Games News for Games Heroes
Surgeons who play video games more skilled
Playing video games appears to help surgeons with skills that truly count: how well they operate using a precise technique, a study said on Monday. There was a strong correlation between video game skills and a surgeon’s capabilities performing laparoscopic surgery in the study published in the February issue of Archives of Surgery.
Laparoscopy and related surgeries involve manipulating instruments through a small incision or body opening where the surgeon’s movements are guided by watching a television screen.
Video game skills translated into higher scores on a day-and-half-long surgical skills test, and the correlation was much higher than the surgeon’s length of training or prior experience in laparoscopic surgery, the study said.
Out of 33 surgeons from Beth Israel Medical Center in New York that participated in the study, the nine doctors who had at some point played video games at least three hours per week made 37 percent fewer errors, performed 27 percent faster, and scored 42 percent better in the test of surgical skills than the 15 surgeons who had never played video games before.
“It was surprising that past commercial video game play was such a strong predictor of advanced surgical skills,” said Iowa State University psychology professor Douglas Gentile, one of the study’s authors.
It supports previous research that video games can improve “fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, visual attention, depth perception and computer competency,” the study said.
“Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons,” senior author James Rosser of Beth Israel said.
While surgeons may benefit from playing video games, the study did not give parents a pass if their children play the games for hours on end.
A 2004 survey by Gentile found 94 percent of U.S. adolescents play video games for an average of nine hours a week. Game-playing has been linked to aggressiveness, poor school grades and can become a substitute for exercise.
“Parents should not see this study as beneficial if their child is playing video games for over an hour a day,” Gentile said. “Spending that much time playing video games is not going to help their child’s chances of getting into medical school.”
www.reuters.com
Video game skills translated into higher scores on a day-and-half-long surgical skills test, and the correlation was much higher than the surgeon’s length of training or prior experience in laparoscopic surgery, the study said.
Out of 33 surgeons from Beth Israel Medical Center in New York that participated in the study, the nine doctors who had at some point played video games at least three hours per week made 37 percent fewer errors, performed 27 percent faster, and scored 42 percent better in the test of surgical skills than the 15 surgeons who had never played video games before.
“It was surprising that past commercial video game play was such a strong predictor of advanced surgical skills,” said Iowa State University psychology professor Douglas Gentile, one of the study’s authors.
It supports previous research that video games can improve “fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, visual attention, depth perception and computer competency,” the study said.
“Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons,” senior author James Rosser of Beth Israel said.
While surgeons may benefit from playing video games, the study did not give parents a pass if their children play the games for hours on end.
A 2004 survey by Gentile found 94 percent of U.S. adolescents play video games for an average of nine hours a week. Game-playing has been linked to aggressiveness, poor school grades and can become a substitute for exercise.
“Parents should not see this study as beneficial if their child is playing video games for over an hour a day,” Gentile said. “Spending that much time playing video games is not going to help their child’s chances of getting into medical school.”
www.reuters.com
Labels: article
Video games in the Classroom?
A new report finds surprising parallels between learning techniques and killing aliens. If the Federation of American Scientists made a list of educational videogames, you might expect to find Oregon Trail, the story of Conestoga wagons trekking into the American West, or the geography favorite
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? And don’t forget Half-Life 2. That’s the one where you burn alien zombies to death with exploding barrels of fuel.
OK, that’s exaggerating—but only a little. Where parents see hours wasted in front of a screen, these scientists see potential. An FAS study released this week, titled “Harnessing the power of video games for learning,” reports that best-selling games are built in surprisingly pedagogical ways. Players improve at their own pace. Beating a level requires experimentation, failure and learning from mistakes. Most new games can be played online, requiring collaboration and leadership. Game play is precisely calibrated to balance challenge and progress. It’s a stark contrast to a typical classroom in which one teacher tries to engage 30 students with printed information. “It’s like hiring an individual tutor for every student,” says FAS president Henry Kelly of using videogames to teach. “There’s a big argument going on now about whether kids are being tested too much or too little. In a game, you’re continuously being tested and you don’t mind it.”
Some commercial games are already being used in the classroom. The Civilization series lets users build empires in ancient Persia and other historical periods, and RollerCoaster Tycoon, where players construct a theme park, combines physics and business management. And the U.S. military makes extensive use of video simulations: the Army reports 7.6 million users have registered for America’s Army, a training and recruiting game.
The report calls for a new generation of educational games that are as immersive and graphics-intensive as megabudget titles like Madden NFL 07 and Battlefield 2142. “When you show a child a traditional educational game, they’ll roll their eyes,” says Kay Howell, a coauthor of the study. “But I don’t think they roll their eyes because it’s learning; I think it’s because there’s such a huge and obvious gap in quality compared to what they play at home.” The federal government, she says, should close that gap by underwriting new game-publishing houses.
But some educational observers find the videogame recommendations too unorthodox. “This is really silly,” says Chester E. Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a K-12 education research group in Washington. “Are they next going to propose government-funded studies of the educational value of comic books, reality TV shows and instant messaging?” Other critics contend the report’s recommendations shouldn’t be seen as a cure-all. “We think it’s a good idea that this stuff is being explored,” says Chad Colby, a spokesman for the Department of Education. “People do tend to look at these things as silver bullets, or a fix in themselves, when it’s really one tool out of many.” The larger problem with the federation’s ideas, Colby says, is a lack of familiarity with how education funding works: only 8.3 percent of the country’s total education budget comes from the federal government, and most of that is targeted toward students in poverty.
The study’s recommendations might be hard to implement: not all school districts have computers and networks capable of running high-end games. The FAS report calls for the production of games that can be Web-based and downloadable to PCs, but it might be less expensive to design games for the established consoles that many families already have at home. “These are technologies that kids and young adults are living with every day of their lives,” says Howell. “Why do we expect them to leave that behind when they go into a learning environment?”
Nick Summers
Newsweek
OK, that’s exaggerating—but only a little. Where parents see hours wasted in front of a screen, these scientists see potential. An FAS study released this week, titled “Harnessing the power of video games for learning,” reports that best-selling games are built in surprisingly pedagogical ways. Players improve at their own pace. Beating a level requires experimentation, failure and learning from mistakes. Most new games can be played online, requiring collaboration and leadership. Game play is precisely calibrated to balance challenge and progress. It’s a stark contrast to a typical classroom in which one teacher tries to engage 30 students with printed information. “It’s like hiring an individual tutor for every student,” says FAS president Henry Kelly of using videogames to teach. “There’s a big argument going on now about whether kids are being tested too much or too little. In a game, you’re continuously being tested and you don’t mind it.”
Some commercial games are already being used in the classroom. The Civilization series lets users build empires in ancient Persia and other historical periods, and RollerCoaster Tycoon, where players construct a theme park, combines physics and business management. And the U.S. military makes extensive use of video simulations: the Army reports 7.6 million users have registered for America’s Army, a training and recruiting game.
