Challenge" where they can compete for a chance to receive ability cards and other prizes.

Gotta get them... oh, wrong one!

I've played other music creation titles in the past with varying levels of success. The main obstacle is always accessibility. It looks like Rockstar has made Beaterator so accessible that a group of photogenic school children can lay down a track in minutes flat.

For those of you allergic to children, check out the regular old trailer below.

Today Fred Zeleny, one of the Bethesda Softworks crew who worked on Fallout 3, created three more games for playing outside. These modern backyard classics are inspired by Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia and, of course, Fallout 3.

Here are the rules for Mutant in the Middle, Prince of Playground and Tagsassin's Creed.

Mutant in the Middle
Objective: Toss a water balloon between the vault dwellers without letting the supermutant get it.
Need: At least two friends, and some water balloons (full, but not too full!).
To Win: Keep the water balloon from breaking for as long as you can!
Inspiration: Fallout 3

Set-Up:
1. Pick two or more players to be the vault dwellers for the first round.
2. Pick one or more players to be the supermutants for the first round.
3. One of the vault dwellers gets a water balloon to start.

Rules:
1. Vault dwellers cannot stand closer to each other than 5 feet.
2. Supermutants can move wherever they want, but cannot touch vault dwellers.
3. Vault dwellers take turns tossing the water balloon to each other. Remember, vault dwellers cannot be closer than 5 feet from each other.
4. Supermutants try to catch or burst the water balloon, but they cannot touch the vault dwellers.
5. If a supermutant catches or bursts the water balloon, they win and can be a vault dweller in the next round.
6. If the water balloon bursts when a vault dweller throws or catches it, without a supermutant touching it, then all of the vault dwellers swap with all of the supermutants for the next round.
7. Keep playing until you're out of water balloons, until you're thoroughly soaked, or until nuclear armageddon!

Tagsassin's Creed
Objective: Tag your target and get back to a safe hiding spot before they catch you!
Need: At least two players, and anyplace that has a lot of hiding spots. A hiding spot is anyplace between two similar objects within arm's reach - between two trees, two bookshelves, two swings, etc.
To Win: Catch the Tagsassin when he tags you.
Inspiration: Assassin's Creed

Set-Up:
1. Pick a player to start as the Tagsassin.
2. Everybody else goes to a hiding spot and "blends in."

Rules:
1. At a hiding spot, you can "blend in" by taking a pose like the two items you're hiding between - if you're between two rocks, you might curl up like a rock; if you're between two trees, you might stand up straight with your arms out like a tree.
2. The Tagsassin sneaks up on someone who is hidden and tags them, then tries to run to a different hiding spot and "blend in."
3. Whoever is tagged must try to catch the Tagsassin before he blends in and hides again.
4. If you catch the Tagsassin, you win, and can pick a new hiding space to begin again.
5. If the Tagsassin gets away, you are the new Tagsassin, and must pick a new player to tag.

Prince of Playground
Objective: Take turns jumping, climbing, and balancing your way along a path without touching the ground.
Need: A playground or other suitable series of large objects for climbing and balancing, like tree stumps, logs, large rocks, sturdy furniture, etc.
To Win: Successfully travel from the start to the finish without touching the ground, or successfully catch someone who falls to the ground.
Inspiration: Prince of Persia

Set-Up:
1. Each player takes turns playing as either the jumper or the catcher. If there is only one player, they are the jumper.
2. Players pick a Start (where jumpers will begin) and a Finish (where jumpers will try to reach without touching the ground.)
3. The catcher waits on the ground near the starting point, and the jumpers get in position at the Start.

Rules:
1. The jumper tries to travel from Start to Finish without touching the ground - jumping over gaps, balancing on beams, climbing on monkey bars, etc.
2. A catcher isn't allowed to interfere with a jumper unless they're touching the ground (or about to hit the ground).
3. If a jumper touches the ground, they have to run back to the Start before a catcher tags them. If they make it back to the Start, they can begin again from there.
4. If a catcher tags a jumper who's touched the ground, that jumper becomes a catcher.
5. If a jumper reaches the Finish without touching the ground, they win.
6. If the jumpers are all caught by the catcher, the catchers win.
7. Play again, taking turns as jumper and catcher!

Now that I've egged Zeleny into whipping these up, when can we expect to here from David Perry, David Jaffe, Dylan Jobe and John Drake? Though Drake sorta did come up with something on Twitter.

Backyard Adaptations of Video Game Classics and Modern Backyard Classics

The main thrust of Toulouse's job is to make sure that Xbox Live is a safe place. That means he and his enforcement squad help monitor online activity, checks up on Gamertags and even sometimes deals with the police.

