videogames-related stories

Helaine Becker doesn't do mornings. But that doesn't stop her from being a prolific and award-winning author of children's books, as well as a busy mother of two teenage boys -- Michael, 17, and Andrew, 15. The Toronto writer and public speaker has penned dozens of books, like the best-selling Looney Bay All-Star series, Secret Agent Y.O.U., Are You Psychic? and Mother Goose Unplucked. Becker spoke with ParentDish Canada about the myth of work/family balance, laissez-faire parenting and learning to live with World of Warcraft.

Q: What's the best parenting advice you ever received?

A: It was from my own mother when my son Michael was six or eight weeks old. I had very bad postpartum depression, and if you've ever suffered from a depression you know that every minute is a year long. You look into the future and you think, I will never get out of this, I will never escape this misery. And my mother looked at me and said, 'Do you think you're the only person who ever thought her baby will never grow up?' And I thought, 'Oh, she's right'. Just that little piece of snarky wisdom made me realize that there is a perspective to it. Even when you're deep in the thick of what you think is unbearable, it does pass and you will survive and you will move through it.

Q: What advice would you give a new parent?

Here is a look at what's new this week in family entertainment as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media. Click on the links to read the reviews in full.

In Theaters Now: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Adapted from the book by Roald Dahl, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" uses stop-motion animation to tell the tale of a domesticated Fox getting in touch with his animal urges. He lies and steals, but ultimately sees the light and mends his ways. The film earns its rating with some adult humor, semi-scary chase scenes and comic shootouts. Rated PG, OK for Kids 7+

DVD: Up A heart-warming tale about love and loyalty, "Up" features an unlikely friendship between an old man and a boy. Animated in 3-D, the adventure film has a few potentially scary scenes involving ferocious dogs and a few moments of peril. But aside from those, and a sad flashback sequence portraying a character's illness and death, the movie is uplifting and inspiring. Rated PG, OK for Kids 6+

TV: Ghost Hunters Academy
A paranormal reality show, "Ghost Hungers Academy" features contestants vying for a job as an investigator with the Atlantic Paranormal Society. These ghost hunters work studying the spirit world, which makes for some creepy scenes. But despite the haunted house setting and references to violent deaths, the show is mostly focused on the the competition itself. Rated TV-PG, OK for Kids 12+

A study presented last week at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting showed kids who play video games for more than an hour a day increase their chances of having wrist and finger pain. Among kids ages 7-12 who play up to three hours per day, each hour of play time increased pain by 50 percent.

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Here is a look at what's new this week in family entertainment as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media. Click on the links to read the reviews in full.

In Theaters Now: Where the Wild Things Are
The highly-anticipated big screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" may ultimately be a little too mature for the youngest of fans. While kids will most certainly identify with Max's energy and imagination, the Wild Things and the island they inhabit can at times be a little frightening. In the end, the film has an uplifting and positive message, although it is presented in a way that may be too complex for young children to grasp. Rated PG, OK for Kids 9+

On DVD: Land of the Lost
Another 1970's TV show hits the big screen with "Land of the Lost." Unlike the small-screen version, the movie relies on vulgarity and gross-out humor to earn laughs. The film is peppered with profanity, some mild sexual situations and even a few references to drug use. It's a silly and immature escape that Will Ferrell fans will no doubt enjoy. Rated PG-13, Iffy for Kids 14--15

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Time to move your toddler out of her crib? Here are five things to think about to make the transition to more smoothly. -- LilSugar

Here's one dad's answer to his son's request to play Call of Duty (a shoot 'em up video game): Research and discuss the Geneva Convention first, then play the game by those rules only. What do you think? Is it a fair compromise? -- Boing Boing

My daughter's only six and begging to have a slumber party. Here's how to know when your child is ready for a sleepover and how to prepare them for that first night away from home. -- Divine Caroline

More daughters are following in their father's career footsteps. Is this a sign that dad's are more involved -- especially with their girls -- than they used to be? -- Well Blog

Are you addicted to the news? Here's why you should wait to watch it until your young children are in bed. -- Parenting

Baby names -- how did you pick yours? Read about one dad's agonizing search for the perfect name for his son-to-be. -- His Boys Can Swim

Things are tough all over, that's for sure, but especially so in Detroit. One mom of six is becoming her own boss after two years of unemployment by opening an eatery. -- MomLogic

Forget Only Child Syndrome, what about Other Child Syndrome? Do you worry so much about one of your kids that the rest get left out? -- Mommy Track'd

Fighting in front of your kids -- do you do it? Do you think it's just a normal part of family life, or are disagreements best kept behind closed doors? -- Momversation

It's bath time! Keep things fun in the tub with these adorable water toys. -- Mighty Junior

Hate to say it folks (and I know I'm about to get hit), but fathers sometimes do know best about video games. There's a fair share of dads who know their way around a wireless controller. But how many moms do you know who actually play video games for fun or with their kids?