The report calls for a new generation of educational games that are as immersive and graphics-intensive as megabudget titles like Madden NFL 07 and Battlefield 2142. “When you show a child a traditional educational game, they’ll roll their eyes,” says Kay Howell, a coauthor of the study. “But I don’t think they roll their eyes because it’s learning; I think it’s because there’s such a huge and obvious gap in quality compared to what they play at home.” The federal government, she says, should close that gap by underwriting new game-publishing houses.
But some educational observers find the videogame recommendations too unorthodox. “This is really silly,” says Chester E. Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a K-12 education research group in Washington. “Are they next going to propose government-funded studies of the educational value of comic books, reality TV shows and instant messaging?” Other critics contend the report’s recommendations shouldn’t be seen as a cure-all. “We think it’s a good idea that this stuff is being explored,” says Chad Colby, a spokesman for the Department of Education. “People do tend to look at these things as silver bullets, or a fix in themselves, when it’s really one tool out of many.” The larger problem with the federation’s ideas, Colby says, is a lack of familiarity with how education funding works: only 8.3 percent of the country’s total education budget comes from the federal government, and most of that is targeted toward students in poverty.
The study’s recommendations might be hard to implement: not all school districts have computers and networks capable of running high-end games. The FAS report calls for the production of games that can be Web-based and downloadable to PCs, but it might be less expensive to design games for the established consoles that many families already have at home. “These are technologies that kids and young adults are living with every day of their lives,” says Howell. “Why do we expect them to leave that behind when they go into a learning environment?”
Nick Summers
Newsweek
Labels: article
It's violent video games art?
After a gaming festival drops Super Columbine Massacre RPG! (yes, it’s what you think) from consideration, other videogame makers drop out in protest. Is it art, or just offensive?
For independent videogame makers like Jonathan Blow, getting noticed in a market dominated by giants like Sony and Nintendo isn’t easy. So when he was chosen as a finalist in Utah’s Slamdance Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition for his game, Braid—which took nearly two years to develop—he was thrilled. It was a chance for his work to be seen and to enjoy the company of other indie gamemakers, and he promptly laid out about $1,400 in hotel and plane reservations for the festival, set to begin Jan. 18.
Last week, however, he withdrew his game from consideration after a fellow finalist’s game was axed for its subject matter. Since then, five other finalists have followed suit, one sponsor has dropped out and now, with half of the 14 finalists out of consideration, the festival appears imperiled.
At its heart, this is a dispute over the limits of artistic expression and the boundaries of good taste. The protests are a reaction to a decision last week by festival president Peter Baxter, who pulled the game Super Columbine Massacre RPG! from the list of finalists. The game is just what it sounds like: players traverse a 2-D world taking on the roles of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as they shoot up their high school. After committing suicide, the characters then journey to hell, where they battles demons. The free PC game has been downloaded more than 250,000 times since its release in April 2005, according to game creator Danny Ledonne, and has sparked outrage from victims’ families and media watchdog groups, as well as mixed reviews from gamemakers. It has also been accused of inspiring a September 2006 college shooting in Montreal, after which it was discovered that the perpetrator mentioned playing SCMRPG! on his blog.
But that’s not the point, Slamdance finalists say. "If this was a film instead of a game, it wouldn't even really be a question," Blow says, noting that movies relating to Columbine—such as Gus Van Sant's "Elephant"—have been featured at indie festivals. "As long as we persist in believing that games are just for kids ... we're not going to get where we need to go." Baxter disputes that. "There's only a certain point you go into role-playing with [films],” he says. “Obviously when you sit down in a game, you're actively involved."
Tuesday, seven finalist teams sent a letter to Slamdance officials calling for the game’s reinstatement. In response to the dropouts and complaints, officials have added a forum on the expulsion of SCMRPG!, and Baxter says he expects a successful festival. “We’ve got some great games,” he says. For now, at least.
Jonathan Mummolo
Newsweek
Last week, however, he withdrew his game from consideration after a fellow finalist’s game was axed for its subject matter. Since then, five other finalists have followed suit, one sponsor has dropped out and now, with half of the 14 finalists out of consideration, the festival appears imperiled.
At its heart, this is a dispute over the limits of artistic expression and the boundaries of good taste. The protests are a reaction to a decision last week by festival president Peter Baxter, who pulled the game Super Columbine Massacre RPG! from the list of finalists. The game is just what it sounds like: players traverse a 2-D world taking on the roles of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as they shoot up their high school. After committing suicide, the characters then journey to hell, where they battles demons. The free PC game has been downloaded more than 250,000 times since its release in April 2005, according to game creator Danny Ledonne, and has sparked outrage from victims’ families and media watchdog groups, as well as mixed reviews from gamemakers. It has also been accused of inspiring a September 2006 college shooting in Montreal, after which it was discovered that the perpetrator mentioned playing SCMRPG! on his blog.
But that’s not the point, Slamdance finalists say. "If this was a film instead of a game, it wouldn't even really be a question," Blow says, noting that movies relating to Columbine—such as Gus Van Sant's "Elephant"—have been featured at indie festivals. "As long as we persist in believing that games are just for kids ... we're not going to get where we need to go." Baxter disputes that. "There's only a certain point you go into role-playing with [films],” he says. “Obviously when you sit down in a game, you're actively involved."
Tuesday, seven finalist teams sent a letter to Slamdance officials calling for the game’s reinstatement. In response to the dropouts and complaints, officials have added a forum on the expulsion of SCMRPG!, and Baxter says he expects a successful festival. “We’ve got some great games,” he says. For now, at least.
Jonathan Mummolo
Newsweek
Labels: article
Give a child a video game -- and maybe a job
LOS ANGELES, Jan 11 (Reuters Life!) - Mathematics, science and video games? A U.S. university professor is urging schools to consider using video games as tools to better prepare children for the work force.
For although many educators scoff at the idea of video games in schools, the U.S. military has titles that train soldiers, teenagers with cancer use a game to battle their illness virtually and physically and some surgeons use video games to keep their hands nimble.
David Williamson Shaffer, an education science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says schools should use games to prepare children to compete in the work force, where juggling technology is a daily requirement.
"People think that the way we teach kids in schools is the natural way we should learn," said Shaffer, author of the book "How Computer Games Help Children Learn."
"But young people in the United States today are being prepared for standardized jobs in a world that will, very soon, punish those who can't innovate. We simply can't 'skill and drill' our way to innovation."
Shaffer argues that youngsters heading into the work force will, from day one, have to compete with skilled workers from around the world with years of technological experience.
For this reason, children should be given the chance to use their innate skills of simultaneously listening to music while playing games, watching videos, surfing the Web and messaging friends from computers or cell phones, while learning about things like biology, history or physics.
He said the current educational system was designed in the late 1800s to prepare people for life in industrial America not today's technologically-steeped world.
