@derekrobertson's...

The Fourth Wall: A cautionary tale...

As a big fan of sci-fi I have always been particularly taken with some stories but particularly those that depict a dystopian vision. Particular ones that struck me form my school days were The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury and The Fun They Had by Issac Asimov as well as the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still with the classic, "Klaatu, barada nikto!" call to Gort the intergalactic policeman.

My exposure to sci-fi stories was enhanced in the late seventies when I and many many others became seduced by the magical sci-fi stories that featured in the 2000AD comic. Featuring favourites such as Judge Dredd, Flesh and Strontium Dog I would get totally lost in the amazing future worlds that were beautifully depicted in this comic but the one theme that always used to make me think was Tharg's Future Shocks. Tharg was the alien editor of the comic and he would occasionally throw in a story that always had a quirk or that would kick you right in the backside and make you think.

This blogpost is about one such 'Future Shock' called The Fourth Wall. Published in Prog 85 in October 1978 this cautionary tale warns of the inexorable march of advancements in technology, and in particular technologies for entertainment. In the story we see the young boy, Chris, very excited about nis new TV experience. The Fourth Wall is an experimental televisual experience and works only when you close the door. It then immerses the viewer in a very 'lifelike world' with terrible consequences...

The Fourth Wall from Derek Robertson on Vimeo.

I remember a few years ago when the NIntendo Wii first came out that I couldn't help thinking just how prescient Tharg was. Here, 30 years ago was a short story predicting immersive technologies so lifelike and involving that you didn't just consume the visuals, you participated in them.

Now with the PS3 Move and the Kinect system from Microsoft coming out the future of immersive gaming is getting very to close to The Fourth Wall. However, I am very excited about the prospect of what both these technologies will have to offer and how they can enhance game play but I do have some concerns too. For example, imagine a system that measures the player's body movements and efficiency to score, for example, how well you placed the plastic bag over the hoodlums head  in Manhunt and held it just so and just tight enough to dispatch him! Now that would be immersive gaming but with some sensationally dubious outcomes....maybe not as severe as the boy in the Fourth Wall's but one for us to carefully consider...

Cod liver oil and effective learning...

Picture the scene, my daughters are sitting focused, determined, engaged, applying their strategies to win as their faces, illuminated in the light that comes from what they are holding, exhibit the utmost concentration. This concentration must be broken though because the power of the game console is causing this game based learning enthusiast some grief at home ;-) and if a recent report in the Metro has any substance then it appears that I, along with thousands of parents, am causing physical harm to my girls by allowing them to get their hands on these modern day folk devils! 

Are we bad parents to let our children use games consoles?

"Right you two, put those DSs down now and come through for your dinner. I won't tell you again!" This is the shout that I have had to use on quite a number of occasions since Christmas when the girls' grandad so kindly bought my daughters a DSi each. Their DSis came with a few games one of which is the wondrous Mario Kart and they must have played this every day since they placed their excited mitts on it.  I have been secretly watching them as they have played Mario Kart (as well as the odd occasion playing Little Big Planet) and I have to report that I am seeing some incredible things from them in terms of learning and collaboration. I must also say that any externally forced parental guilt that I may be causing irreversible and actual physical bodily harm, to my girls by allowing them to play games is somewhat assuaged by what I have been seeing! Well what have I been seeing?

