From Gaming-Age:

Quote:Accoring to an interesting study held by University of Rochester, videogames, and more specificially First Person Shooters, may actually be good for children and videogame players. In a New York Times article, "Researchers are reporting today that first-person-shooter video games the kind that require players to kill or maim enemies or monsters that pop out of nowhere sharply improve visual attention skills."
Read on for the rest of the NY Times article.

Experienced players of these games are 30 percent to 50 percent better than nonplayers at taking in everything that happens around them, according to the research, which appears today in the journal Nature. They identify objects in their peripheral vision, perceiving numerous objects without having to count them, switch attention rapidly and track many items at once.

Nor are players simply faster at these tasks, said Dr. Daphne Bavelier, an associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Rochester, who led the study. First-person action games increase the brain's capacity to spread attention over a wide range of events. Other types of action games, including those that focus on strategy or role playing, do not produce the same effect.

While some researchers have suggested possible links between video games and other abilities, this study is thought to be the first to explore their effects on visual skills. Though the number of subjects was small, Dr. Bavelier said, the effects were too large to be a result of chance.

"We were really surprised," Dr. Bavelier said, adding that as little as 10 hours of play substantially increased visual skills among novice players. "You get better at a lot of things, not just the game," she said.

But Dr. Bavelier emphasized that the improved visual attention skills did not translate to reading, writing and mathematics. Nor is it clear that they lead to higher I.Q. scores, although visual attention and reaction time are important components of many standardized tests.

"Please, keep doing your homework," said Dr. Bavelier, the mother of 6-year-old twins and a 2-year-old.

Dr. Jeremy Wolfe, the director of the Visual Attention Laboratory at Harvard Medical School (news - web sites), who was not involved in the study, said he was intrigued at the idea that "socially dubious games might improve something like general intelligence."

"It might give every 14-year-old something to tell his parents," Dr. Wolfe said. " `Hey, don't make me study. Give me another grenade.' "

Still, he noted that an increased capacity for visual attention was helpful in tasks as diverse as flying, driving, radiology and airport screening.

Dr. Bavelier is an expert on how experience changes the brain, particularly the effects of congenital deafness on visual skills and attention. A few years ago, a Rochester student, Shawn Green, asked to work on a senior project in her laboratory. They agreed that he would help design visual attention tasks for the deaf.

But when Mr. Green tried out the tests, he found they were ridiculously easy, Dr. Bavelier said. So did his friends, who were all devoted to video games.

The professor and her student decided to study the connection between video game playing and visual attention. They carried out four experiments on undergraduates, all of them male because no female shooter game fans could be found on campus.

The first tested the ability to localize targets in a cluttered environment and spread visual attention over a wide area a skill that many elderly drivers lose. Gamers performed at least 50 percent better than nongamers, Dr. Bavelier said.

The second involved the ability to say, instantly, how many objects were flashed on a screen. Most people can do this with up to four objects, Dr. Bavelier said. Above that, they start counting. Gamers could identify up to 10 items on a screen without counting.

The other two experiments tested the players' ability to process fast-occurring visual information and to switch attention. Again, players were far superior to nonplayers.

A fifth experiment trained nonplayers, including some women, for 10 consecutive days on one of two video games either Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, a first-person-shooter game that simulates World War II combat situations, or the slower-moving puzzle game Tetris. Only the shooter game improved visual attention, Dr. Bavelier said, and it did so in both sexes. Among novices, the effects waned within a couple of months, but superior visual attention skills seemed firmly rooted in game addicts.

Dr. Bavelier said the next step would be to tease the games apart to find out what aspects promoted brain changes. Are violence and danger necessary? Does this sort of brain plasticity change with age? Will it affect certain measures of intelligence?

Meanwhile, she said, the military is already exploiting action games to train special forces.

"To enter territory you've never seen and detect where your enemies are," she went on, "you need an accurate understanding of the visual scene."




-- Paul Bryant

I love Blizzard.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030529/295191_1.html

All you console only people will be missing out on one of the best games ever.

From Gamesarefun:

Quote:Sony has recently faced some financial woes, as its shares fell to the lowest point in nearly eight years this month. But Sony always seems to have a trick up its sleeve to win the trust of investors, and this time around the trick is a rather interesting one: the PSX.