Shaffer said this new approach might also help the United States compete against fast-developing countries like India and China which are turning out engineers and scientists at a faster rate.
Governments in Britain and Singapore have already backed efforts that use video games and other technology to develop new teaching methods.
Proponents of such efforts say video games engage kids in a way that is relevant to their lives, allowing them to learn by doing as they experiment with new social and cultural worlds.
Like the U.S. military, some large U.S. corporations have already adapted and use video games to train workers.
Shaffer and his team have developed a range of games that help students learn to think like engineers, urban planners, journalists, architects and other professionals. A list of their games is at http://www.epistemicgames.com/eg/?cat=5.
In March, Shaffer and his team will start working with a school in Madison, Wisconsin, and later this year with a Chicago school.
"There are bad games out there, just as there are bad books. So adults who care about what children learn have to educate themselves about games -- and, more important, start to think about learning in new ways for the digital age of global competition," he said.
Lisa Baertlein
www.reuters.com
David Williamson Shaffer, an education science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says schools should use games to prepare children to compete in the work force, where juggling technology is a daily requirement.
"People think that the way we teach kids in schools is the natural way we should learn," said Shaffer, author of the book "How Computer Games Help Children Learn."
"But young people in the United States today are being prepared for standardized jobs in a world that will, very soon, punish those who can't innovate. We simply can't 'skill and drill' our way to innovation."
Shaffer argues that youngsters heading into the work force will, from day one, have to compete with skilled workers from around the world with years of technological experience.
For this reason, children should be given the chance to use their innate skills of simultaneously listening to music while playing games, watching videos, surfing the Web and messaging friends from computers or cell phones, while learning about things like biology, history or physics.
He said the current educational system was designed in the late 1800s to prepare people for life in industrial America not today's technologically-steeped world.
Shaffer said this new approach might also help the United States compete against fast-developing countries like India and China which are turning out engineers and scientists at a faster rate.
Governments in Britain and Singapore have already backed efforts that use video games and other technology to develop new teaching methods.
Proponents of such efforts say video games engage kids in a way that is relevant to their lives, allowing them to learn by doing as they experiment with new social and cultural worlds.
Like the U.S. military, some large U.S. corporations have already adapted and use video games to train workers.
Shaffer and his team have developed a range of games that help students learn to think like engineers, urban planners, journalists, architects and other professionals. A list of their games is at http://www.epistemicgames.com/eg/?cat=5.
In March, Shaffer and his team will start working with a school in Madison, Wisconsin, and later this year with a Chicago school.
"There are bad games out there, just as there are bad books. So adults who care about what children learn have to educate themselves about games -- and, more important, start to think about learning in new ways for the digital age of global competition," he said.
Lisa Baertlein
www.reuters.com
Labels: article
Is that shooter suitable for junior?
Entertainment Software Rating Board says its system is widely used. Ever sneak into an R-rated movie as a kid? Of course you did. It’s a rite of passage, like skipping school or sneaking a smoke behind the cafeteria.
But if you’re a 13 year-old with a hankering to play "Halo," you’d better get your older brother to buy it for you. That game is rated M, for mature. And virtually no retailer — major or independent — will sell it to you.
But do parents really use these ratings when they buy games for their kids? Or is the ratings system little more than an olive branch from the video game industry to its most vocal, hand-wringing critics?
The answer is yes, and…sort of. It’s true that the Entertainment Software Rating Board was created by the video game industry as a way to get society off the industry’s back. But ESRB president Patricia Vance insists that the ratings system, now 12 years old, is relevant, useful — and widely used.
“We have very high awareness, and very high use,” says Vance. “Three-quarters of parents use the system all the time, or most of the time.”
Public service campaign
Despite this high level of awareness, the ESRB has launched, just in time for the holiday season, a new public service campaign. Earlier this month, the organization sent four spots featuring executives from GameStop and Best Buy to more than 800 broadcast and cable stations nationwide.
The ESRB’s game rating system is, like the film industry’s rating system, totally voluntary. So while game developers and publishers don’t have to submit to the organization’s rating process, they’ll be hard-pressed to find a retailer willing to carry their unrated game.
“At Wal-Mart we make every effort to be a responsible retailer and this includes the sale of video games,” says Wal-Mart spokesperson Karen A. Burk. “All of the items we carry are rated by the ESRB.”
Kristin Kalning
msnbc.msn.com
But do parents really use these ratings when they buy games for their kids? Or is the ratings system little more than an olive branch from the video game industry to its most vocal, hand-wringing critics?
The answer is yes, and…sort of. It’s true that the Entertainment Software Rating Board was created by the video game industry as a way to get society off the industry’s back. But ESRB president Patricia Vance insists that the ratings system, now 12 years old, is relevant, useful — and widely used.
“We have very high awareness, and very high use,” says Vance. “Three-quarters of parents use the system all the time, or most of the time.”
Public service campaign
Despite this high level of awareness, the ESRB has launched, just in time for the holiday season, a new public service campaign. Earlier this month, the organization sent four spots featuring executives from GameStop and Best Buy to more than 800 broadcast and cable stations nationwide.
The ESRB’s game rating system is, like the film industry’s rating system, totally voluntary. So while game developers and publishers don’t have to submit to the organization’s rating process, they’ll be hard-pressed to find a retailer willing to carry their unrated game.
“At Wal-Mart we make every effort to be a responsible retailer and this includes the sale of video games,” says Wal-Mart spokesperson Karen A. Burk. “All of the items we carry are rated by the ESRB.”
Kristin Kalning
msnbc.msn.com
Labels: article
Games hub at varsity
Jadavpur University (JU) is set to become the first academic institution in the country to have a centre for development of computer games. The increasing preference of young engineers for a career in the rapidly-growing gaming industry has prompted the university’s decision to set up Games Valley.
Two reputed foreign institutions will collaborate with JU in the project. The university will soon tie up with Digipen, in Washington DC, which conducts programmes in design and computer games. An agreement will also be signed with Algon Quin University in Canada, which is known for producing quality game developers, said JU officials.
“A team of four senior teachers will visit the US in January to finalise the agreement with Digipen. The team will also visit Ottawa for inking the pact with Algon Quin University,” said Parthapratim Biswas, a member of the university’s executive council. Biswas is part of the team that is going to the US.
The JU authorities have plans to seek faculty support from Digipen.
At the national level, the university has decided to collaborate with IBM and Institute of Toy Making Technology for developing the infrastructure of Games Valley.
“Games Valley will open an avenue for young graduates to pursue careers in entertainment technology, which is much in demand in both the national and global markets,” stated Biswas.
JU officials said one of the attractions of Games Valley will be its well-equipped workshops. The team going abroad will interact with experts to finalise the design of the workshops, laboratories and other facilities at the centre.
“We will engage experts in various fields to offer inputs on games. For instance, there are going to be experts on arts and literature,” said Biswas.
The university had announced in January this year postgraduate courses in gaming for graduates in computer science and engineering and electronic science and engineering.