1. Excited learners: When I watch the girls play or get them selves set-up to play their excitement is tangible. They adore playing Mario Kart and cannot wait to get their hands on it. This is real excitement and of such a level that again you wonder as to the challenge, demand and appeal of the design of such games and why young learners WANT TO PLAY THESE GAMES. My girls like all the other things they do and are involved in but at the moment Mario Kart is the undoubted king of their leisure world. 
2. Challenged learners: Some of the games/races are more complex then others and need some considered thought if you are to become the best that you can be on your own in the game or when playing against others. The girls have worked out much of what needs to be done, what needs to be taken account of in the various games and they have done this without me. They have persevered and are showing an innate ability to unpick the game grammar. This challenge has also been incredibly evident when they have been playing Little Big Planet. Complex and challenging problems do not appear to phase them. They step up to the challenge that games present to them and they want to meet them, there is the intrinsic motivation and drive to meet these challenges.
3. Confident learners: Over the festive period there were many visitors to the house what with family and friends. My daughters took that opportunity to not only show off how good they were becoming at the game but also to teach the adults how to play it and play it successfully. Again, watching them in action I was delighted to see how they took account of the fact that these 'oldies' were new to the game so they started with easy levels and games so that they could manage the controls. They then offered some tips and strategies that should be taken on board and finally they continued to offer encouragement to those who did not exhibit any real games skills. There appears to be an innate ability to differentiate in this aspect of learning, an innate ability to teach. They naturally assumed the role of the more knowledgeable person in the learning dynamic and showed how they could fulfil this in a sensitive fashion. Confidence in themselves shone through here. Isn't it something to give young learners the opportunity to play this role in a serious way that is not embedded in a any falsely constructed adult dynamic? This is something that they can do NOW and  I believe that we must create as many opportunities as we can to allow learners to do this.
4. Social Learners: Although there are times when the girls are lost in the game the amount of dialogue that happens between them when they are wirelessly connecting and connected or when someone achieves a great score or discovers an easter egg of sorts is really impressive. They automatically share this so that both develop the skills that each other discovers individually. Similarly, this happens when they hook up their consoles with their cousins and friends and instantly we have a connected group of learners, independently, successfully and confidently managing the technology. 
5. Learners that need 'guidance': All this is wonderful but I am faced with moans and groans and the occasional tantrum when game play is over, it's time for tea or I tell them that they have spent enough time with their DSi and that it's time to do something else. The reaction from them when I cause them to withdraw from the game and their reactions at times when it is denied to them cam cause some problems. However, as the adult in their lives I feel that my role is to ensure that balance is in place and that this message is one that is consistently given and acted on.

Now my girls do not only play computer games. In fact I limit their time on games consoles believe it or not. They go to gymnastics, trampolining, Rainbows, Brownies, the library, we paint and make things as well as playing various board games like Junior Scrabble, pairs, dominoes etc. Computer game plays a moderated part in the balanced diet of activities that we present to our children. This is the central issue for me, how parents make sense of and decide what experiences their children are presented with. But how can parents make sense of games and how they can be used for good with their children when we are faced with the continual construction of them as modern day folk devils?

Computer games should come with supplies of free VitaminD and Cod Liver Oil!

Now I wonder how many parents ever watch their kids and observe just what can happen when young learners engage in good game play. I have been working in the field of game based learning for a wee while now and what we see in schools across Scotland via Learning and Teaching Scotland's Consolarium initiative is not only what I am seeing from my own children but the added value that comes when a teacher takes a commercially available computer game title and then uses that to drive curricular learning. We are seeing so, so much superb practice and active, intrinsically motivated learning in classrooms...this stuff works. The methodology that we apply sees the game sitting as a contextual hub about which the learning revolves, emanates and grows. Here are just a few examples of this practice that were initiated by the Consolarium and that have now spread to very many classrooms across Scotland and beyond:

• Guitar Hero
• Endless Ocean
• Moshi Monsters
• Nintendogs, 2
• Wii Music

But is it the case that parents most probably won't see or be aware of the potential benefits to their children's development? How can they, in fairness, when the general message that they get from the wider media about games and their impact on their children's development is almost a solely negative one? Take the article in the Metro that led with the headline. Gaming Leads to Surge in Rickets. I won't go in to the debunking of this myself due to the fact the article has no real substance or evidence to support this headline other than a cursory suggestion of a causal link. It seems that the issue most evidently linked to this so called upsurge is poor diet yet computer games are somehow linked to this and pulled into the dock yet again! Some readers from the Times Online forum gave this article the treatment and this more balanced piece did the job of sticking up for the falsely accused 'computer game'. The article did cause the games based learning fraternity to take this accusation seriously and with the Game Based Learning 10 conference organisers ensuring that your health would be supported if you attend the event ;-) ...

