Yesterday, GamePolitics reported that the NYPD is considering the use of video game technology to train its personnel.

They’re not the only ones.

According to a new ESA survey of 150 large U.S. companies and non-profits, 70% train their employees with interactive software.  Additionally, more than 75% of those companies already offering simulation game-based training expect to expand their usage in the next three to five years. 78% of those not currently on the bandwagon are expected to hop on in the next five years.

Said ESA CEO Michael Gallagher:

Businesses across the spectrum, from automobile manufacturers to financial service providers, are utilizing entertainment software to help educate their employees to better serve their customers and improve their bottom lines.  Interactive technology is a valuable tool in workforce development and this study underscores the fact that video games have become a mass medium helping Americans live, work and of course play.

The majority of companies surveyed claim to be satisfied with the results and sophistication of their interactive training programs. They cite a reduction of costs, faster and more consistent training, ease of measuring employee participation, and better information retention as the biggest advantages.

-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen never had one lesson
 

The British government has released a six-point action plan which endorses the recommendations concerning the Internet and video games made by Dr. Tanya Byron (left) earlier this year.

Referring to Byron's work as "groundbreaking", the document says that the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown has accepted all of the child psychiatrist's recommendations. While the first four chapters of the action plan address how children relate to the Internet, the final two sections discuss how Byron's recommendations regarding video games are to be implemented.

Chapter 5, Reforming the video games classification system, notes that Byron called for a hybrid content rating system involving both the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) ratings. Byron's recommendation has generated some controversy in the UK, where the game industry strongly favors PEGI. It was the BBFC, GamePolitics readers may recall, which banned Manhunt 2 in 2007 before being overruled by England's High Court.

As it turns out, the government is delaying its decision in this regard. Instead, it will "launch a four month public consultation" beginning in July. Following this review, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will publish its plan for reforming game ratings by early next year. DMCS will also work with game rating organizations to "agree to a way forward for classifying online gaming."

Chapter 6 outlines a number of steps, including:

• raising parental awareness about video game ratings
• setting standards for providing ratings information at point-of-sale
• setting standards for parental controls by November
• setting advertising guidelines for games

GP: Overall, the action plan generates no shockwaves. The key question involving who will rate games for the UK market - PEGI, BBFC, or both - remains unresolved for now.

Get your own copy of the UK government's action plan here.

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has been a harsh critic of violent games like Grand Theft Auto in the past.

But a report in Newsday suggests that Kelly's own officers may soon be using video game tech to train on firearm tactics. The training will include simulated shoot/don't shoot confrontations with game-like avatars who move realistically and have authentic facial expressions.

The recommendation for specialized video game training comes from the Rand Corporation. The think tank was hired in the wake of the NYPD's controversial shooting of an African-American man, Sean Bell, on his wedding day in 2006.

Rand's Bernard Rostker told Newsday:

[The NYPD's] current simulators are very good, but it's pretty old technology... [Video] gaming has gotten a bad reputation because they're all about shoot-'em-ups. But maybe a better way of looking at it is to look at something like the NBA basketball [video games]. The quality of the figures is very real and the quality of the facial expressions is very real. If you can give a student a lot of scenarios, it changes the nature of the learning experience.

 

A Michigan State professor has designed an online game to teach Chinese culture and language to players.

As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Yong Zhao, MSU distinguished professor of educational psychology and technology, is the creator of Zon. In the role-playing game, players try to enhance their character's social and economic status. Said Zhao:

Games are supposed to be fun and educational. This game offers a vicarious, virtual experience of China. We are here to serve the public and, in this case, to bridge the gap between China and the United States. That's the ambassador role we want to play.
 

Zon is currently free, although a subscription model is being considered.

A study at the University of Central Florida has found that using educational video games can increase students' math skills and raise standardized testing scores.

As reported by the journal, 193 algerbra and pre-algebra students from Orange County participated in the experiment. Those who played the games over an 18-week period did better on district-wide benchmark testing than those who did not. Students using the games improved their scores by 8.07 points on average, while those in the control group improved by just 3.74 points.

Tabula Digita's DimensionM games (screenshot at left) were used in the study. Company CEO Ntiedo Etuk commented:

These research results are remarkable and support previous studies which have concluded that interactive games are more effective on learners' cognitive gains than traditional classroom instruction alone. We are teaching a new generation of students, which requires unconventional teaching strategies be put into practice in the classroom. And when schools use our games, the student benefits speak for themselves--a greater desire to learn and higher test scores.

 

The Fairfax County Times reports that Beer Pong, a soon-to-be-released Wii Ware title, is sparking protests by local advocacy groups.