"We work very closely with the community of gamers and people using this system to identify and resolve issues from gameplay problems, to cheating and inappropriate behavior," he said.

One of the ways the team finds problems is by spending most of their days on Live playing games.

"We are out there playing every day," he said. "In the U.S., Europe, Asia."

While there are only 60 to 80 people tasked with checking in on play, they don't typically hang around in a session longer than is required to figure out if there are any issues.

"They actively look for bad sessions," he said.

Once an investigation is concluded Toulouse's team can do everything from muting a person or temporarily blocking their access to Live to permanently banning them from the service.

The team also works with law enforcement when necessary. Microsoft has a criminal compliance team that all groups within the company work with when dealing with law enforcement, Toulouse said.

While they can hand out details about a customer, they only do so if they are issued a formal subpoena in the U.S. or other type of formal request in other countries, he said.

"We have very strict policies about protecting privacy," Tolouse said.

He said the team most recently has been working to try and better educate people new to gaming or to the Xbox 360 about some of the ways they can protect their children on the system.

Toulouse said a recent survey showed Microsoft that nearly half of the people surveyed said they didn't have enough information about parental controls on the Xbox 360.

Xbox recently launched a site dedicated to educating parents called Get Game Smart.

"The idea was to help identify the steps needed to ensure that people use video games safer, more balanced," he said.

The includes learning about the console's rating filter, ability to lock out online play and even the built in timer which can limit play time on the console.

With an 8-year-old son in the house, I love the idea of parental controls, but I still think they need some work. For instance, setting up those controls on my system now means everyone using the console are impacted. Why not allow me to set up all of those controls, not just the Live ones, for just Tristan's account and then password protect my account?

It's still a step in the right direction.

Get Game Smart

"Let The Kids Game" is the title of the booklet, now available via SOE.com and WhatTheyPlay.com, which details all of the good that can come from playing video games such as Free Realms. It includes information from the likes of WhatTheyPlay.com's John Davidson and Cheryl Olson, Sc.D., co-author of the book Grand Theft Childhood, explaining the oft-overlooked benefits of our hobby, including improvements in vision, social interaction and visuospatial cognition. The brochure also touts the positive effects of gaming on family interaction, as well as the leadership qualities often instilled by operating in an online game guild.

In short, it's quite okay for your children to play Free Realms. The creators of Free Realms say so.

The boy's was found on the ground outside his apartment building at 7pm on Tuesday night, wrapped in the string and plastic he used to try and recreate a parachute in order to dive off of his thirteen story apartment building. He died an hour later at the Interfaith Medical Center. It's a tragic story, made even more upsetting by the amount of focus the video game angle is being given by the mainstream media. The source is one of Damori's friends, 11-year-old Shakar Murrel.

"He tried to do a swan dive like Jeff Harding does in 'SmackDown.' That was his favorite game. He played it all the time," Shakar said. "That was what he was trying to do. If I would have seen him up there, I would have told him not to do it."

From this we get headlines like the New York Daily News' "9-year-old Damori Miles dies in jump off Brooklyn apartment, may have been imitating video game", and "Boy fond of video game wrestler's swan dives makes plastic parachute, takes NY roof death leap" from News Channel 3 in Norfolk, Virginia. Even the wrestling news sites are picking up the story, with the Wrestling World News reporting "9-Year-Old Boy Dies When Imitating A Move Off SmackDown vs. Raw 2009; WWE Responds".

And what was the WWE's response? Along with pointing out that no WWE or RAW characters jump off of roofs wearing parachutes, WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman had the following to say:

"The death of Damori Miles is a tragedy and our condolences go out to his family," he said. "We should allow the authorities to conduct a full investigation... including insecure roof access, before conclusions are made about this unfortunate incident."

This is the most sense the WWE has made to me in decades. The roof should have been locked. Neighbors said that an alarm should have gone off, but it had not. The boy's mother had left him alone to go to the store. A 9-year-old who had received special education instruction, left alone to his own devices.

So many other factors, yet the one aspect most of the mainstream press are picking up on is the fact that he played a wrestling video game. A video game based on a sport regularly aired on television, where the same moves are shown on a regular basis.

What I find the most telling is the fact that the New York Daily News' original story had no mention of the video game connection, simply titled "9-year-old Brooklyn boy jumps from building using makeshift parachute and dies", written by different staff writers. THe same story from two different angles.

I guess the video game angle just makes for more exciting news.

