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growing up is hard to do
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UK Mother Blames Nintendo For Badly-Behaved Kids
You guys should probably sit down for this.
At the UK Daily Mail, an exasperated mother has written an excoriating screed, blaming the Nintendo DS for making her children "turn into monsters":
Hand over the Nintendo and without any effort, you have a window of about two hours of peace, with your child doing something quietly constructive.Except, it's not. What is constructive about playing football on a tiny screen, or washing a virtual dog, or watching a hideous pink pony trot around a pink palace decorated with shells?
Fighting to get onto the machine was bad enough, but it was worse when they were forcibly dragged from it.
Our Nintendo had taken the guise of a small but toxic drug which, little by little, was poisoning my children.
gta iv
Obama Name Checks GTA, Says Video Games Are Raising Our Children
opinion
Video Games Can Be A Rich And Magical Experience
Several of you have pointed us to an amazing opinion piece by Naomi Alderman at The Guardian titled "If we deny children access to all computer games, we deprive them of a rich and magical experience", a beautifully written response to recent events in the UK like the Byron Review and the banning of shocking Kane & Lynch advertisements. She praises Byron's report for touching on the many opportunities for fun and learning that computer games allow, and how we need to move away from the notion that computer games cause harm, and then points out how the print and television media reacted by warning parents about violent games and monitoring their children at all times. In short, they completely ignored the positive points and focused on the negative. Alderman paints a much brighter picture, though the quote that struck me as the most poignant was this:
The world of Grand Theft Auto does contain violence and misogyny; but then, so does The Godfather, or Goodfellas. So, for that matter, does The Iliad.More »
parents
Video Game Safety For Parents
When I read the headline " Internet and video game safety: Ten practical tips to help protect your children" over at the UK Telegraph website, I was certain I was about to read some overblown warning about the dangers of violent video games. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by ten actual practical tips that encourage parents to be responsible about their children's internet and video game use. Who'd have thought?
Some video games teach children important skills, from cooperation to patience, but others really are just about gorily blowing other people's heads off. The more you understand about which games your child uses, the more you'll be able to guide their choices.These are extremely helpful bits of advice for any parent concerned about their offspring's gaming habits. I'm not so sure parents on this side of the pond are hip to the concept of parental responsibility, but it's worth a shot.
Internet and video game safety: Ten practical tips to help protect your children [Telegraph.co.uk]
story time
Where I Get My Lazy From
I'm not the most productive fellow in the world. An excellent example of this is the fact that I am moving in two days and didn't get started on packing until Tuesday night. I would sit down in front of the television and start stacking up DVDs and games to go into the boxes, and before you know it I've found a game I haven't played in awhile and wasted several hours. Knowing my attention span problems, my mother offered to come over the other day and help me get started packing. Seeing as my mother rarely gets a chance to play video games and generally only plays PC point and click adventures, I figured I would show her Wii Sports bowling while I had her here, maybe let her throw a few balls before we got down to packing. Really bad idea. More »
video game violence
The Violent Gaming Book To Buy Your Parents
After several years of reading contradicting reports on the effects of violent gaming on children, I've come to the conclusion that there is no real research we can trust. What can we do? Exactly what the mainstream press does - pick the one that comes to the conclusion we want! In this case, it's "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games", by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, two researchers at Harvard who decided to publish their 2007 findings in a book aimed at reassuring parents that their kids won't become violent psychopaths by playing Grand Theft Auto. Why is their study better than the ones that reach opposite conclusions? Says Dr. Olson:Until now, the most-publicized studies came from a small group of experimental psychologists, studying college students playing nonviolent or violent games for 15 minutes. It's debatable whether those studies are relevant to real children, playing self-selected games for their own reasons (not for cash or extra credit!), in social settings, over many years. But media reports and political rhetoric often ignore that distinction.More »
game violence
Violent Games Make Kids Ruthless, Bloodthirsty Killing Machines
An entire swarm of Kotakuites has bombarded the tips email with a story from KETV 7 in Omaha Nebraska entitled, "Video Games Normalize Killing, Doctors Say." A completely atrocious headline, though good enough to get the story linked from the main page of CNN. Less hard-hitting news and more of a research roundup, the article presents information from studies done by Iowa State University, Kansas State University, the Indiana School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health showing that violent games normalize our children to violence...putting them more in tune with violent behavior and therefor much more likely to engage in it.
