Sixty percent of kids 8-17 expect to 1) get a game they didn’t want or a game for a console they don’t have, or 2) not get any or all of the games they asked for, according to a study by Weekly Reader Research cited by USATODAY. It also found that 80% of kids said they’d ask for a videogame this holiday season, and 59% for a game console. Their five favorites are Guitar Hero, Mario Party DS, Super Mario Galaxy, My Sims and Halo 3. Key advice for getting the right games, USATODAY says: know what console the child has and know the child’s game picks. I would add: Know the games’ ratings! Go to ESRB.org to see if a child’s pick is age- and maturity-level appropriate. Meanwhile, as the New York Daily News reviews the three top consoles: Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, the Los Angeles Times reports that Microsoft is pushing to broaden the market for Xbox Live and the online gaming it enables. See also “Support for young videogamers,” zooming in on what online gaming can be like for tweens and teens.
For some reason I get the giggles whenever I read that first bolded sentence. It seems sooooo dead on. I can almost FEEL the disappointed/grateful/confused woe of a child who opens a video game they didn’t want or can’t play (no console). And bless the parent for trying to get the right thing and aiming wrong. I feel like this is a kid woe of all generations (just not necessarily for video games).
I asked for a game console for xmas. What’d you ask for?
Celebrate the season with Windows Live™ Messenger and chat directly with Santa! Tell him what you want for Christmas, talk about life at the North Pole, and play holiday games with Howard the Elf.
I thought this was cute– so passing it along to any of you with the tech-savvy tater tots who wanna have a wee chat with the jolly man himself (put a good word in for yours truly).
PaidContent.org has notes on Bob Iger’s keynote at the Sanford C. Bernstein Media Symposium today. On virtual worlds, Iger noted that the company would release a “Cars” virtual world next year that would cost millions--not hundreds of millions–to develop because it’s built on an existing infrastructure. That should help it become profitable “fairly soon after launch because the investment isn’t tremendous.” Club Penguin is already turning a profit after its $350M-$750M purchase: “We’re growing subscribers nicely since the acquisition and we haven’t even begun to market it aggressively.” Disney’s site says a replay of the webcast should be available here, but it’s not up yet. [via PaidContent.org]
…interesting…ish. And yet… kinda “Meh”. I’m REALLY pumped about another VW they’re (Disney) coming out with (but hush hush about) because of the current craze around the unnamed (yet popular) brand. And their “Pirates” world was a no brainer. But Cars!? Again: Meh. It was my least favorite of the Pixar/Disney set, and a total rip off of Doc Hollywood (as well as other similar movies, but Michael J Fox gets this credit this round).
I realize they’re trying to fill a gap in their “boy” centric quota. But ‘Cars‘? The property is 2 years old… unless they plan on taking another stereotypical script and making Cars 2. Even then… meh.
I guess, if Disney wants to flood their market, go for it. I just think there are other Disney brands that could fill the space a hair better. Ah well. Who knows– they could blow this one out of the water and I’ll eat my own words with a bowl of Brussels sprouts (ooo I hate those things).
UPDATE:
Apparently they “ARE” (okay, I’m speaking in many-voiced rumors here) making a Cars 2 movie… its release date is somewhere around the 2010 mark (again, rumor mode people). I should have figured, since Disney LOVES their sequels. (How did the world not end when they released Cinderella 2??? Although, Aladdin 3 was kinda great, and I dug the music for Toy Story 2.)
Children’s television show Magi-Nation (on Kids’ WB! on the CW and CBC in Canada) announced that its online world Magi-Nation: Battle for the Moonlands will be going into beta in December. Magi-Nation, produced by Cookie Jar, will also see consumer product tie-ins in 2008–all part of Cookie Jar’s goal to “reach kids wherever they are, be it via through television, consumer products or online worlds. ” “We are thrilled to be working on such an ambitious undertaking as Magi-Nation: Battle for the Moonlands and can’t wait to bring the Magi-Nation online entertainment package to our fans,” said Kenneth Locker, senior vice president of digital media, Cookie Jar Entertainment. “Our young viewers are extremely Internet savvy and routinely monitor their TV shows online. With this project we will extend that connection and enable players to have a fully interactive experience with their favorite characters in one of their favorite worlds.”