9-year-old Damori Miles dies in jump off Brooklyn apartment, may have been imitating video game [NY Daily News - Thanks Jeremy]

The game, titled Missing, follows the adventures of a teen named Zachary Taylor who finds himself in an inappropriate online relationship with someone named Fantasma. Soon Zachary goes missing, and the children must study clues to help find him. According to Paul Hamann, chief information officer for the Jessamine County school district where the program will launch, the game will help students "see how easily they could get drawn into that".

The funding for the $300,000 project comes by way of an earmark secured by U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler as part of the 410 billion omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. Chandler defends his decision to procure other people's money to defend the children of Kentucky.

"Earmark is a bad word, you know," Chandler said. "But in this particular case, and I think in the way I try to handle it, we get money for very, very good projects. And this is a very, very good project. Any project that is going to protect our young people, in my view, can be easily defined as a good project."

It really is hard to argue with a man when he has countless stories of children being solicited and abducted via online games and chat rooms to back him up. I suppose I would have felt better had this been developed into a national program, rather than simply benefitting Chandler's 6th Congressional District.

$300,000 game to teach dangers of Internet predators [Kentucky.com]

Is Mayor Tortimer actually a man in California that asks for naked images from Missouri children? That's what Missouri's ABC 17 News suggests in a story posted on March 11th regarding the increasing use of game consoles as tools for sexual predators. The report, which you can view in its entirety below, suggests that Animal Crossing allows children to interact with complete strangers, encouraging them to exchange notes, items, and "favors" in order to reach the next level in the game.

Another example of the sort of sensationalist television "news reporting" aimed squarely at terrifying parents into tuning in. In case any parents are actually reading this, Animal Crossing: City Folk only allows other players to visit each other if they exchange friend codes. Your task, as a parent, is making sure your children aren't posting their codes on forums, or sharing them with strangers.

The whole situation isn't helped by the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force, who seem to be aware that internet crimes are going on, but don't seem to have any real knowledge of how communication on the Wii occurs to impart to our newscaster friends. All they know is Animal Crossing is a kid's game, and adults shouldn't be playing it.

"I cannot come up with any legitimate reason that an adult would be playing that particular game," says Andy Anderson, Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force. Um. How about game reviews? Is that legitimate? I don't want to be playing for the wrong reasons here. Either Andy Anderson just isn't trying hard enough, or I am a sexual predator.

I don't mean to downplay the dangers of online play for children. As we've seen recently, it's an issue that's becoming more and more widespread. My problem here is that ABC 17 News is combating a real problem with misinformation. I know that news programs make a great deal of advertising revenue off scaring parents senseless, but a certain amount of actual "journalism" isn't too much to ask from our well-paid television news personalities.

Is Mayor Tortimer an internet predator from California? No. That's ridiculous. Everyone knows it's Tom Nook that likes them young.

Wii Gamers Vulnerable To Crime [ABC 17 News via Game Politics]

Anthony Scott Oshea of Somerset, Kentucky, was taken into custody by local authorities, charged with with three felony counts, including promotion of child pornography and online solicitation of a minor, after allegedly receiving naked photos of the young girl and then e-mailing them to people in at least five states, all through the PS3. Harris County Texas prosecutor Eric Devlin claims that Oshea "groomed" the girl over a period of time, befriending her and bothering her for photos until she finally relented.

Houston authorities are hoping to bring Oshea to Texas to stand trial.

It should really go without saying at this point, but parents need to be aware of what their children are doing online at all times. News of sexual predators reaching children through the games they play is becoming more and more commonplace, with terrible stories like this popping up with alarming regularity. Today more than ever, letting your child wander about the internet, whether on a console or a computer, is the same as setting them loose in a crowded city, only in this case the reach of the sexual predators is so much greater, and their inhibitions dulled by the perceived anonymity the internet provides.

As this arrest shows, that anonymity isn't as complete as the predators would like, but it was enough to ruin the innocence of a little girl, and that's a damn shame.

PlayStation Sex Crime: Criminal Used Video Game to Get Girl's Naked Pictures [ABC News]

Microsoft's Play Smart, Play Safe study polled children and parents in the UK on different aspects of the parent/child gaming experience. While the poll did reveal that 75% of parents feel that video games can be beneficial to their children and families, some of the other results cause me to question how many of them considered babysitting as one of those benefits. When 69% of children want their parents to be more involved in checking what games they play and 47% saying that their parents check on them either "never" or "not enough", it makes one wonder.

74% of parents feel gaming is educational. Perhaps, but not as educational as Microsoft survey results. We continue.

