The Art of Marriage Proposals Through Gaming

We Aggies know a thing or two about proposing to our beloved, especially if she is an Aggie too. (Alas, my wife is from Louisiana, where everybody professes loyalty to LSU, whether they attended that fine school or not.) There is one tree on the A&M campus in particular, the Century Tree, that has a tradition of serving as a pop-the-question spot for thousands of couples. Here’s a YouTube video of one such marriage proposal. (If a woman is lucky enough to be or snag a member of the Corps of Cadets, as in this video, she gets quite a bit of extra pomp and ceremony throughout the entire wedding process than the average Aggie these days. The Corps has dwindled from comprising the entire student body back in the day to a couple thousand or so students now.)

There have been many other creative proposals at TAMU over the years (probably mostly by guys who weren’t in the Corps (see parenthetical above)). During my graduation ceremony, for instance, an Aggie awaited his beloved to descend from the podium, her diploma in hand, before going down on one knee. The MC had been briefed ahead of time and paused in calling out names to wish them well, and everybody in the coliseum whooped and hollered for the couple.

Another story that comes to mind dates back to when a thriving hot air balloon business existed in College Station, and Kyle Field was left unlocked and accessible most of the time. The fellow had friends buy hundreds of paper plates, and had them spell out the Marry me? question on the bleachers so she could read it as they floated over in the balloon.

So, Aggies know a thing or two about proposing to their sweethearts. But there are lots of neat stories about guys finding creative ways to pop the question. I recall one fellow hiding the ring in a box of Cracker Jacks and setting up a picnic for his girlfriend on a cliff overlooking the ocean. After the couple finished off the meal, for desert he handed over the box, and waited nervously for her to open the “toy surprise.” She reared back her arm to toss the packet over the cliff, willing to carelessly toss away what was usually a cheap trinket. He went ballistic, grabbing her arm and yelling, “Wait!” She opened it, and was surprised, but it was a close call and he almost lost an expensive diamond engagement ring.

Guys dating women who like games seem to consistently hit upon the idea of sneaking marriage proposals into the game. Several men over the years have popped the question through crossword puzzles, convincing complicit editors to run rigged games. Here’s one example.

But finally, we have a real gaming geek story. This fellow re-programmed his girlfriend’s game so a ring and wedding cake appeared upon reaching a certain score. Bernie Peng ported over a copy of Bejeweled to the Nintendo DS, and gave it as a present to his girlfriend. There is no official version of Bejeweled for the DS, you see, so this was something special for her. Ordinarily such shenanigans might be frowned upon by corporate, but PopCap Games (owner of Bejeweled and other popular casual titles) turned it into a publicity event.

There have been marriages in virtual worlds, notably in Second Life and World of Warcraft. Somehow, cheating in marriage garners more publicity. But electronic marriage is old news, since any enhancement to communication leads inevitably to more social interaction. The book, The Victorian Internet, detailed a legal marriage performed at a distance via telegraph and Morse Code. But as video games continue to gain a stronghold in the public psyche, look for more social interactions like marriage, and social research, online.

The Rise of Photo-Realistic Animation

The bar keeps bumping up higher for quality animations in a videogame. Word came out this week that Afrika, a new safari photo hunt game for the PlayStation 3, would provide ultra-realistic shots of wildlife on the savannah and make good use of the PS3’s graphics capabilities. The game required a mere 25 developers, compared to the 100 or so that many big titles take, and Sony’s sales expectations are modest. Still, the possibilities revolving around photo-realism add to the expectations for future games: serious, educational, and traditional entertainment titles alike.

On the anthromorphological side of things, check out this video, She’s Not Real, from The Times Online in the UK. If you weren’t told ahead of time, it’s possible you wouldn’t know you were watching an animated human … at least at first. Toward the end of the minute long footage, the programmers give a taste of what they can do with an animated person, in a game for instance.

Free Math Games & Activities at Education.com (and Some Interesting Articles)

Taissia Belozerova over at Education.com dropped me an e-mail about my article Magnificent Math Sites, that ran in the Summer, 2005 issue of TechEdge. Taissia pointed out that Education.com has a vibrant section devoted to free games and activities for K-12 math.

