The Entertainment Software Association

British soldiers could be trained on a computer game with smell
The Telegraph (UK) —
11/7/2008

The Ministry of Defence has spent around £20,000 into research into whether smell improves current computer game-based training.

Researchers are testing whether the smells help create a more realistic simulation of being in hostile areas as well as if the aromas help troop memory.

It means that soon soldiers being deployed to the Middle East could be able to take an authentic walk around the area without stepping out of the country.

The game works with the smell box being hooked up to a computer as a large plasma screen displays scenes from hostile territories.

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Studies: Videos games can aid students, surgeons
Associated Press — By Steve LeBlanc
11/6/2008

Parents, don't put away those video games just yet – today's gamer may be tomorrow's top surgeon.

Researchers gathering in Boston for the American Psychological Association convention detailed a series of studies suggesting video games can be powerful learning tools – from increasing the problem solving potential of younger students to improving the suturing skills of laparoscopic surgeons.

One study even looked at whether playing "World of Warcraft," the world's biggest multiplayer online game, can improve scientific thinking.

The conclusion? Certain types of video games can have benefits beyond the virtual thrills of blowing up demons or shooting aliens.

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Vim and vigor videos
Philadelphia Inquirer — By Lini S. Kadaba
11/5/2008

The Kuyat children - 11-year-old John and 9-year-old Anna - worked up a sweat the other day at the Upper Main Line YMCA.

The Broomall siblings danced, kickboxed, biked and played tennis - an hour-long marathon that bested their dad's 45-minute routine at the Berwyn fitness center.

It wasn't always this way.

"It was a chore to get them to do 15 minutes" at the Y, David Kuyat said. "Now, I'm waiting onthem."

What changed? A couple of months ago, the Y introduced video games.

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Fighting Digital Pirates
Forbes — By Mary Jane Irwin
11/4/2008

Todd Hollenshead remembers how eager he felt to show off id Software's latest version of "Doom" to an assembly of journalists gathered in Hong Kong 10 days before the game's official launch. It was 2004--a decade had passed since "Doom II" hit store shelves--and the new PC game was crammed with visceral demon-slaying mayhem.

Then he got a virtual jab in his own gut: A journalist told him that pirated copies of "Doom 3" were already in stores throughout Hong Kong. "The pirates had beaten us to market with our very own game by at least a week in Asia," he recalls.

Since then, pirating of videogames has only gotten worse--and the pain that game developers like Hollenshead feel has grown more acute. The result: Pirates are literally changing the very business of making PC games. The number of PC exclusives is going down and alternative approaches--from delivering games digitally to focusing more tightly on console games--is going up.

The scope of PC game makers' piracy problem is difficult to pin down. The Entertainment Software Association estimates that the entire videogame ecosystem--which racked up $18.8 billion in sales in 2007--loses as much as $3 billion to the piracy of physical goods a year, about 16% of sales.

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Games That Turn Players Into Creators
Washington Post — By Mike Musgrove
11/2/2008

There's an odd new feature tucked into the latest version of Guitar Hero, designed to appeal to those fans who feel the creative spark.

The video game franchise has become a runaway hit in recent years by letting players fake-riff along to some of their favorite rock songs on a guitar-shaped game controller. The latest release, Guitar Hero World Tour, seems a bit like more of the same thing -- until you fire up the new game's "studio" mode and start to compose your own music.

No, seriously. Mash the buttons on the neck of that guitar controller and strum away to play some chords. Then grab some drumsticks and bang on the game's drum kit to lay down a rhythm track. If you like what you come up with, you can click a button and "publish" the song online so that any other player with a Web-connected game console can download and play your song, just as they would play any other song in the game. If other players like your creation, they can vote for it and you can get the satisfaction of watching your song climb the online charts at the game's online service, called "GH Tunes."

It's not just Guitar Hero. Creativity features like this are hitting the video game world in a big way this year. In a trend that's something of a nod to MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, many of the hottest new titles appearing this holiday season include software tools that allow users to express themselves and share their work with an online audience.

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College courses dip into everything from video games to chocolate
The Press-Enterprise (CA) — By Laurie Lucas
11/2/2008

Kristin Jarrett, 22, learns how to move her computer-animated figure in a video game art studio at Riverside Community College in Moreno Valley.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Schultz, 20, a University of Redlands student, learns which artistic, musical and literary figures influenced the 1960s band the Grateful Dead.

Several Inland campuses have introduced the cutting-edge work of play to their curricula -- creating computer games. And humanities courses that involve hands-on projects or delving into societal changes and diving into social activism also earn high marks this fall.

"Our classrooms are overflowing," said Judy Perhamus, who teaches video game art at RCC in Norco.

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Video-Gaming with Your Kids
Family Circle — By Scott Alexander
11/1/2008

If you feel that the opportunities to connect with your kids are few and far between, the solution might be to break out a video game. (Seriously!)

Video Games: A Useful Learning Tool

I'm well aware that a lot of my fellow parents (I'm the father of four) see video games as a pastime for children -- not adults. This stirs up an intense need within me to tell them that they're missing out on an amazing way to bond with kids. At their core, most video games present a specific problem that needs to be solved, whether it's an alien invasion to face down or a simulated civilization to help survive. Match the right game to the right kid and the process of trying to figure out solutions is nothing short of exhilarating. For sure, gaming comes with caveats, but in my experience, it's a powerful addition to your parenting arsenal.

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You say you want a digital revolution? Beatles deal highlights videogames’ role in music industry
Chicago Tribune — By Eric Benderoff
10/31/2008

The Beatles have found a digital format they like for licensing songs: a videogame.

