In what's being described as the US's first nationally representative study on videogame addiction, an Iowa State University researcher found that 88% of the US's 45 million 8-to-18-year-olds play videogames, and 8.5% of them show "multiple signs of behavioral addiction," the Washington Post reports. That means that 3 million young people are either addicted or "'at least have problems of the … [Read more...] about Key US study on youth videogame addiction
videogames
Sign of the (videogame) times
Actually, it's a sign of the new-media times: A videogame magazine - Game Informer, circ. 3,517,598 - passed up Playboy, Time, Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated and came "strikingly close" to People in the readership rankings, BlastMagazine reports, citing BurrellesLuce research. One qualifier (better understood by gamers and GameStop customers): "It must be noted that GameStop is the proprietor of … [Read more...] about Sign of the (videogame) times
New Halo game: Focus on strategy
Remember the board game "Risk"? Real-time strategy (RTS) videogames - played from a top-down perspective - are its descendents. Now, with the just-released "Halo Wars," Microsoft has folded RTS into its popular Halo series, USATODAY reports. This is good news for parents in two ways. Not only is strategy more the focus than shooting, it's rated "T" for Teen because it "transports the hit sci-fi … [Read more...] about New Halo game: Focus on strategy
For kids, gaming over music
A new study by market researcher NPD Group found that 85% of children aged 2-14 use game consoles, and 82% of 2-to-5-year-olds play games on one or more devices, while 60% use digital music players, Gamasutra reports. NPD's Kids & Digital Content III report, which surveyed more than 3,500 kids who use electronic devices, also found that a third of the 2-to-14-year-olds watch videos such as movies … [Read more...] about For kids, gaming over music
3rd Guitar Hero 1st to beat $1 billion
Not only has the Guitar Hero videogame series surpassed $1 billion. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock itself has, GameDaily reports. It, too, reported on Activision CEO Mike Griffith's keynote at the giant CES show in Las Vegas last week, citing his statement that "the videogame industry has had a profound effect on other entertainment sectors, and that Guitar Hero in particular has been hugely … [Read more...] about 3rd Guitar Hero 1st to beat $1 billion