MITA MUKHERJEE
www.telegraphindia.com
“A team of four senior teachers will visit the US in January to finalise the agreement with Digipen. The team will also visit Ottawa for inking the pact with Algon Quin University,” said Parthapratim Biswas, a member of the university’s executive council. Biswas is part of the team that is going to the US.
The JU authorities have plans to seek faculty support from Digipen.
At the national level, the university has decided to collaborate with IBM and Institute of Toy Making Technology for developing the infrastructure of Games Valley.
“Games Valley will open an avenue for young graduates to pursue careers in entertainment technology, which is much in demand in both the national and global markets,” stated Biswas.
JU officials said one of the attractions of Games Valley will be its well-equipped workshops. The team going abroad will interact with experts to finalise the design of the workshops, laboratories and other facilities at the centre.
“We will engage experts in various fields to offer inputs on games. For instance, there are going to be experts on arts and literature,” said Biswas.
The university had announced in January this year postgraduate courses in gaming for graduates in computer science and engineering and electronic science and engineering.
MITA MUKHERJEE
www.telegraphindia.com
Labels: article
Cancer Video Game
Like many kids his age, 17-year-old David Kossow can often be found in front of the television. "I've been playing video games all my life," he says. David is also taking it easy because of his health. Three years ago he was diagnosed with leukemia. The news meant dozens of trips to the hospital and 36 months of chemotherapy.
Cancer is the number one cause of death in kids and teens in the United States. Treatment regimens are improving, but getting patients to follow them can be a challenge.
Mike Kossow, David's dad, says, "It's been a rough three years." But a nice distraction came when David was able to test a new computer video game through a study at Washington University School of Medicine.
The game is called "Re-Mission." Roxxi, the main character, is a robot who seeks and destroys the enemy, "cancer."
"It kind of gives a whole new perspective on fighting cancer," David says. "I mean you can't really do it physically, so you can do it virtually."
Kids in the study played this game or a regular video game for three months. Researchers found the teens who played Re-Mission felt better overall, knew more about their cancer, and were more likely to take their medications properly.
Jeanne Harvey, N.P., of Washington University School of Medicine, tells Ivanhoe, "We always have to try to be creative with teenagers, especially to come up with ways to engage them in the process because a lot of times, their reaction to all of this is to just shut down."
The Re-Mission game is free to young adults with cancer and rated "T" for Teen.
David's beaten all 20 levels of Re-Mission. He's found it so inspiring he plans to one day design video games himself.
"He knows that that chemo treatment is kind of like going to the next video game level and beating that level," Mike says.
Now that David is done with treatment, his final mission is to destroy the cancer in his body for good.
abclocal.go.com
Mike Kossow, David's dad, says, "It's been a rough three years." But a nice distraction came when David was able to test a new computer video game through a study at Washington University School of Medicine.
The game is called "Re-Mission." Roxxi, the main character, is a robot who seeks and destroys the enemy, "cancer."
"It kind of gives a whole new perspective on fighting cancer," David says. "I mean you can't really do it physically, so you can do it virtually."
Kids in the study played this game or a regular video game for three months. Researchers found the teens who played Re-Mission felt better overall, knew more about their cancer, and were more likely to take their medications properly.
Jeanne Harvey, N.P., of Washington University School of Medicine, tells Ivanhoe, "We always have to try to be creative with teenagers, especially to come up with ways to engage them in the process because a lot of times, their reaction to all of this is to just shut down."
The Re-Mission game is free to young adults with cancer and rated "T" for Teen.
David's beaten all 20 levels of Re-Mission. He's found it so inspiring he plans to one day design video games himself.
"He knows that that chemo treatment is kind of like going to the next video game level and beating that level," Mike says.
Now that David is done with treatment, his final mission is to destroy the cancer in his body for good.
abclocal.go.com
Labels: article
Group advocates game-rating system
WASHINGTON - With the holiday shopping season underway, an industry group for video games is trying to encourage parents to use its voluntary ratings to protect children from graphic images of sex and violence.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board said Thursday it would distribute four public-service television spots to more than 800 broadcast and cable stations nationwide.
“Just like movies and TV shows, video games are created for a diverse audience of all ages, and some are simply not intended for children,” ESRB president Patricia Vance said.
Sens. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., lent their support at a Capitol Hill news conference. Both have been active in the fight to protect children from sexually explicit and graphically violent videos, music and movies.
Lieberman said parents must play a central role in learning about the ratings and what games their children should be playing.
“Ultimately, this is about parents exercising some responsibility,” Lieberman said.
Vance said about 12 percent of the games the ESRB rates each year are M-rated, intended for those aged 17 and over. She said parents should take such ratings seriously in deciding if the content of the game is appropriate for their child.
Executives from retailers Best Buy Co. and GameStop Corp. appear in the ads, stressing their support for ratings and their store policies not to sell M-rated games to children under 17 without parental permission.
The ESRB rating system was created in 1994 by the entertainment software industry. Use of the ESRB seal and rating is voluntary, though virtually all games do so.
Andrew Miga
www.msnbc.msn.com
Sens. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., lent their support at a Capitol Hill news conference. Both have been active in the fight to protect children from sexually explicit and graphically violent videos, music and movies.
Lieberman said parents must play a central role in learning about the ratings and what games their children should be playing.
“Ultimately, this is about parents exercising some responsibility,” Lieberman said.
Vance said about 12 percent of the games the ESRB rates each year are M-rated, intended for those aged 17 and over. She said parents should take such ratings seriously in deciding if the content of the game is appropriate for their child.
Executives from retailers Best Buy Co. and GameStop Corp. appear in the ads, stressing their support for ratings and their store policies not to sell M-rated games to children under 17 without parental permission.
The ESRB rating system was created in 1994 by the entertainment software industry. Use of the ESRB seal and rating is voluntary, though virtually all games do so.
Andrew Miga
www.msnbc.msn.com
Labels: article
The Nintendo Difference
No company frustrates the soothsayers quite as much as Nintendo. Across the land, divining rods are being snapped, crystal balls are being smashed and tea leaves are being stamped on in fury - as the firm whose death has been predicted countless times reveals itself once again to be in rude good health and ready to take on the world.
I refer, of course, to the launch of the Wii in Europe, which saw the firm clocking up a record breaking 325,000 sales over the weekend; but even more astonishing, and more laudable, is the stunning success of the Nintendo DS in the same week. Over half a million units of the handheld were sold in Europe last week, and the installed base now tops 8.5 million units in this territory alone. If this is an indication of how the Wii's sales will go, then Nintendo's risky gamble with the motion sensing Wiimote could actually turn out to be the stroke of genius which hands dominance of the console space back to its one-time master.