The legendary band that had rebuffed the modern era by not allowing its music to be sold as digital downloads at iTunes and other online music stores will feature its songs on a new game from the makers of "Rock Band," companies involved in the deal announced Thursday.

The Beatles join a host of other well-known names, including Aerosmith, Boston, David Bowie, the Grateful Dead and Kiss, that license songs to a booming category of videogames that allow players to mimic rock stars.

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Even video games can be educational
Las Vegas Sun — By René Hill
10/30/2008

Children love video games. Teachers and parents both attest to the fact that the biggest challenge in the battle of homework is the video game. Students would rather play their favorite game than do their homework.

Forward-thinking game designers are harnessing the video game for educational purposes and are developing alternate-reality games that incorporate world events and challenge players to solve real-world problems.

One such game is "World Without Oil," which came out more than a year ago but remains relevant today. An oil crisis, says the game's designer, Ken Eklund, is impossible for one person to imagine.

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Game Makers Push 'Family' Fare
Wall Street Journal — By Christopher Lawton and Yukari Iwatani Kane
10/29/2008

One of the hottest videogames last holiday season was the war game "Call of Duty 4." This year, many stores will feature nonviolent games such as "LittleBigPlanet," which follows a cute little character through a dream world.

The Sony Corp. game is emblematic of the new family-friendly games and services that the videogame industry is counting on to address twin challenges: attract new players beyond largely young-male gamers and secure new revenue during a slowing economy.

Game makers such as Sony, Electronic Arts Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have poured millions of dollars into family-friendly fare. Nearly two-thirds of Sony's 20 new titles this season are casual or family-oriented. In addition to "Little Big Planet," estimated to have cost $15 million, Sony is releasing new versions of the karaoke "SingStar" game. EA is tripling its offering of casual games to nine titles this year.

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Nissan unveils 370Z in 'Need for Speed Undercover'
USA Today — By Laura Petrecca
10/28/2008

Nissan is taking a novel approach to rev up brand buzz for the 2009 370Z: unveiling the new sports car in a video game before the car's public rollout.

A virtual version of the 370Z has a starring role in Electronic Arts' new Need for Speed Undercover racing game, which hits stores on Nov. 18. The car will make its first public appearance on Nov. 19 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It will go on sale two to three months later.

"We've had cars in video games, but never before we revealed them in real life," says Nissan spokesman Robert Brown.

The Nissan and EA partnership comes as in-game ad spending swells in double-digits. Marketers spent $181 million in 2007, according to figures compiled by Veronis Suhler Stevenson. For 2008, it'll hit $268 million.

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Consumers Feel the Next Crisis: It’s Credit Cards
New York Times — By Eric Dash
10/28/2008

The depth of the financial crisis has shocked a credit-hooked nation into rethinking its habits. Many families once content to buy now and pay later are eager to trim their reliance on credit cards. The Treasury Department, which is spending billions of dollars in taxpayer money to clean up an economic mess brought on in part by all sorts of easy credit, recently started an advertising campaign inviting consumers to check into the “Bad Credit Hotel,” an online game that teaches the basics of maintaining good credit.

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Video Game Industry Workforce Up 13% in North America
GameDaily BIZ — By James Brightman
10/28/2008

We all know that video game sales in 2008 have been phenomenal, but it's not just the market that's growing – the industry itself continues to expand with more talent. According to the second annual census from Think Services' Game Developer Research, there's been a 12 percent year-on-year increase in U.S. employees. America currently has 44,400 working in the game industry, up from 39,700 in 2007.

In Canada there has been a 17 percent increase, with total employees numbering 9,500, up from 8,100 last year. Overall, the North American game industry has increased in size by 13 percent, from 47,800 to 53,900 staffers.

Importantly, this census estimate doesn't even include employees of game tools companies, game contracting/services companies, external PR, marketing, legal, and other business services, and liaison or licensing divisions at larger media companies. This group could potentially represent another 18,000 across North America.

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New Insight Into Gamers Reach
WRAL-TV — By John Gaudiosi
10/27/2008

According to a recent survey of 3,000 12 to 54 year-old respondents by IGN Entertainment and Ipsos Media CT, videogames have become a mainstream form of entertainment for families. Over half of today's gamers are married (55%) and nearly half (48%) of these married gamers play games with their kids. The "Are You Game?" study found that more than 47 percent of people living in gaming households say that videogames are a fun way to interact with other family members. The overwelming success of the Wii certainly has a lot to do with this, but both Microsoft and Sony are focusing more heavily on family gaming this year, as well.

Speaking of Wii, the study, which actually included interviews inside gamers' homes (going beyond the general phone call), found that the average age of new gamers -- those who started gaming in the last two years (which coincides with the launch of Wii) -- is 32. The average age of a gamer according to the Entertainment Software Association is 35. The ESA also has the average age of a game buyer at 39.

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Video Games Help Elderly Drivers
ABC News — By Ned Potter and Julia Bain
10/27/2008

It's a jungle on the road out there, and like so many people, Steve Kramer, a 57-year-old financial adviser from Langhorne, Pa., worries how he'll keep up behind the wheel as he gets older.

Kramer and his wife, Donna, agreed to take part in an experiment: playing a computer game. The software, made by Posit Science, is called an "exercise for the brain."

"At first I thought, 'ha-ha, just another game. But it became challenging to where you wanted to do it," Donna Kramer said.

Allstate Insurance is now offering the game as a free trial to 100,000 Pennsylvania customers whose accident rates will be compared with a group of drivers not playing the games to see if it helps their reflexes and peripheral vision.

"There are a group of people, [ages] 50 to 75, that could benefit from some brain exercise, improve their driving skills, improve their attention, improve their visual skills," said John Kane, regional distribution leader at Allstate Insurance Co.