Magi-Nation will be a free, Web-based with players competing to become the best magi in the Moonlands. In addition to extending the show’s brand, Cookie Jar hopes to generate revenue through a micropayment model, “which allows players to upgrade their gaming experience.”
The company is accepting beta applications and plans for a live launch in 2008.
Hmm. This should prove VERY interesting– considering it’s a property without heavy weight (my vision of heavy weight properties = in your face, licensed and marketed, top of the viewing chart, and loads of commercials). I know it’s supposedly a VERY popular trading card game (or that’s why their PR says– I haven’t seen my wee tater tot buddies who dig Pokemon, etc, talk about it yet…. personally, I prefer Chaotic’s approach to TV show & trading card game, they seem to be the best quality in animation & uniqueness in this arena).
I will DEFINITELY be watching their population #’s and the success of their microbuys, etc.
This could set a huge trend for newer/less talked about TV shows– a way to get the audience interacting with the brand before brand evangelism kicks in organically. Or, perhaps this will be a new version of organic brand-evangelism making? Oooo times they are a’changing!
As of now– there’s a video player giving trailers of the show on the site, as well as an opp to join the fan club and see the cards (as well as the A-typical background information of the storyline). The site is definitely in temp mode (or Marquee for those who know that term). The show (in both visual and content) reminds me of Yu-Gi-Oh meets The Littles (yes, the 80’s cartoon) meets Dungeons & Dragons. And sometimes– the bad guys (art) look like bad guys from the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons.
I look forward to diving into Magi-Nation’s virtual world in December. I’d almost wish this was a VW for Avatar: The Last Airbender… but beggers can’t be choosers. No doubt I’ll be writing a review of it as soon as I get “stuck in”
Want a more clever (I avoid the word “educational” because that usually is kid-speak for “lame”) virtual world experience for your tween? Then look no further than MoshiMonsters.
Currently in Beta (early Beta, I was lucky enough to score an invite), Moshi Monsters is a new way of approaching the virtual pet world experience. First of all– your pet is one of 5 goofy-looking monsters (more to come later, I hear) that are customizable by color (much MUCH more boy friendly, izzy-friendly, and sub-culture friendly than say… those doll sites & stuffed animal sites). And instead of “casual gaming” your child is presented with stimulating challenges.
In an allotted amount of time, your child must recognize the puzzle and pick the correct answer– ex. 4 names of colors are given (pink, blue, green, black)– three of those colors are in fact COLORED to their correct name, while one is not. Which word is not the correct color? Your child has around one or two minutes to complete as many of these mind-puzzles as possible to earn points. You can ONLY do this challenge once a day (at least at the moment, could change after Beta?).
With those points earned you can go shopping in town and buy hilariously gross looking food, or buy creative-variations of furniture for your house (my wallpaper is made up of a collection of eyeballs– rock on). Now, while it sounds more boy-like with its grossness and monster-like tendancies… the colors & general design are totally gender-neutral. Bright, bubbly, and fun.
My favorites: Tickling my monster. FINALLY– a place I can interact with my pet. Let me repeat that… WITH my pet. And when he laughs (cause mine is a ‘he’ btw), I cackle (I’ve raised some eyebrows with that cackle). Oh the joy– I can annoy the heck out of my monster by continuously click’n'dragging across him (hence the tickling). Sure, he giggles and tries to hide/protect himself, but eventually he gets annoyed and unhappy… much like my sister did when I played the space-invading (but not exactly touching) “I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you…” game in the car when I was a tater tot. Lesson learned– don’t annoy your pet, he gets grumpy and doesn’t do what you ask. Gotta keep those happiness points up!
Can’t move the monster around yourself with a mouse or arrows. You can click on a spot in the world, which then emits a “come hither” whistle, and hope (fingers crossed) that he comes (he won’t if he’s/she’s crabby). The monster has a few fun movements of his own (mine slicks his hair into a fun wave-like coif) and speaks in monster-gibberish (with subtitles). They also get impatient if you’re not spending enough time hanging with them (understandable).