The PSX? No, it's not the Playstation or PS One, which was often referred to as the PSX. No, this PSX is a version of the PS2 hardware that comes fully equipped with a built-in tv tuner, hard drive, and a dvd recorder. Obviously, some of these new features will allow users to download content from the internet.

This new system will hit Japan this winter, and is said to be coming stateside next year. The details are still a tad sketchy at this point, but the fact remains that this is an exciting bit of news. We will definitely have more on this news shortly. Check back with us in a bit!

Source: Reuters

Posted by pizzicato on 5.28.2003

From GAF:

Quote:In an interview with Canada.com, Robbie Bach (the man responsible for the Microsoft Xbox video game system, including the hardware, Microsoft and third party games development, Xbox operations, marketing, research, sales and support) answered some questions about the Xbox and its future. Here's some comments that stand out:

- Says Canada and Australia are currently the best markets for Xbox, saleswise.

- Says that Microsoft could turn a profit immediately on Xbox, but will remain in the red for now, as the Xbox is a 10-20 year investment.

- Claims that most Xbox owners have also owned competitor's consoles, but MS is looking to expand the gaming market to lure in more people.

- States that MS hasn't successfully marketed to certain demographics, but items like the Music Mixer and other non-gaming features might attract new users.

- Thinks that games can be combined with music and movies to "lead to new things."

- States that updates to the online service will disallow cheaters and hackers from accessing the Live network.

- Says that the Xbox followup console will ship around the same time as the PS3, because "Sony will not have the benefit of a 12 to 24 month head start" like they did with the PS2.

- In reference to a possible Xbox portable, says that the focus is on the Xbox console for the time being.

- Believes that MS will be positioned to be number one in the next generation of console sales.

- Says that Gates and Ballmer are happy with where the Xbox is currently, as they knew it was a long-term investment going in.

- Admits that Xbox is not as successful in Japan as they would like it to be, because Japan is a crucial market, but is pleased to be equal or surpassing Nintendo at this point.

- Could not comment on whether N.U.D.E. is coming stateside.

This is a rather lengthy piece, but if you're interested in checking out the full interview, click here. Happy reading!

Source: Canada.com

Posted by pizzicato on 5.26.2003

Good stuff

From Games Are Fun:

Quote:In an interview with Eiji Aonuma, director of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mr. Aonuma hinted at possible details of the next installment in the series.

The graphics engine used in Wind Waker will be utilized for this next title as well, much in the same way that Majora's Mask used the same engine as Ocarina of Time. So fans looking for an adult Link will have to stick to Soul Calibur II or Super Smash Bros. Melee for now, sorry.

The boat may or may not return as a mode of transportation in the next title, as the playfield has not been determined yet. The water in Wind Waker made the boat a natural choice, but for the new title, perhaps the boat will return, perhaps not.

Aonuma hopes to have a playable version of this new title ready for next year's E3. Not much else is known as of yet, but as details surface, we will bring them to you. Stay tuned.

Source: Computer and Videogames

Posted by pizzicato on 5.24.2003

Yet another interview. If you have any questions about Acclaim's next Extreme G game post them here.

From Cube-Europe:

Quote:While until recently the only Pokémon games have been Pokémon Colosseum, Pokemon Channel and Pokémon Box but this may change. It looks as if the Nintendo GameCube may be getting a Pokémon RPG.

Tsunekazu Ishihara of Creatures Inc. who make the Pokémon games said to Degenki that they are considering making a Pokémon RPG.

It is unknown yet whether this game is a possible or a definate with many websites reporting different things. We will report on the game's status when we find out.

Quote:WASHINGTON — A recent study tying obese patients to skyrocketing Medicare and Medicaid costs is the “smoking gun” lawyers and bureaucrats need to drive the fast food industry into submission, critics of the report say.

“You now have a report that says the taxpayer is being hurt because of obesity. Ah, now the federal government will have to step in to protect people from their habits,” said Tom DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center (search), a civil libertarian watchdog group based in Virginia.

“There are a lot of forces at work here — some will work in the courts, some through legislation," he said. "What you’ll find is the report is the smoking gun for all these forces to use."

The report, published in the May/June issue of Health Affairs, contends that obese and overweight Americans — now more than half the U.S. population — contribute as much as $93 billion to health costs each year, with public Medicare and Medicaid programs footing the better half of the supersized bill.