 

What can we do to address this continual negative portrayal of computer games?

Whenever I see this kind of article I wonder just how long it's going to be before the good that can come from game play is given the prominence that I feel it merits? Games can be a force for good provided that at home parents play a confident and informed role in engaging with their children in the game play and possibly initiating rules or a framework that provides their children with a wide range of activities. Possibly sites such as As About Games can help here. As for their use in schools then maybe the continued work of the Consolarium and other educators who are exploring game based learning such as Ollie Bray, Steve Bunce, Tom Barrett, Dawn Hallybone and many, many others who are, writing about the appropriate use and brilliant impact of game based learning in their class can continue to promote what are in essence...damn good learning resources.

Is he really playing a PS3? I don't think so....

Have a close look at this picture. It looks like a young boy about 6 years old who appears to be playing a computer game using the sixaxis controller for the PS3. Take a closer look and maybe, like me, you'll begin to think that something's not quite right here...

First of all, look at his face: does that look like the face that children make when they are lost in a game? His bored and indifferent look suggests that maybe the computer game is not switched on at the wall!

Also, look at his posture. Again it shouts out that there is a clear lack of engagement and disinterest in what he is playing.

What on esrth is going with this young man I ask? Does he really have a PS3 that works?!!! I don't think so and neither do I think do Sony! Well this picture was taken from a short video clip that is currently being used in a new campaign by the Department of Health via their Change4Life initiative.

Take a look at the short clip from which this photo was taken and try not to feel the presence of the director at the side asking the young lad to look unhappy and unhealthy.

"That's it son, give me a big sigh, yeah, bored, that's it, you really want to be out playing football don't you son!"

I have recent experience of this attempt to reinforce uninformed and unhelpful stereotypes of game players when I accompanied a BBC crew to a school in Scotland to investigate our use of Dr Kawashima's Brain Training in schools. The editorial take was such that they wanted to show the transition form 'old school' to 'new school' by taking a shot of the kids using pencil and paper and looking 'glum' as they did this. Happy faces would then return when the DS came out! Needless to say we intervened to ask this not to happen because it's not the message that we want to give nor is it the ethos that we aim to nurture. It does look like we still have to fully address the easy negative image that has been associated with computer games. I bet the production team all went home to play with their Wii that's in the living room though ;-)

A tip for Director's who want to construct an appropriately negative image of children and games in future. Get real! Children do not look like that when they are challenged, excited and engaged by the complex environments that games can offer them. Maybe eventually the message will get through...

Can games condition an acceptance of violence?

I am in a bit of a quandary here...I am normally someone who attempts where possible to confront the criticism of games as learning tools where the criticism is made from quarters that I generally characterise as the moral panic-folk devil brigade. I think that much of the criticism thrown at games from this lobby can be dealt with quite readily as more often than not the attacks appear to come from people who have not played the games that they criticise or have any iota of understanding or appreciation of the modern games interface.

I often quote much of what Gerard Jones says in his book Killing Monsters to counter these arguments and I also make reference to James Paul Gee's use of Erickson's theory of the Psychosocial Moratorium when trying to establish young peoples appreciation of what is and is not acceptable in real and virtual worlds.

However, I have been reading a bit recently about Social Construction and I have to say that I am beginning to revisit my thoughts about some games. The main reason for this is that I have been looking at the Amazon review for an Xbox 360 game called Overlord. Here's how it is advertised:

"Discover how corruptible you are in Overlord, the twisted fantasy action adventure where you can be evil (or really evil). In the game's seriously warped fantasy world, players will become the Overlord and get first-hand experience of how absolute power corrupts absolutely". You could be a regular run-of-the-mill Overlord. However, with incredible power at your disposal and a team of evil-minded impish critters, the Minions, on hand to do your bidding, how will you resist the temptation to be wonderfully despotic?!

