Updates on: games that improve children’s mental abilities, France to offer tax break for developers of culture-related games, a discerning retrospective of games, games to be used in training for U.S. Army
Are kids learning while playing? While shopping this holiday season, parents should consider how toys will improve their children’s mental abilities. Some suggestions from this article include: LeapFrog toys and games, Cranium board games, and jigsaw puzzles. — Jackson Sun
France will be allowed to offer a tax break to video game developers for games with cultural content, the European Commission said Wednesday. The tax break will allow game developers to deduct up to 20 percent of production costs of certain games. — Associated Press
An analytical approach to video games finds their greater value. What do we talk about when we talk about video games? Iain Simons, who talks and writes about them for a living, says that one important thing to keep in mind is that “game” should not be used as a “catch-all term,” especially by those who wish to dismiss the ever-expanding new medium. — Daily Yomiuri Online
A new U.S. Military office was created with the sole purpose of developing modern gaming technologies that will aid soldiers in their military training. According to a statement by the training director at the Pentagon, the current focus is first-person shooter and real-time strategy games. — AHN
Updates on: games to teach languages, gaming with brainwaves
Nintendo DS to release in January 18 games to help young children in Japan learn English. — Mobile Magazine
Tokyo University is developing new technology which will allow a player to control an online or video avatar using brain waves. The technology is currently tested on Second Life. — International Business Times
Updates on: IBM’s Innov8, holiday shopping
IBM thinks a way to bridge the gap between business acumen and being tech-savvy in today’s CEOs starts with some “serious” gaming. The company introduced a game it calls Innov8 that the company says simulates real-world business environments and helps MBA students “visualize” how technology can help solve problems or improve performance. — Inquirer.net
More laptops for toddlers and MP3 players for infants are stocked on store shelves this holiday shopping season as Fisher Price and Playskool battle it out with Sony and Nintendo for dominance in the toy box. — CNN
Update’s on: HP’s gaming unit, and EA’s SimCity Societies
Hewlett-Packard ’s gaming unit is holding off on launching systems based on Intel ’s new Penryn processor, saying that while the 45 nm chip is reliable on Intel chipsets more work needed to be done for the CPU to work with Nvidia’s SLI. — ChannelWeb
Electronic Arts Inc. has shipped SimCity Societies, the newest edition of the top selling PC franchise, SimCity, to stores across North America, Asia, Australia and Europe today. A version of the game is also available for mobile platforms. In SimCity Societies, players construct not only the cities they desire, but mold their cultures, societal tendencies and environments as well. — Ad-hoc News
Updates on: Second Life
At first glance it looks like a video game but once you start exploring the world of Second Life you find out that it’s much more. With millions of U.S. dollars being spent in Second Life it’s also caught the attention of some notable companies who have spent some real money to open up offices in the virtual world. Companies like CNN, World Bank, and Toyota, who sells virtual cars. Virtual worlds will undeniably play a role in big business as they continue to grow. — Charlottesville News
New Zealand — As part of the firm’s 10 year anniversary of its pro bono unit and to mark Pro Bono Week from 12-17 November, Lovells is hosting an exhibition in Second Life to showcase some of its pro bono work. — Law Fuel
Updates on: Electronic Arts, One Laptop Per Child, game development, IBM, Brandeis
Game developer, Electronic Arts (EA), has announced donating its original 1989 classic, “SimCity”, to the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Project. — Tech Tree
NEW DELHI: If you have an idea to make learning fun, campuses are all game. And with scores of firms introducing educational games targeting school, colleges, besides management students and professionals alike, learning could be just fun. Companies in the education space — Educomp, NIIT, 24×7 learning, Gurukul Online, Applect Learning Systems and Tutorvista, to name a few — are either planning to launch or have launched education-based computer games. — Economic Times
IBM is working with Brandeis International Business School (IBS) to test “serious games,” video games designed to help students build combined business and IT skills often required in today’s work environments. — Campus Technology
Updates on: IBM’s professional skills game, Microsoft’s Xbox
IBM has designed a new video game to help university students and young professionals develop a combination of business and IT skills. The Innov8 interactive 3D video game is intended to help bridge the gap in understanding between IT teams and business leaders. — VNUNet.com
Microsoft showed off a new Xbox feature that will allow parents to set the amount of time that kids can play games. — CNET
Updates on: Skills database by Partnership for 21st Century Skills, robotics for the classroom by Innovation First
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills launched Route 21, an online, one-stop shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and tools, such as standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum and instruction environments. Route 21 harnesses Web 2.0 features to allow users to tag, rank, organize, collect and share Route 21 content based on their personal interests. — Earthtimes
Innovation First, the company behind a wide range of robotics initiatives, has launched a new online resource targeted directly toward K-12 and post-secondary education. The free materials include activities, course outlines, assessments, rubrics, miscellaneous resources, and games and challenges designed for the classroom. The basic kit for building radio-controlled robots runs at $549. — Campus Technology
Updates on: Harmonix, Electronic Arts, Second Life
Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of Viacom’s MTV Networks today announced the release of a new interactive music title, Phase, on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) for fans to purchase and download for play exclusively on the new iPod nano with video, iPod classic and the fifth generation iPod for $4.99. — CNN
Electronic Arts and Harmonix were today pleased to announce that their hotly anticipated music videogame, Rock Band, has reached the end of the development and is now in final production and manufacturing. — Play Static
Business and education leaders are testing Second Life’s waters to discover how they can use it to influence thinking and behavior in the real world. In Phoenix, David and Montse Anderson have recently started a consulting service called “It’s Oque” that helps other companies harness Second Life’s virtual environment, and then use it to educate and train workers. — AZ Central
Updates on: Games at South Carolina State Library
The South Carolina State Library has recently purchased a selection of educational game technology that may be loaned to South Carolina public libraries. This is a great opportunity for these libraries to get their “feet wet” before purchasing gaming equipment for themselves. – LibraryTrax Blog
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