Parents scores have improved in several areas over last year's survey, most notably in the area of awareness of parental controls (73%) and feeling they are personally responsible for checking age ratings (94%). Of course, looking at the children's numbers above, things still don't quite add up. Add to that the fact that 96% of children are aware of parental controls, with 92% aware of rating systems as opposed to their parents 60%, there's obviously a communication issue happening here. Even with all of the parental awareness, 64% admit they sometimes let their children play games outside of their age range. Tsk.

76% of UK children are playing online games at least once a week, which has 43% of parents understandably worried that their children are interacting with people older than they are online. The fact that 95% of children say they've not encountered anything that worried or frightened them while gaming should calm parents down a bit, until they realize that the number indicates that 5% of children have encountered scary things online.

So what do all of these numbers tell us? Parents are becoming more and more aware of age rating systems and parental controls, but don't seem to be worried about them, despite knowing it's their responsibility to do so. That, and older men and women in the UK aren't doing enough to scare young children in online games.

The study, conducted jointly by Brad Bushman of the University of Michigan and Elly Konijn of VU University Amsterdam, had 310 Dutch schoolchildren aged 7-17 read fictitious game descriptions, rating how much they would want to play each title. The results were the same across the board - the more objectionable the content, the more kids wanted to have it. Girls, boys, younger and older, all of them wanted to play the games they shouldn't be playing.

This surprises no one. Previous studies have shown the same phenomenon in regards to television and movie ratings. Children want what they cannot have. Hell, everybody wants what they cannot have. You put restrictions on anything and people will start wondering what they're missing out on. It's called forbidden-fruit, and it's been around since the dawn of time. For those of you more biblically inclined, think Adam and Eve, who threw away paradise because God had a thing for apples.

So why conduct a study where the conclusion is pretty much foregone? Well getting published in the official U.S. journal of pediatrics is nothing to sneeze at, and perhaps, as the study authors suggest, this will make policy-makers rethink classification systems that only make violent games more desirable to children. For a moment, at least, until they realize the only alternative to ratings that accurately warn of violence, gore, and sexual situations is to lie, and we all know that lying to children is a parent's job.

Video game violence warnings make kids more likely to want to play, study says [Chicago Tribune]
Age and Violent-Content Labels Make Video Games Forbidden Fruits for Youth [Pediatrics]

Obama's comments during last night's address closely echo comments he made during his presidential campaign, in which he urged parents to actually be parents, rather then letting outside elements such as video games and television raise their children.

In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, and read to their child. I speak to you not just as a president, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children's education must begin at home.

Once again, the President's words do not condemn gaming or television, but rather parents that use the activities to keep their children occupied, rather than spending time with them. Not sure what this whole reading thing is about though. Are parents supposed to bring a laptop with them when they tuck their children in?

In First Major Address to Congress, Obama Once Again Links Video Games to Academic Underachievement [Game Politics]

Today's Irish Times has a fairly thoughtful story up about the topic. Instead of running around worrying that video games are to blame for all of today's wrongs, the article meticulously walks through a number of concerns, citing a number of different bits of research, about childhood and playing video games.

More importantly, it includes some solid ideas for child rearing in the age of consoles.

The most interesting for me were the comments made by Sue Palmer in her book, Detoxing Childhood - What Parents Need to Know to Raise Bright Balanced Children. Palmer devotes an enter section to the topic of electronics.

Her advice to parents include:

Stick with real life for at least the first three years;

Place firm limits (an hour a day at most) on computer use until children are around eight or nine, and well on the way to being readers and writers;

Limit time spent in virtual worlds until children are well into their teens.

A key point: Set these rules and boundaries up when children are young, because it could be nearly impossible to introduce them when they are teenagers.

Another very interesting point that the article makes is that children aren't the only ones retreating from family life. Parents too should monitor their time spent in front of electronics.

Screening the young for games addictions

The Family Gaming Awards consist of six different categories - Infants, Juniors, Students, Workers, Parents, and Seniors - along with an award given to the overall best game based on sheer number of votes. This leads to the inclusion of games you won't see represented in the more traditional awards, such as Family Ski Wii, winner of the Infants category, or Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, which was tops among Juniors. Stupid, stupid Juniors.

The big winner this year is EA's Mirror's Edge, which topped off the Workers category while garnering the most votes overall. Check out the full award listing below, where it is revealed that old people enjoy paying for their game demos.

Family Gaming Awards Results 2008

http://www.gamepeople.co.uk/paulgovan_ageawards.htm

Mirror's Edge wins the overall award in Game People's 2008 Age Awards. Having been nominated in their Workers category it managed to accrue many more reader votes than other short listed games.

These Video Game Age Awards are a little different as they look to highlight games that are best suited to specific groups of gamers by their age and stage of life.