The game's T (13+) rating has been called into question by Lisa Lombardozzi, chairman of the Greater Herndon Community Coalition. Lombardozzi, who has circulated a petition demanding a re-rating by the ESRB, told the Times:

The game encourages younger kids to emulate the patterns of college-age kids.

Gen. Arthur T. Dean, who heads the Washington, D.C.-based Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, was also critical of Beer Pong. Of the game, Dean said:

Beer pong is an activity that normalizes and encourages heavy binge drinking, shows blatant disregard for the dangers of alcohol poisoning, and can cost lives and result in injury.

 

Furthermore, promoting the video game Beer Pong in the Frat Party Games series under a Teen rating ignores the fact that many youth involved in fraternities on college campuses are not of legal drinking age and that youth as young as 13 can purchase the game under this rating.

The Northern Virginia Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving are also said to be looking into the sitiuation. Readers may recall that MADD came out strongly against the simulated drunk driving in Grand Theft Auto IV.

(GP: although, in my mind the performance hit Nico Bellic takes when drunk is a strong motivator NOT to drink & drive).

JV Games spokesman Vince Valenti responded to the criticism:

I think it's kind of funny. The game promotes the sport of beer pong. We are not advocating drinking any more than watching cartoons or watching the TV show 'Cheers,' or even going bowling or to a baseball game... if anything, you're going to be drinking less. Because you are too busy playing the game, trying to beat your opponent, to be constantly picking up a beer and drinking it.

 

When last we heard from the Girl Scouts in relation to video game issues, they were standing behind California's Leland Yee following passage of the state's 2005 video game law.

But, as reported by the Woodbury Bulletin, a Minnesota Girl Scout has a much different view on video game regulation. Colleen Stone, who created a 10-minute video on game content issues, told the newspaper:

I guess it all started when Hillary Clinton started getting public about video games and video game violence. It was just a blatant disregard for first amendment rights…That was a slippery slope that would easily have transferred to books and movies and newspapers, and that really disturbed me.

In response, Colleen developed a seminar to educate parents on game content and ratings. She invited the manager of a local GameStop as well as a rep from the Minnesota-based National Institute on Media & Family. The seminar was filmed and makes up a good chunk of her video. 250 copies have been distributed to various organizations.

Colleen, who will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall and is considering a career in video game design, added:

I was worried this was just a pet peeve of mine, but deep down, it’s a constitutional issue. Some games can be so beautiful — some of the games I put on, my mom will just stop and stare… That’s why I think I did this. Video games are not evil.

 

While libraries and church groups are increasingly turning to video game events in order to attract teens, such get-togethers may have copyright implications, according to the School Library Journal.

Check out this Q&A posted yesteday:

Q. Lots of school and public libraries are hosting gaming tournaments, featuring popular video games like Guitar Hero and Madden Football. Since these games are intended for home use, isn’t that similar to purchasing a movie and showing it to a large audience?

 

A. Everyone seems to be asking that question! Video games come with licensing agreements, and before purchasers can play the games, they must agree to their terms. The video-game licenses that I’ve seen are strictly for “personal, noncommercial” uses—not public ones. So when libraries host gaming programs, they’re violating these agreements. Yet, lots of libraries are doing just that—and they’re getting away with it. And some are even charging an admission fee to attend these events. What gives?

 

My guess is that video-game distributors never anticipated their games would be used publicly. So when their lawyers drafted the licenses, they simply used language commonly found in software contracts...

 

Librarians can: (1) continue to offer video-game competitions and let the chips fall where they may; (2) contact the rights holders and ask if their licenses can be modified to accommodate your programs; or (3) email the rights holders and tell them you’re opting out of the portion of the contract that allows only home use—and unless they tell you not to, you’re planning to offer gaming tournaments.

GP: It's a fascinating question. Game publishers would look like big meanies if they tried to enforce this, of course. On the other hand, I believe that Internet cafes pay for some type of multi-user license for some online games.

UPDATE: A well-informed video game industry source dropped GP a line, offering some insight on this story:

For motion pictures, schools, libraries, and other institutions get licenses to exhibit the movies. It's pretty straightforward and no-one seems to have a major problem with it. See http://www.movlic.com/ and http://www.mplc.org/aboutMplc.php.  I'm not aware of similar services for video gaming. Probably should be.

 

The use of game tech to explore public policy alternatives is touted by futurist Jamais Cascio, writing for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies:

The big advantage of games as a foresight device is the capacity to fail in interesting ways: you can try out different, even bizarre, strategies for success, and do so without worry of harming yourself or others. It’s a form of rehearsal, a way to understand the ways in which the present may be manipulated to create a desirable tomorrow.
 