No judgment, really, but ... quick: What's difference between Guitar Hero 2 and Rock Band 2? Grand Theft Auto and Simpson's Hit and Run? The Wii and PS3? These are questions you should know the answers to.

Relax. There's a new web site for moms (and dads), PlaySavvy.com, that explains it all. As a kick off, PlaySavvy recently held a Video Gaming Boot Camp for Moms. That's right, real moms rocking out to Guitar Hero and volleying Wii tennis. Here's a video of the event:

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Got plans for the three-day weekend? If not, maybe this will help. Here's a run-down of what's new this week in kid's entertainment as adapted from ratings and reviews by Common Sense Media.

At the Movies
Based on the book by Sophie Kinsella, Confessions of a Shopaholic is a study in rampant consumerism and high-end product placement. While parents may find little to object to in the film's language or content, the glorification of shopping and the stereotypical naive and financially clueless heroine may more than make up for that. Rated PG, OK for Kids 12+

On DVD
How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer is a sexually-charged film that examines the lives of three generations of women in the same family. The film earns its rating with plenty of sexual innuendo, coarse language and a scene in which a young woman loses her virginity. Rated R, OK for Kids 16+

TV
Aaron Stone continues the teen-living-a-double-life formula that has worked so well for Disney. This one, however, is aimed at teen boys and features a video game-playing high school student who moonlights as a real-life crime fighter. Gaming is central to the show's plot and there are plenty of combat scenes but very little in the way of injuries or gore. Rated TV-Y7-FV, OK for Kids 9+

Books
Little kids will be delighted to discover There are Cats in This Book. Tiny, Moonpie, and Andre are mischievous felines just begging to play - but first you have to find them. Kids will enjoy lifting the flaps and following the instructions in Viviane Shwarz's colorful book. OK for Kids 2+

Music
15-year-old Miranda Cosgrove has grown up since her School of Rock Days and the proof is in her music. The iCarly star's just-released CD About You Now features 5 pop-rock songs that reflect her budding maturity, including one with a not-so-subtle reference to late-night partying. OK for Kids 11+

Video Games
There is no storyline in Big Bang Mini, just lots of mild fantasy violence directed at cartoonish characters in the sky. While the instruction to launch fireworks using the stylus as if it were a match is an odd analogy to make in a children's game, the game itself is beautifully rendered and easy to learn and play. For Nintendo DS. Rated E, OK for Kids 7+


We'd love to hear what you're doing, seeing, reading and playing over the weekend. Share your ideas and we'll feature the best of them.

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Baby, it's cold outside! Looking for some indoor activities to while away the winter hours? Here's the low-down on what's happening in kid's entertainment this weekend as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media.

At the Movies
Coraline is an intentionally creepy film based on the book of the same name and is probably a little too scary for the little kids. With mature themes and some frightening scenes, it is a cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for. Rated PG, OK for Kids 9+

On DVD
Unstable Fables: 3 Pigs and a Baby takes a familiar fairy tale and gives it a twist. Featuring an adopted baby wolf and his three pig fathers, the story deals with teen rebellion, peer pressure and acceptance. Rated PG, OK for Kids 7+

TV
Camp Rock's smiley Demi Lovato stars as the title character in Disney Channel's Sonny With a Chance. After getting her big break in a fictional television show, the perky Midwesterner must use more than her acting talents to survive amongst the jealousy and inflated egos she encounters in LaLa Land. OK for Kids 7+

Books
It's all about the thrill of the purchase in Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic. The main character, Becky, is a shallow and self-absorbed woman searching for a wealthy husband to subsidize her spendthrift ways. She's a liar and a snoop and more interested in looking good than doing the right thing. OK for Kids 15+

From the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, 3 Willows serves up a positive message about doing what is right and accepting oneself. But before young readers get to the happy ending, they must endure eating disorders, alcoholic parents, boy trouble and trying to fit in with the popular crowd. OK for Kids 12+


Video Games
zOMG! is a free multi-player online video game that is part of Gaia Online. Players navigate a world where they must fight evil inanimate objects bent on destroying humans. It's funny and not too gory, but the uncensored chat makes it inappropriate for young kids. OK for Kids 15+



We'd love to hear what you're doing, seeing, reading and playing over the weekend. Share your ideas and we'll feature the best of them.

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If you've got teens who are big into video games, especially shoot-em-ups, you might want to suggest they turn the sound down while they're playing. It seems two young men in Denmark were playing a violent video game on their Playstation recently and had the volume turned up a little higher than they should have.

Neighbors heard what they believed to be real gunshots and called the police. Next thing you know, the apartment building was surrounded by well-armed cops calling for their surrender via megaphones. The pair surrendered and were briefly taken into custody while police played a few games checked out the situation.

