How can health be tied to learning and gaming? Ann Thai, assistant director at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, wrote a blog post on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation blog that outlines a recently released document entitled, Game Changer:Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children’s Learning and Health.
The post and the document raise a great question about the interconnectedness between fun, learning and health when it comes to kids. Something interesting that I pulled out of Ann’s post is:
How do we know what kids are learning from playing games?
Being that I’ve been on an analytics kick lately over here at Crumple it Up HQ, the question really resonated with me. I’ve spent a lifetime playing video games and there is no record whatsoever of my ability to learn. I know that I’ve learned how to type my initials into the high score column, but that doesn’t really tell me much. Until recently, there hasn’t ever been a platform to record meta-data into some sort of gamer profile. There’s never been a profile that follows me around from game to game.
Wouldn’t it be noteworthy if we could tie game play into learning and health?
Strategy games seem to be ripe to teach and measure a child’s cognitive ability to grasp a concept and implement learning into game play. I’ve played strategy games that integrate my choice of tactics into an overall score, but it’s all a free-for-all. I have to know what tactics to use for a given situation or just wing it and muscle my way through. What if the game provided some kind of instruction and measured my ability to follow those instructions? And what if it then analyzed my ability to learn across different situations and different games?
What about morality based games? I love the idea behind an open-ended world that allows me to choose my own adventure, such as
KOTOR and
Fable on my old Xbox. Measuring the moral decisions a child makes throughout a game seems like an awesome way to start to collect data on how kids cope in game play.
Once all this information is collected, it can be analyzed and trended. After talking with my friends
Tom Stitt and
Stew Apelzin, I think that’s where the real value lies.
What do you think? Can metrics attached to the back end of game play help us understand how kids learn by playing games? Can that information then be used to integrate better lessons into better games? Can it tie back to making kids healthier?
photo by: RodrigoFavera
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DISCLAIMER ALERT: The ideas expressed in this post came out of my own head, were researched by my own eyes and were expressed by my own hands. They are not intended to serve as medical advice in any way, shape or form. And they do not reflect the views of Humana Inc. or any of its subsidiaries. I take full responsibility if you think this post is awesome or not awesome.
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First came Space Invaders wrist in the 1980s characterized by joint pain caused by continuous pushing of the button required to play the popular arcade game. A decade later came ‘Nintendinitis’ or thumb soreness from pushing the controller buttons for extended periods of time without interruption. Today, physicians are seeing an increase in physical injuries caused while playing the popular Nintendo Wii or ‘Wiiitis’ — the latest ailment to come out of the video game era.
Although a majority of Wii accidents cause more damage to your TV screen than your body, some injuries can still send you straight to the emergency room. Here are a few of the reported injuries that you should take precaution against:
Hand bruises and lacerations: Beware of low ceilings, ceiling fans and lighting fixtures and don’t swing your arms too high. Move surrounding furniture to give yourself enough room to maneuver. Finger lacerations have been reported as players collide with glass lighting fixtures overhead. Christina Aguilera bruised her hand when she collided with a nearby table lamp while playing a heated game of Wii Sports Tennis.
Black eyes: Players’ wide swings have been reported to cause injury to others around them that rival boxer-style ‘shiners.’ These injuries are usually not self-inflicted and the biggest culprit is Wii Sports Tennis. Players should identify their playing space before playing and stay within their borders.
Dislocated knee: Most commonly a result of falling off shoes with high heels while playing. Arguably the most preventable ‘injurwii’ of them all.
Shoulder injuries: Soreness most commonly associated with prolonged playing without interruption. Laying off the Wii for awhile and taking Ibuprofen have been successful antidotes for shoulder injuries.
Elbow injuries: Most commonly the result of getting hit with the Wii-mote of another player or colliding into surrounding furniture.
Broken straps: The thin Wii-mote wrist strap frequently breaks under the abuse exerted on it by players. Your best defense is to hold the Wii-mote securely.
TV damage: Plasma screens, which are glass, almost never survive the impact of a thrown Wii-mote. LCD TV damage ranges from dead pixels to areas of dimmer backlighting to no picture at all. Thrown Wii-mote damage is so common that Lcdarm Technology markets an impact resistant TV shield to cover your TV screen while playing Wii games.
While you don’t need full hockey gear to engage in Wii gaming sessions in your own living room, you do need to exercise caution, common sense and moderation to experience health and happiness while using the Wii.
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DISCLAIMER ALERT: The ideas expressed in this post came out of my own head, were researched by my own eyes and were expressed by my own hands. They are not intended to serve as medical advice in any way, shape or form. And they do not reflect the views of Humana Inc. or any of its subsidiaries. I take full responsibility if you think this post is awesome or not awesome.
In an earlier post we presented a music video to announce Insert Coin, our healthy game idea contest. Thanks to overwhelming interest from HG4H fans, we now have over 115,500 views! If you haven’t yet seen the video, be sure to check it out.
Now the team is busy working on our next video to continue spreading the word about Insert Coin, and we think we’re on to another hit… Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to watch it after it’s released, or just check back here for an announcement.