Cascio makes his case by detailing a trio of policy-oriented simulations. He leads off with Oil ShockWave, a petro-crisis simulation developed at Harvard. While previous editions were studied at the 2006 World Economic Forum and at the 2007 Aspen Strategy Group conference, a new version is intended for college classroom use. From the game's Harvard website:

Students play the roles of U.S. Cabinet members developing a policy response to a potentially devastating crisis that affects global oil supplies. Situations are presented primarily through pre-produced newscasts, video briefings and insert cards handed to the students during discussion. The exercise vividly illustrates the links between oil, the economy, and national security.

 

The box set... contains maps, multimedia components, simulated newscasts, a range of background materials, and an instructor's manual. To ensure that the latest information is always available to you, the box set will be fully web-supported...

GP: I must concur with Cascio's lament that the game is not generally available. It  sounds fascinating.

Cascio also looks at Budget Hero, a sim sponsored by American Public Media's Marketplace program:

Unlike some budget sims that give you nearly line-item control over what’s in and what’s out, Budget Hero limits your options to options that sound like policy proposals—Cap & Limit Greenhouse Gases, Link Alternative Minimum Tax to Inflation, and so forth. You also start with three budget priority badges, reflecting the positions you take as a leader.

Cascio is less impressed with Immune Attack, a health-themed game designed for high school classrooms.

 

A NASA researcher speaking at a University of Manitoba workshop discussed using video games as an educational tool and disputed supposed links between games and criminal behavior.

As reported by the Truro Daily News, NASA's Daniel Laughlin said:

Since 1993, violent crime in Canada and the U.S. has declined by 50 per cent and during that time the video gaming industry has exploded. If video games were really linked to crime, then we wouldn’t have seen that decline in violence.

Laughlin is the learning technologies project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Baltimore. The space agency is working on an MMO to sharpen math and science skills among high school and college students:

I’d love to see a space-based game where the players are placed in real careers — astrophysicists, aerospace engineer. It would be a game where you need the expertise of real science to succeed... It’s got to be fun, first. Without the fun, no one will want to play it and it won’t be successful. But it has to use real science.

 

A senior at California's Chico State University added a political flavor to three popular Nintendo classics for a recent art exhibit called "Eeprompaganda." The title is a mashup of EEPROM and propaganda.

As reported by student newspaper The Orion, Ryan Fitzpatick showed off mods of Super Mario Bros, Millipede and Dr. Mario. From the report:

Fitzpatrick reprogrammed the beloved "Super Mario Brothers" and turned it into "Super Democracy Brothers: The Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism." Instead of Mario and Luigi... players were able to choose from President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney... The two men run around the desert, encounter men in turbans and hop over oil bins with Exxon Mobil labels...

Fitzpatrick likewise transformed Dr. Mario into Doctor Democrat:

The words "Hillary Care" stretched across the top of the screen and players became Dr. Hillary Clinton. The object of the game was to arrange pills into a medicine container, similarly to "Tetris."

Millipede was modded into what sounds like a potentially controversial take on the immigration debate, Minuteman Civil Defense Headquarters Presents: Border Stampede: The student newspaper, however, notes that the mod was presented in the vein of political commentary rather than political advocacy:

Fitzpatrick was afraid people would miss the comical aspect of the exhibit and find the games offensive... In the statement, he wrote about his curiosity with American culture symbols and the influence they have on thinking.

It took Fitzpatrick a year to create the classic Nintendo mods.

So your family thinks that you'll never amount to anything because you sit around in your bathrobe all day managing your World of Warcraft guild.

Maybe. Maybe not.

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, you could be modeling the coming wave in leadership styles. The lengthy, multi-page piece is definitely worth a read, but here are a few snippets to whet your appetite - and maybe help keep the family off your back:

A lot of work will be done by global teams... that are assembled for a single project and then disbanded. Collaboration within these geographically diverse groups will, by necessity, occur mainly through digital rather than face-to-face interaction.

What on earth will leadership look like in such a world [?] ...the answers may be found among... Eve Online, EverQuest, and World of Warcraft. Despite their fantasy settings, these online play worlds... in many ways resemble the coming environment we have described and thus open a window onto the future of real-world business leadership.

True, leading 25 guild members in a six-hour raid on Illidan the Betrayer’s temple fortress is hardly the same as running a complex global organization... [but] don’t dismiss online games as mere play. The best ones differ from traditional video games as much as universities do from one-room schoolhouses...