While the math portion of the site is more concerned with RL activities than videogames, our discussion led to two articles from their magazine. The first is Are Video Games Educational? by Jayel Gibson, which offers a nice introduction to the topic. The second one was by Danielle Wood, reporting on the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) last year, who put out a statement asserting kids need more videogaming (not less). Below is the key excerpt:

Their report, based on advice from nearly one hundred education, science, and game industry experts, calls on the federal government and the Departments of Education and Labor to fund video game research and development. Video games, they argue, hold the potential to help address one of America’s most pressing problems – preparing students for an increasingly competitive global market.

Wood concludes the FAS asserts videogames can teach kids a variety of higher order thinking skills, strategies, and problem solving techniques.

Most interesting were the visceral responses from readers the article generated. Many statements by responders are flat out wrong. For instance, the latest research shows videogames help students diagnosed with ADHD, not causing it (Farrace-Di Zinno and colleagues disproved the videogame-ADHD link in The British Journal of Educational Technology way back in 2001). Gaming (especially online gaming and MMORPGs) has been found to be very social rather than isolating in general. The list goes on. It makes for interesting reading, especially for those of us into educational gaming, who hob-knob together, to see how the non-researching public sometimes views our field.

Thanks to Taissia Belozerova for letting me know of the resources on Education.com. Well worth the visit.

References:
Gibson, J. (2008). Are video games educational? [Online]. Available: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Video_Games_Educational/

Farrace-Di Zinno, A.M., Douglas, G., Houghton, S. Lawrence, V., West, J. & Whiting, K. (2001, November). Body movements of boys with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during computer video game play. British Journal of Educational Technology 32(5). 607-618.

Wood, D. (2007). Scientists say kids need more video games. [Online]. Available: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Ed_Scientists_Say_Need/

Resistance is Futile … All Will Become Gamers

Here’s a nice article from Rob Fahey, former editor of GamesIndustry.biz, over at Times Online. Fahey makes several interesting points, including many factoids that would fit nicely in research articles on videogames.

- Nintendo is now the second most valuable company (by market cap) in Japan, after Toyota

- Consequently, the market believes the industry as a whole has enormous growth potential

- Game Group is Britain’s largest videogame retailer. Profits for the first half of 2008 will top £33 million, beating analyst estimates by 33%

- Consequently, Game Group’s market cap now tops the country’s largest construction firm by three times

- The current focus on all age groups by videogame companies is the natural outcome of marketing efforts beginning in the 1990s, when Sony began branching out from children’s television advertisements for the PlayStation to nightclubs

- The market for videogames continues to expand into all segments of the population, from teenage boys to older men; to girls and women; to senior citizens; to families as a whole

- The advanced graphics and capabilities of videogames have created a dynamic platform for storytelling that rivals moviemaking in scope

Finally, Fahey sums up with this statement, showing that eventually gaming will engulf everyone:

As video games continue to break new creative and commercial ground, the conclusion the markets have reached is simple – and inevitable. Being a stranger to interactive entertainment will be seen as eccentric as watching TV on a black and white set. Soon, we will all be gamers.

References:
Fahey, R. (2008, July 7). It’s inevitable: Soon we will all be gamers. The Times. [Online]. Retrieved July 6, 2008 from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/
guest_contributors/article4281768.ece

ExerGaming Kicks into High Gear with New Study & Product

There was discussion this week on the Serious Games listserv about ME2, a virtual world from Irwin Toy aimed at kids that links to a real world pedometer (tagline: You are the power!). The more exercise, running and walking the kids do in RL, the more points they earn to use in the game. Scott Traylor over at 360KID wrote up the details here.

In other news, a pilot study has come out of New Zealand showing that exergaming titles are just as good as casual exercise. No surprise there, but it’s nice to see the empirical data bear out common sense and provide argument ammo against doubters.

