Gamertell

In the Los Angeles Times, writer Alex Pham reports that the San Fernando Library encourages youth to play video games and even invites them to be as loud as they like.

“It lets teens be more comfortable with the library and become familiar with librarians,” San Fernando librarian Lydia Harlan told Pham. “And it’s what kids are into these days.”

In the article, Pham reports that more libraries are turning to video games to connect with technologically savvy youth who might be losing interest in books and stories. In New York, the New York Public Library has even added a collection of books, films, music and maps about video games.

Click through for the full article and a list of recommended books…

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The average gamer age is higher than it was when most of us started gaming. Content is much more mature than when the older gamers started as well. Parents, who are often gamers as well, still want to insure that their kids play age-appropriate games.

If you don’t want your kids to have exposure to inappropriate content, the only place you can really limit their exposure is in the home. Even then your control over inappropriate content in your house is still lacking to an extent. Unless your child is home schooled, has no friends, doesn’t watch TV, never goes online and doesn’t flip through magazines or the newspaper; sooner or later there’s going to be exposure to content deemed inappropriate for a child.

So with the general availability of information there’s a couple of ways to deal with the rise in mature content…

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It’s difficult for the parents of a child diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) to find ways to control their child’s disorder and help him or her live a normal childhood.

PopCap Games recently contracted Information Solutions Group to conduct a unique survey in April 2008 in which 2,728 respondents (of the 13,296 casual gamers surveyed) indicated they or someone they are caring for has a disability…

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The blaring calls for tighter videogame regulations coming from lawmakers and activists around the world threaten the creative liberty that game developers enjoy. The games industry remains in favor of the advisory system currently in place instead of outright government censorship.

WhatTheyPlay is essentially a videogames review website from a parent’s perspective, offering an honest account of various in-game sequences (if any) that parents might find too obnoxious for their kids. The website is…

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Sexual predators have turned to game consoles for entrapping gullible children as online gaming services like Xbox Live allow gamers to freely communicate with each other. According to a story on WLWT-TV News 5 in Cincinnati, OH, the FBI has investigated many such cases in Southern Ohio.

Law enforcement agencies have been hunting down predators in cyberspace for many…

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Yahoo Tech has just posted their latest CES discovery – a new website for parents called WhatTheyPlay. Offering game advice and information to parents in the form of reviews and editorials, Yahoo points to the site’s greatest strengths: its community features (the comments sections allow parents to ask and answer questions) and objectivity.

It’s a fantastic idea – a place where parents can go to get unbiased information without the mainstream media’s tendency to demonize games (and blame them for all of society’s ills). Parents who are concerned with content and ratings can be sure they’re buying age appropriate titles, and folks who would like to play with their kids can also find a wealth of information (the yahoo piece cites a recent article “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Miis” as a good example).

WhatTheyPlay was actually co-founded by former 1up editorial director John Davison, so you can be sure the content is coming from a well-informed source.

Read [Yahoo.tech] Site [WhatTheyPlay]

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The real meat of the report is on the recently released NIMA annual report card. The report detailed the results of 58 “sting” operations, which found that almost half the time children were able to buy games rated M (for “mature”). To that end, big retailers received a “D” from the organization. Parents didn’t fare much better, scraping by with a “C”

Well, clueless parents, opportunistic policymakers, and the violence in games debate are, collectively, the most overdone topics in game journalism and media criticism. ABC news unfortunately has nothing new to add to the discussion.

Read [ABC News]

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A recent Radio Iowa article on Iowa State University researcher and assistant Psychology professor Douglas Gentile confirms the need for parental guidance and supervision when it comes to video games. Gentile has stated that he believes parents and guardians should pay closer attention to the ratings on game boxes when buying video games for children based on his research at the Media Research Lab at Iowa State. His most recent research looking at the correlation between video games and violent behavior in adolescents has shown that aggressive behavior in even E-rated games can cause children to become more hostile. Through looking at the different games, he has determined that, at times, the amount of bloodshed is what determines a rating rather than interactions between characters.