The full run down of the winners (voted on from games nominated in 2008 - http://www.gamepeople.co.uk/paulgovan_ageawards_2008nominations.htm) is as follows:
Infants: Family Ski Wii
Juniors: Mario and Sonic at the Olympics Wii
Students: Super Smash Brothers Brawl Wii
Workers: Mirror's Edge PS3
Parents: Sing Star PS3
Seniors: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue PS3

PlaySavvy.com will provide features such as Gaming 101, a comprehensive guide to ratings, parental controls, and online gaming, as well as reviews, pertinent gaming news, and information on how to access the tools essential to being a game-savvy parent.

"Playing video games is one of the top pastimes for children these days, almost more than watching TV. We created AOL PlaySavvy to help parents navigate through all the gaming information out there in order to decide what’s appropriate for their children," said Libe Goad, Editor-in-Chief, AOL PlaySavvy. "In addition, PlaySavvy provides advertisers the opportunity to reach this targeted user base by creating appealing campaigns around the content.”

See? The advertising emphasis wasn't ours. Hit the jump for the full press release, or just visit PlaySavvy.com to see for yourself how AOL plans to learn them parents.

AOL Launches PlaySavvy.com

New Site Serves as Gaming Resource for Parents

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—AOL announced the launch of AOL PlaySavvy.com, http://www.playsavvy.com, a new site that targets parents of children ages 5-17 and helps them decipher the world of games, both PC and console. PlaySavvy also helps parents stay aware of their kids’ entertainment choices including assisting them in making informed decisions about buying games for their children. The PlaySavvy.com launch is a continuation of AOL’s overall programming goal to offer consumers interactive and engaging experiences with relevant sites that target people’s passion points. This year, AOL launched several targeted sites including ParentDish.com, http://www.parentdish.com, Lemondrop.com, http://www.lemondrop.com, WalletPop.com, http://www.walletpop.com, and Holidash.com, http://www.holidash.com.

"Playing video games is one of the top pastimes for children these days, almost more than watching TV. We created AOL PlaySavvy to help parents navigate through all the gaming information out there in order to decide what’s appropriate for their children," said Libe Goad, Editor-in-Chief, AOL PlaySavvy. "In addition, PlaySavvy provides advertisers the opportunity to reach this targeted user base by creating appealing campaigns around the content.”

PlaySavvy will provide the following features:

Gaming 101 – PlaySavvy editors help parents understand game ratings and where to find them on a game box, how to use parental controls on the game systems, offer tips on what online games and web sites are safer for children, and provide advice for first time buyers on the differences between video game systems and which one is most appropriate for their family.

Parent Q&A – Consumers can ask questions about games and get real-time answers from a panel of real-life parents.

Reviews – Video game experts provide reviews ranging from how appropriate to how fun a game is for kids.

Relevant How-To Articles – PlaySavvy staff helps guide parents through the video game wasteland including common issues on hot-button topics such as content and safety.

AOL has long been a leader in the Parental Controls space, pioneering the idea of online safety for children when it began offering a robust set of tools designed to help parents keep their children safe online. In September, AOL launched SafetyClicks.com, http://www.safetyclicks.com, a new online safety education Web site, and introduced an improved version of its free, downloadable parental controls software, http://parentalcontrols.aol.com, that is designed to give parents the tools they need to help protect their children from inappropriate or dangerous online material.

AOL Games experienced 41% unique visitors growth, 62% page view growth and 54% engagement growth year-over-year, according to October 2008 comScore Media Metrix. AOL Games also runs GameDaily.com, http://www.gamedaily.com, and BigDownload.com, http://www.bigdownload.com.

Basically it is a list of video games split into two categories: "Great Games for Kids" and "Games to Avoid." They've enhanced the guide this year by adding descriptive paragraphs after each title, along with further splitting the recommended games up by ratings.

The list reads as you'd expect. High School the Musical is good, Nancy Drew, Hasbro Game Night, and some sports games. They've included LittleBigPlanet, which they've obviously never played with me on the headset. The "Games To Avoid" section is totally off though. Gears 2? Resistance 2? Those are great titles! I agree that everyone should avoid Legendary and Blitz the League II, but otherwise completely inaccurate. Hit the jump for the full list, but beware - major spoiler in the Silent Hill: Homecoming listing.

GREAT GAMES FOR KIDS

Recommended E-rated Games

All Star Cheer Squad sends players through a year in the life of a cheerleader. Players learn cheers, create routines and attend practices with the ultimate goal of being the captain of cheer camp’s champion squad. When used with the Wii console, players can use the Balance Board to incorporate movement and exercise into their game play. Available on Nintendo DS and Wii.