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Video game makers lobby for attention
Austin American-Statesman — By Lilly Rockwell
10/27/2008

One of the things the video game industry has lacked is an established political lobby to push its agenda.

Mike Gallagher, who might be considered one of the game industry's top lobbyists, came to Austin several weeks ago to speak to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and said his focus is on strengthening the game industry's lobbying muscle.

"We are in every state capital, advancing the truth about the video game industry," he said. "We are entitled to the economic respect and the social respect that comes with an industry as diverse and exciting and high-energy as ours."

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The Changing Face of Videogamers
Mediacaster Magazine —
10/24/2008

Teen-aged geeks in a darkened basement?

Not all of them; in fact, videogame players are a surprisingly diverse crowd, with the average age of gamers now topping 30 and more than half of gamers married with kids.

That's one reason why U.S. Presidental candidate Barrack Obama is placing campaign ads inside online versions of today's hottest selling video games.

IGN Entertainment, a division of Fox Interactive Media, and Ipsos MediaCT today released "Are You Game?", a series of research findings from a comprehensive study examining the growing diversity, consumption patterns and social activity of videogamers.

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E3 Expo Powers Up
New York Times — By Dave Itzkoff
10/24/2008

Here’s another sign that the video game business seems impervious to the economic woes afflicting other parts of the entertainment industry: The gaming business’s annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, will return to its expansive (and expensive) home at the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2009, according to an announcement on the E3 Expo Web site (e3expo.com).

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Game CEOs like the new E3 format
San Francisco Chronicle — By: Ryan Kim
10/23/2008

If you were following along with our coverage of E3 this past summer, you know that there was some grumbling from gaming executives about the way E3 had evolved, from glitzy show with fanfare to a humble gathering tucked away in meeting rooms.

Well, as you might have heard earlier this week E3 in 2009 will be back to being a big draw, with more exhibitors and attendees, bigger booths and maybe, if we're lucky actual booth babes. It's gotten the backing of some of the biggest names in the industry, people who told me a few months ago they thought E3 was in dire need of change.

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Video game journalism is still evolving
Deseret News — By Larry D. Curtis
10/21/2008

A recent poll by the Pew Internet & American Life Project revealed that nearly every young American views themselves as a video-game player. If you missed it, read about it here.

Video-game journalism hasn't caught up to the idea that when the current generation of "youth" are adults, games will be as much a part of every day life as television is now. We don't label people as "television watchers" and "non-watchers" because nearly everybody does it. Currently we think of people as "gamers" and "non-gamers," but I believe that will pass.

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Majoring in video games
Los Angeles Times — By Alex Pham
10/20/2008

The Thukrals wanted their son, Dhruv, to go into nanotechnology. So when he told them he'd rather be a video game developer he might as well have said he wanted to join the circus.

"Are you serious?" they asked.

He was. The 21-year-old USC graduate student proved it by switching the focus of his computer science doctorate from a field known as distributed systems to video game programming.

He then launched a campaign to convince his parents back home in New Delhi that helping people have fun was not only a legitimate career but also lucrative. He peppered them with articles about the growth of the video game industry, which is expected to generate global revenue of nearly $50 billion this year. He also sent them stock charts and annual reports of some of the industry's top companies.

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A brief history of video games
Los Angeles Times —
10/19/2008

Timeline: From Pong to Grand Theft Auto

1961: Massachusetts Institute of Technology student Steve Russell creates Spacewar, considered the first interactive computer game.

1972: Magnavox sells the first home video game system, a TV console invented by Ralph Baer called Odyssey.

1972: Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney start Atari Inc. and hire Al Alcorn, who creates Pong. Their first arcade machine, set up in a bar in Sunnyvale, Calif., shuts down within days because its coin box is stuffed full of quarters.

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‘Wiihab’ helps physical therapy patients put fun into recovery
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — By Michael Pearson
10/19/2008

Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville has jumped aboard a growing national trend in using the Nintendo Wii video game console in physical therapy.

Physical therapists see great promise in the video game, which uses a motion-sensitive controller to allow players to simulate golf and tennis swings, among other movements.

“It brings a little fun to rehab,” said Becky Thompson, the physical therapist who came up with the idea to bring Wii into the program after reading about it in a news article.

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Game to take on domestic violence
The Christian Science Monitor — By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
10/19/2008

Creating a fun game may seem an unlikely way to tackle the serious problem of domestic violence. But that’s the task facing a team of college students in quaint Vermont. An added challenge: The digital game has to be appealing and accessible to young people half a world away, in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa.

As part of a broader campaign against gender violence, the United Nations wants to reach children, particularly boys, before stereotypes sink in. Seeing the global popularity of gaming, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) decided to partner with two media centers in Vermont. They hope to make a game available by the end of next year that can be adapted for various cultures.

“Games have evolved beyond entertainment and are a wonderful environment for exploring complex issues,” says Suzanne Seggerman, president of Games for Change, a nonprofit in New York. “They let players try on new roles, new perspectives that they don’t otherwise have access to. And for difficult subjects like domestic violence, there isn’t a lot of opportunity for kids to explore other kinds of behaviors.”

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The work of play
Los Angeles Times — By Alex Pham
10/19/2008

California is the birthplace of such global pop-culture sensations as the Beach Boys and Mickey Mouse. But in the 21st century, it has become the driving force behind a new generation of entertainment heavyweights: The Sims, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft.

In recent years, the state has witnessed an explosion of new jobs and global exports from the video game business, which is expected to deliver nearly $50 billion in sales this year despite the brutal economy.

Global financial woes have dragged down game makers' stock prices and are dampening consumer spending heading into the holidays, when the industry typically generates 40% of its annual revenue. Still, analysts say that video games generally hold up well during economic slowdowns, and they expect 2008 sales to reach record highs.