As the Kyoto-based firm continues to confound the doom-mongers who have gleefully predicted its demise for the best part of a decade, it's worth pausing for a moment to think about the other common prediction which is associated with Nintendo - namely that the company will (or at least, should) abandon the hardware market entirely, and instead focus on bringing its unique range of IPs and franchises to other platforms. Going third-party - or "doing a Sega", as industry slang would have it.
The most common argument for this strategy is that while Nintendo may be hugely profitable, the company's home consoles are in distant second or even third place behind those of the market leader - so in theory, by moving franchises like Mario and Zelda to the PlayStation and the Xbox, the firm would have a much larger target market, would sell more units, and would ultimately be much more successful. This is particularly relevant now, proponents of this model argue, because the astonishing cost of the new generation of consoles has forced Nintendo out of the arms race, leaving its games confined to an innovative but underpowered system.
On the face of it, it's a compelling argument - and it certainly worked for Sega, which has turned around its fortunes since bailing out of the Dreamcast (aided, admittedly, by being acquired by wealthy Japanese gambling firm Sammy) and is now one of the most influential third-party publishers in the industry. Why shouldn't Nintendo follow Sega's example, then, and leave the CPU and GPU arms race to the multinational giants with cash to burn?
The simple answer is because "The Nintendo Difference" isn't just a cunning marketing slogan; Nintendo genuinely is different. Its structure and business model are a radical departure from how every other company in the interactive entertainment industry works, and the comparisons between Nintendo and Sega are merely skin deep. Sega left hardware because it had no choice; the failure of the Dreamcast was a nail in the coffin, and the structure of its internal studios was perfect for transplanting into a third party publisher. Nintendo stays in hardware because it, too, has no choice in the matter.
Of course, on a very simple level, if Nintendo was to leave hardware then it would lose a major revenue stream, because the company notoriously designs and prices its consoles such that hardware is a profit-making enterprise. Making up for that lost revenue would also be tougher than it looks, because as a third-party publisher, Nintendo would be forced to pay a significant license fee on each game it sold, so its profit margin from software would be reduced. As such, the company would have to vastly increase its software sales in order to make up both for reduced margins and for the loss of the hardware revenue stream - an incredibly daunting task, even for a firm with franchises like Mario and Zelda. Bear in mind that those franchises already sell millions of copies, and have an astonishingly high attach rate with Nintendo hardware - even on a system with five times the installed base, achieving higher sales would be a challenge.
Even more important, though, is the change which would have to be made to Nintendo's entire culture, to its business and creative models, if it were to abandon the hardware market. Considering this gives an insight into the workings of one of the most fascinating companies in the videogames market - a firm which is quite unlike its competitors, with an approach which owes more to that of a toy company than to the videogame publishing model.
Nintendo's entire philosophy is focused on the platform - not on hardware or software as separate entities or businesses, but as the platform as a whole. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, where it's apparent that Chinese walls have been erected between the designers of the hardware and the creators of first-party software, Nintendo actually places its top software designers at the helm of hardware design. Consoles are designed to suit the game concepts which will run on them - a working model which is apparent in the design of both the Nintendo DS and the Wii, and which allows the company to create early first-party titles which really showcase the hardware.
This top-down approach, which creates consoles based on the games which will run on them, is the antithesis of Microsoft and Sony's approach, which designs from the bottom up - first creating a console and then worrying about what games will run on it. It gives Nintendo an enormous competitive advantage which would not be evident if it were a third-party publisher, and allows its top first-party software to innovate and evolve in ways which would be impossible on another company's hardware. It's also the approach which has informed the decision to restrain the specifications of the Wii - and indeed the DS - to a manageable level, which allows development to take place faster and less expensively than on rival consoles.
These factors combine to make Nintendo into the company it is today - a company whose low development costs, tight integration between hardware and software and enormous profit margins allow it to take creative risks, drive forward innovation and promote the growth of the gaming market as a whole. Without Nintendo's unique business model and first-party status, games like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Animal Crossing and Wario Ware simply could not exist; they either rely heavily on the hardware which supports them, or are so far off the beaten track that creating them on a system with higher development costs and lower profit margins would be commercially untenable.
That's why Nintendo will remain in the hardware business - because its consoles are more than just a platform to run its software on. They are part of a platform strategy which defines the entire company's approach to the market, and which means Nintendo is more than just one of the world's leading videogame companies - it is also, and arguably more importantly, one of the world's leading toy companies, and remains a powerhouse of innovation and development which is a driving force for the entire games sector. "Doing a Sega" is not on the cards for this firm, and probably never will be - especially not when it's still in the enviable position of being able to shift the better part of a million units in Europe in a single week.
Rob Fahey
gamesindutry.biz
As the Kyoto-based firm continues to confound the doom-mongers who have gleefully predicted its demise for the best part of a decade, it's worth pausing for a moment to think about the other common prediction which is associated with Nintendo - namely that the company will (or at least, should) abandon the hardware market entirely, and instead focus on bringing its unique range of IPs and franchises to other platforms. Going third-party - or "doing a Sega", as industry slang would have it.
The most common argument for this strategy is that while Nintendo may be hugely profitable, the company's home consoles are in distant second or even third place behind those of the market leader - so in theory, by moving franchises like Mario and Zelda to the PlayStation and the Xbox, the firm would have a much larger target market, would sell more units, and would ultimately be much more successful. This is particularly relevant now, proponents of this model argue, because the astonishing cost of the new generation of consoles has forced Nintendo out of the arms race, leaving its games confined to an innovative but underpowered system.
On the face of it, it's a compelling argument - and it certainly worked for Sega, which has turned around its fortunes since bailing out of the Dreamcast (aided, admittedly, by being acquired by wealthy Japanese gambling firm Sammy) and is now one of the most influential third-party publishers in the industry. Why shouldn't Nintendo follow Sega's example, then, and leave the CPU and GPU arms race to the multinational giants with cash to burn?
The simple answer is because "The Nintendo Difference" isn't just a cunning marketing slogan; Nintendo genuinely is different. Its structure and business model are a radical departure from how every other company in the interactive entertainment industry works, and the comparisons between Nintendo and Sega are merely skin deep. Sega left hardware because it had no choice; the failure of the Dreamcast was a nail in the coffin, and the structure of its internal studios was perfect for transplanting into a third party publisher. Nintendo stays in hardware because it, too, has no choice in the matter.
Of course, on a very simple level, if Nintendo was to leave hardware then it would lose a major revenue stream, because the company notoriously designs and prices its consoles such that hardware is a profit-making enterprise. Making up for that lost revenue would also be tougher than it looks, because as a third-party publisher, Nintendo would be forced to pay a significant license fee on each game it sold, so its profit margin from software would be reduced. As such, the company would have to vastly increase its software sales in order to make up both for reduced margins and for the loss of the hardware revenue stream - an incredibly daunting task, even for a firm with franchises like Mario and Zelda. Bear in mind that those franchises already sell millions of copies, and have an astonishingly high attach rate with Nintendo hardware - even on a system with five times the installed base, achieving higher sales would be a challenge.
