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Posts Tagged “Research”

nintendo

Expert Says Children Should Be Banned From Wii Fit

Remember the little girl that Wii Fit called fat? Sure you do! Now, at least one expert is calling Nintendo out on using BMI to judge whether younger players are overweight or not. Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum is even calling for kiddos to be banned from Wii Fit. According to Fry:

I'm absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat... BMI is far from perfect but with children it simply should not be used... A child's BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit... I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents.

Nintendo's response after the jump:

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7:20 AM on Fri May 16 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
14,829 views, 172 comments

research

Oxford U. to Profit from GTA IV

Some portion of the £200M that Grand Theft Auto IV is projected to earn will find its way into the treasury of the U.K.'s world-renowned Oxford University. That's because the game's Euphoria engine was developed by two Oxford students using research at Oxford's zoology department.

The university's technology transfer company then teamed up with Natural Motion, the company the two students, Torsten Reil and Colm Massey, created to build and sell the engine. As such Oxford retains a share in anything Euphoria and Natural Motion should earn down the road. Such as ... Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

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11:00 AM on Sun May 4 2008
By ogood
4,362 views, 25 comments

research

What Games Some Japanese People Want Remade

No surprises here! None at all! Japan's Dengeki Online polled a few of its readers, asking "Which video game do you want remade?" The results are:

1. Final Fantasty VII

2. Xenogears

3. Seiken Densetsu 3

4. Romancing Saga 3

5. Tactics Ogre

Holy shit! Japanese people really like FF VII. Did not know that. Hit the jump for the rest, along with other thrilling data.

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1:00 AM on Fri May 2 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
8,461 views, 152 comments

Latest by MitchyTheKiller: @Highlander Wolf: I also want it remade. Although the UK never had it, i was lucky enough to get to play it on my chipped ps1. Dems were the days. more »

it killed the cat

The Thrill of Discovery: Curiosity and Gaming

Only a Game has an enlightening look at some old (early '80s) research on gaming, long before it was the 'next hot area' for study. Thomas W. Malone was looking at the educational possibilities of games when PacMan was the height of advanced (coin-op) games, and the piece looks at two of his papers and what they can still tell us about games today (or should be telling us about good game design). What Chris Bateman thinks is almost criminal is that more people haven't referenced his research: More »

2:30 PM on Sun Apr 27 2008
By mgreene
2,444 views, 16 comments

Latest by Parsifal: "Curiosity killed the cat- But satisfaction brought it back." Too many people forget that second part;p more »

trace of nuts

Gaming Leads to Less Tree Climbing, Which Leads to Weak Children

Time for another installment of "Games Are Evil." In today's episode, British tabloid Daily Mail points out they prevent children from falling out of trees, making the "Xbox Generation" weaker than, we assume, the "NES Generation" or the "Atari 2600 Generation". According to recent, hard hitting data:

In 2006/07 - the latest year for which data is available - 1,067 children under 15 needed medical assistance for tree falls. In 1999/00 the figure was 1,823.
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12:00 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
4,258 views, 117 comments

clip

"Kids Who Don't Play Video Games Are At Risk"

In the aboveGrand Theft Childhood authors Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson talk about their research and findings. Fascinating, intelligent stuff. Watch it.

Thanks Ryan for the tip!

1:00 AM on Thu Apr 17 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
70,345 views, 163 comments

research

Chill Out With World of Warcraft

Pent up anger is bad. So, best way to relax and feel less angry? Take it out on video games. A new study at Middlesex University says that the 292 male and female World of Warcraft players between the ages of 12 and 83 (bwah?) felt calm and tired after playing. Says research Jane Barnett:

This will help us to develop an emotion and gaming questionnaire to help distinguish the type of gamer who is likely to transfer their online aggression into everyday life.

Oh. Okay. Well, thanks!
New Study [Next Generation] [Pic]

6:00 AM on Wed Apr 2 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
2,648 views, 36 comments

Latest by Koztah: I bet they didn't have them raid with druids and paladins who between them want every single drop for their off sets. And a rogue who can't manage his aggro and keeps dispelling salvation and then asks for King's. I've been much more »

britain

Byron Review Released, Much Ado About Nothing

After weeks of getting their knickers in a twist over it, British pundits and interested consumers can now read up on what the long-awaited Byron Review has to say. Commissioned by the British government in response to growing concerns over children's exposure to unsuitable content in games, it's findings are already being blown out of proportion by many British press outlets, but in reality are really quite sensible. Dr. Tanya Bryon's report recommends the adoption of a more recognisable film-style ratings system - including a "12" rating - clearer, more prominent displays of a game's ratings on the cover and more effort on the part of parents in monitoring and controlling their children's gaming and online habits. Like I said, all quite fair and reasonable, really, so if you're British and are waking up to a falling sky, things aren't as bad as certain "excitable" elements of the press will have you believe.
Byron Review backs movie-style ratings [MCV]