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G.I. Joes take on Packers pros, 'Madden' style
Green Bay Press Gazette — By Patti Zarling
10/17/2008

Green Bay area native and Marine Cpl. Timothy Headricks, a lifelong Packers fan, will have a story to tell for a long time.

On Friday, he defeated his football hero, Packers offensive tackle Mark Tauscher, in a close game of "Madden '09," from thousands of miles away.

The two competed as part of Pro vs. Joe, a nonprofit program that links professional sports players with soldiers and Marines serving overseas in video-game competitions connected via Webcam. The Packers competed from the Lambeau Field Atrium, while friends and family of participating service men — and one woman — looked on.

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Game On!
Backstage.com — By Halley Bondy
10/16/2008

Since the age of Pong and Space Wars, the video game business has resided primarily in California. Most of the domestic job opportunities in this now multibillion-dollar industry, much of which relies on actors doing voiceover and motion-capture work, are in Los Angeles, with smaller pockets of work in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, New York, and Texas.

Over the past few years, however, at least 13 states have introduced tax incentives to lure game developers away from the Golden State. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the video game industry generated nearly $19 billion in U.S. revenue in 2007 and outpaced the growth of the economy by more than four times between 2003 and 2006, sparking interest in states such as Georgia, Michigan, and Louisiana, where legislators hope to foster local businesses. Seven tax-incentive bills for game development were enacted on the state and local levels in 2007 alone, according to the ESA, while 27 pending bills were carried over to the 2008 legislative session.

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Video game makes Valley managers better bosses
KNXV-TV ABC 15 (AZ) — By Christina Boomer
10/16/2008

A Valley team building company is utilizing the computer-based strategy game “Empire Earth II” to teach managers how to be better bosses.

Executive Command CEO Kevin Azar said creating and completing missions on the interactive video game helps people think strategically.

"What happens is you have to think long term, long range, and by doing that we are training these managers, directors, executives to think long range, the way you have to do in business," said Azar.

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What Videogames Teach Us About Security
Forbes — By Mary Jane Irwin
10/16/2008

Gary McGraw thinks the computing world can learn a lot from videogames. Just as massive multiplayer games like "World of Warcraft" are distributed across a network of personal computers, software and services will soon reside on external servers--and they will also come under attack.

McGraw, chief technology officer at security consulting firm Citigal and author of Exploiting Online Games, talked Tuesday with Forbes.com about how videogames model the future of software security issues.

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Obama Reaches Out To Gamers
The Washington Post — By Mike Musgrove
10/14/2008

Drive through the virtual streets of Burnout Paradise this week and you might find, among the usual mix of deodorant and fast food billboards, a new one featuring an image of Barack Obama.

The Democratic presidential nominee is looking to connect with young voters through campaign billboards planted in the Xbox 360 version of the racing videogame's virtual city.

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Video Games Feature Ads for Obama's Campaign
The Associated Press — By Devlin Barrett
10/14/2008

Too busy playing video games to watch presidential ads on television? Barack Obama has found you, too, by becoming the first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside a game.

Eighteen video games, including the extremely popular ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Madden 09,'' will feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign in the final weeks before the election. The ads -- appearing on billboards and other signage -- remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site that encourages people to register for early voting.

Obama campaign officials said the video game ads target 10 states that allow early voting, including several battleground states: Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, and Colorado.

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New Video Games Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em
Investor’s Business Daily — By Patrick Seitz
10/13/2008

While other categories struggle in the slow economy, video game sales have been getting high scores.

Analysts expect good growth for the video game sector this holiday season thanks to new music games and sequels to popular titles.

Video game sales through August this year were tracking ahead of last year's record-breaking revenue by 32%, raking in $10.6 billion at U.S. retail so far, according to tracker NPD. It says video game hardware and software are on pace to achieve $22 billion or more in sales in the U.S. this year. Last year's sales totaled $18 billion, up 43% from 2006.

"It appears that the industry is not affected by the economic woes," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

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Report: Women Make Up 40% Of U.S. Video Game Users
The Tampa Tribune — By Ted Jackovics
10/13/2008

Women are becoming geeks when it comes to video games, the 2008 Entertainment Software Association's 2008 report found.

More than 40 percent of American video gamers today are women, and contrary to conventional wisdom, a greater proportion of women 18 or older are playing video games than boys 17 and younger.

The report found that 33 percent of today's gamers are women 18 and older, compared with 18 percent of boys 17 and younger.

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Growth Spurt
The Telegraph Herald — By Courtney Blanchard
10/12/2008

The video game generation has grown up, and so did the industry.

The $9.5 billion industry, according to 2007 estimates by the Entertainment Software Association, has reached out to new markets and has made a name for itself in the mainstream.

Video games have expanded to different people and platforms -- the elderly, toddlers, cell phones and plasma televisions. As the gaming industry continues to grow and evolve, here's a look at what local experts say is popular now and what's likely to be the next big thing.

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The Next Page: The triumph of the gamer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — By Donald Marinelli
10/12/2008

The following is a speech delivered to open the 2008 International Conference on Entertainment Computing, held last month at Carnegie Mellon University.

If he were alive today, Shakespeare might very well have rephrased his famous observation stating "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players" by describing this worldly existence of ours as more closely resembling a videogame than a theatrical production.

For those challenged by the videogame mirroring life metaphor, let's rephrase it in a way that illuminates the validity of the comparison:

.....All the world is a series of problem-solving.
.....All the world is a series of strategic maneuvers affected by seemingly .....random events.
All the world is a manipulation of tactical decision based upon incomplete .....information.
All the world is a struggle of the individual confronting various rule-bases .....set by others.
.....All the world is potentially interactive.