The 12 week initial pilot study by Dr. Ralph Maddison over at Auckland U. worked with 21 children age 10-14, and measured energy expenditure via oxygen masks. The follow up looked at 20 new subjects, upgrading half of their PlayStations with the EyeToy. This time body mass indices were measured and advanced pedometers were used over 12 weeks.

Children in the eye toy group performed significantly more physical activity, despite spending less time overall playing video games.

“We need to look at different ways, because of the increase of obesity in New Zealand, to increase activity in children,” Dr Maddison said.

Dr Maddison’s team is now seeking a further 330 children, aged between 10 and 14, for an expanded six-month study funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

Playing is playing, and exercise is exercise even in front of a video screen. I do think the idea of linking a pedometer to a virtual world is a good idea, one springing naturally from the Webkinz linkage of RL objects to the VW. Seems this could herald a bevy of new ideas linking the virtual with RL objects and activities.

References:
Borley, C. (2008, February 22). Video games good as exercise: Study. New Zealand Herald. [Online.] Retrieved February 23, 2008 from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?
c_id=204&objectid=10493847

Tempest in a Wii-cup: Britain’s Abysmal Reading Scores Blamed on Videogames

Expanding a bit on one of Elgan’s media bits, England has indeed dropped from third in the world in primary reading to 15th over the last half decade in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, which comes out every year. The Sun lists the rankings:

1 – Russia

2 – Hong Kong

3 – Singapore

4 – Luxembourg

5 – Italy

6 – Hungary

7 – Sweden

8 – Germany

9 – Netherlands

10 – Belgium

11 – Bulgaria

12 – Denmark

13 – Latvia

14 – USA

15 – England

16 – Austria

17 – Lithuania

18 – Chinese Taipei

19 – New Zealand

20 – Slovak Republic

Said Sun Editor David Wooding: “We finished behind former Iron Curtain states such as Russia, Latvia and Bulgaria …”

Britain also finished behind the United States, by one point (no gloating, y’all). Here in the states such rankings are met with a collective yawn. That is, if folks even hear about it. If not for the web, most of us Yanks wouldn’t read as much of the British press. But in Britain, the news was met with horror by politicians and punditry. School Secretary Ed Balls announced a £5 million program to give books to nurseries and libraries, along with government-sponsored encouragement toward parental involvement in reading time.

It was Balls’ and other politicians’ statements concerning videogames as culprits that caused the most chuckles. But plenty of blame and embarrassment have been spread around. A Cambridge study showed little sign of improvement in the nation’s schools despite millions in extra spending, lending doubt that the £5 million on book distribution would do much good. The Torries fussed at Labour for blaming parents. The National Union of Teachers said there is too much teaching to the test, and not enough emphasis on reading for pleasure.

So there it is. If videogames indeed are the culprit in falling scores for British tots (despite copious reading often so necessary in advanced games), perhaps the government should spend that £5 million in purchasing Wii, Playstation, and Xbox consoles. Then they could send them to other countries where gaming is not as prevalent, in hopes of causing their scores to decline next year. So, even the playing field British pols. Instead of buying more books for British kids, buy more videogames for kids in countries ahead of yours. That should work.

References:
Wooding, D. (2007, November 29). Video games ruining reading. The Sun. [Online.] Retrieved Dec. 1 from: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article521951.ece

Update:
Kotaku notes a nice piece in The Guardian, “Is Our Children Reading,” by Steven Poole, who makes the case that many advanced games like The Legend of Zelda, Phantom Hourglass, require the equivalent of reading a paperback novel.

News headlines don’t tell you, for example, about the wonderfully batty series of games for the Nintendo DS starring Phoenix Wright. These games, in which you play the part of a defence lawyer in a series of increasingly surreal criminal trials, take place almost entirely through conversations that you have to remember and then sift for contradictions, before triumphantly shouting “objection!” in a crowded courtroom. At a rough estimate, one Phoenix Wright game contains at least as much text as your average children’s novel.

Meanwhile, another game for the DS, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, not only has innumerable scripted conversations and written signs to read, but makes you write as well – scribbling notes on your maps (via a touchscreen and stylus) so you can solve the puzzles and navigate through increasingly tortuous temples. A child playing this game is probably more passionate about reading its prose for clues and taking detailed notes, than he is about doing his homework. But that’s not the game’s fault.