The Overlord has the power of concentrated badness right from the start and you'll know how much more of a total bad-ass you're becoming as the game tracks your 'corruption' throughout.

How corrupt you become depends on how you handle any given situation, your actions and how their consequences impact the game world. For example, if you and your minion horde dispose of a bunch of particularly nasty, violent Halflings that have overrun a once-peaceful village, the village's original peasant occupants will herald you as their liberator. Now each time you pass through, the peasants will welcome you as their new lord and protector, cheering your arrival and giving you offerings.

However, as an Overlord, it's worth seeing what more can be obtained from the peasants' gratitude. If you exert some proper feudal repression, they'll tremble and fall to their knees when you're in town. If you become truly mean, the poor peasants will resort to cowering in your presence, pray for their lives and even offer up their daughters in order to appease you."

Have a look at the phrases in red....they couldn't help remind me of the phrase shock and awe that was used at the beginning of the Iraq conflict. I appreciate that the game is a 16+ and that it is aimed at young and older adults and that in general people are not stupid but...I can't help feeling that games such as these can help construct an implicit acceptance of an ideology that says I'm bigger and stronger than you so I'll kill your family and rape your daughter, tie you up and lock you up without charge and and steal all your wealth.

What is going to come next in a game?

A bit of a rant I know, maybe  a little over the top but even though I wouldn't mind playing this game I wonder if the implicit messages within games such as these do ever so subtlety condition people to accept violent deeds that happen, supposedly, on their behalf, or, .... are games like these just harmless hokum?

Must see TV: Alphabetti Spaghetti, Monday 8:30pm

First it was Wi-Fi in schools that was causing the panic...now it's Alphabetti Spaghetti! read on....

Britain is in the grip of a healthy eating revolution with offices, homes and schools going nutrition conscious - but there is concern over the health risks. The Government says that school meals are healthier, but a Panderama investigation shows that children are exposed to significant emotional health risk in the dinner hall.

There have been no studies on the health effects of Alphabetti Spaghetti, but Panderama has uncovered that when served to school children it is possible that the spaghetti letters may be arranged to spell inappropriate words with the subsequent long term damage to children’s emotional welfare. An independent expert concluded that one standard serving of Alphabetti Spaghetti could contain as many as 9 inappropriate words.

Panderama visited a school in Stoneybridge, with more than 1,000 pupils, to compare the level of inappropriate words from a typical Alphabetti Spaghetti portion compared to that found in a portion of beans. Readings taken for the programme showed the number of words to be three times higher in the school dining hall.

The findings are particularly significant because children's brains are still forming and tests have shown they absorb more language than adults.

Panderama contacted 50 schools at random - and found only one had been warned of possible health risks.  Senga Smith, a Dinner Lady, when told the facts by Panderama’s reporter, admitted with dismay that she had received no advice from her Local Authority on removing Alphabetti Spaghetti from the menu.

Precautionary approach

Dr Kevin Kenny, a marketing consultant, feels the scientific research was sufficient to apply a precautionary approach when serving Alphabetti Spaghetti in schools. Dr Kenny suggests: "We recommend, because we are sensitive about children... that Alphabetti Spaghetti should not necessarily be randomly directed on plates where children could be exposed."

"I am asking schools to consider very seriously whether they should be serving Alphabetti Spaghetti now and this will make them think twice or three times before they do." said Philip Phoggy, Professional Responsible Association of Teachers.

In a startling and even more concerning development, Panderama’s undercover investigators discovered that a small group of unsupervised pupils were maliciously creating inappropriate words from their spaghetti and leaving them on their plates.   A school spokes person admitted that staff shortages made it difficult to protect pupils and staff from this risk. 

Meanwhile, teachers have called for an investigation into whether there are any health risks from Alphabetti Spaghetti in schools.

The Professional Responsible Association of Teachers union is writing to the Education Minister to ask for a "full scientific investigation into the effects of Alphabetti Spaghetti in schools".  Many primary and secondary schools serve Alphabetti Spaghetti - but the PRAT believes there is insufficient long-term evidence to demonstrate whether it is safe.