Indeed, in 21st-century society, a society of Facebook, YouTube, seemingly endless digital storage capacity and the persistence of digital DNA, it is not in any way a stretch in my estimation to claim an analogy between life and videogames.

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Taking their gaming to college level
The Allentown Morning Call — By Genevieve Marshall
10/12/2008

Justin Palatsky has designed more than 200 spaceships. Someday, one or more of those ships could be racing through intergalactic space in his first video game, ''Mourning Star.'' Though his strength is in design, Palatsky, 18, plans to develop his programming and animation skills at DeSales University in Center Valley, where a video game programming track was established this semester as part of the school's computer science major.

The DeSales program is one of a growing number that merge computer science and digital art, with the goal of creating the next generation of video game authors and digital effects specialists. More than 200 colleges and universities have video game courses and degree programs, according to the Entertainment Software Association, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers.

Apparently hours in front of Nintendo Wii, Xbox or Playstation 3 could amount to more than fun. At least that's what Mike Hudock, an instructor in the computer science department at DeSales, hopes students will realize.

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Video Game Helps Math Students Vanquish an Archfiend: Algebra
New York Times — By Winnie Hu
10/8/2008

The eighth-grade math class at Intermediate School 30 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, sounded like a video arcade on Monday morning as 30 students zoomed through virtual tunnels and zapped competitors with a blue freezing light.

Then all action stopped as an algebra problem popped on screen: What is the slope-intercept formula for points A and B?

“You have to be at the top of your game,” said Salma Nakhlawi, 13, who has been brushing up on her math skills along with her hand-eye coordination so that she can play the video game Dimension M with her friends. “I used to hate math, but I’ve started to like it. I actually understand it more.”

This fall, New York City is rolling out Dimension M — M stands for math — in 109 middle schools across the five boroughs after trying the game out in two dozen schools, including I.S. 30, last year. Like a modern twist on “Jeopardy!,” the fast-paced video game quizzes students on prealgebra and algebra topics ranging from prime numbers to fractions and complex equations. A correct answer brings 500 or more points, a wrong one as few as 25; the player with the most points wins. (No prizes, just glory.)

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Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers
New York Times — By Motoko Rich
10/6/2008

When PJ Haarsma wrote his first book, a science fiction novel for preteenagers, he didn’t think just about how to describe Orbis, the planetary system where the story takes place. He also thought about how it should look and feel in a video game.

The online game that Mr. Haarsma designed not only extends the fictional world of the novel, it also allows readers to play in it. At the same time, Mr. Haarsma very calculatedly gave gamers who might not otherwise pick up a book a clear incentive to read: one way that players advance is by answering questions with information from the novel.

“You can’t just make a book anymore,” said Mr. Haarsma, a former advertising consultant. Pairing a video game with a novel for young readers, he added, “brings the book into their world, as opposed to going the other way around.”

Mr. Haarsma is not the only one using video games to spark an interest in books. Increasingly, authors, teachers, librarians and publishers are embracing this fast-paced, image-laden world in the hope that the games will draw children to reading.

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Game designers focus on girls
San Francisco Chronicle — By Ryan Kim
10/6/2008

Tony Key, senior vice president of marketing for video game maker Ubisoft, points to the Title IX anti-discrimination law when talking about new opportunities in gaming.

Before the 1972 passage of the measure, which eliminated sex discrimination in schools, only 1 out of 27 girls played high school sports. Thirty-six years later, that figure is 1 out of every 2 girls.

Key said the video game industry is realizing that, in the same way the girls defied the prevailing wisdom and proved enthusiastic athletes, they're also aspiring gamers.

"We found through research that girls are gamers; they just aren't traditional gamers," Key said. "Girls are clearly interested in playing video games. They just don't want to play the same games their brothers play."

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New video game may help save lives
KGO-TV ABC 7 (CA) — By Richard Hart
10/6/2008

First, it was "citizen journalist". Now, it's "citizen scientist", non- professionals using computers at home to change the face of medicine. The newest example is a free multiplayer videogame some are calling "molecular chess".

"FoldIt!" is a video game that could save a life one day. The object of the game is to fold a protein.

Your life is powered by proteins, little molecules that move your muscles, or send signals from your brain, or turn food into energy. What a protein does is largely determined not just by chemistry, but by the way it is folded.

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Death of Detained Immigrant Inspires Online Game With Goal of Educating Players
New York Times — By Nina Bernstein
10/5/2008

The death last year of Boubacar Bah, a Guinean tailor held in a New Jersey jail for overstaying his visa, showed immigration detention to be one of the most secretive corners of American life. But now Mr. Bah’s story is being retold in an unusually public way: in an online video game.

The game — created by Breakthrough, an international human rights organization in New York that is trying to get the public behind efforts to strengthen oversight, due process and medical help in immigration detention — uses Mr. Bah’s story to walk players through a simulated detention center, and into the documented ordeals of other detainees. They include a pregnant woman kept in shackles during labor and an Army veteran held for three years while he fought deportation.

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Orange County students create environmental video game
The Orange County Register — By Niyaz Pirani
10/4/2008

The goal is simple. Make it from the docks to a house atop a hill and snap a couple of pictures along the way.

Only problem is, there are alligators in the water and a Category 3 hurricane pummeling everything in sight. On the way to the destination, a billboard will break, crushing whatever is unfortunate enough to be beneath it, while a surging mudslide runs through the main street of the Guatemalan neighborhood, taking cars and anything else in its path with it.

The thrilling scene doesn't come from a riveting novel or blockbuster Hollywood film. Instead, it's the demo level of Category 3, a game built by students at the Art Institute of California–Orange County as a school project.