Got Troubles? Blame Videogames

I noticed the apparent up tick in media attention to videogame violence recently. Then I ran across Mike Elgan’s piece in Computerworld, where he breaks down recent news items from around the world. Some I’d heard of, and there were a few he mentioned that I hadn’t. The big research item I was aware of, and hope to blog on soon after I’m finished reading it. Here is Elgan’s list:

- The December supplemental issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health devoted to youth violence and electronic media (more on this from me later).

- New Zealand’s National Manager of Police Youth Services stating he felt rising youth violence is tied to videogame consoles (Elgan notes the statement was made after brief exposure to his son’s Xbox, not a formal study).

- The German Society for Scientific Person-Centered Psychotherapy recommended a ban on violent videogames.

- Reading skills in England have dropped, with videogames receiving the lion’s share of blame (this one is stretching it, BTW, based on the copious literacy moments inherent in most all advanced MMORPGs and VIEs).

- Videogames were also blamed for England’s poor showing in soccer this year. It seems British kiddoes are too busy playing with joysticks instead of going outdoors and playing with balls. Videogames = bad. Soccer games = good.

- Elgan then notes a couple news reports blaming games for obesity, broken bones & rickets in children.

- He also points out the study in Pediatrics from German researchers showing sleep disruption in boys playing a videogame before bedtime.

Elgan brings up several counterpoints to the “blame videogames first” crowd. With recent immigration trends of young families moving to England, some 40% of primary kids “over there” don’t speak English at home. This might have a higher effect on reading scores than the Playstation, Wii, or Xbox. The media highlighted the Finnish teen shooter’s love of videogames while ignoring his many other interests which may have certainly contributed to a killer mindset. Focusing on the effects videogames have on teen boys misses the point anyway since videogames continue to grow in popularity across both genders and all age groups.

Here are some additional arguments Elgan adds:

One “solution” you don’t hear very often is: Maybe we should do nothing. Maybe it’s a problem that doesn’t need to be solved … Every generation of adults blames some cultural influence or another on ruining young people. Those darned horseless carriages cause youthful indiscretions! …

Second, games may have an overall positive effect on the lives of some kids. In bad neighborhoods, they may provide an alternative to gangs and real violence, or access to cultural information not otherwise available. …

And finally … There is plenty of evidence — ignored by critics — that games are becoming more intellectually stimulating. Many kids who used to play Grand Theft Auto are now enjoying Assassin’s Creed or, say, BioShock. These newer games still have violence, but also literary, historical and cultural value, at least in comparison with GTA.

Elgan sums up with a call for more research:

One thing is certain: We need more and better research. So many questions remain unanswered. Do games really cause violence? If so, do some games cause more violence than others? Is the unrealistic or nongraphic violence in, say, Halo 3 less harmful than the blood-splattering violence in Call of Duty 4? Is the “honorable” violence in Call of Duty 4 less harmful than the “criminal” violence in Grand Theft Auto? Are games damaging to some personality types, but harmless to others? Are the effects of gaming long term?

Good questions. Be sure and check out Elgan’s excellent blog, The Raw Feed which focuses on videogames and other technologies.

References:
Elgan, M. (2007, November 30). Do video games make kids violent, stupid and sick? Computerworld. [Online.] Available: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?
command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9050278&pageNumber=1

Aussie Media Notes Educational Uses of DS & PSP in Japan

I’ve discussed previously the educational uses of the Nintendo DS, most recently concerning the trend in Japan. Now, The Daily Telegraph (Australia) has an interesting article regarding the use of the DS and the PSP in Japanese schools. Here are some benefits being realized:

* At just one-fifteenth of the cost of a personal computer — around Y17,000 ($A171.38) each — the DS is an economical teaching tool … results in an initial trial showed the English vocabulary of junior high school students using the DS had soared by 40 per cent.
* Saito Miyauchi, 12, approaches teacher Raita Hirai with a bashful smile as he holds up his DS screen. “That’s great!” the teacher tells him after Saito has topped the class by doing 45 multiplications in 15 minutes.
* “The badminton club keeps me busy. But with DS, I can study everywhere, and quickly.”
* “The benefit is that students can look at, hear and write an English word at the same time. With conventional flash cards, you would have two of them at the best,” …“With the game console, you can feel the fast speed and tempo. I think it matches today’s children,” [a school official] said, adding the board had received no complaints from parents.