Animal Crossing: City Folk begins with players setting out to live life in a colorful virtual town filled with something different to do and new people to meet at every turn. Time passes in 24-hour increments and can be set up to mimic real life down to the minute. Available on Wii.

FIFA Soccer 09 has received praise for giving gamers near-perfect control over movement and feel. For example, bigger players are more likely to use their strength, while smaller players rely on quickness. Gamers can also create a custom player and develop their skills over a four-season period. Available on Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Hasbro Family Game Night lets parents and children come together to play classic Hasbro board games with new age video game technology. Players can create their own game room filled with familiar Hasbro originals with a new twist. Games include: CONNECT FOUR Power Chips, BOGGLE Portal Cubes, Reverse YAHTZEE and BATTLESHIP Barrage, among others. Available on PlayStation 2 and Wii.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE! lets fans experience the energy, fun and music of the High School Musical movies. Gamers can choose to be their favorite character from the movie or create their own player. Either way, High School Musical fans will enjoy dancing to 29 songs from the movies alongside their favorite characters. Compete with friends in dance-offs or play together in dance duo. Available on Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and Wii.

LittleBigPlanet is a revolutionary game that requires both brains and teamwork to explore, collect and solve puzzles. The most anticipated feature is the ability to build entire levels, which can be shared throughout the world via the PlayStation Network. NOTE: Although the game’s included content comes with an E-rating and is suitable for children, not all player-generated content is appropriate. Parents should monitor and be aware of the levels their children are accessing on the PlayStation Network. Available on PlayStation 3.

Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy finds Nancy travelling to Ireland to be the maid of honor at her best friend’s wedding. The groom goes missing and Nancy has to track him down by interviewing characters, solving puzzles and collecting tokens to pay for clues from the fortune teller. This game has complex characters and plot lines without unnecessary violence. Available on PC.

NBA LIVE 09 is the fourth edition to the NBA Live line of games. The game lets players work toward their dream of becoming NBA superstars. One of the most exciting aspects is the Live Dynamic DNA. This feature allows the player to update the game to match the NBA player’s real life performance. Available on PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

NCAA Basketball 09 is a new title for the popular NCAA March Madness franchise. The game offers a new feature, which challenges gamers to replicate a school’s style of play by rewarding players for accurately playing with the same method and tempo as the real-life teams. NCAA Basketball 09 will also feature Division I coaches providing real-time, in-game instruction and feedback to help players mimic their team’s style of gameplay. Available on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Samba de Amigo gives a new twist to the music game genre. Players shake maracas to the tune of catchy Latin beats with the goal of matching the designated height and patterns in rhythm with the music. Available on Wii.

Recommended T-rated games

Guitar Hero World Tour is expanding with drums and a microphone for its latest edition of the game allowing for a complete four-piece band (previous versions included guitar and bass instruments). The new guitar has a touch pad located on the neck that allows a player to alter notes by sliding up and down the strip. It is rated T for lyrics and mildly suggestive themes. Available on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Rock Band 2 brings back everything that was popular in the original Rock Band adding 84 new songs from AC/DC, Metallica, The Talking Heads, Journey, Modest Mouse and others. Players can still enjoy their original Rock Band favorites by transferring their previously downloaded songs to the new game. Rock Band 2 also introduces a new online mode. The game is rated T for lyrics and suggestive themes. Available on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Rock Revolution is the latest addition to the rock n’ roll game genre. Similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band, players channel their inner rock stars by playing drums, guitar or bass. One add-on to this game is the Jam Mode that allows players to create their own music. This game is rated T for lyrics and tobacco reference. Available on Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Shaun White Snowboarding* allows players to test their boarding skills on four massive mountains. As you get better you can purchase new boards that will give you better speed and more air. The game is rated T for lyrics, mildly suggestive themes and mild violence. Available on Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows allows players to explore in a free-roaming, open-ended environment. Gamers can choose to play as the red, heroic, web-slinging Spiderman or the precarious and destructive black anti-hero Spiderman. Web of Shadows is rated T for animated blood, drug references, mild language, mildly suggestive themes and violence. Available on Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Games to Avoid