According to a report on The Impudent Obersver, police in one Indonesian municipality will be enforcing a ban on videos games and TV during a two-hour evening period designated for children to do their homework:

The municipality of Bekasi... [is] ordering all students within its jurisdiction to study and do their homework or face legal consequences...  The new regulations require students, from elementary school to high school, to study between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. either at home alone or with classmates from the same neighborhood. During study time, no TV or video game will be alowed and students will be banned from going to the mall or entertainment centers.

[Eductaion chief] Kodrato said his adminsitration would empower neighborhood heads and police personnel to enforce the regulations. Bekasi was inspired to institute the new policy after hearing it has been in operation in the municipality of Yogyakanta since 2003.

Gamers will definitely want to catch Adam Sessler's G4 interview with Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, authors of Grand Theft Childhood, a new book that is gaining enormous attention in gaming circles.

Discussing concerns that violent video games cause real-world violence, Kutner said there's "absolutely no evidence for that."

The authors also viewed video games as a "marker of social competence," noting that boys who didn't play video games were at a higher risk for getting into fights and having other problems at school.

The authors did note that boys and girls who play only violent games for 15+ hours per week have a higher likelihood of getting into trouble at school.

All in all, Grand Theft Childhood goes a long way toward debunking past criticism of games by researchers, pundits and media opportunists.

Libraries are increasingly turning to video games to reach students.

To that end, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, Friday has been designated Gaming @ Your Library Day by the American Library Association.

According to a survey by Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, almost one-quarter of U.S. libraries staged some kind of video game event in 2007. In Los Angeles County, teen use of public libraries has surged by 50% since a video game pilot program was introduced in 2006.

Said San Fernando librarian Lydia Harlan:

It lets teens be more comfortable with the library and become familiar with librarians. And it's what kids are into these days.

Penny Markey, coordinator of youth services for L.A.'s libraries, added:

Libraries have wonderful children's programs and programs for adults. But when it comes to programs serving teens, the numbers drop off. Games help us bridge that gap. It's a changing world. Teens are the next adults, the next taxpayers. And the library needs to be seen as an important and relevant resource for them.

Not every librarian agrees, however. The LAT reports on a blog entry by Steven M. Cohen, who operates LibraryStuff.net:

Why do we have to lure kids into the library with candy? Shouldn't good literature be good enough?

A pair of academic speakers criticized violent media during yesterday's Public Affairs Conference at Missouri State University.

As reported by the Springfield News-Leader, the gathering sought ways to deal with conflict and violence in schools. Virginia Tech assistant prof Christine Kaestle, speaking on the first anniversary of last year's campus shooting rampage, charged that the media tended to focus on extreme acts of violence, while ignoring more commonplace acts of aggression, sexual harassment and bullying:

There is a disconnect between the needs of the media and the needs of the students. The media are interested in acts of violence that involve weapons. There are overt acts of bullying that lead to acts of aggression and interfere with educational goals.

The University of Wisconsin's director of the Center for Communication Research, Joanne Cantor (left), was more strident in her criticism of violent media:

We need to understand the impact entertainment violence has on kids. The media spends a lot of money debunking the research. [Kids who consume violent media] see the world as an angry place. They are desensitized to the effects of violence.

The more they play violent games, the more impulsive they are since games reward impulsive reactions, to shoot quickly in order to kill.

We pass laws that are helpful, like an ordinance that won't allow a minor to rent a [mature] rated video game without a parent, but the laws are thrown out because the First Amendment is interpreted so broadly. It's the merchant's rights over the parental rights.

In a surprising mainstream affirmation of the video game medium, Scotland's educational minister announced yesterday that game design will be added to the national school curriculum.

As reported by Digital Spy, Maureen Watt (left) said:

There is huge confidence that Scotland will continue to play an important part in the future of video games and interactive entertainment and we are focusing on establishing firm foundations for lifelong learning and, for some, specialised study and careers.

A key aim of Curriculum for Excellence is to produce informed, skilled, adaptable and enterprising citizens of the future. The pace of change in the world means that we should be equipping young people with the skills to embrace and use all the tools of modern life.

Scotland's video game industry currently employs 500 people and generates £20 million per year. Scotland's best known video game firm, of course, is Grand Theft Auto series developer Rockstar North.

Via: Tech Digest

UPDATE: Bruce on Games has a bit more on this topic.

When students in Scotland use game tech to persuade peers that binge drinking is a bad idea, that would seem like a positive thing.

But a critic says that ThinknDrinkn is "irresponsible."

