EXERCISING POLITICAL FREEDOM THROUGH VIDEO GAMES
With the 2008 elections approaching, the entertainment software industry is intensifying its effort to ensure gamers stay politically engaged and ultimately cast their votes on November 4.
The Video Game Voters Network (VGVN), a grassroots group that the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) created in 2006, plays a key role in keeping gamers politically active. The VGVN allows voting-aged gamers to stay updated on gaming issues, register to vote and express their views with federal, state and local government officials and candidates. VGVN members actively support legislative efforts that help computer and video games receive the same treatment as movies, music, books and other constitutionally-protected media.
With the coming election, the VGVN has placed particular emphasis in recent weeks on voter registration. Gamers, in fact, only need to visit the group's Web site, www.videogamevoters.org, to complete the necessary preparation for Election Day.
Get out the vote efforts targeted at gamers are present in other places as well. ESA member company Microsoft has also undertaken an initiative with Rock the Vote that allows Xbox Live members to register to vote through their Xbox 360® consoles. Since the program began, gamers have downloaded more than 55,000 registration forms. And more than 100,000 gamers have participated in the program's presidential poll.
Even after the real polls close, the VGVN will remain active, fighting unconstitutional legislation through the political action of its more than 150,000 members.
NEW STUDY SHOWS POSITIVE IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES
Last month, The Pew Internet and American Life Project revealed that playing computer and video games positively impacts U.S. teenagers' civic and political engagement.
"Teens, Video Games & Civics," a first-of-its-kind national study, reported on data collected from a nationally representative sample of more than 1,100 boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17 and their parents. The findings highlighted just how pervasive gaming has become. The study showed that 97 percent of the respondents – 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls – play some kind of video game.
"Digital media and specifically games are a robust part of the lives of young people," remarked Connie Yowell, Director of Education at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which is funding a $50 million initiative to help determine how digital media are changing how young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. She added, "We see these results as the beginning of an important discussion about the role of digital media in learning, community, and citizenship in the 21st century."
The types of video games played span a wide spectrum, with more than 80 percent of teens playing five or more different game genres. The most preferred games, according to the teens, are racing, puzzle, sports, and adventure games. The top five most frequently played titles are Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire, and Dance Dance Revolution.
The study also found that 76 percent of gaming teens play games with others at least some of the time. "The stereotype that gaming is a solitary, violent, anti-social activity just doesn't hold up," said Amanda Lenhart, a Senior Research Specialist with the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "The average teen plays all different kinds of games and generally plays them with friends and family both online and offline. Gaming is a ubiquitous part of life for both boys and girls."
In addition, the research revealed that the teen gaming experience is translating into increased civic and political engagement on the part of the next generation. The study indicated that 52 percent of teen gamers report playing games where they think about moral and ethical issues. Forty-three percent of the gamers, meanwhile, report playing games where they help make decisions about how a community, city or nation should be run. And 40 percent reported playing games where they learn about a social issue.
"Replacing stereotypes with facts, this groundbreaking study underscores what we have known to be true – video games are beneficial and can have positive effects on children's civic and social development," said Michael Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA.
Click here to view the full Pew Research Center report.
ESA PRESIDENT TOUTS PITTSBURGH'S ROLE IN 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY
In two addresses to Pittsburgh, Pa., audiences last month, Michael Gallagher discussed the transformation of the video game industry and encouraged universities and businesses to embrace games' prominent role in modern American life.
On September 27, Gallagher delivered a speech at the International Conference on Entertainment Computing, hosted by the Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center. The conference, now in its seventh year, serves as an international forum for the exchange of experience and knowledge among researchers and developers in the field of entertainment computing. The event featured academic presentations on a wide variety of subjects, from "Game-Based Simulation for the Evaluation of Threat Detection in a Seaport Environment" to "Creating an Emotionally Adaptive Game."
Speaking to industry officials from around the world as well as CMU students and faculty, Gallagher emphasized working together to ensure that the entertainment software industry's value is seen by all, while finding new ways to use games not only for entertainment but also to benefit society. He said, "Today, there is a greater awareness, understanding and acceptance of computer and video games. Opinion leaders, members of the media and the general public are all now beginning to appreciate the entertainment software industry's many positive technological, social and economic contributions."
Gallagher noted that CMU is a leader in expanding video game course offerings and degree programs at U.S. academic institutions. The expertise and creativity being developed on college campuses will help game companies develop new offerings that will keep the industry on track for future growth.
At the Economic Club of Pittsburgh on September 16, Gallagher predicted that we will one day look back on this period as the "time that the entertainment software industry became a recognized and accepted part of our cultural and economic landscape." He pointed to a recent event in Pittsburgh as evidence: Disney picked CMU to establish a new research laboratory to develop the next generation of entertainment.
Please visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for more coverage of Gallagher's speech at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh and the computer and video game industry's growing contributions to the U.S. economy.
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Quote of the Month
"We need to focus less on how much time kids spend playing video games and pay more attention to the kinds of experiences they have while playing them. Games that simulate aspects of civic and political life may well promote civic skills and civic engagement. Youth, parents, teachers, and others who work with youth should know about the wide diversity of video games – so they can take full advantage of games and their civic potential."
— Professor Joseph Kahne, director of the Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College, and co-author of The Pew Internet & American Life Project study entitled, "Teens, Video Games and Civics."
Statistic of the Month
The NPD Group, a market research firm, recently released a new study entitled "Girl Power: Understanding This Important Consumer Segment," which found that girls between ages 2 and 14 are spending more time on entertainment activities this year than in 2007. More than half of the girls surveyed spend that time using consumer electronic devices and playing PC and video games.
Did You KNOW??
Sports Illustrated for Kids dedicated its entire October issue to computer and video games. The company made the decision after learning through a survey that four out of five readers play video games with their friends and spend an average of $77 a month on games.
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