Since we announced Insert Coin in June, at the 5th Annual Games for Health conference, we’ve received lots of great ideas for healthy games, but it’s not too late to submit YOUR great idea for a chance to win some serious coin! We’re accepting entries through September 9th, 2009.
Visit Humana Games to find out more on rules and prizes (hint: there’s more than just cash at stake here!), and good luck!
photo by: mrbill
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DISCLAIMER ALERT: The ideas expressed in this post came out of my own head, were researched by my own eyes and were expressed by my own hands. They are not intended to serve as medical advice in any way, shape or form. And they do not reflect the views of Humana Inc. or any of its subsidiaries. I take full responsibility if you think this post is awesome or not awesome.
It’s that time of year again when people break out from their basement strongholds to enjoy the warmth of the sun, start mowing their lawns and the city of Los Angeles hosts a little event called E3. Known to many fanboys and professionals gamers as the ultimate bash, E3 features celebrity appearances and most importantly groundbreaking industry announcements from the big 3 (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony). This year has already gotten off to a great start as Microsoft just announced Project Natal, an add-on device for the Xbox 360 that allows full body motion control and voice recognition in future video games.
This could mean a lot for making games healthy, as you can now translate your full body motions into a video game. Imagine if sports games only required you to act out the action as if you were playing the real sport. One example may be a basketball game that has participants acting out the motion of jumping and shooting with the video game character immediately performing the same action. All I have to say is, “buy the extended warranty on your 50-inch plasma,” cause you’re going to be tackling your TVs when EA puts this in their next version of Madden Football.
The hardware device itself is a 9–inch-long bar that plugs into existing Xbox 360 systems and gets placed above or below the TV much like the Wii sensor bar. Developers are just now receiving the development kits for this device so you shouldn’t expect to see anything on store shelves before the holiday season. My guess is that it will be listed for around $200.
Where do you think the future of video games lies? Is full body interaction the next big thing?
photo by: jake of 8bitjoystick.com
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DISCLAIMER ALERT: The ideas expressed in this post came out of my own head, were researched by my own eyes and were expressed by my own hands. They are not intended to serve as medical advice in any way, shape or form. And they do not reflect the views of Humana Inc. or any of its subsidiaries. I take full responsibility if you think this post is awesome or not awesome.
I got into video games when my brother received an Atari 2600 for Christmas in the early 80s. I was four or five but I knew enough at the time to understand that I really liked them. Since that time, video games have always seemed to capture my fascination, whether they were console games, PC-based games, or games in an arcade. Especially games in an arcade, for some reason… Over the years I’ve played games on that Atari 2600, on a Nintendo Entertainment System that I requested for two years straight, on a Sega Genesis that I saved up for three months to buy, on a PlayStation that I somehow convinced my parents to buy me while in college, on an Xbox that I bought with a tax refund, on a Sony PlayStation Portable that I picked up along the way, and currently on an Xbox 360 that I bought after selling my Xbox and PSP to raise the funds.
Video games have always been a part of my life, and I haven’t just played them either. I’ve also enjoyed reading and talking about them with friends, both in person and online. I think that there are different aspects to video games than simply turning them on and tuning out, although that is the subject of this post… Video games can be played for entertainment, for diversion, to get together with friends, and as a stress release to name a few.
Let’s talk about video games and stress.
Stress is serious. CBS News talked about stress killing back in 2003. The idea of video games being designed to relieve stress levels has been around and documented from a health standpoint. In addition, surveys have been conducted showing that people who play casual games relieve stress while they play. I think that playing games to reduce stress is a cool way to kill two birds with one stone.
So what if a video game could give you the same stress reducing results as a vacation?
I first heard the term Video Game Vacation when Liam Lynch mentioned it on MTV Cribs. I immediately identified with it because I think that it perfectly describes a phenomenon that I was familiar with, but had not known to call it anything in particular.
Dictionary.com defines the word vacation as: a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday
You can take a vacation by cruising to a beach somewhere exotic, but I’m suggesting that you can also take a vacation to a far away land by locking yourself in your living room, drawing the shades, and loading up the latest blockbuster title until you finish it. I have personally taken video game vacations with Splinter Cell, Halo, Fable, Assassin’s Creed, and Grand Theft Auto IV to name a few. And I’m talking about pulling geek-fest all nighters to advance in the game.
For the money they’re great, and a lot cheaper than airfare + hotel.
The one thing I really like about video game vacations is the sense of immersion I am able to experience for that period of time. The task at hand is all that matters, how do I get to the next screen, stage, level, what-have-you? I find it liberating, and akin to pushing my body to its limits while exercising. I am able to focus intensely for a relatively short period of time, and walk away totally refreshed with a new perspective on the challenges that life brings on a daily basis.
Now that I’ve outed myself, I’m interested in reading what you think about the idea of a video game vacation. What games have you played obsessively until you beat them? What games do you wish that you had more time to play? Let me know in the comments below.
photo by: lylamerle
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DISCLAIMER ALERT: The ideas expressed in this post came out of my own head, were researched by my own eyes and were expressed by my own hands. They are not intended to serve as medical advice in any way, shape or form. And they do not reflect the views of Humana Inc. or any of its subsidiaries. I take full responsibility if you think this post is awesome or not awesome.