1:30 AM on Thu Mar 27 2008
By Luke Plunkett
5,070 views, 47 comments

Latest by KoW: I'd do her more »

guns

Game Guns Are Fun Guns, Not Real Guns

You use a lot of real guns in games today. Heck, I spent nearly all weekend playing Call of Duty 4, and am now convinced I can work the assault rifle arsenals of both the American and Russian armed forces. I really can't though, and Popular Mechanics are here to remind me that despite looking and sounding real, most in-game guns don't behave like they're real. Take Rainbow Six Vegas 2, for example. Developer Philippe Theiren:
"I take these weapons, and look at what defines them, or what people think defines them. For an Uzi, people think it fires lots of bullets, and it's really inaccurate." That, he knows, has nothing to do with reality—if anything, Uzis are considered some of the most reliable and accurate submachine guns around. But the 80s (and Miami Vice in particular) offered us the Uzi as a low-life villain's weapon, spit-fire and out-of-control. "So I make it fire faster than it should. It's about taking the personality of a weapon, and making it shine in the game,"
Slightly disappointing, if only from a "what if Red Dawn happened to me" point of view, but interesting nonetheless.
Shooting for Realism: How Accurate are Video-Game Weapons? [Popular Mechanics, via GamePolitics]

2:30 AM on Wed Mar 26 2008
By Luke Plunkett
3,832 views, 112 comments

Latest by Jest: (My apologies for making this rather late reply, as I just noticed I was replied to. I'm a tad irked at how I once held dv8godd to a higher esteem than the reply I received, thus I'll make my final more »

research

How Much Punishment Can a DS Lite Take?

Hinge cracks aside, things the DS Lite can survive: Being put in a bag with keys and shaken, being dropped on the floor, being tossed from a motorbike, being thrown down the stairs, getting hot tea poured on it, falling two floors. Things the DS Lite cannot survive: Falling three stories, being thrown against the wall and being ripped to pieces. Website Broken Reivew put the DS Lite through a battery of tests, coming to this conclusion: TK. So, remember, it's okay to chuck your DS Lite from a moving vehicle, but don't try ripping it apart. That fucks 'em up.

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4:00 AM on Wed Mar 19 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
10,402 views, 80 comments

Latest by gadgetfanatic: @txgb324: You and me both. more »

uk

People Do More Gaming Than Sex Having in Bed

We already knew Brits like buying video games more than music. Now it seems like like playing video games more than doing each other. A survey from "bedroom specialist Sharps" polled 2,000 people in the UK about the most common activities in bed. What did the bedroom retailer find? Number one was sleeping, number two was talking. Three? That was watching TV. To see where gaming fell, hit the jump. It's surprising!

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10:00 PM on Mon Mar 10 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
13,322 views, 127 comments

industry

Yes, Females Play Video Games (More Should Make 'Em!)

More data! CNN points out that according to the Entertainment Software Association, 38 percent of gamers are females and spend an average of 7.4 hours a week playing video games. What's more, they spend the rest of their time, doing other things. Not surprised! Sony Computer Entertainment's Torrie Dorrell points out:

Women are out there in significant numbers playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters. What is lacking in the equation are women behind these games.

Dorrell is dead right. But things are changing — slowly.
Wooing women gamers [CNN via CVG via GamesRadar]

3:00 AM on Thu Mar 6 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
2,426 views, 67 comments

Latest by StevenRafael: @sn1per420: Ugh. You couldn't tell I was joking??? more »

research

Half of Some Japanese People Meh Online Gaming

Americans lurve online gaming. But what about Japanese? Nope! An online questionnaire poled 15,000 members of Japanese internet community MyVoice about their feelings towards online games. The sample was 54 percent female, 2 percent teen, 16 percent twenty-something, 37 percent thirty-something, 28 percent forty-something and 17 percent fifty-something. Over half of them were not interested in online games! That's not including the 12 percent who are totally indifferent. And when asked what their image of online games was, the most common response was "Geekish." And get this, only 1 percent of those poled use Macs to play online games. At least we have that in common!