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For some NASCAR drivers, video games are a learning tool
The Kansas City Star — By Jim Pedley
10/2/2008

Even though he’s a veteran of seven Sprint Cup seasons, driver Ryan Newman says he still learns something about racetracks like Kansas Speedway from playing racing video games.

After finishing second in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway, Carl Edwards said that he had been let down. Not by his crew nor his car nor even by his own better judgment.

He was let down, Edwards said, by his laptop.

“I always wanted to kind of try to do that,” Edwards said of a “slide job” under winner Jimmie Johnson on the last lap of the race. “Now I know it doesn’t work quite the same as in video games.”

Curse that EA Sports or whatever game Edwards plays.

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Drivers may get insurance breaks for playing computer games
The Associated Press —
10/1/2008

Could playing computer games enhance mental agility enough to turn people over 50 into better drivers? Allstate Corp. wants to find out, and if the answer is yes, it might offer insurance discounts to people who play the games.

Under a new pilot program called InSight, Allstate will offer specialized computer games to 100,000 customers in Pennsylvania aged 50 to 75. The games' developer, San Francisco-based Posit Science, will track the total number of hours these drivers play.

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Video Gamers Tackle Powerful Project
WCAX-TV (Vermont) —
9/30/2008

One keystroke, one mouse click at a time, Wesley Knee wants to change the way people see video games. They don't have to be shoot-em-up gore-fests used just for entertainment. Knee says, "I really like to think I conquer big problems, and I do that through an interactive medium."

So he's studying game design at Champlain College. But Knee also works at Champlain's Emergent Media Center. It's a new place that gives young thinkers opportunities to shape real projects for companies and non-profits. Knee doesn't get class credit, but he does pull down a paycheck and is building his portfolio with a powerful project.

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In Tough Economic Times, Video Games Console
National Public Radio — By Laura Sydell
9/30/2008

During the Great Depression, Americans flocked to the movies to escape the harsh realities of their daily lives. As the stock market tumbled and loved ones went off to war, Americans disappeared into dark theaters, where Shirley Temple sang and tap danced her way into their heavy hearts.

Now, as the nation faces arguably the worst financial crisis since the Depression, video games may be playing the role movies once filled in hard economic times.

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How to Make Business More Interesting: Video Games
Wall Street Journal — By Ben Worthen
9/29/2008

How can colleges attract information-technology students? By using video-game-like technology to trick them into thinking the assignments are cool.

That’s the approach San Francisco State University is taking, according to Sam Gill, a professor of information systems there. Gill’s class is intended to introduce students to “business-process management” – a field of IT that studies how workers perform certain tasks and uses technology to improve them. “Normally students go to McDonalds and see how they sell a burger,” Gill tells us. But now his students study a fictional business that IBM set up inside a computerized virtual world.

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Hilton Garden Inn Makes Innovative Employee Training Program Available on PSP Handheld Entertainment System
Business Wire —
9/29/2008

Hilton Garden Inn(R) today announced that it will become the world's first hotel brand to offer an intensive, interactive employee training program designed and created specifically for use on Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) handheld entertainment system and its vibrant widescreen LCD. Now, when Hilton Garden Inn team members are caught playing with a PSP system on the job, they are met with smiles and words of encouragement.

Hilton Garden Inn, the award-winning mid-priced hotel brand with locations throughout North America and Europe, will establish itself as the hospitality leader in employee training thanks to its use of an interactive game-based technology training called Ultimate Team Play, representing their ongoing commitment to understanding the special needs of their guests.

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Video gamers are surprisingly fit, says study
MSNBC.com — By Jeremy Hsu
9/29/2008

Drop those stereotypes about people who play online role-playing games — chances are they're more physically fit than the average American.

That's just one of several new survey findings that explode the popular image of video gamers as socially awkward, overweight teenage males. Or at least, researchers have now found this among players of "EverQuest II", an online fantasy game centered on group quests and other social activities.

"Games have pretty much been on the defensive for the past 20 years by being attacked as unhealthy and culturally destructive," said Dmitri Williams, a communications researcher at the University of Southern California. "That's been changing in the past few years, but it's still the prevailing wisdom."

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NCSU researchers, Virtual Heroes land $1.5M grant to get serious about games in high schools
WRAL.com — By Rick Smith
9/24/2008

GRADUATE could take on a different meaning at North Carolina high schools in the near future if a project now under way proves successful.

Researchers at N.C. State University are partnering with Research Triangle-based Virtual Heroes to develop a video game they believe will boost science and information technology skills among North Carolina high school students.

Funded by $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation, Virtual Heroes, NCSU’s College of Education and NCSU’s Kenan Institute are developing a videogame program called “Games Requiring Advanced Developmental Understanding and Achievement in Technological Endeavors.”

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Maybe video games are not leading us to hell
St. Petersburg Times — By Joshua Gillin
9/21/2008

We haven't heard much about the scapegoating of video games as a cause of violence among children lately. At least, nothing major since Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in April 2007, when it was brought to everyone's attention that he was an avid fan of Counter-Strike.

There have been no Joe Liebermans or Jack Thompsons cranking up the heat to say gaming is a pox on society, though there are no doubt plenty who still feel that way.

But now a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project says that not only are video games an unlikely candidate for the root of anti-social behavior, they may be doing quite the opposite.

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Survey kills gamer stereotype
The Detroit News — By Bob Keefe
9/19/2008

If it seems like just about every American teenager is playing a video game these days, it's because they are.

A new survey, the most comprehensive of its kind, shows that 97 percent of all teenagers 12 to 17 play video games of some sort, whether it's on a console like Nintendo's Wii, a computer or a cell phone or other handheld device.

The survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project also debunks the stereotype of a gamer as an anti-social teenage boy addicted to bloody shoot-'em-up or street-fighting games.

About 76 percent of teen gamers said they played games with others at least some of the time. About 65 percent said they sometimes play games with others in the same room, as opposed to over the Internet.

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Sports Illustrated for Kids cheers on video games
Los Angeles Times — By Alex Pham
9/18/2008

What grabs more attention than a supermodel in a string bikini? How about Madden NFL video games?

At least when it comes to kids, that is. Sports Illustrated, the magazine famed as much for its annual swimsuit issue as for its thorough sports coverage, has dedicated the October issue of its younger sibling, Sports Illustrated for Kids, to electronic games. SI for Kids splashed the theme on the cover and sprinkled stories about video games throughout its glossy pages.

The magazine has been around for 20 years, but this is the first time it has put out an entire issue with a video games theme. The decision stems from a survey the magazine conducted of its readers, which found that 4 out of 5 of play video games with their friends and spend an average of $77 a month on games.

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The Rock Stars Of Video Game Marketing
CBS Evening News —
9/18/2008

When 16-year-old Roman Perry became an avid fan of the video game Guitar Hero, his father noticed, CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason reports.

"Dad, you wanna play?" Roman asked.

"I don't think so. You'll beat me bad," his father, Joe, said.

Joe Perry, of course, is a real guitar hero - as the lead guitarist of Aerosmith.

Now the band headlines its own version of the game - and it's already sold more than a million copies.

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Game On
ABC News — By Ned Potter
9/18/2008

If video gaming is really as big as we're told -- with 40 percent of American adults and 83 percent of teenagers reported by the Entertainment Software Association to be playing -- then do the players fit the stereotypes that have gone on for years?  Maybe not, according to a new paper by researchers at the University of Southern California, the Palo Alto Research Center, and the University of Delaware.

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Tuned in but not checked out
Chicago Tribune — By Tara Malone
9/17/2008

Tucker Moore earns solid grades, runs cross-country at Lake Forest High School and is training to be an Eagle Scout. Still, when facing a tough math problem or moral dilemma, the 16-year-old sometimes asks: What would Link do?

At Moore's skillful hand, Link—the daring hero of Moore's favorite video game, "Zelda"—has rescued a princess and freed the kingdom from tyranny. Although his demons differ, Moore said the problem-solving he fine tuned while playing the adventure game has helped in his daily life.

"I can't go out and defeat the giant monster alligator thing, but I like getting out and helping people," Moore said.

Indeed, a report released Tuesday suggests that video games may not be as harmful as many people think when it comes to how teens interact with one another and the world around them.
"We had expected we might well find the frequency of game play undermines civic engagement. That was a surprise of the study. What we found was it really had no effect. Teens who play frequently were just as involved as kids who play infrequently," said Joseph Kahne, a co-author of the report and education professor at Mills College in California.

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Video game industry a powerhouse
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — By Elwin Green
9/17/2008

When "Dark Knight," the latest installment of the Batman film franchise, hit movie screens in July, it took in $158.4 million during the first three days of its release, setting a record for a film's opening weekend.

When "Grand Theft Auto 4," the latest installment of the Rockstar video game, hit stores in April, it rang up $310 million in sales during its first day.

With those statistics and many others, Michael Gallagher, president and chief executive officer of the Entertainment Software Association, made his case to members of the Economic Club yesterday, that the video game industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and that Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania should consider how to participate in that growth.

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Video Games Help In Study Of ADHD
The Ohio State University Medical Center —
9/17/2008

Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine are conducting one of the first double-blind studies in the country to examine the effectiveness of neurofeedback in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Neurofeedback, also known as EEG biofeedback, is a method of training the brain to function more efficiently. The study measures the child’s brain waves while playing a video game. As they begin to lose focus on the game and their brain waves slow down, the child’s ability to control the game decreases and they are prompted to refocus, speeding up the brain waves.

Until they regain the correct amount of focus on the game, as measured by their brain waves, the game ceases to function normally. Sensitivity of the game’s controllers will change based on the child’s brain waves.

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Are Video Games Actually Good For Kids?
CBS Evening News — By Daniel Sieberg
9/16/2008

Video gaming is a fact of life for nearly every American teen. And a new study says it may actually be good for them. CBS News science and technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg has the first in the series: "The Games Our Children Play."

Working on a story about video games means going to the experts. So Sieberg asked two teenage girls: "Are video games cool?"

One said, "Well, yeah, there are many definitions of 'cool.'"

But what's cool for parents is that a new study finds that all that time in front of a screen isn't such a bad thing.

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Therapists have new tool to improve seniors' health
McClatchy Newspapers — By Donald Bradley
9/16/2008

From her wheelchair, Doris Strong jabbed with her right.

Her corner wanted her to use her left.

"Hit him in the face!" an occupational therapist urged her.

"Uppercut!" said another. "Your left! Your left!"

Strong, smiling like a sweet grandma on Thanksgiving, threw a combination that staggered her opponent against the ropes, and down he went.

"Way to go, Doris!" cheered someone in the small crowd that had gathered in the therapy room at the Carondelet Manor nursing facility next to St. Joseph Medical Center.

Strong turned to one of the therapists and asked softly, "Are we going to bowl now?"

And just like that, the boxing ring on the 50-inch, flat-screen Sony television turned into a bowling alley.

Wii (pronounced "we") has become a big hit with senior citizens. It's the first video game system to crack the demographic that grew up in the days before television.