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (search), the data, based on a sample of 9,867 adults, measure the health care costs for patients of normal weight compared to those categorized as overweight and obese. A patient's weight category is derived by their body mass index rating, which is the federal government’s official method for defining obesity.

The study’s authors said the findings are indeed an important signal to government that something needs to be done about the growing waistline of the nation.

“If people want to be 200 pounds, then that’s their choice, but ultimately, if the taxpayer is paying for those choices, certainly, in my mind, that is where the justification for government involvement comes from,” said economist Eric Finkelstein, who conducted the research with Ian Fiebelkorn of RTI International (search) and Guijing Wang of the CDC.

The study found that Medicare pays out $1,486 more per obese patient than per healthy weight patient. Medicaid pays out $864 more for obese patients and private insurance pays out $423 more.

The authors suggest the increase may be in part because low-income individuals who qualify for government assistance may engage in riskier health behaviors — like eating junk food.

Finkelstein told Foxnews.com that he is unsure whether heavy regulation, taxes or litigation against the food industry is the answer.

“We’re already concerned about how our studies are used,” Finkelstein said. “But I would like to see people more physically fit and I think that certain strategies that promote that are worth considering.”

But according to critics, those strategies are more than just feel-good campaigns about exercise and healthy eating. They include a massive regulatory and litigitory machine ready to launch a three-pronged strike against the fast food industry through private and public litigation as well as regulation.

“There are a lot of people excited about this study,” said Mike Barita, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Consumer Freedom (search), which has also been tracking lawsuits launched against McDonald’s Corp., the fast food giant blamed for deliberately encouraging excessive consumption of unhealthy and fattening food.

“It’s all about their new cash-cow — attorneys have dollar signs dancing in their eyes,” he said.

Barita said legal heavy hitters like George Washington University professor John F. Banzhaf III, who played a big role in the massive tobacco settlements with the states, are now advising attorneys and plaintiffs in the fight against fast food.

“We’re going to find a judge and we’re going to find a jury and we’re going to start winning these suits,” Banzhaf told Foxnews.com.

Banzhaf said he fully supports a formula against obesity targeting special taxes on fast food, higher insurance premiums for obese patients, tougher regulations on food manufacturers and school vendors as well as litigation against fast food proprietors. Banzhaf is participating in a June conference to help design legal strategies against fast food establishments, school boards and food manufacturers.

“All of those things are going to have an immediate and direct effect. We can at least hold down the increase in the epidemic,” he said.

The Department of Health and Human Services declined official comment, but one source there said, “We are totally against litigation.”

DeWeese said studies like this one will help the federal government overcome a final obstacle to controlling Americans, even what they can and cannot eat.

“What they are saying is that none of us is responsible for anything — we’re too stupid to decide for ourselves,” he said. “There is no free market left.”

Quote:NEW YORK — Former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair said he "couldn't stop laughing" when the newspaper corrected his fraudulent description of an American POW's home in West Virginia, according to excerpts of an interview with the New York Observer.

"That's my favorite, just because the description was so far off from the reality. And the way they described it in The Times story -- someone read a portion of it to me -- I couldn't stop laughing," Blair said in an interview scheduled for publication Wednesday. The newspaper made excerpts available to The Associated Press on Tuesday.

In one of his few interviews since resigning from the Times on May 1, Blair told the Observer that he "fooled some of the most brilliant people in journalism" with his reporting.

In a brazen act of deception, Blair wrote under a dateline from Palestine, W.Va., about the family of Pvt. Jessica Lynch, a POW rescued in Iraq. He described the family's home as overlooking "tobacco fields and cattle pastures." The porch overlooks no such thing and no member of the Lynch family remembers talking to Blair, the Times said in an extensive investigation into his work.

The Times found fraud, plagiarism and inaccuracies in 36 of 73 articles examined between October and April.

Newsweek has reported that Blair signed with literary agent David Vigliano to market his story for possible book and movie deals. The magazine, citing friends of the ex-reporter, also reported that Blair had sought treatment for substance abuse.

According to excerpts from the Observer, Blair said his deceptions stemmed from personal problems.

"I was either going to kill myself or I was going to kill the journalist persona," he said. "So Jayson Blair the human being could live, Jayson Blair the journalist had to die."