Today is the release date for the fourth installment in the Grand Theft Auto titles, otherwise known as GTA IV. This highly popular, sex and violence saturated series has generated plenty of publicity (mostly negative) for its publisher, Rockstar Games. Some interesting factoids can be gleaned from an article in the New York Times by Matt Richtel.

Richtel focuses on several college students and twenty-somethings who profess to barely have enough money to eat each month, but are more than willing to shell out $60 for GTA IV (or $90 for the collectors’ edition). Sales of five million copies are expected in coming days.

The so-called addictive nature of games is also brought up, with quotes from the only academic in the article:

“When gamers are in it, it’s like a druglike state. It feels so good,” said Jennifer Aaker, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. She said players face constant challenges and receive instant feedback, a superstimulating artificial environment.

Not only is the play experience emotional, but the purchase is emotional, too, Professor Aaker said. Players want to be the first to buy the game and master it, sweeping aside the matter of affordability.

“The last thing that comes to mind is: ‘Can I afford it?’ That question isn’t even on the radar,” Professor Aaker said. “The question is: How fast can I buy it?”

Not mentioned, but clearly related to the popularity of the series is its wide-open world approach, wherein players are not required to follow any set rules or instructions. Instead, players can simply do what they want in the environment. Such approaches are also popular in MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft.

Another interesting tidbit Richtel referenced in the article is the fact the gaming industry is booming despite hardships felt elsewhere such as rising food and fuel costs. Sales of consoles and titles are up across the board; GameStop excels while other retailers suffer.

References:
Richtel, M. (2008, April 29). For gamers, the craving won’t quit. New York Times. [Online.] Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/technology/29game.html?

I opened the mail the other day and found a new book I’ve been expecting: Virtual Reality: Concepts and Applications, edited by Pramod Rao and Sameer A. Zodgekar. Way back in July last year, I noted that the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University Press picked up an article of mine, “The (Virtual) Classroom of Tomorrow” that originally ran in TechEdge. The article focuses on the educational aspects of Active Worlds, Second Life and Dr. Greg Jones’ Created Reality Group classrooms.

The book is divided into two sections, Concepts and Applications. My article leads off the applications section, which also has several other fine chapters. Find the complete table of contents here. If you’re in the states, and you don’t mind waiting for overseas delivery, the book is only $16.50.

The date has been changed for the call for papers for the ACM SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium. The new date is April 25.

The third annual ACM SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium on videogames calls for papers, panel proposals, and presentations. We are looking for work that describes or illustrates innovative research in videogame theory, practice, methodologies, and criticism. Video games are a singular technological medium, comparable in cultural impact to the telephone, television or the Internet. What are the creative, technological, and commercial challenges facing this medium today and in the future? How do we relate engaging stories and worlds that leverage advances in technology? What is the continuing impact of this medium on individuals and society?

More on their site: http://sandbox.siggraph.org/

2nd IEEE International Conference on Digital Games and Intelligent Toys Based Education (DIGITEL 200

November 17-19, 2008, Banff, Canada
http://www.ask4research.info/digitel/2008/

Submissions due: May 30.

Suzanne Seggerman posted the following on the Serious Games Listserv today:

The 2008 Fifth Annual Games for Change Festival early registration
launched today! Please join us at Parsons the New School for Design
in NYC for our annual event bringing together non-profits, educators,
game designers and activists of all stripes to explore the growing
movement and emerging field of games for social change.

We are pleased to announce our closing keynote this year will be the
Honorable Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, scheduled for 4pm on June 4th.

As well as leading scholars Jim Gee and Henry Jenkins in a keynote
conversation on June 3rd at 4:30pm.

Featured panelists include: Jim Gasperini, creator of Hidden Agenda
and Chris Crawford of Balance of Power and Balance of the Planet
fame; Ken Eklund, creator of World Without Oil; Michael Levine
Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center; Shelley Pasnick, head of the
Center for Children and Technology, Mary Flanagan Director of the
Tiltfactor Lab, Tracy Fullerton of USC’s EA Innovation Lab, and
representatives from Participant Productions, the MacArthur and
Knight Foundations, PBS, and Electronic Arts, among many others.

You will find our usual excellent blend of provocative panels,
informal working groups, funders meetings, ample networking
opportunities and the ever-popular Expo Night where you can see and
play the new games firsthand, sponsored by Microsoft.

