Technoglam

Parents want more control over children's video games, finds Mumsnet research

It's not exactly a new topic, but there is at least some new research on the subject of children and video games. They have found, rather unsurprisingly, that parents want more control over their children's video game playing. A whopping 7.7million parents, says the research is unaware of their children's video games content whilst 5 million are also concerned over the length of time their children spend playing video games. 90% of families also reported fighting betwen siblings over 'their turn'.

It's not all bad news though. 72% of parents believed video games helped children learn new skills and 27% thought it taught children about the world.

The survey was conducted on 906 Mumsnet members between April and May 2009 in association between Mumsnet and Metaboli, a digital distributor of PC games. In response to the findings, Metaboli are launching parental control features across all its platforms which will enable parents to pre-select games by age, genre or on a case-by-case basis.

   

Can gaming help dieting? Research from PopCap suggests so

PopCap conducted a pilot study in January to see if playing games could help beat cravings by distracting the players from snacks whilst also being mood uplifting. Though some participants didn't stay the course, the research found great results from those that did reporting a whopping 100% success in beating cravings and lifting mood.

Leading UK dietician, Nigel Denby, who conducted the research, commented:  “While trial results were scientifically inconclusive due to a low number of participants completing the month-long programme, there were some interesting findings. For those who finished the trial, we saw that on all occasions Bejeweled Twist was used, it prevented eating due to a craving, with participants reporting forgetting about their cravings whilst playing the game.”
 
“In addition to forgetting about cravings, these respondents also reported that their mood improved or changed following gameplay.  Mood is a major cravings trigger for many dieters, with stress at work, anger, or sadness commonly reported as flashpoints.  Distraction is a well established method to help people overcome stress related food cravings.”

PopCap spokesperson Cathy Orr commented on the participants with, "they found casual gaming more compelling a distraction than watching TV!  I suppose that’s because it’s natural to sit in front of the TV with snacks, but try topping your highest Bejeweled Twist score while fumbling with a bag of crisps!"

Whilst I'm certainly sceptical about gaming equalling weight loss, I was already convinced that distraction plays a great part towards breaking out of the 'grazing junk food' problem that many of us have whilst parked in front of the TV. Like Cathy says, it's difficult to break out the crisps if you're fully occupied with an engaging game.

How to sell your old games online

You've played the game once and loved it, played it twice then... never played it again. Sound familiar? How about selling your least favourites and rarely played games and putting the cash towards new ones. There are several services online that can help you do just that. Using a DS Touchmaster game for reference, which generally retails new for around £12, we then checked out three online sellers to see how the service worked and what price we could get for our game:

Amazon: Used and new items are sold alongside Amazon stock where prices from individuals may sometimes beat stock prices. The marketplace can be used by anyone who signs up and it's up to you to pick a price and list its condition with sellers receving feedback. Buyers then choose who to purchase from and will pay via Amazon.

Technoglam test: Prices for the Touchmaster game ranged from £11.34 to £19.96 plus £1.94P&P.

Play: Go to the 'Sell you stuff' page then enter details of the game by title or barcode to find the item you want to sell. You then select the condition, provide a description and choose where you're willing to post it be it UK, Europe or UK&Europe. Play wil tell you what they're selling the game for and the lowest marketplace price in the same category (new - like new etc) then it's up to to select a reasonable price that also covers P&P.

 Technoglam test: Prices ranged from £18.94 to £49.95 (someone's hopeful!)

Music Magpie: Formerly a CD and DVD resale site, they've now expanded to include games too. You'll need to enter the barcode from your game on the front page to find out the resale value and they will only accept undamaged items in original packaging in good condition. Registration is required. They will send you a freepost label for you to send the game to them and they'll send you a cheque.

Technoglam test: £5.67 for the game.

Technoglam tip: Beware sellers who offer cartridge only games online. We would expect all pre-owned games to be available with original packaging and instructions.