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Major New Study Shatters Stereotypes About Teens and Video Games
Pew Internet & American Life Project — Press Release
9/16/2008

The first national survey of its kind finds that virtually all American teens play computer, console, or cell phone games and that the gaming experience is rich and varied, with a significant amount of social interaction and potential for civic engagement. The survey was conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, an initiative of the Pew Research Center and was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

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Survey: Nearly every kid a video gamer
Associated Press — By Martha Irvine
9/16/2008

Katherine Graden doesn't really like shoot-'em-up video games. She prefers games on her Wii system that test her fitness and agility—the ones her guy friends tease are her "sissy games."

"I'm like, `Fine! Go play your violent games. I'll stick with mine,'" the high school freshman from Chicago says, chuckling.

It's a common scenario, according to a new national survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project that illustrates just how ingrained games have become in youth culture.

The survey found that while young Americans don't necessarily play the same thing, nearly all of them—girls included—play video games of one kind or another.

And they don't just play by themselves. Nearly two-thirds play video games to socialize face-to-face with friends and family, while just over a quarter said they play with Internet friends.

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Game Changers
Washington Post — By Mike Musgrove
9/14/2008

You really must do something about your hair," teases Ally Burguieres's mom, referring to the appearance of her daughter's on-screen video game character.

It's Wii night at the Burguieres house in Bethesda. On the living room TV, virtual versions of Jan Burguieres and her 20-something daughters Ally, Elizabeth and Tory are playing baseball via the Nintendo system atop the set. Each of the cartoony game characters have been crafted to resemble their real-world counterparts. Ally's avatar wears oval-shaped glasses, just as Ally does, but its hair is just a little too straggly, in Mom's view.

It used to be that this all-woman crew wouldn't fit the standard image of the video game consumer. But the perception of gamers as being mostly young guys isn't so true anymore. Women and girls make up 40 percent of the gamer population, according to the Entertainment Software Association, the video game industry's trade group. And with game software sales at $9.5 billion last year, companies are paying closer attention to the titles women seek out.

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Video games not just a guy thing anymore
The Miami Herald — By James H. Burnett III
9/14/2008

The first time 15-year-old Irene Ruiz ever saw a personal video game it was in the hands of a male classmate in her home town in Venezuela.

''I never really thought anything of it, 'cause I just thought it was a boy thing,'' Irene says sheepishly, turning up her nose and feigning the type of disgust girls used to reserve for boys who played with toads and bugs.

That was three years ago.

On a recent Friday morning, Irene, along with three of her sisters, browsed the latest video games and personal gaming technology at an Electronics Boutique store in Aventura Mall.

''Oh, I love them now,'' Irene says. ``I mean since the Nintendo Wii came out I've liked it, 'cause the games are more about life, like the American Idol game. I love to sing, so that game is perfect for me.

Irene represents the growing target audience for gaming companies. Global gaming retailer GameStop has launched GirlsNightIn.com recently, a website aimed at creating online camaraderie among the company's rapidly growing ranks of female sports gamers.

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Wii helps burned kids recover
WABC-TV (NY) — By Dr. Jay Adlersberg
9/11/2008

There is a growing area of medicine that appears to be called "Wii-habilitation." It is occupational therapy that uses the video game system the Nintendo Wii.

Each year, some 300 children go through the burn unit at New York-Presbyterian Hospital's Weill Cornell campus in Manhattan. Healing burns and grafts is painful and requires arduous therapy. But therapists have figured out a way to make it all seem like child's play, using a video game.

Saquan Williamson is ready for his workout. Movement and exercise are what is going to help his scalded and badly burned arm and shoulder.

"There's a lot of pain associated with it, and there's a lot of work involved, too," Dr. Roger Yurt said. "You have to build your muscles back up, so you have to fight to get through it."

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Some points you can raise to get a conversation flowing this weekend
Detroit Free Press —
9/6/2008

Maybe a minor in 'Guitar Hero'?

The University of Michigan and Michigan State are among a record number of colleges now offering degrees in video game design, programming and art.

"Our industry is going to be creating new opportunities and jobs for years to come, and the new college programs underscore the significance and seriousness of the games," said Michael Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association. Game companies now employ more than 80,000 people in the United States.

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At ESPN, Play-by-Play Goes Virtual
New York Times — By Brooks Barnes
9/5/2008

ESPN, the cable powerhouse that calls itself “Worldwide Leader in Sports,” is looking to extend its domain in virtual worlds by merging video game graphics with real-life sports anchors.

The network, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, has spent the last year working on a new technology with Electronic Arts, the leading game publisher, that would allow ESPN commentators to interact live with realistic-looking, three-dimensional virtual players as they pontificate about coming matches during broadcasts.

“It’s a way for us to remain relevant,” said John Skipper, ESPN’s executive vice president for content. “We want to make sure we remain connected to lots and lots of fans, and using the language that gamers understand is one way.”

Boiled down, the complex technology, which will make its debut this Sunday on ESPN’s popular “NFL Countdown” program, involves using an Electronic Arts’ title — say Madden NFL 09 — with specialized digital camera equipment in the studio. Presto: Both real and virtual people move around the ESPN set to demonstrate plays and possible situations.

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Those seeking video game jobs hope to find matches in Austin
Austin American-Statesman — By Lilly Rockwell
9/4/2008

When Matt Dalluhn found himself out of a job after Chicago-based Midway Games Inc. laid off about 100 people in its Austin studio, he decided to speak with a local game recruiter.

The first question recruiter Elizabeth Whitener asked him was: "Are you willing to move out of Austin?"

"Yes," Dalluhn told Whitener. "I'm not tied to Austin." He also said he had applied for a video game job in Iceland.

Dalluhn, a 24-year-old concept artist, is just one of dozens of people looking for jobs in the video game industry in Austin. Because of recent layoffs at two companies, NCsoft Corp. and Midway Games, game recruiters say there are more people than jobs available in