Blitz The League II is not your friendly football video game. Players can target which part of their opponent they wish to demolish. Steroid and drug use is encouraged, and wins are celebrated with hookers in a hotel room. The game is rated M for blood and gore, strong language, suggestive themes, use of drugs and violence. Available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Dead Space is one of the latest titles in the survival horror genre of video games. The setting is hundreds of years in the future after mankind has used all of earth’s natural resources. During the mission players, stranded on a crippled vessel, must destroy nightmarish creatures while trying to rescue any survivors and escape the ship. If caught the creatures will not just kill you, but dismantle your limbs and decapitate you. Dead Space is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence and strong language. Available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Fallout 3 is set in a post-nuclear world. The survivors must navigate their way through a world with giant insects, raiders, slavers and super mutants. Player’s kill whatever is in their path with guns and explosives. This game is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language and drug use. Available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Far Cry 2 is set in an unnamed African country being torn apart by two warring groups. The gamer’s mission is to kill The Jackal, an arms dealer who is supplying to both sides of the conflict. Blowing peoples heads off is a regular occurrence in this game. The game is rated M for blood, drug references, intense violence, sexual themes and strong language. Available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Gears of War 2 finds Marcus Fenix and the Delta Squad battling the Locust Horde for the survival of humanity. The game’s main weapon is the Lancer Assault Rifle, which combines a rifle with a chain saw. The game is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence and strong language. Available on Xbox 360.

Left 4 Dead finds the player in a city where a new and highly powerful rabies virus is quickly spreading. Victims become grotesquely disfigured and launch vicious attacks on the uninfected. In this co-operative multiplayer action game the gamers fight for survival. The game is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence, and language. Available on PC and Xbox 360.

Legendary is the story of Charles Deckard, a thief who breaks into a New York museum and opens what turns out to be Pandora’s Box, unleashing all of the world’s evil and destroying all humans in its path. Deckard must defeat the newly unleashed beasts and reseal Pandora’s Box to make society safe once again. Legendary is rated M for blood and gore, and intense violence. Available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Resistance 2 finds Nathan Hale fighting the same Chimera alien race he did in the original Resistance game. This version is set in the United States instead of Europe. The Chimera obliterates cities and kills civilians by the thousands. The game is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence and strong language. Available on PlayStation 3.

Saints Row 2 is the second edition to the open-world, gang-affiliated, shoot ‘em up game series. This game has expanded with new locations to explore and new vehicles to steal including motorcycles, boats, helicopters and planes. In the game, the player can choose to beat up strippers, slit rival game members throats, shoot cops and more. Saints Row 2 is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence, sexual content, strong language and use of drugs. Available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Silent Hill: Homecoming is a “first-person shooter” game. The gamer plays Alex Shepherd, a recently discharged soldier who returns home to Shepherd’s Glen. He finds that people are disappearing, the streets are shattered and strange creatures are roaming the town. Near the end the player is faced with a choice to shoot his mother in the head or let the rack rip her in half. The game is rated M for blood and gore, intense violence, language and sexual themes. Available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The 2008 MediaWise Video Game Buying Guide [MediaWise]

While the report issued an "A" to the ESRB for their new rating summaries and a "B+" to retailers for following rating policies, parents were issued an "Incomplete" grade due to them not familiarizing themselves with ratings, utilizing built-in parental controls, or basically giving a damn what their children do on the video game box as long as it lets them enjoy their gin and tonic in peace. Back when I was in high school, and "Incomplete" grade really meant that you had failed, but the teacher was afraid of you.

Interestingly enough, the official press release closes with a warning about video game addiction, citing that a growing number of experts consider compulsive gaming to be a real problem. I just don't know who to listen to anymore.

Report Credits Gaming Industry for Efforts, Tells Parents to Step-Up

National Media Organization’s 13th Annual Video Game Report Card Finds Gaming a Larger Part of Family Life, Parents Need New Tools

Minneapolis — Released today, the National Institute on Media and the Family’s 13th Annual MediaWise® Video Game Report Card highlighted the growing trend of gaming in family life, improvements made by retailers to keep inappropriate games out of children’s hands and efforts made by the gaming industry to tackle childhood obesity and academic achievement.

“For 13 years, the National Institute on Media and the Family has been asking the video game industry and retailers to take responsibility to keep mature-rated video games away from kids,” said Dr. David Walsh, president and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family. “This year the industry has improved its ratings enforcement and given parents new tools when choosing the right video game for their child. That’s a significant step in the right direction.”

The report card showcased a recent Federal Trade Commission report that found only 20 percent of kids who tried to purchase M-rated (mature) games from retailers were successful. This shows improvement from 2003, when 55 percent were able to buy M-rated games. In addition to retailers’ efforts, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) recently launched online rating summaries that give parents additional information, available on a mobile-phone-friendly Web site, explaining why the game received the rating.