"Exposure to violent video games, even E rated video games, increases aggressive thoughts, increases pro-social behavior and increases general arousal," said Dr. Greg Snyder, a psychologist at Omaha's Children's Hospital.Phew. And here I was feeling dirty for getting all excited while playing Dora the Explorer. More »
game ratings
The First State is looking to be the first in parental game-rating awareness, as Delaware Lieutenant Governor John Carey and Rep. Helene Keeley launch a PSA campaign aimed at making parents more aware of the ESRB ratings. The campaign will consist of radio PSAs, mall kiosks, and even billboards that will put the ability of parents to completely ignore these ratings to the test.
ESRB Launches PSA Campaign In Delaware
The First State is looking to be the first in parental game-rating awareness, as Delaware Lieutenant Governor John Carey and Rep. Helene Keeley launch a PSA campaign aimed at making parents more aware of the ESRB ratings. The campaign will consist of radio PSAs, mall kiosks, and even billboards that will put the ability of parents to completely ignore these ratings to the test. "With two sons of my own, I know about the tough decisions parents face today about the media they allow into their homes," said Lt. Governor Carney. "The simple fact is that there's no substitute for parental involvement, so it's important that parents play an active role in choosing games for their children. The ESRB ratings help parents ensure that they are bringing home suitable games for their families."A noble effort, though I put forth that for many parents, nothing short of branding the ratings guide into their flesh is going to work. Nice to see Delaware has people now though. I guess they can now change their state slogan from "Where New Jersey Goes To Work" into something a little more catchy. More »
children are our future
43% Of Parents Don't Game With Their Kids
A recently published Associated Press and AOL Games survey of over 2,000 adults, some 770 of which play video games, reveals that those with kids who game don't spend a whole hell of a lot of time gaming with their offspring. According to the poll, about 43% of parents who have given birth to gamers don't spend any of their family time playing games. Those who do game with the kids tend to be younger parents, like 33 year old Marvin Paup of Arizona who plays Halo 3 with his 10-year old son to the tune of 30 hours a week. Yikes! Hope the Xbox Live headset defaults to "mute others" at the Paup house.
Unsurprisingly, those not weened on joysticks, like 55-year old mother Karen Kimball, bemoan"the violence, the obsession" their kids are subjected to while gaming. One might think that more time alloted to spending time with your kid and a wireless controller might help one relate a bit better.
Kids, it's time to add copies of Scene It? and Wario Ware Smooth Moves to the Amazon wish list. Get a wireless controller into the hands of your crusty old folks the sooner the better.
games and kids
Study Finds Fault In Parental Controls, Parents
Global Consulting firm User Centric recently conducted a study on effectiveness of parental controls in electronic devices. 20 parents and 20 children were gathered, with the parents asked to set up parental controls and children asked to bypass them. The results will shock you. Well not really, I just wanted to feel like the nighttime news hook story commercial voice over guy. The results are pretty much what you'd expect. Confusion about ratings and how indeed to setup the controls themselves led to a 47% failure rate on video game consoles, with lesser degrees of failure for V-chips, mobile phones, and DVRs. I take two things from these results. First, parents need to better understand the ratings systems before they start trying to restrict access to them, and User Centric needs to perform another study on parents who aren't stupid. Hit the jump for User Centric's press release, discovered via GamePolitics. More »
family fun
Casual Gaming Bring Generations Together
Nothing brings a family together quite like casual gaming. A new worldwide study has found that 92% of casual gaming parents and grandparents agree that casual games help them bond with their children and grandchildren, with 70% of those saying they see educational benefits for their kids from playing casual games. The study also touches on the perceived benefits of casual gaming, with our old favorite hand-eye coordination topping the list. See? Casual gaming is awesome! Everyone should do it! The study was conducted by PopCap Games, one of the largest casual game publishers in the world, who are in no way biased towards finding new reasons for people to play casual games. I'll be publishing the results of my own non self-serving study later this week, which found that 90% of my former sexual partners polled were extremely satisfied, citing substantial increases in pleasure, sensation, and map-reading skills. More »
wii
My Parent's Wii Party
Last year, I brought my Wii home for Thanksgiving. Not so much to show it off, but more to give me something to do while I was there. besides, I was loathe to leave it behind since I had just purchased it. Once it was up and running I dragged my rather skeptical parents down to check it out. It should be noted that my parents' last run in with video games was when they bought my brother and I an Atari 2600 back in the day. They enjoyed it then, but only just. It should also be noted that my folks are pushing sixty (sorry, mom) and video games are not something they think of doing as entertainment. More »
it's ten o'clk, do you know what your children are playing?
