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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SquareTrade, a firm that deals in warranties for electronics, analyzed the data taken from more than a thousand warranty purchases.  It found that the Xbox 360 has a failure rate of about 16.4%, making it much more malfunction prone than the Playstation3 and Wii, which have a failure rate of only 3%.  According to 1UP, they were far above Microsoft’s own estimates, which were, ironically, also 3%.

Sixty percent of those 360 failures were due to the system’s infamous “Red Ring of Death,“ where 3 flashing LED lights go on around the power button to indicate a…

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On Saturday (February 2, 2008), the Arizona Republic published an article about professional race car drivers who are using videogames to practice for actual races.

The article begins with Denny Hamlin, a rookie NASCAR driver who played videogames featuring Ponoco Raceway to get himself acquainted with the Pennsylvania race track. Hamlin won first place for the actual race…

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Newsflash: game rentals hurt sales. Proving the obvious through research, a gamedaily affiliated study recently found that very few people who rent games actually end up buying the titles. According to the study, a full 49% of people bought none of the games they rented, 42% bought 1-10% of the games they rented, and 9% bought more than 11% of the games they rented. These are low numbers, folks, and this means that in general, rental play doesn’t lead to purchases. Also significant was the fact that teenagers make up 30% of game renters, though only 12% of the gaming population.

This all seems like common sense: games are practically rated on a scale of “don’t bother” for terrible review scores, to “rent it” for average games, to “buy it” for high scoring titles. Most gamers who rent a game are doing so because they’ve heard that it’s worth playing, but not the $50 or $60 it’ll cost to own it. This study just gives credence to the prevailing wisdom of the industry.

Read [Gamedaily] Via [Gamepro]

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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced Monday (November 12, 2007) that it will use its $8.25 million grant to fund project contributions that aid in RWJF’s Games for Health Project to develop and create games that improve health through interactive games.

The primary research will be held at the University of California in Santa Barbara and the project will be directed by Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., a communication researcher in the university’s Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research. Research in this field, according to RWJF, has been valuable in that through research they found that games increase a players’ physical activity levels as well as reinforce anti-smoking attitudes or improve young cancer patients’ adherence to their treatment plans.

“Computer and video games are one of today’s fastest-growing media forms. While we have seen dramatic expansion within the health games field, we lack solid evidence to help identify when a game – used alone or in combination with other interventions – can improve people’s health, and what specific difference it makes,” said Chinwe Onyekere, M.P.H. RWJF program officer. “Studies funded through Health Games Research will produce important, action-oriented results that will help this growing field make a meaningful difference in the health and health care of all Americans.”

In 2005, the Pioneer Portfolio made an initial grant to the Games for Health Project, whose work at the time was designed to connect game industry leaders with scholars and health experts to heightened interest in potential games that positively influence health. This year, Health Game Research has put out a call for proposals and will award up to $2 million to fund research that “support studies that investigate principles of effective health game design.”

A second round of funding will be available in 2009 and will award an additional $2 million in grants. RWJF’s $8.25 million grant will also be used to fund and expand the current efforts of RWJF’s Games for Health Project.

“Research on learning and behavior change with interactive media — including games — has found that they can be very motivating and effective. So it is no surprise to find in the research that playing a well-designed health game can help improve players’ health behaviors and outcomes,” said Lieberman. “We need more research to develop evidence-based design principles that can be used in future health games and technologies. Studies funded by Health Games Research will make an important contribution toward this goal.”

Read [Game Daily] Also Read [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation] Site [Health Games for Research]

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