The report issued this year’s grades to parents, retailers and the ESRB for ratings enforcement and education and graded the video game industry’s parental controls and marketing tactics. The grades include:

“Incomplete” for parental involvement as too many parents are not using information like game ratings, parental controls and screen time limits provided by retailers and console makers; “A” for the ESRB’s ratings and its new ratings summaries; and “B+” for retailer policies, as an 80 percent enforcement rate shows significant progress with some room for improvement.

“Now that we parents have the information and tools we need we have to step up and do our jobs. There are still too many kids playing M rated games and too many kids playing for too long. That’s why this year’s report card assigns a grade of ‘Incomplete’ to parents,” continued Walsh.

To help parents, this year’s report card features a Parent’s Guide to Video Games along with the annual list of recommended games for kids as well as games to avoid.

“Video games have become a staple in most American households as games like Wii Fit, Guitar Hero World Tour and Hasbro Family Game Night replace traditional board games and family movie nights,” continued Dr. Walsh. “But too much video game playing can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and can be a contributing factor to childhood obesity and sliding school grades, and, in some cases, may cause video game addiction.”

Excessive, compulsive video game play bears all the hallmarks of an addiction. A growing number of addiction experts consider compulsive gaming as a real problem. In fact, there have been calls for the American Psychiatric Association to add video game addiction to the list of official mental disorders.

About the National Institute on Media and the Family
The National Institute on Media and the Family is an independent non-partisan, non-sectarian, nonprofit organization. The Institute’s mission is to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of media on the health and development of children and families. For more information, visit www.mediawise.org.

There are five titles on the list right now, and all of them are relatively safe choices. Kung-Fu Panda, Lego Indiana Jones, and We Ski certainly fit the bill nicely. Guitar Hero On Tour for the DS is a bit of an odd choice, seeing as the inclusion of Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild" could possibly make youth go wild, but I suppose as long as parents are willing to take the risk. Rounding out the list is NCAA Football 2009, because every list of family-friendly games needs a football title for some odd reason, perhaps in hopes that children will drop this video game nonsense and become multi-millionaire pro athletes.

I'd list my personal choices for games to be included in the list, but let's face it - if you're on Kotaku looking for shopping ideas for your child, someone has played a horrible prank on you.

The Best Kid-Friendly Video Games of 2008 Holiday V, Toys of the Season

—(BUSINESS WIRE)—By Mike Bruno, Parents.com Contributor

We played until our fingers ached, but it was all worth it — we found five of the best kid-friendly video games (no violence or mature themes here). Whatever your kid's age or interest, you'll find the perfect gift for this holiday season.

We Ski- Wii

Age: 5+

Finally, a second game that uses the Balance Board you bought to use on Wii. We Ski uses the device to navigate the game's snow-covered mountain playground.

Why We Like It

“We Ski does an admirable job mimicking the arm movements (pull the numchuk and remote toward your body to tuck poles and increase speed) and balance techniques you actually use on the slopes,” says Bruno contributor, for Parents.com. “Plus, it supports up to four players with a split-screen multiplayer mode.”

Kung Fu Panda- Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2

Age: 6-12

Po, the imaginative young panda from the computer-animated movie, takes you along on his daydream journey in which he is a kung fu warrior wielding "mad skills."

Why We Like It

A fighting game without violence, if you can believe it. Detailed graphics aptly reproduce the fanciful world that was so beautifully rendered in the film. And the Jack Black imitator is pretty spot on, too.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures- Wii, Nintendo DS, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360

Age: 10+

Our favorite archaeologist — in LEGO form! — runs through adventures from the first three Indy movies. Why We Like It

Once you've racked your brain figuring out the decently challenging puzzles, you're rewarded with humorous asides from the movies, like a cocky Dr. Jones reaching back for his fedora, nearly being crushed by a giant stone door in the process.

Guitar Hero on Tour- Nintendo DS

Age: 10+

The Guitar Hero franchise hits Nintendo's portable DS console without sacrificing too much of the fun game play that made the original game.

What We Like About It

The appeal is definitely in part the novelty of a shrunken-down Guitar Hero you can pull out of your pocket. The hand-sized strap-on Guitar Grip controller slips right into the DS console, enabling you engage in the same challenging rock-alongs as the original.

NCAA Football 2009- Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP

Age: 7+

Just like fans of real-life football, there are gamers who insist EA Sports' college pigskin game is superior to their pro-football Madden franchise.

What We Like About It

In addition to some very cool additions to game play, '09 has also made some nice tweaks to the Dynasty mode, including an ability to enter a dynasty online and compete with up to 12 other players for the same pool of prospective students for over 60 seasons.

For more helpful tips on picking the right video game for your kids this holiday season, visit Parents.com.