Check out the festival site here:

http://www.gamesforchange.org/conference/2008/index.php

And don’t forget the pre-festival workshop for newbies on June 2nd. We are happy to announce that this beginners workshop for non-profits new to the field, Let The Games Begin: A 101 Workshop for Making Social Issue Games was a MacArthur Foundation DML Competition award winner out of more than 1000 applicants! A separate registration for that day will be available from the festival site on April 9th.

We are thankful for the generous contributions of our sponsors AMD
and Microsoft, as well as Parsons the New School for Design.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Suzanne

I’ve mentioned Dr. Rick Ferdig over at U. Florida several times before, especially after he published a paper of mine in a special issue on educational videogames for the Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. Recently he announced a new journal dedicated to the field: the International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations. IJGCMS has an open call for papers here. The editorial board is also coalescing, and details on contacting Dr. Ferdig regarding editorial service are available on site.

Occasionally I’ll take a break from blogging about videogames and discuss one played in RL. Most recently, I noted an article about the world’s last pinball manufacturer, for instance. Now, Raymund Flandez over at The Wall Street Journal writes about old style coin-op kiddie rides making a big comeback, thanks to some TLC from Kiddie Rides, USA.

The company buys up the old coin-op rides, once ubiquitous outside grocery stores and elsewhere, restores then sells them for $2,000 - $6,000 to nostalgic baby boomers or companies seeking unique décor.

Denver D’Rozario over at Howard University gets a nice quote, noting that marketing vintage games requires a special touch:

Authenticity and uniqueness of the product needs to be a part of the appeal of the nostalgia market, says Denver D’Rozario, a marketing professor at Howard University in Washington. But “you’ve got to show me how it’s different today” as well. “Some products have to be “restaged or redesigned,” he says, “to appeal to a different generation — the children or grandchildren of the baby boomers. They have to strike a balance.”

References:
Flandez, R. (2008, March 25). Nostalgia helps put old kiddie rides back in play. The Wall Street Journal. [Online]. Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120641207836961459.html

As video games are increasingly becoming a venue through which interactive entertainment and education occurs, a variety of academics have begun turning a critical eye towards this medium. These investigations have contributed much to our understanding of the cultural specificities and the incorporation of the media into everyday practices by its users, especially in the area of online video gaming in virtual worlds. While anthropology and allied disciplines have shown significant interest in examining the ways in which cultures and subjectivities become articulated through virtual worlds and internet-based video game media, there are many more possible arenas of investigation.

This panel seeks to explore some of these possibilities that emerge when the scope of an anthropology of video games broadens to encompass 1) the inclusion of other disciplinary approaches to video games, such as cultural studies, media studies, education, and history; 2) collaborations with, and investigations of, the global video game industry—its publishers and developers, localizers and middlemen, marketers and modders; and 3) engagements with video game users who often appropriate the media in unanticipated and emergent ways. In doing so, we seek to query the utility of disciplinary boundaries in relation to the study of video games—What does anthropology have to contribute to the study of video games? What can other disciplines teach us? In addition, we seek to explore what forms of useful collaborations with industry experts and users could possibly emerge when the anthropology of video games is expanded to encompass a global industry.

Panel will convene at the American Anthropological Association annual meetings, San Francisco, Nov. 19-23, 2008. See http://dev.aaanet.org/meetings/presenters/index.cfm for more details.

The coordinators of E-Learn 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada have re-issued a call for papers. Deadline is April 29. Read more here.

Tim Holt over at the Intended Consequences blog tagged me a while back with the “This I Believe” theme for educational technology. This is a good exercise, because it’s important for all of us in the education business to sit down and think for a minute as to why we’re doing all the stuff we’re doing. I can’t do as good a job at this as Tim has, but I’ll give it a shot:

- I believe that computers and related technology are not necessary for students to learn in school, but they make certain things easier for both students and teachers (if they know what they’re doing), and often add a higher level of interest and excitement for the students.

- I believe that education at its most basic level is communication; that education cannot take place without communication. In that regard, any technology/device that enhances or propels communication can (and probably will) be appropriated by stakeholders for educational purposes.

- The most intriguing form of educational technology to me is the instructional videogame. I believe that placing learning objectives within a gaming environment can open venues for students, including recalcitrant ones, otherwise unavailable. As such, educational gaming offers a nifty tool for teachers in the encouragement of their students toward attaining certain objectives, including some not easily assessed on standardized exams.

- I believe there is no one “cure-all” or panacea for teachers to get their students to obtain higher test scores. Any company offering such is selling a fake bill of goods. What does lead to higher test scores includes good teaching by the teachers and good studying by the students. To wit: the technology or software or program is not necessarily what causes higher scores directly; rather, it is the teacher and the students using the product that results in higher scores. With that in mind, I firmly believe educational technology can and often does play a significant role in this process, and many products can help teachers and students in attaining those scores.