Compute Scotland reports that the game was created by a joint effort of students from Paisley Grammar School and St. Andrew's Academy along with assistance from the University of the West of Scotland's School of Computing. Binge drinking is apparently quite the problem in that area, with an estimated one-third of 15-year-olds getting drunk every week. From Compute Scotland's report:

In the game, the players have to find and help a friend who has been drinking and whose condition is constantly deteriorating. Game players will have to provide fluids and food to a drunk friend and either take them home or to hospital, avoiding obstacles including youth gangs along the way. They will also have to answer various questions related to alcohol misuse and can use links to useful websites to find relevant information.

Thanks to the success enjoyed by the game, variations are being studied which would address issues with drug abuse, gambling and sexual health.

But not everyone likes ThinknDrinkn. As Spong reports, Nick Seaton of the Campaign for Real Education objects:

It is irresponsible to confront children of just 11 or 12 with the idea of a friend lapsing into unconsciousness because they have had so much to drink.

Spong notes:

This is the same Nick Seaton who earlier this year told anybody who would listen that introducing Nintendo Wiis into schools was, "pandering to the views of the physically idle". 

Thanks to: GP Correspondent Colin "Jabrwock" McInnes for the heads-up on ThinknDrinkn...

I'll be speaking and serving on a discussion panel today for Playing to Win: The Business and Social Frontiers of Video Games at Penn State, so the usual roundup of GamePolitics stories will be a bit abbreviated.

It looks to be an excellent conference, with speakers from all sorts of disciplines, including Jason Della Rocca of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), ESA CEO Mike Gallagher (Gallagher was listed, but I'm told he was sending VP Stephan Mitchell in his place) , Dr. David Bickham of Boston's Center on Media and Child Health, Adam Thierer of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, First Amendment experts Clay Calvert and Robert Richards of Penn State, noted free speech attorney Larry Walters (via teleconference) and many others.

I hope to live blog portions of the conference.

UPDATE: (okay, here comes the live blogging...) David Bickham did a very nice presentation on the effects of games on children. He's a good speaker and a couple of people I spoke to here afterward commented independently that a reasoned approach like that has the potential to be far more persuasive than the hysterical rhetoric coming out of Miami. Bickham's boss is Dr. Michael Rich, who has been a healthcare-based critic of game violence issues in recent times.

On the other hand, I felt that Bickham didn't pay adequate heed to research that shows games aren't harmful to kids. I hope to ask him where the Center on Media and Child Health stands on the current Massachusetts video game legislation.

UPDATE 2: My brief (about 15 minutes) presentation has now wrapped up. I was privileged to sit on a panel titled Law on the Frontiers of Videogames with some of the best First Amendment legal minds in the country (the aforementioned Calvert, Richards and Walters) as well as Prof. John Bagby of Penn State's Institute for Information Policy.

My topic as The New Video Game Consumer: Changing the Equation. I offered my views on important video game consumer issues, talked about game consumer activism, and explained my view of areas in which the video game biz fails its customers. Oh, I also compared having the Video Game Voters Network represent gamers to having General Motors represent drivers. I'll expect to hear some noise from the ESA over that one. But it's true.

First Amendment expert Larry Walters argued that video game censorship is the "same old story" that has plagued other forms of media over the years. He argued that "family values" groups are after money and power. However, he also fretted that the recent 8th Circuit decision in the Minnesota game law case was a concern (GP has written in a similar vein). He suggested that the game industry needs to look at that decision in relation to its content, going forward. His reading of the 8th Circuit's decision is that the state might appeal and could have a chance to succeed. He also mentioned the recent news that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia opined that video game legislation could be constitutional.

UPDATE 3: Adam Thierer gave a very nice lunch time presentation on the ESRB system and issues surrounding game ratings and content. You can see Adam's Power Point here.

GP: This was a nice conference. I hope that Penn State makes it an annual tradition. I got to meet some terrific folks, including Mike Todd, who heads up the brand-new Penn State chapter of the ECA, PSU doctoral candidate Ibrahim Yucel, whose Saturday presentation on Portal I had to unfortunately miss. I also met a number of GP readers, and that always makes my day...

A press release issued by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) this week outlines a new scholarship initiative designed to assist women and minorities who are seeking careers in video game development.

Noting that the video game sector is growing at four times the rate of the U.S. economy, the ESA Foundation program will make $45,000 available in tuition assistance. Full-time undergraduate students can apply for $3,000 by May 15th.

The ESA press release quotes CEO Michael Gallagher:
 

Positions in our industry are high-paying jobs with a remarkable potential to inspire and entertain millions of Americans. We hope these scholarships will encourage students to pursue careers in this growing and lucrative field. We offer this program to help create our industry’s next generation who will boost the industry’s creative capital with new and unique approaches.

Details on the scholarship program may be found here.