Panderama spoke to a number of scientists who questioned the risks and were concerned about the possible health effects of such exposure.

"If you look in the literature, you have a large number of various effects like emotional trauma, you have impact on the speed of consumption, decrease in short term food temperature and increases in the number of messaging incidences," said Professor Johan Johanson of the Carolina Institute in Finland.

Another scientist, Dr Gerd Gerderfeld, from Vienna is now calling for Alphabetti Spaghetti to be removed from schools.

He said: "If you go into the data you can see a very very clear picture - it is like a puzzle and everything fits together from phonetic structuring to the animal studies and up to the literary evidence; that shows for example increased creativity as well as increased use of language."

'Danger Avoidance'

Panderama contacted Scientific Nutrition plc who provides managed nutrition services for schools.  A spokes person for SN.plc stated that they had removed the risk to children by providing only SNWord Spaghetti.  The Word Spaghetti is more expensive; however, it removes the possibility of pupils being creative with letters as the words are pre-formed.  All words in SNWord Spaghetti have been approved for use at KS2 Literacy hour therefore is perfectly applicable for use in Scotlandshire.  SN.plc also offered any Scotlandshire Local Authority a 5% discount on SNWord Spaghetti if the LA was to tag their product to Curriculum for Excellence.

One Local Authority has implemented a rigid security policy in all its schools. They have appointed an Alphabetti Manager who supervises the removal of letters which could be potentially used to create inappropriate words.  The Senior Alphabetti Manager told Panderama that their policy has been an outstanding success in removing the potential of pupils creating words.  She is prepared to share its denied letters list (currently only 18 letters) with others and is presenting on this development at the Scottish Learning Festival in September.

'Positive Action'

Parents groups will be concerned at this development; Agnes McAffe, mother of two pupils, at Stoneybridge School was appalled to find her children using inappropriate language at home.  She blames the school and said “thir is nae way ma weans is doin skael dinners if ther gein oot spagiti …. frae noo oan they’ll be getin safe stuff frae the chip van an awl be teln awe ma mates tae.”

Panderama - the best current affairs television programme in the world. Don’t miss its unique blend of balanced, subjective, well researched and factually accurate journalism.

Animal Crossing fuels moral panic!

Yes, believe it or not, Nintendo's global smash hit Animal Crossing has caused a bit of a panic in the North East of Scotland. It seems that a young girl reached an 'advanced' level of the game only to find that the cute little creatures that inhabit the world began swearing at her and using offensive language.

The Dundee Courier (9 May 2007) reported this on its front page with a picture of the young girl, with accompanying unhappy face, and the moral corrupting evil DS lite! Her mother was 'outraged' that such language should be in a game that her daughter would play, and quite right too. However, when you consider that Animal Crossing has  a PEGI rating of 3+ then something is not quite right here. Could it be that those fine chaps from Nintendo would really want to cause such a furore with one of their products, that they would ever consider destroying their reputation by programming a child's game to swear at the player or that there would be one game out of millions sold that would show this???

But wait, if you read to the very end of the article you find out what really has happened. It seems that when the player in Animal Crossing gets to an advanced stage then they can add dialogue that the creatures will speak. This can then appear in the game. Could it be that someone has taught the Nintendo DS to swear....

Nintendo were interviewed regarding this and they categorically state that the game was either a copy or the player or someone must have input the offending text. If this is the most likely case then why did this make the news?

It's quite right that parents and educators should protect young players from inappropriate material in games but it does help for the facts to be looked at more carefully before any lazy sensationalist claims can be made. On this occasion may I thank the Dundee Courier for giving me yet another example of how the media can fuel moral panics associated with games.