- Finally, I have learned a bit about educational research in the pursuit of my doctorate. I think the majority of debate regarding research would disappear if those arguing understood the basics of research and its implications. To wit: researchers in the social sciences can never “prove” anything, only add to the body of research supporting one conclusion or another. In that regard, the “soft sciences” are weaker than the “hard sciences,” but the notion behind understanding research precludes accepting any statement without question. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the educator. So, anyone who claims research “proves” a component of educational technology is beneficial in some way (or, conversely, detrimental) should be considered suspect. What one should say is, research supports the use of a particular technology (or does not support it). Nothing is ever “proven” in the social sciences.

The symposium date has been pushed back, and the deadline for submissions has been extended for the 6th International Symposium of Interactive Media Design (ISIMD’08). Details below:

ISIMD’08 - SYMPOSIUM POSTPONED

Following the requests from many of the academics and artists who received our announcement too late to arrange their schedule, we have decided to shift the symposium program to OCTOBER 15-16-17, 2008.

The DEADLINE for submissions is extended to AUGUST 1, 2008 according to the new timeline.

Please visit our website at http://newmedia.yeditepe.edu.tr for details of the new 2008 program and online proceedings of earlier meetings.

ISIMD is an annual meeting platform to discuss the ongoing advances in the field of interactive media design, new technology and techniques in the industry and their impacts on culture and the arts. Official language of the symposium is English, thus all submission should be made accordingly.

Best Regards,
Prof. Dr. Emin Dogan AYDIN
Chair of the Department of Visual Communication Design Yeditepe University

Why would kids want to watch Dora the Explorer when they could actually BE Dora the Explorer? Such questions ensnare Viacom, owner of Nickelodeon and MTV networks. The company plans to spend $100 million on casual games, according to this NY Times story.

Grunwald Associates is indicated in the article as noting in a study that young folks engage in TV and their related websites simultaneously. Several other interesting statistics are published in the article, such as:

The N, Nickelodeon’s teenage network, has dozens of games for children aged 12 to 17. Slightly younger players are directed to Nick.com, which drew an average of 7.9 million visitors in February and is expected to add 185 games this year. The youngest players of all are welcome on the sites of Nick Jr. and Noggin, where games are meant to be played by children “on the laps of their moms,” Ms. [MTV Networks’ Nickelodeon Kids and Family group President Cyma] Zarghami said.

This same company owns Neopets, the Shockwave gaming site, and the Nick.com arcade. Many interesting factoids and tidbits for researchers are found in this article, and it’s well worth the read.

References:
Stelter, B. (2008, March 18). Online games by the hundreds, with tie-ins. The New York Times. [Online.] Retrieved March 17, 2008 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/business/media/18adco.html?_
r=1&ex=1363492800&en=78d59ce77ce71d4b&ei=5088&partner=
rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

In the popular Ender’s Game series of science fiction novels, the hero communicated with his computer via sub-vocal conversations. We’re starting to see a variety of non-traditional input devices for videogames, from the Wiimote to Brain Computer Interfaces. Now, a company, Ambient Corp., has demonstrated a working model of a neckband that can translate sub-vocal nerve signals into computer commands. The demo occurred at a Texas Instruments Developers Conference. Applications include wheelchair control, dictation, and assistive technology for the speech impaired. Of course, videogame apps will be offered if there is sufficient interest and demand.

Imagine a videogame adaptation of Ender’s Game where players navigate the interface sub-vocally … Or how about a game the speech impaired can play as well as others? Or how about a military immersion training that users control on several levels, including vocally, hand-eye, and sub-vocally? The possibilities are intriguing.

Moses Silbiger, a grad student at John F. Kennedy University, is conducting an online academic survey of interest. Here is what he posted on the Serious Games Listserv recently, reprinted here with his permission:

I am doing an academic research project based on “How could video games be designed to facilitate personal and spiritual growth?” … Yes, you read it right!

My intention is to explore the potential use of video games for other purposes beyond entertainment, where designers could bring more meaning to video games, in addition with the fun of play.

I am planning to use this research as a bridge to gradually bring this important subject to the foreground, so we could at least start counting with more qualitative, useful and socially responsible video games in the market.

As a part of this project, I designed a 5 minute online survey and would really appreciate if you could take your time to complete it.

In gratitude for your participation, after completing this survey you will be able to participate in a sweepstakes for a 1-year subscription for 2 magazines of your choice, plus a $50 gift certificate from the GameStop store (prize updated).