The interface is very user friendly– simple yet straightforward. And it’s safe (not much opportunity for community at the moment, but that’s sure to come!!). I’ve talked to the peeps behind the big red Moshi curtain, and they’re awesome. I don’t have a doubt that it won’t be one of the safest communities out there– and I’m looking forward to seeing how they rock it out. I’m all about people taking different approaches to this environment (or doing the same as others, but better).
The current downsides: Really, there is only enough to do at the moment to fill maybe 5-10 minutes a day. The short daily challenge brings in tokens, so customizing my monster’s room by shopping is a limited experience since tokens are low. The main street is the only thing that exists right now (construction signs ensure a larger environment for the future). But those things are merely circumstance and will hopefully open up very soon as the world moves into later phases of Beta.
I can’t tell you how much I dig the user-to-monster experience. Very unique. Moshi Monsters will also have cellular-tie-ins, which could be great. UK kids are much more advanced with cell phones than US tweens (and Moshi Monsters HQ is in London, plus… if you have seen any online “mo pod” stores for the UK, you’d see they’re getting pretty wide spread over there), so I’m very interested to see how this part of the experience takes off. From what I’ve seen and heard– when your cell rings, the little monster dances for you (and I’m all about random jig-break outs).
All in all– keep your eyes out for Moshi Monsters. What they have in early Beta is very promising (although limited at the mo), and I’m definitely jazzed about the unique approaches they seem to be taking towards other elements in the tween virtual world arena. AND I’ll no doubt fill this in more once the community opens up and I can see how they are approaching safety & communication.
A Global Warning From The Kids of the World, a new special presented by Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, is scheduled to bow Sunday, December 9 at 9p on Nickelodeon. With the aim of reaching adults through kids and their personal experience and environments, the show features kids in different parts of the world explaining what they think about the issues and threats surrounding the change in the world’s climate, including teens who live near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a boy in the Netherlands, and two Native-American teens from Shishmaref, Alaska, a village near the Artic Circle that is slipping into the sea rapidly, its shoreline has diminished by 10+ feet annually for the six or so years due to erosion and impinging elements as a result of global warming.
Okay– I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… I adore Nickelodeon. Here is what I like about the idea of this edition of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee:
KIDS REACHING OUT TO ADULTS TO SPEAK ABOUT ISSUES FROM THEIR OWN PERSPECTIVE.
Awesome. Brilliant. Now… can someone please PLEASE tell Linda Ellerbee/Nickelodeon to have an edition about Kids REACHING OUT TO ADULTS, SPEAKING ABOUT ONLINE ISSUES: Safety, environments, experiences, tips for parents from kids, relationship advice between offline parent and online child, etc????
If kids are the ones “getting” the internet & web faster than adults, why not let kids reach out and walk the mommas and the poppas through? It can be like Parent Night at school. The majority of kids get all excited about carting their parents through the hallways… “Look mom, this is where I…” or “Dad, check this out. I drew this picture” and “Mom, see at least my desk is clean, right?” Instead, this time it can be… “Look mom, this is where I earn all my tokens to feed my pet!” or “Look dad, this is the scion I built, want me to disassemble yours?” or “I made this picture and now it’s up on deviant art!” and better yet “This is what I do when I don’t know a person who wants to be my friend.” << Open the lines of communication!
Also, I’d like to see kids speaking out about their virtual experiences– the good, the bad, the awesome, the scary, the confusing, etc. But more than anything– speaking to adults about it.
Anastasia over at YPulse had a great post yesterday (which I rambled nearly a novel-worth of stuff for) regarding the relationship between tween/kid/twid users and their product-based virtual worlds (webkinz, zibbies, bratz, etc).
I think it would be GREAT for kids to talk about their web-wandering experiences and how they FEEL about the opportunities, etc, online.
So, there ya go Linda Ellerbee. I send this tip with admiration and hope that someone at Nick gets a brilliant clue and tackles the next “Nick News” with some youth online issues.
Facebook is reportedly facing a probe by the Information Commissioner’s Office, following complaints that users are unable to delete their accounts.
The social networking site allows users to “deactivate” an account, which prevents others members of the public from seeing it. However, the company doesn’t wipe all the user’s data - including photos and messages - from its servers.