Hit the jump for the full breakdown:

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5:00 AM on Wed Mar 5 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
4,073 views, 92 comments

Latest by Poltergeist13: Damn man, ease up on all the 360 mudslinging. I get the point, you worship all things Japanese. Haters are starting to ruin Kotaku. Good luck with that. more »

research

FPS Dying Makes People Feel Better

While "attorney" Jack Thompson keeps going on and on about games a "murder simulators," Finnish researchers beg to differ. In an article published in the journal Emotion, the researchers state that players actually feel a sense of relief when their characters are killed, giving them a "relief from engagement." Quite the opposite! What's more, the research states that players didn't become desensitized to in-game killing over multiple play sessions and had lower negative feelings about violence. Hrm, we think the feeling of "relief from engagment" is a two way street: Players probably feel some relief after they mow through a buncha bad guys. So, not sure how accurate this is, but what we are sure about is these Finnish folks are actually researchers and that Jack Thompson is actually bonkers. Take this data for what it's worth!
FPS Players Feel Better [Game Critics via Boing Boing Thanks, Chef!]

6:00 AM on Tue Feb 26 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
2,442 views, 46 comments

Latest by graddy: @otakucode: Surely some of the studies on this issue are poorly conducted. Several of the studies are very well conducted, however. The simple fact is that the bad studies and the good studies all point in the same direction (giving consensus) more »

metaverse u

Metaverse U Roundup

Stanford's Metaverse U conference has been going on this past weekend, and Joey Seiler has been blogging from the event, which has a lot of academic theory, predictions about where virtual worlds are headed, as well as how people are trying to implement some of the theoretical aspects into actual practice. One of the most interesting panels looked to be on avatars, some experiments with virtual reality, and preservation of virtual worlds:

The second day of MetaverseU had much more of the University in it. While the first day certainly had an academic bent, it also featured discussions of technology developments, products, and practices. TL Taylor led the second day with a discussion of online embodiment, ranging across game and social worlds. Jeremy Bailenson took a more quantitative approach, quickly running through 9 experiments and studies, looking at identity, avatars, and persuasion. (Amazing and fast!) Kari Kraus then took the stage to look at how people are approaching the preservation of virtual worlds.

The whole set of entries relating to Metaverse U is great and worth a look through, if you're into that sort of thing.

Liveblogging MetaverseU: TL Taylor, Jeremy Bailenson, Kari Kraus [Virtual Worlds News]

3:30 PM on Sun Feb 17 2008
By mgreene
464 views, 4 comments

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.

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9:20 AM on Fri Feb 8 2008
By Mike Fahey
7,672 views, 180 comments

Latest by L_K_M: Researcher: "Study shows that certain games can have a negative influence on children." Gamers: "Wah wah, it's unfair to attack us, wah wah." Sorry, but Ryan Miller is making gamers look like defensive retards who missed their logic classes. He does not more »

research

But What Consoles Does Japan Actually Own?

Not sure, but here's a shot in the dark. We always talk about what Japanese people are buying, but what about what they own? Research firm Oricon did the digging and polled Japanese folks last October. A total of one thousand were quiered, split evenly between men and women. Here's the breakdown: 250 people in their teens, 250 in their twenties, 250 in their thirties and 250 in their forties. And which consoles do they own?

1. PlayStation 2: 62.3 percent
2. Nintendo DS: 55.4 percent
3. Super Famicom: 42.5 percent
4. PlayStation: 37. 5 percent
5. Game Boy: 34.3 percent
6. Game Boy Advance: 31.8 percent
7. Famicom: 28.3 percent
8. NINTENDO64: 25.4 percent
9. PSP: 17 percent
10. Wii: 16.4 percent

Not had enough numbers? There are more! That, after the jump:

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6:00 AM on Fri Feb 8 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
9,724 views, 78 comments

Latest by dcartist: I'm amazed at how many still own a Superfamicom. I wonder how many Americans still own a Super NES. more »

research

Video Games Blamed for Death of Nature Activities

A long time ago, people used to go outside. Now, they don't. They stay inside and stare at glowing boxes. This phenomenon is called "videophilia" and is apparently killing off nature-based recreation. Research funded by The Nature Conservancy has found that fewer people are visiting National Parks, fishing and camping. From the Associated Press piece:

The decline, found in both the United States and Japan, appears to have begun in the 1980s and 1990s, the period of rapid growth of video games, they said.

Not sure if games are solely to blame. A gajillion cable TV channels and the seemingly endless internet haven't really helped! Though, as someone who works from home and doesn't go outside for days on end (sad, yes), I'd be the first to point out that, yes, more and more activities are becoming indoor. Whether this is good or bad, can't say. It is progress. Something that should be noted: The popularity of hunting hasn't changed. Nothing like shooting animals to get your ass off the sofa!
Killing Outdoors Life [msnbc Thanks, JLa!]

6:00 AM on Tue Feb 5 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
2,093 views, 114 comments

Latest by Darien_Shields: On the contrary, I think out doors activity has been responsible for stifling video game activity for hundreds of years, to the extent that it was only invented about forty years ago. You can blame Nature for not having Pac-Man more »