Contrary to what parents have heard about videogames, a UK study that followed the videogame play and TV viewing of more than 11,000 children for three years found that "exposure to videogames had no effect on [their] behavior, attention or emotional issues," reports New York-based GamesandLearning.org. The story was a little different with TV viewing, though. The University of Glasgow researchers … [Read more...] about ‘No negative impact’ from videogame play: Study
videogames
Minecraft & the shared, creative safety of gaming, social media
Reporters and reviewers write about Minecraft as if it's just like any other videogame. Even this highly readable piece about its creator (Markus Persson, aka "Notch") and its parent company (Mojang) by Harry McCracken in Time magazine doesn't cover what makes it different from other games specifically for its kid (and parent) players. But he does bring out this extraordinary differentiating … [Read more...] about Minecraft & the shared, creative safety of gaming, social media
Point & counterpoint on young video gamers: 2 studies
What an interesting point and counterpoint about videogames have been turned up by two just-released studies, one from Northwestern University in the US and one by University of Victoria in Canada: On the one hand: "Parents assess video games more negatively than television, computers, and mobile devices. More parents rate video games as having a negative effect on children’s reading, math, … [Read more...] about Point & counterpoint on young video gamers: 2 studies
Challenging the idea that games can’t be fun AND meaningful
In "Reading, Writing & Videogames," parent and New York Times features editor Pamela Paul seems to be arguing that digital games are just that – games – they should just be fun. They don't need to be educational, and they don't really belong in classrooms. The first part of her argument makes perfect sense – hard not to agree that kids need to have fun and parents don't need to feel that every … [Read more...] about Challenging the idea that games can’t be fun AND meaningful
Good move: Game company takes down cruel ad campaign
This was good to see: What looked like a truly anti-social media company, game developer Square Enix, saw irresponsibility for what it was and quickly reversed a stupid marketing decision. I'd like to take it as a sign that – in this very social media environment where users are co-producers with the providers of their media experiences – media companies and users alike will be increasingly wise … [Read more...] about Good move: Game company takes down cruel ad campaign