The data is allegedly retained to make it easier for people who decide to reactivate their account, but makes live difficult for people who want all trace of their personal data destroyed. They would have to manually delete all their photos and posts from their profile, before deactivating their account.
Check out that article for more information about Facebook & it’s user protocol. YIKES. Seriously.
It’s nice that they’re so amicable to the users who may have regretted deleting their account– but really, yikes. If someone DELETES their account– they’re jumping off the ride. So long, bucko. Kindly don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
It’s like facebook is the g-friend, b-friend hoping that maybe some miracle can happen and the relationship can be salvaged. Yeah– that’s bad policy. If someone breaks up with you, move on. Don’ t wait around. It’s not healthy, safe, or best practice.
But, again, we’re talking about a business here, and not heart-filled relationships.
Really, I’m a bit disappointed if Facebook is holding info… that’s just not smart. For a social network who shares the “Eye of Mordor” with myspace for user safety– it seems like a no-brainer to ensure that you’re above board and obvious on all accounts. Not deleting a user’s info after they a) deleted their full account, b) expected everything therein to be deleted is in the shyster category of shadiness.
According to the article above, Facebook shot back with this quote:
In a statement to Channel 4, Facebook insists it complies with the Data Protection Act. “We give users the notice that the UK Data Protection Act requires in order to inform them about what information is collected. We also give users granular control over what information they share and who they share it with.”
So, depending on the legit-ness of this complaint and the ever-eager news, hopefully light will be shed on this problem and we’ll know whether our supposedly deleted accounts are actually deleted. Fingers crossed for facebook.
A massive security breach involving the personal information of “virtually every child in Britain” has occurred in the United Kingdom, The Guardian reports. It “could expose the personal data of more than 25 million people - nearly half the country’s population,” CBS News reports. The data concerns “families with children, including names, dates of birth, addresses, bank account information and insurance records.” Two computer disks containing the data were sent via ordinary mail between two government departments and were apparently lost in the mail. The breach was announced to the House of Commons yesterday by Alistair Darling, Britain’s equivalent to our treasury secretary. He said this wasn’t the first time Britain’s tax agency had experienced such a breach. There was, however, no evidence that the data has fallen into criminal hands. This is a clear illustration of risky it would be to have a national database of children’s personal information in the US, which is what would be required in order to establish children’s age verification online (for more on this, see “Social networker age verification revisited”).
Okay… I’m trying to mock up a list of all these VW’s for tweens/twids that are not live yet, or exists in early Beta. Please add more in the comments, thanks!
Bella Sera: Card game + virtual world based on horses/horse play
MoshiMonsters: Monster virtual world based on clever gaming and monster care– easily transitions to mobile technology
Club Pony Pals: Based on a book series about ponies, this world will be for the pony pet care
Dizzywood: A creative, fantasy virtual world to create adventures and inspire
Planet Cazmo: A virtual world based on gaming and MUSIC
Freaky Creatures: A virtual world for boys regarding monster/creatures
Build-a-Bear: Based on the popular brand, build your bear and play with it online in a virtual world. It’s LIVE now.
FusionFall: Cartoon Network’s MMORG, based on Cartoon Network brands & exploring the worlds within the network (i’m looking forward to this!)
Little Big Planet: Okay, okay– I know this will be a video game… but it’s community/world appeal are just too awesome to NOT mention.
Lego Universe: It’s lego. It’s community. It’s gonna be amazing.
Panwapa (it’s live, and been online longer than some previously mentioned): A preschool VW brought to the world by Sesame Street folks. It’s multicultural, it’s unique, it’s going to be the next big VW phase in like 1 year (preschool/kid VW’s)
Zibbies: A product based VW (dolls that kinda look like a mix of webkinz & Beanie Babies but with rubbery spikes for hair on their heads). Currently live in early beta.
Pirates of the Caribbean Online: Went live a little over a week ago– this pirate existence is a downloadable app (like WOW) and currently in Beta. I love it.
Littlest Pet Shop: Also, currently in Beta– this is kinda an exclusive experience, as they products (with the much needed code to play) are hard to get hands on. But you can demo free. No community yet.
Wowbotz: An outerspace-feeling VW in beta-live for “preschoolers” I more or less categorize it for kids/twids.