It's fantastically long video, so you might want to save this one until you get home. Peter Moore (as well as all of his personalities), join other game gurus like Lucy Bradshaw (executive producer of the Sims ), Linda Burch (SyStemix), and Gerard Jones (comic book writer) on how parents can better understand the issue of gaming in their household. More importantly, the panel talks about video games as pro-active activity within a family and focuses on getting the parents to understand the technology so they can control it. More »
Clip: Taming Gaming in Your Home
It's fantastically long video, so you might want to save this one until you get home. Peter Moore (as well as all of his personalities), join other game gurus like Lucy Bradshaw (executive producer of the Sims ), Linda Burch (SyStemix), and Gerard Jones (comic book writer) on how parents can better understand the issue of gaming in their household. More importantly, the panel talks about video games as pro-active activity within a family and focuses on getting the parents to understand the technology so they can control it. More »
violence
Game Violence Doesn't Affect Stable Children
The great thing about video game violence studies is you can generally find one to back up whatever opinion you may have on the issue. Take the one performed by the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, which pretty much found what I've been saying all along. Violent video games only affect crazy kids. More »
mainstream media
Can Online Games Attract Child Molestors?
In sharp contrast to the overblown Pictochat story we I discussed a few weeks back, Seattle's ABC affiliate KOMOTV aired a story regarding the dangers of children playing online games via XBox Live. The report explores voice chat filters and ease of communications between children and adults, and the possibility of a predator forming an online relationship with an unsuspecting child. They give several examples of incidents that have occurred, and even went as far as to demonstrate using Phantasy Star Universe. They created a young girl character and were bombarded with offers of money for sex or pics. Many of them might have been idiots joking around, but how many weren't? More »
gamestop
GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness
GameStop managers and employees better be on their toes the next time an 8 year-old comes in to pick up a copy of The Guy Game. In a conference call late last week, corporate explained the new policy on M-Rated game sales to minors. In short, you're fired. Not only are you fired, but your manager? Also fired. I am assuming that afterwards they send someone to your house to fire your family. Then they hunt down any one you ever loved, regardless of whether that love was reciprocated or not. More »
take-two
A Special Message From Take-Two
Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar's parent company Take-Two Interactive wants to remind parents this holiday season to pay special attention to the ESRB ratings on games they buy for their children."The holidays are a reminder for all of us to be aware of the ESRB rating when purchasing video games as gifts," said Paul Eibeler, Take-Two President and Chief Executive Officer. "Just as some movies are rated R, some games are rated M because they are intended for ages 17 and older - gift givers need to keep this in mind."
I thought the holidays were a reminder of the love of family and friends, good will towards men, and certain religious observances, but Eibeler heads a major gaming company so we'll run with it. The announcement is accompanied by explanations of each rating, as well as a convenient listing of Take-Two titles available this holiday season, as if to say, "We care, now buy our stuff!" Not sure how well this will reach parents, but it is an excellent press release for the next time someone accuses them of corrupting the youth of America. See for yourself, after the jump! More »