Gentile also states that the ratings system as it is isn’t completely accurate, and that instead of six categories, there are really four. According to his research, he has found that the four real ratings categories for games are Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, and Mature. The official Entertainment Software Rating Board’s ratings for video games offers six categories, the four that Gentile suggests are most telling, Early Childhood and Adults Only.

The whole article is designed to act as a reminder to parents to keep an eye on their kids. Get involved in your kid’s lives if they play games. Play the games with them. Read about the game before you buy it for them. At the very least, ask a store clerk if it is appropriate for a child. All of this should be obvious though. Of course the ratings are there for a reason, they aren’t just a decorative accent. It is sad to think that parents would need to read another article like this to remind them to be active in their children’s lives.

Read [Radio Iowa] Also Read [Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace] Via [globeandmail.com] Site [Douglas A. Gentile]

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With all the recent controversy surrounding video game titles including Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt, parents have begun to worry about the kinds of games their kids play. Most parents rarely spend time playing with their kids in order to find out what those games are really about and the ESRB ratings only provide brief hints about the themes in the game or its target audience.

Gaming news websites can provide more details about a game but they are generally aimed at describing its technical features like textures, frame rates and physics engines or how the artificial intelligence responds to certain situation. These details can be very meaningful for hardcore gamers but for most parents they could as well be written in other language and offer little clue as to whether a game is adequate for their children.

In response to this, two game industry veterans have launched a site dedicated to offering reviews not for gamers but for their parents. John Davidson, former editor in chief of two gaming magazines and Ira Becker, a former colleague from Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc., have launched WhatTheyPlay.com.

The site offers objective and clear explanations about games and their contents, detailing which parts of a game contain offensive or explicit language or images, like a chainsaw death on Gears of War or sexually suggestive ones, like the lifelike animations of female characters in Dead or Alive. Although the site maintains a neutral approach in their reviews parents are also encouraged to provide their own for a more subjective angle.

This could provide a lot of help for parents in deciding what kind of games their children can play. Sometimes the generational gap makes it hard for parents to understand gaming terms and what they entail and this may lead to confusion or unwanted surprises. Providing unbiased information about the content of games is important and can help in decreasing the tensions surrounding the Mature or Adults Only genres. People should be entitled to enjoy different kinds of games provided they can understand the subjects they deal with and just because they may not be appropriate for kids, games containing adult oriented subjects should not be simply crucified.

Parents are responsible for their children and for orienting them in their education and being informed about the activities their kids engage in is an important step in this process. Games should provide fun and education and with a little time and counseling by families they are sure to achieve both goals and help in a child’s development.

Read [LA Times] Site [What They Play]

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A couple in Canada have found an interesting way of controlling their children’s time playing video games. They use a unique system where when the children do things such as read, practice music, or exercise they are rewarded with time to play video games.

Initially Dave and Lina Caputo of Waterloo decided that they would avoid the issues associated with the potentially detrimental effects of playing video games for long periods of time by restricting gameplay all together. They had resolved to disallow a gaming system in their home.

However, an Uncle who wasn’t aware of the parental restriction bought the two boys an Xbox one year as a gift. The Caputos, not wanting to deny the children a gift from their Uncle, decided to keep the gaming system, but devised an interesting set of rules on the use of the device.

They decided that play time of the Xbox would be treated as a reward for spending time in other activities. For example if the boys spent 30 minutes reading or doing chores they could play video games for the 30 minutes. This one to one ratio reward system also applied to other activities such as playing sports and exercising, and the ratio was doubled for other activities like playing guitar. For every minute of practicing music they children could play video games for two minutes.

Wow, is this a good idea or what? Sometimes the most effective things can be so simple! And the parents have found that this technique has made the boys more well rounded individuals. Not only are they experts at Fusion Frenzy and various sport games, but they are avid readers, good chess players, and excellent athlete.

I wonder when the Caputos will be writing their book. I know a number of parents who would be interested in reading it.

Read [The Record]

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