Lest all the praise be reserved for the DS, the PSP garners its own admirers in the article. A pilot project in Osaka is soon to expand from 38 fourth graders to 800 or more students:

Teacher Toyokazu Takeuchi did not need to print out or check tests. Instead, his own console received real-time data showing which students were making mistakes and what mistakes they were making.
“This is e-learning made in Japan — traditional efforts in reading, writing and calculating coupled with the power of information technology and game machines,” he said.

Finally, the article concludes with the possibility that, since portable gaming devices are so inexpensive, they may possibly serve as an introduction to educational computing in developing countries. In the meantime, the Japanese seem to be enjoying the educational benefit of the DS and the PSP just fine.

References:
Videogames pushed in class. (2007, September 21). The Daily Telegraph. [Online]. Available: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/
0,22049,22456665-5006007,00.html

Big Corporations Aim at Kid-Friendly MMOs

Forget MySpace. That is like, so 2006. Today’s tweens want to socialize in virtual worlds that are specially tailored for them. Such is the appeal of sites like Club Penguin and Webkinz.

Now comes word from Graham Charlton at e-Consultancy.com over in Britain that Nickelodeon is looking to tap into the trend with a $100 million investment in virtual worlds and multiplayer games.

New offerings will include myNoggin, a subscription educational service for pre-school kids; Nick Gaming Club, a multiplayer subscription service; while the existing Neopets site will be relaunched as Neostudios, with the focus on online virtual worlds.

Charlton states that Webkinz has grown by 13 times its size from a year ago while Club Penguin has tripled in the same period. In the UK, Club Penguin is the third most popular children’s site, and the third most popular gaming site behind RuneScape and Miniclip.

The idea behind Club Penguin is very clever – it provides a safe way for children to get into social networking, as messages between users are carefully monitored by the site.

Finally, Charlton notes that Sony has been talking with Club Penguin about buying it out, for around half a billion dollars.

So, now that Nick and Sony are looking to jump into the kid MMO fray with multi-million dollar efforts, will there be additional educational efforts any time soon? The myNoggin effort sounds very interesting, and I’ll be looking forward to checking it out. I hope that additional educational efforts expand beyond preschool. Surely Scholastic or one of the other major publishers would like to get in on this.

Educational Uses for the Sony PSP

After writing about the educational uses for the Nintendo DS, I read Paul Waelchli’s post over at his Research Quest blog about using Sony PSPs for educational purposes. Paul has been has been keeping an eye on E3 2007, the large video game industry conference. Paul noted that the new iteration of the PSP, the PSP Slim, is used in the UK for educational purposes.

My kids have both the DS and the PSP. I first purchased an original Nintendo Game Boy at a garage sale when my oldest was 5 or 6 years old. This became a mainstay on long trips. Since that bargain find (which netted the Game Boy and several cartridges for the low bargain price of $15, if memory serves), the kids have acquired every subsequent model that Nintendo has offered, as well as two or three Sony PSPs.

My oldest prefers the PSP because of its multimedia capabilities, and enjoys not only games but listening to music and watching movies on the device. Besides access to ported games from the old PlayStation 2, it also has wireless capabilities that are used frequently on our home network. I must say, the screen on the PSP is superior to other handheld devices that size, and easier for older folks to see.

So, the multimedia capabilities of the handheld device combined with a price point of around $169 have triggered some educators to think of appropriating the device for classroom use. Sony Europe has launched the PSP in Education initiative, spearheading efforts in Britain, especially, to use the device as a classroom tool. Hopefully some good research will get published out of all this