Even more important, though, is the change which would have to be made to Nintendo's entire culture, to its business and creative models, if it were to abandon the hardware market. Considering this gives an insight into the workings of one of the most fascinating companies in the videogames market - a firm which is quite unlike its competitors, with an approach which owes more to that of a toy company than to the videogame publishing model.
Nintendo's entire philosophy is focused on the platform - not on hardware or software as separate entities or businesses, but as the platform as a whole. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, where it's apparent that Chinese walls have been erected between the designers of the hardware and the creators of first-party software, Nintendo actually places its top software designers at the helm of hardware design. Consoles are designed to suit the game concepts which will run on them - a working model which is apparent in the design of both the Nintendo DS and the Wii, and which allows the company to create early first-party titles which really showcase the hardware.
This top-down approach, which creates consoles based on the games which will run on them, is the antithesis of Microsoft and Sony's approach, which designs from the bottom up - first creating a console and then worrying about what games will run on it. It gives Nintendo an enormous competitive advantage which would not be evident if it were a third-party publisher, and allows its top first-party software to innovate and evolve in ways which would be impossible on another company's hardware. It's also the approach which has informed the decision to restrain the specifications of the Wii - and indeed the DS - to a manageable level, which allows development to take place faster and less expensively than on rival consoles.
These factors combine to make Nintendo into the company it is today - a company whose low development costs, tight integration between hardware and software and enormous profit margins allow it to take creative risks, drive forward innovation and promote the growth of the gaming market as a whole. Without Nintendo's unique business model and first-party status, games like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Animal Crossing and Wario Ware simply could not exist; they either rely heavily on the hardware which supports them, or are so far off the beaten track that creating them on a system with higher development costs and lower profit margins would be commercially untenable.
That's why Nintendo will remain in the hardware business - because its consoles are more than just a platform to run its software on. They are part of a platform strategy which defines the entire company's approach to the market, and which means Nintendo is more than just one of the world's leading videogame companies - it is also, and arguably more importantly, one of the world's leading toy companies, and remains a powerhouse of innovation and development which is a driving force for the entire games sector. "Doing a Sega" is not on the cards for this firm, and probably never will be - especially not when it's still in the enviable position of being able to shift the better part of a million units in Europe in a single week.
Rob Fahey
gamesindutry.biz
Labels: article, nintendo wii
Technology changing way fans see game
The San Francisco Giants were in the thick of the pennant race in August 2002. And Blake Krikorian and his brother, Jason, were stuck at their office with no way to watch.
The afternoon game was being shown on a local TV station, but their office didn't have a TV feed. They signed up for an Internet service that showed games live — only to discover local teams were blacked out.
"We thought, 'There's got to be a way we can watch and control our living room television,'" Blake Krikorian said. "Whether I'm in my backyard on my laptop, or sitting in an office on my desktop, or traveling in Shanghai with my mobile phone, it shouldn't really matter. All I want is my familiar, living room TV programming."
Thus, Slingbox was born.
The product, which lets people watch their home TV anywhere, anytime using an Internet-connected computer or handheld device, is one of the many ways the view of games we love are changing.
No matter how many channels on a cable system or state-of-the-art satellite dish, there isn't enough room for everything. The networks have little choice but to stick with the programming they know sells — baseball, the NFL,
NASCAR,
NCAA basketball and football, plus the golf and tennis majors. Viewers have turned elsewhere for what they want and are using the latest in technology to get it on their terms.
"Television is still king of the hill," said David Raith, executive director of U.S. Figure Skating, which launched IceNetwork.com this fall. "(But the Web) brings out great opportunities for further exposure, for marketing opportunities. ... There are no time or space limits. It's wide open. It's endless. It's as much as you want to put in there.
"And it's 24-7."
Teams and leagues are scrambling to adapt, turning the Web into an interactive playground to capitalize on that all-important "fan experience." Or better yet, the athletes' experience. NASCAR, for example, will take DirecTV customers behind the wheel next year, showing races from a driver's vantage point.
Sports that have been largely shut out of the mainstream media are using Webcasts to stake out their spot. The NHL even is putting full-length games on delay on Google Video in hopes of attracting new fans or luring back those turned off by the season-long lockout. It also has highlight packages on YouTube.
Not home to see the Super Bowl? Get it live on a mobile phone. Didn't get enough of this year's Michigan-Ohio State matchup? Download it to a video iPod. Want to see if Daisuke Matsuzaka is really worth all those millions the Red Sox are shelling out? A couple clicks of the mouse gets his career stats and clips of him pitching. A hardcore badminton fan? Pay a subscription fee and watch matches on the Internet.
"This is all about more and more choices," said Eddy Cue, vice president of Apple's iTunes. "Watching a game live on a 50-inch plasma TV is a tough thing to beat. But when you're not in that position, having other choices is going to be something that people want."
For fans, there's nothing better than seeing their favorite sport, team or athlete up close and in person. The next-best thing is watching the game from the comfort of their living room, preferably on a really big TV.
That's not always possible. As advances in technology have made everything more portable and more user-friendly, fans are expecting the same thing from their sports. The further technology goes, the more fans want.
Indeed, it's that combination of Web and wireless technology that's been such a boon for fans.
Even in its infancy, the Web gave sports an immediacy previously limited to ballparks and arenas. Instead of waiting for the next day's paper or even the next sportscast, fans got up-to-the-minute scores and could see how their favorite players were doing.
Fans' reach was expanded, too. Now, they easily tracked teams and athletes that would be mere blurbs in local newspapers.
As wireless technology improved, the Web went portable. Those same scores once found on office computers now were accessible on mobile phones. It wasn't long before fans were looking for ways to bring the games with them.
TiVo has come up with TiVoToGo, which can transfer recorded shows to PCs, iPods and some handheld devices, including mobile phones. iTunes offers highlight packages for the NFL, NBA, NASCAR and golf, as well as college football and basketball. The downloads include clips showing the progression of the game or race, as well as interviews with athletes and coaches.
To take advantage of the hype surrounding this year's Michigan-Ohio State game, iTunes put together a collector's edition type of package. For $5.99, customers got the full-length 1973, 1997 and 2002 games, as well as commercials touting the rivalry. After Ohio State beat Michigan, they got this year's matchup.
NASCAR's Internet "TrackPass" allows subscribers to customize video highlights and eavesdrop on in-race conversations between drivers and their crews.
"There's more and more opportunities in the future, giving people access to the game," Cue said. "The other piece is also access to new things, whether it's the press conference or the interview.
"You need to offer more as customers want more."
For some sports, the Web has become the only way to offer anything.
Before cable, networks occasionally would show lesser-known or fringe sports. ABC's "Wide World of Sports" gave viewers regular doses of sports such as cliff diving and ski jumping.
That's simply not possible anymore, said Rick Gentile, a former senior vice president of CBS Sports who is now a professor at Seton Hall.