Mystikatz Kutties: A Virtual World for girls who like dolls dressed like colorful gypsies. Like it’s brother site “Wowbotz”, this is categorized as for “preschoolers” but I’d stick it in the kids/twids boxes.
Magi-Nation: Based on a TV show and a trading card game, this virtual world will cater to the fantasy tweens/kids who might also enjoy shows like Yo-Gi-Oh and Pokemon and Chaotic.
Disney’s Cars: A virtual world built on the Disney movie “Cars”.
Mini Match: From Cartoon Network comes a MMO for casual gamers, and world roamers. It’s in UBER early beta… UBER. But so far– you can set up your avatar (promising animation, ugly avatar face/hair but that can change?, the clothing layering options = very smart indeed), but from my experience you can’t play yet. Cartoon Network seems to be treading lightly in this space– and with a good brain on their shoulders
Pixie Hallow: Not yet in LIVE beta… but will be amazing! Loads of great rumors about this one… It’s Disney’s Fairies VW.
Konstruction Zone: A new (pre-beta) VW based on cute construction characters– encourages online playtime between parents and kids.
Papermint: another virtual world for kids– 2D art, pre-Beta (from the looks of it).
Hello Kitty World: Not live yet, their pre-beta site offers a decent sneak peek of elements that will be a part of the world. I’m interested to find out what “in game telepathy” is– as they say in their introductory page. It’s all the bright happy bumblegum colors you come to expect from HK. I’m pumped to see what HK brings to the table.
I’m not sure what the safety is on this yet– Sanrio Town is NOT for U13… and the HK world will tie in somehow with the pre-existing Sanrio Town community platform. So, stay tuned….
Dragon Play: It’s a medieval world for dragon play (like the name, clever, lol).
Chaotic: A virtual worldish(?) experience attached to collectible card-play
Ice Age: An MMO based upon the two movies (and third to come) slated for 2009
Minyanland: A virtual environment where kids can learn about money, banking, and managing responsibilities while gaining a virtual life. Has parent/chore metagame, etc. Based on the finance site Minyanville.com
Planet V-Tech: described as an educational virtual world for 5+
Earth Eternal: An MMO with educational elements that can be accessed through social networking
Speed Racer: A virtual world (with toy tie-ins) for the upcoming movie franchise
Web wilds: A virtual environment to correlate with the puppet-dolls.
Hot Wheels: A virtual world to correlate with the toy-cars.
Madagascar: A virtual world to correspond with their upcoming sequel movie.
Seapals: A product tie-in with VW, like it’s sister product Shining Stars. (It’s gotten more PR than Shining Stars, which has been live for quite some time now– it could be interesting!)
MyLife: An avatar/world combination toy for girls to build and share profiles (Playmates toys)
Beanie Babies 2.0: A virtual world - pet product combo. Codes. Unlock. Dolls. Yadda.
Guppylife: An MMO for girls not yet released, and very little info.
Lola’s World: It’s a companion community with vw-elements for tween girls based on the Lola, Think Pink, books. It launches in April 08.
Tronji: An MMO game based around the Tronji world is currently in development to be released alongside the TV show.
Tech Deck Live: A Virtual world skate part for tweens who like skateboarding. Subscription based. Tech Deck is a toy product (finger skateboards).
Dinokids: An MMO (looks just like Maplestory but with dinos) for tween/kids.
If this doesn’t strike fear in the heart of tween parents everywhere… I don’t know what will. Please monitor SOMEHOW your kids tech usage… or at least talk to them about consequences of certain public choices, yeah? Thanks ahead of time.
p.s. I got that video off of the blog bestweekever.tv > not necessarily the place you want to see a video of your tween-looking-for-a-boyfriend video.
I can’t tell you how much I dig the user-to-monster experience. Very unique. Moshi Monsters will also have cellular-tie-ins, which could be great. UK kids are much more advanced with cell phones than US tweens (and Moshi Monsters HQ is in London, plus… if you have seen any online “mo pod” stores for the UK, you’d see they’re getting pretty wide spread over there), so I’m very interested to see how this part of the experience takes off. From what I’ve seen and heard– when your cell rings, the little monster dances for you (and I’m all about random jig-break outs).