———————————————

Here is the link to the survey:

http://www.integraleye.com/survey

———————————————

Moses indicates the useful survey data window will be closing Mar. 23 so he can finish up his paper. So please take 5 minutes or so and fill out the survey.

The folks over at SharpBrains have released a new report: The State of the Brain Fitness Market, 2008. Highlights include the following:

1) 2007 was a seminal year for the US Brain Fitness software market, which reached $225 million in revenues – up from an estimated $100 million in 2005.

2) Over 20 companies are offering tools to assess and train cognitive skills to four customer segments: consumers; healthcare and insurance providers; K12 school systems; and Fortune 1000 companies, the military, and sports teams.

3) The Nintendo Brain Age phenomenon has driven much of the growth. The consumer segment grew from a few million in 2005 to an estimated $80 million in 2007.

4) There is major confusion in the market, so education will be key. Users and buyers need help to navigate the maze of products and claims.

5) Over 400 residential facilities for older adults have launched computerized “brain fitness centers.” Sales to the healthcare and insurance provider segment grew from $35 million in 2005 to an estimated $65 million in 2007.

6) More than five programs have shown results in randomized controlled trials. Cognitive functions that can be trained include: visual and auditory processing, working memory, attention, and decision-making.

7) A product has obtained 510(k) FDA clearance for rehabilitation of stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury patients. Another product is being used by a growing network of ADHD specialists.

8 Large-scale, fully-automated cognitive assessments are being used in a growing number of clinical trials. This opens the way for the development of inexpensive consumer-facing, baseline cognitive assessments.

9) The potential for K12 Education remains largely untapped due to limited research linking cognitive training to academic performance.

10) Companies, sports teams and the military are finding opportunities to improve productivity. The aging workforce will make this a must.

Total cost for the report is $495, with a 10% discount to blog readers until Mar. 20.

I’m particularly intrigued with the report’s findings on Brain Age, and the potential for brain fitness software in the form of educational videogames for K-12 schools.

I’ve blogged a lot about our Canadian friends and the wealth of research occurring on videogames north of the border. Now, here is an interesting report via MCVUK from ResearchandMarkets.com on our southern neighbors that notes marrying ages are rising, leading to a larger population with free time (usually at home with parents) and more money to spend on entertainment. Consequently, by 2010, the market for videogames in Mexico could be worth $1 billion.

Alas, the full report is a couple thousand Euro. But, the introduction and table of contents are freely available.

References:
Ingham, T. (2008, March 13). Report: Mexican games market to hit $1bn. [Online]. Retrieved March 13, 2008 from http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29906/Report-Mexican-games-market-to-hit-1bn

I opened the mail today to find the latest issue of CSTA Voice, a quarterly for members of the Computer Science Teachers Association. Late last year Dr. Chris Stephenson, Executive Director of CSTA, and Pat Phillips, Editor of CSTA Voice, arranged to reprint my article, “Programmed to Learn.” The article focuses on using Logo, Scratch, and Alice for teaching STEM topics. The article first appeared in TechEdge, the journal of the Texas Computer Education Association. The article will be printed in three parts in CSTA Voice.

The Computer Science Teachers Association is funded in part by the National Science Foundation. Below is the introductory paragraph from their website, explaining their raison d’être:

The Computer Science Teachers Association is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and other computing disciplines. CSTA provides opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn.

The first part of my article, appearing in the March 2008 issue of CSTA Voice, focuses on the programming language Logo and the Logo Foundation at MIT.

The Wii, with its connection from real life physical actions to virtual world videogame actions, continues to fascinate, and has opened up a slew of research possibilities. This week saw another intriguing research study using the Wii, more specifically the Wiimote, from Dr. Rick Dale at U. Memphis along with Jennifer Roche, Kristy Snyder, and Ryan McCall.

Dale and colleagues hooked up a Wiimote to a computer, and used it to measure physical motions taking place during learning tasks. The study showed that as subjects grew more proficient in their learning tasks, their body movements change, becoming more confident and pronounced.

It makes sense that body movement gets better with learning tasks that require fine motor control: a golf swing, for instance. However, this research opens up the possibilities in measuring body movement for other cognitive tasks. It may point to the day when a computer program can measure feedback from its users to gauge how well objectives are being learned.

The Wiimote is a cheap alternative to more expensive three dimensional input devices. Most famously, Johnny Chung Lee showed us how to create a cheap interactive whiteboard using the Wiimote. With this new study, Dale and colleagues have shown how the Wiimote might be used to inexpensively measure body motions. Below is the abstract for their paper.