Seb Coe bigs up technology

One of the biggest panics associated with technologies is that it increases and encourages sedentary lifestyles in children and as a result it has a direct causal relationship with increasing levels of childhood obesity. I try to debunk this viewpoint as much as I can by showcasing games technology that requires active involvement. You know the stuff: dance mats, Eye Toy, Wii etc. However, it seems we have a rather special, talented and unexpected ally in this field.Seb Coe, he of Olympic gold medal fame was commenting about how we need to engage young people with exercise and athletics particularly in relation to motivating them for the 2012 Olympics in London.

In an article in the Daily Telegraph on 25 April he decided to comment on the importance of communicating and engaging young people through media that they understand. Here's a flavour of what he had to say:

"We often bemoan the fact that young people spend a lot of their time watching the television, surfing the net or listening to pods. But actually, technology is a golden opportunity because it's something that is familiar to them. We have got to be creative with the new technology that's available. We can't sit there any longer, listening to the same old arguments that we've lost a whole generation to a virtual world of 24hr multi-channel entertainment. We have to actually get in to that space and use it. We shouldn't despair - the challenge is to get them from the televisiob screen to the tennis court or the running track. We can't just sit there supine, just wanting the world to roll back time."

I really liked what Seb Coe has said here and feel that this is the kind of leadership that we need displayed in terms of attempting to understand and reach out to our increasing tech-savvy client group. It's also a refreshing change to hear an 'establishment' figure talking about techniology with such a positive spin.

What do you know...

Moral panics...they're like buses. Nothing for ages then along come two or three. Just logged in to my yahoo account and I saw this headline link: Violent video games harm the brain. Ah, a great deal of information there to help me make sense of this study and how I should make an informed judgment on what this academic claims and what it means for those championing games and learning.

Found this link a few minutes later on dubious quality's blog. This offers a much more detailed account of the study and a much more critical look at it in view of an interview that the author had with Newsweek.

Moral Panic alert! Rule of the Rose release postponed

I have just tuned in to the debate surrounding the the Rule of the Rose games for the PS2. This game has been given a 16+ PEGI certificate yet the moral panic mongers have managed to cause such a furore that the release of this game has been postponed!

The Daily Mail (as you might expect) have called this game 'obscenely cruel' and surprisingly The Times have jumped on the band wagon also. To put the tin lid on this the EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has also released a press statement calling for an investigation into some of these obscene and perverse video games.

Look, where is the parental responsibility here?! If a game has a graded certificate that tells you that it's not suitable for your young child then don't buy it. Would you buy an 18 certificate DVD to put in your 10 year old's Xmas stocking? No, well then use the same judgment when buying games.This is very similar to a minor celebrity spat that I saw on Never Mind the Buzzcocks during the week. Jamelia (of Singstar fame) had said to Lily Allen that she would have liked a censored version (no swearing or sexual references) of her latest release so her very young daughter could enjoy it. Lily Allen point blank refused and said that her audience was not young girls and that no she wouldn't change her work...Why do we have to even consider that art and media should be made palatable for a very Young audience when it is clearly stated on much of it that the target audience is adult. Yes I know that youngsters will get their hands on this material but isn't that what growing up is about at times? Breaking the rules, pushing the boundaries, exploring the taboos and things that are 'not for you'. All we can do is to put mechanisms such as PEGI in place that informs adults of the nature of media that they intend to buy and we have to leave it up to them. That's my tuppence worth anyway.

Now, it seems that I'm going to have wait to be flegged to death as they say in Dundee by Rules of the Rose so I'm just going to but Fatal Frame instead.

Hand to Eye: When is an addiction not an addiction?

Professor Mark Griffiths from Nottingham Trent University gave an interesting research based talk about the positive effects of video games. He’s actually a Professor of gaming studies and an expert on addiction.

The one thing that made me laugh and also wonder about was the fact that he was telling us that prior to the affordability and accessibility of broadband he was receiving a number of calls every week from worried parents whose children were ‘addicted to the internet’. The problem was that with a dial-up account it was costing a fortune in terms of phone calls to access the web. Now with a flat fee of £14.99 to access the web via broadband he is no longer receiving these calls from worried parents.

No financial implication, now no longer an addiction, no cause for worry…interesting eh?!.