"The networks have to pay such exorbitant rights fees for the staples, their sales forces have to charge advertisers big dollars to support those. And they really don't have the appetite to sell the little sports," Gentile said.
"Alpine skiing, you never see alpine skiing on television anymore."
Actually, you do. Just not that often.
You can, though, get your fill on the Web.
The World Championship Sports Network has acquired rights from 35 Olympic sports federations, allowing it to stream coverage of world championships and other major events on its WCSN.com Web site, co-founder Claude Ruibal said. For $4.95 a month or $49.95 a year, subscribers can watch everything from the Asian Games to the world gymnastics championships to table tennis' World Cup events. And, of course, skiing.
Other content on the site — news, features, athlete blogs — is free.
"(Getting attention) is a really big challenge," said Teodor Gheorghe, the executive director of USA Table Tennis, which has only 8,500 members even though nearly every American who's been to a family reunion has played the game.
"People don't have a clue what the sport means if they can't see it. If we can get this out, we will get more fans, more support."
Or capitalize on interest generated at a big event.
Ruibal said he was captivated during the Turin Olympics by the story of Lindsey Jacobellis, the American who hot-dogged her way out of a gold medal in snowboardcross. He wanted to see how she'd do in her first post-Olympics race — but it wasn't going to be on TV.
"There wasn't a place to see that," said Ruibal, WCSN's chairman and CEO. "There is now.
"We really are trying to build more of a community online," he added. "You need to somehow be able to touch better those people who have a core passion for sport and grow from there. You need to somehow have the excitement the content gives you, the excitement that interacting with these athletes through photographs and blogs gives you."
Even glamour sports like figure skating are relying on the Web.
Figure skating is one of the few sports with a TV presence outside the Olympics, but ratings are nowhere near what they were in the aftermath of the
Nancy Kerrigan-
Tonya Harding debacle. It doesn't help that
Michelle Kwan, the sport's biggest star for the last decade, has traded her skates for school books.
With the launch this fall of its Ice Network, U.S. Figure Skating is hoping to target die-hard loyalists and casual fans alike with sneak previews of who might be the next big thing. There will be Webcasts from lower-level competitions, as well as editorial content to showcase lesser-known skaters.
That a Web site like this could pique the curiosity of tomorrow's consumers isn't lost on Raith.
"For the younger demographic, the Web is much more relevant than watching a network at a specific time," Raith said.
Consumers of all ages are demanding information at their fingertips today. They want to replay whatever they've just seen and skip through the boring parts. They want to watch it at 11 a.m. or 11 p.m., in the living room or while riding the bus. They want information — lots of it. And they're talking about all of it on IM or with text messages.
Leagues, athletes and teams had better adapt, or they risk becoming as obsolete as that old Betamax.
"We have to increase fan interest in the game however we can," said Keith Ritter, president of NHL Interactive Cyber Enterprises. "What we need to do is take advantage of places where fans and potential fans are spending their time. Obviously, they're spending their time on YouTube, Google Video, AOL. They're not necessarily looking for hockey, but they're looking for interesting video.
"It's the old joke about chicken soup," Ritter added. "Is this the thing that's the cure? No, but it couldn't hurt."
NANCY ARMOUR, AP National Writer
www.ap.org
Thus, Slingbox was born.
The product, which lets people watch their home TV anywhere, anytime using an Internet-connected computer or handheld device, is one of the many ways the view of games we love are changing.
No matter how many channels on a cable system or state-of-the-art satellite dish, there isn't enough room for everything. The networks have little choice but to stick with the programming they know sells — baseball, the NFL,
NASCAR,
NCAA basketball and football, plus the golf and tennis majors. Viewers have turned elsewhere for what they want and are using the latest in technology to get it on their terms.
"Television is still king of the hill," said David Raith, executive director of U.S. Figure Skating, which launched IceNetwork.com this fall. "(But the Web) brings out great opportunities for further exposure, for marketing opportunities. ... There are no time or space limits. It's wide open. It's endless. It's as much as you want to put in there.
"And it's 24-7."
Teams and leagues are scrambling to adapt, turning the Web into an interactive playground to capitalize on that all-important "fan experience." Or better yet, the athletes' experience. NASCAR, for example, will take DirecTV customers behind the wheel next year, showing races from a driver's vantage point.
Sports that have been largely shut out of the mainstream media are using Webcasts to stake out their spot. The NHL even is putting full-length games on delay on Google Video in hopes of attracting new fans or luring back those turned off by the season-long lockout. It also has highlight packages on YouTube.
Not home to see the Super Bowl? Get it live on a mobile phone. Didn't get enough of this year's Michigan-Ohio State matchup? Download it to a video iPod. Want to see if Daisuke Matsuzaka is really worth all those millions the Red Sox are shelling out? A couple clicks of the mouse gets his career stats and clips of him pitching. A hardcore badminton fan? Pay a subscription fee and watch matches on the Internet.
"This is all about more and more choices," said Eddy Cue, vice president of Apple's iTunes. "Watching a game live on a 50-inch plasma TV is a tough thing to beat. But when you're not in that position, having other choices is going to be something that people want."
For fans, there's nothing better than seeing their favorite sport, team or athlete up close and in person. The next-best thing is watching the game from the comfort of their living room, preferably on a really big TV.
That's not always possible. As advances in technology have made everything more portable and more user-friendly, fans are expecting the same thing from their sports. The further technology goes, the more fans want.
Indeed, it's that combination of Web and wireless technology that's been such a boon for fans.
Even in its infancy, the Web gave sports an immediacy previously limited to ballparks and arenas. Instead of waiting for the next day's paper or even the next sportscast, fans got up-to-the-minute scores and could see how their favorite players were doing.
Fans' reach was expanded, too. Now, they easily tracked teams and athletes that would be mere blurbs in local newspapers.
As wireless technology improved, the Web went portable. Those same scores once found on office computers now were accessible on mobile phones. It wasn't long before fans were looking for ways to bring the games with them.
TiVo has come up with TiVoToGo, which can transfer recorded shows to PCs, iPods and some handheld devices, including mobile phones. iTunes offers highlight packages for the NFL, NBA, NASCAR and golf, as well as college football and basketball. The downloads include clips showing the progression of the game or race, as well as interviews with athletes and coaches.
To take advantage of the hype surrounding this year's Michigan-Ohio State game, iTunes put together a collector's edition type of package. For $5.99, customers got the full-length 1973, 1997 and 2002 games, as well as commercials touting the rivalry. After Ohio State beat Michigan, they got this year's matchup.
NASCAR's Internet "TrackPass" allows subscribers to customize video highlights and eavesdrop on in-race conversations between drivers and their crews.
"There's more and more opportunities in the future, giving people access to the game," Cue said. "The other piece is also access to new things, whether it's the press conference or the interview.
"You need to offer more as customers want more."
For some sports, the Web has become the only way to offer anything.