Nintendo DSi release date announced

If, like me, you've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Nintendo DSi, then you won't have long to wait. GAME have announced that they'll have them onsale from April 3rd and they are also taking preorders. It'll be out in black or white versions and we've got a run down of the new features over here. Prices start from £149.99.

GAME's page is here.

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Knit your own sackboy from Little Big Planet

 

Have you played Little Big Planet yet? If you have, you might have fallen for the charms of cute character Sackboy. The Sun and Simply Knitting teamed up to create a knitting pattern so you can make your own. The pattern is quite easy so long as you are familiar with basic knitting terms. Get the pattern here - it might make a fun half term project.

[Thanks to Emma for spotting this!]

VTech Smile Motion games console for three to seven year olds

If you're going to catch the next wave of gamers, catch them young. The Wii might have captured the interest of families, but the VTech Smile Motion console is aimed firmly at a much younger market - three to seven year olds.

Like many popular games for this age range, it aims to make education fun with colours, number and spelling games, problem solving, science facts and helps develop memory skills with many popular characters such as Dora the Explorer and Thomas the Tank Engine.

The console hooks up to the TV and the chunky handheld unit has a joystick to move characters on screen and can be used by right and left handed players.

It comes with an Action Mania Learning Game which features sports based activities for £59.99 at VTech. 

Nintendo DSi out this Spring

Rumours of a new DS started circulating late last year until Nintendo finally confirmed that yes, their third generation DS would indeed be out and in the next few months. Hurrah! cry my fellow DS fans. The layout of the dual screen handheld console hasn't changed much but there are some nice new functions notably the camera and audio player plus a slightly enlarged screen now measuring 3.25inches plus improved speaker and sound quality. Whilst the camera shouldn't really enhance gameplay, I'm sure it'll be a huge hit amongst the younger gamers despite the weak 0.3 megapixels and it does have some fun lens features that can turn pics to black and white, change colours and add frames to name just three of 11.

The SDcard slot is another very welcome addition - and has also prompted the moving of the power button close to the screen - though users will lose the gameboy slot that can be found on previous models due to a slimming down of the case size. Extra games can also be downloaded from the DSi shop.

The DSi was released in Japan last November and it's been slated for a Spring release here so look out for announcements within the next couple of months.

Nintendo DS

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Kids favourite Club Penguin introduces DS Elite Force game

The fantastic children's online game Club Penguin has had their DS game Elite Force in the works for a while - and my children are already bursting to play it.

News of what content will be included is very limited but I've been told it will bring elements of the Club Penguin world.

It's currently on pre-order for £24.99 at Amazon with a release date of 27th February. It's already in stock for $29.99 at Amazon USA.

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New family and kids Wii, DS, Playstation and Xbox games from Disney Studios

Disney Studios are aiming firmly for the family market with an enchanting range of games aimed at the younger players. We've got the roundup of what is going to be released over the next few months - so be good kids, Santa may be taking a break but the parents aren't!

Bolt! Inspired by the new family film, this canine adventure should appeal to Nintendogs fans.
Out: February 2009
Available on: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals - A sequel to Spectrobes, this intergalatic adventure continues where the last adventure left over with finding, awakening and training the mysterious Spectrobes. 
Out: 27th February
Available on: Nintendo DS

Ultimate Band - Build a band or jam alone on the drums, bass guitar, lead guitar or as frontman as users turn into rockstars. Over 30 songs from popular classics to recent hits including the White Stripes and The Jonas Brothers should see parents 'borrowing' it from the kids and never returning it.
Out: April 2009
Available on: Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS

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Gain extra digital storage with Toshiba's 'Frost White' 500GB hard disk drive

Whether its your inability to do a digital spring clean or you just need extra storage for your vital media, Toshiba has a stylish new device out for Mac, PC and games console users.

With an attractive monochrome exterior and 'whisper-quiet operation', the 500GB portable hard disk drive is ideal for backing-up 131,000 MP3 files or 142,000 photos or 130 computer games giving you peace of mind if your PC gives up the ghost or if your console can't store as much as you want. All you have to do is 'plug and play' so set up is easy. It costs around £120 with retailers including Amazon.

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