Much evidence exists supporting a richer interaction between cognition and action than commonly assumed. Such findings demonstrate that short-timescale processes, such as motor execution, may relate in systematic ways to longer-timescale cognitive processes, such as learning. We further substantiate one direction of this interaction: the flow of cognition into action systems. Two experiments explored match-to-sample paired-associate learning, in which participants learned randomized pairs of unfamiliar symbols. During the experiments, their hand movements were continuously tracked using the Nintendo Wiimote. Across learning, participant arm movements are initiated and completed more quickly, exhibit lower fluctuation, and exert more perturbation on the Wiimote during the button press. A second experiment demonstrated that action dynamics index novel learning scenarios, and not simply acclimatization to the Wiimote interface. Results support a graded and systematic covariation between cognition and action, and recommend ways in which this theoretical perspective may contribute to applied learning contexts.

References:
Dale R., Roche J., Snyder K., McCall R. (200 Exploring action dynamics as an index of paired-associate learning. PLoS ONE 3(3): e1728. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001728. [Online.] Available: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%
2Fjournal.pone.0001728

Games for Health, 2008 will be held May 8-9 in Baltimore. Here are some of the sessions I found particularly interesting:

A Randomized Controlled Study of the Effectiveness of Casual Video Games in Reducing Stress and Improving Mood
Carmen Russoniello, Eastern Carolina University

Should “Videogame Addiction” be in DSM-V?
Jack Kuo, Promises Treatment Centers

The World of Warcraft Blood Disease : Epidemiological Observations and Findings
Nina Fefferman, Tufts University

PDwii: Using Novel Interfaces to Promote Physical Rehabilitation & Achieve Quantifiable Results
Red Hill Studios

The one by Fefferman on the WoW disease will be intriguing because it will attempt to show how dynamic virtual environments can represent RL phenomena. I’ve covered Wii-hab, stress reduction, and the question of including videogame “addiction” in DSM-V here. (In a word, the answer to this question is, “No.”)

There are many more sessions, and all of them look inviting. The Games for Health conference is always chock full of good content, and this year will be no exception.

Another study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine related to videogames has been published. U. Buffalo researchers investigated whether parental control over screen time was enhanced with an electronic time limiting device. Changes in Body Mass Index (BMI) were used for rating effectiveness. Families with obese children aged 4-7 years with a BMI in at least the 75th percentile who were reported by parents to engage in at least 14 hours/week of television and/or videogames were chosen for inclusion. A total of 34 students were in the experimental group, and 36 were in the control group.

The electronic device was a product called TV Allowance from Mindmaster, Inc. The device resided between the television or computer and the wall plug, requiring a four digit code for access. The experimental group agreed to have the device installed and secured in place by university personnel.

Weekly limits for the experimental group were set from a baseline, and decreased regularly until the limits reached 50% of the baseline. Once the budgeted time was reached, the machine (TV or computer) could no longer be turned on for the remainder of the week. Additional monetary incentives were offered to the children at the rate of $0.25 per half hour under their weekly budget, up to $2.00. Research staff and parents also offered praise to the children for coming in under budget on their screen time. Staff sent a newsletter to parents offering sample praise and activity suggestions. Meanwhile, the control group children were allowed unfettered access to television and computer time, and were given $2.00 per week regardless of screen time.

The study lasted two years, and results showed BMI decreasing in the control group to a statistically significant extent.

Our findings show that television viewing and computer use can be modified in young children using behavioral engineering technology that provides parental control over a child’s screen time budget while giving the child the opportunity to choose how to spend this budget.

Also of interest, children from homes with lower socio-economic status seemed to benefit more from the control device. The researchers sum up thusly:

There may be unique advantages to environmental manipulations that modify the shared family environment, including television and computer use, in which children develop positive behaviors that provide the basis for lifetime good eating and physical activity habits and a healthy body weight.

Researchers on the team included: Leonard H. Epstein, PhD; James N. Roemmich, PhD; Jodie L. Robinson, MA, MBA; Rocco A. Paluch, MA; Dana D. Winiewicz; Janene H. Fuerch; and Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH.

Here is the UB press release, and here is a write-up by K.C. Jones in InformationWeek.

References:
Epstein, L. H, Roemmich; J. N., Robinson, J. L., Paluch, R. A., Winiewicz, D. D., Fuerch, J. H, & Robinson, T. N. (2008, March 3). A randomized trial of the effects of reducing television viewing and computer use on body mass index in young children. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 162(3). 239-245.