Before cable, networks occasionally would show lesser-known or fringe sports. ABC's "Wide World of Sports" gave viewers regular doses of sports such as cliff diving and ski jumping.
That's simply not possible anymore, said Rick Gentile, a former senior vice president of CBS Sports who is now a professor at Seton Hall.
"The networks have to pay such exorbitant rights fees for the staples, their sales forces have to charge advertisers big dollars to support those. And they really don't have the appetite to sell the little sports," Gentile said.
"Alpine skiing, you never see alpine skiing on television anymore."
Actually, you do. Just not that often.
You can, though, get your fill on the Web.
The World Championship Sports Network has acquired rights from 35 Olympic sports federations, allowing it to stream coverage of world championships and other major events on its WCSN.com Web site, co-founder Claude Ruibal said. For $4.95 a month or $49.95 a year, subscribers can watch everything from the Asian Games to the world gymnastics championships to table tennis' World Cup events. And, of course, skiing.
Other content on the site — news, features, athlete blogs — is free.
"(Getting attention) is a really big challenge," said Teodor Gheorghe, the executive director of USA Table Tennis, which has only 8,500 members even though nearly every American who's been to a family reunion has played the game.
"People don't have a clue what the sport means if they can't see it. If we can get this out, we will get more fans, more support."
Or capitalize on interest generated at a big event.
Ruibal said he was captivated during the Turin Olympics by the story of Lindsey Jacobellis, the American who hot-dogged her way out of a gold medal in snowboardcross. He wanted to see how she'd do in her first post-Olympics race — but it wasn't going to be on TV.
"There wasn't a place to see that," said Ruibal, WCSN's chairman and CEO. "There is now.
"We really are trying to build more of a community online," he added. "You need to somehow be able to touch better those people who have a core passion for sport and grow from there. You need to somehow have the excitement the content gives you, the excitement that interacting with these athletes through photographs and blogs gives you."
Even glamour sports like figure skating are relying on the Web.
Figure skating is one of the few sports with a TV presence outside the Olympics, but ratings are nowhere near what they were in the aftermath of the
Nancy Kerrigan-
Tonya Harding debacle. It doesn't help that
Michelle Kwan, the sport's biggest star for the last decade, has traded her skates for school books.
With the launch this fall of its Ice Network, U.S. Figure Skating is hoping to target die-hard loyalists and casual fans alike with sneak previews of who might be the next big thing. There will be Webcasts from lower-level competitions, as well as editorial content to showcase lesser-known skaters.
That a Web site like this could pique the curiosity of tomorrow's consumers isn't lost on Raith.
"For the younger demographic, the Web is much more relevant than watching a network at a specific time," Raith said.
Consumers of all ages are demanding information at their fingertips today. They want to replay whatever they've just seen and skip through the boring parts. They want to watch it at 11 a.m. or 11 p.m., in the living room or while riding the bus. They want information — lots of it. And they're talking about all of it on IM or with text messages.
Leagues, athletes and teams had better adapt, or they risk becoming as obsolete as that old Betamax.
"We have to increase fan interest in the game however we can," said Keith Ritter, president of NHL Interactive Cyber Enterprises. "What we need to do is take advantage of places where fans and potential fans are spending their time. Obviously, they're spending their time on YouTube, Google Video, AOL. They're not necessarily looking for hockey, but they're looking for interesting video.
"It's the old joke about chicken soup," Ritter added. "Is this the thing that's the cure? No, but it couldn't hurt."
NANCY ARMOUR, AP National Writer
www.ap.org
Labels: article
Video games ease sick kids', parents' pain
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When 11-year-old Gus Luna was able to play one of his favorite video games while recovering from exploratory brain cancer surgery in intensive care, his mother breathed a big sigh of relief.
"It was brain surgery... it was so scary. That made me feel like things seemed OK," said Marcela Luna, whose son has been undergoing chemotherapy since last year, when surgeons were unable to remove his tumor.
Gus, an all-star soccer player and tae kwon do green belt, was president of his fifth-grade class before falling ill. Now being home schooled, he cannot imagine getting through his treatments without video games: "It would be really hard without this ... You never know what's going to happen next."
Games let him focus on something other than the illness, doctors and hospital visits that dominate his life.
Gus is being treated at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which is among 1,000 hospitals worldwide with video game Fun Centers that roll from bed to bed, just like regular hospital equipment.
"You're like a regular kid," he said. "You forget about needles, you forget about what's all around you."
NOT JUST KIDS STUFF
Over the last decade, researchers around the world have done hundreds of studies probing the value of video games and other forms of virtual reality to help children, and their parents, cope with medical-related anxiety and pain.
Results have been mostly positive and continue rolling in.
The University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine earlier this year published details from a study of 20 children having an intravenous line inserted.
Half of them underwent the procedure while playing "Street Luge," a fully-immersive virtual reality game in which players control characters who race downhill while reclining on a big skateboard. The children wore a helmet fitted with headphones and glasses that delivered game sounds and images. They also used a rumbling joystick.
Children who did not play the game reported a four-fold increase in pain intensity from the procedure, while those who used virtual reality distraction reported no change in pain intensity.
The University of South Australia's Center of Allied Health Evidence did a study of children with serious burn injuries and found "strong evidence" supporting the use of virtual reality-based games in pain management.
In similar fashion, doctors at
Israel's Chaim Sheba Medical Center used Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).'s (6758.T) PlayStation II EyeToy -- a camera that connects to a video game console allowing users to see themselves on TV -- as a rehabilitation tool for patients with severe burns. In a published article they said it proved to be an efficient and affordable alternative.
GAMING FOR GOOD
Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS) executive Don James designed the current Fun Center and said the company will start shipping units that include its new Wii video game console in mid-2007.
The Japanese game giant sponsors more than 3,500 of the 5,000-plus Fun Centers in hospitals through a program created and run by Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, whose aim is to combat the isolation and fear experienced by hospitalized kids.
A donation of $3,250 covers a current-generation Fun Center with a GameCube console, flat-screen monitor and DVD player, as well as its lifetime upkeep, a Starlight spokeswoman said.
Jeffrey Gold, program psychologist for the pediatric pain management clinic at USC-affiliated Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, was on the team that did the university's virtual reality pain study and continues to research the subject.
Hospitalized children are in a foreign environment with none of the familiar comforts of home, he said.
"There is no normalcy. When you roll in a video game, there is some normalcy," Gold said.
Parents also benefit, he added. "If you have children and you see them in distress, then you're in distress. If they're more calm, you're more calm."
That's something all moms -- from Marcela Luna to movie star and author Jamie Lee Curtis, a Starlight proponent -- know first-hand.
Five years ago, Curtis' son was hospitalized with a ruptured spleen and nurses wheeled in a Fun Center.
"It made him forget he was in the hospital ... It changed our experience," she said.
Lisa Baertlein
www.reuters.com
Labels: article
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