Luckily, the two gamers suffered nothing more than a little indignity and some lost playing time. Still, I could imagine it could have been much worse. My kids don't play that sort of game, but if they ever get to the point where they do, you can bet they'll have the sound turned way down.

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A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that parents of young children are among the biggest gamers in the country.

The study found that, along with teenagers, parents with little ones are more likely to be gamers than parents of adult children. The love of gaming isn't necessarily the result of having small children -- it's more that parents of toddlers and preschoolers are most likely younger themselves.

About 66 percent of parents or guardians of kids under 17 play video games, while only 47 percent of childless adults admit to gaming. And don't blame the kids -- only 31 percent of parents with teenagers play games with their offspring.

The myth that gamers are mostly men was also dispelled; the survey reveals that 50 percent of women and 55 percent of men play video games. Another interesting tidbit? Those with a college education are more likely to pick up a joystick than those who only have high school diplomas.

Of the 2,054 American adults polled, 81 percent of respondents age 18 to 29 said they played video games, compared to only 23 percent of audits age 65 or older.

We had an Atari system growing up, and I while I enjoyed it, I was more likely to find my mom sitting in front of the TV, cursing under her breath during a game of Ms. Pac-Man.

How about you? Are you a gamer? Do you play with your kids, or are you the "do as I say, not as I do" type?

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Scientists in Sweden have found that violent video games affect boys' heart rate -- both during play and during sleep afterwards -- more than non-violent games. For the study, the boys were given two video games to play at home in the evening while their heart rate was monitored. It was discovered that their heart rate variability -- the slight changes in length of time between heartbeats -- was impacted more while playing video games with violent aspects than during non-violent games. The effect continued during the night while the boys slept, although the boys did not report feeling as though they slept poorly.

The study, reported by Science Daily, shows that the central nervous system can be affected by violent video games without the player even noticing. That is, such games affect us in ways that don't register on a conscious level. While this might be a great boon for advertisers and unscrupulous politicians, I suspect there may very well be effects we don't want our kids to experience.

I also wonder if a similar finding would be uncovered if the study were done with violent movies and television shows. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that that were the case -- and maybe people would stop laughing at me for telling my children that Disney is for big kids.

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Steve Crisp probably thought he was doing the right thing by exercising a little tough love on his Xbox-addicted son. Since 13-year-old Brandon had begun playing "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" online, his father had noticed some changes in him - like skipping school, stealing money and letting his schoolwork slide. So, on October 13, dad decided that enough was enough and took the boy's Xbox console away. Brandon did not take it well and hopped on his bike and left his Barrie, Ontario home. He hasn't been heard from since.

Since then, an exhaustive search has failed to turn up any clues other than Brandon's abandoned bicycle, discovered last week with a flat tire. Even a US $19,500 reward offered together by a local newspaper, the family's Internet service provider and Child Find has yet to lead to any good information regarding Brandon's whereabouts.

The police are examining just who Brandon was playing with online and has contacted the game's manufacturer, Microsoft, to help uncover that information. Microsoft is not only cooperating in the investigation, but has doubled the cash reward by putting in their own US $19,500. "Like everyone, we are deeply worried about the disappearance of Brandon Crisp," a company spokesperson said.

Steve Crisp says he had no idea that losing his Xbox would be so traumatic for his son. "This had become his identity, and I didn't realize how in-depth this was until I took his Xbox away. That's like cutting his legs off. This is such an issue that hits every parent out there, with video games that are starting to control our kids' lives," he said.

I really feel for this family. Brandon wasn't doing anything different from what thousands of other kids his age do each and every day. And yet he has been missing for over two weeks because he was forced to stop doing it.

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We all know that teenagers are stupid. Rather, they act stupid. Having been teens ourselves and now being adult enough to be able to reflect back, most of us agree that at one time or another, most teens are, well, dumb. Pregnancy pacts, virginity rings and Marilyn Manson obsessions aside, now it turns out that sentiment might actually be true! According to a new study, kids are getting less smart, mainly due to watching too much television and playing too many video games. Hmm. This sounds familiar. I feel like I heard the same thing in the early 80's when I was a kid with a pocketful of quarters and a Pac Man machine (OK, fine, it was Ms. Pac Man) in front of me. But, I digress.

The study reviewed test scores of 800 thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds and compared them with similar tests of teens from 1976, a generation ago. The results? In one test, only one in ten of the current teens tested with top scores, down from one in four twenty years ago. In another, only one in twenty reached the top score compared to one in five from the 1976 batch. Professor Michael Shayer, who lead the study, believes the educational focus on testing (rather than learning) is at least partially to blame. Focusing on testing leaves little time for teaching development skills such as those required in the tests that were part of the study.

Primarily, however, Shayer believes that television and video games are responsible for the decline. Participating in these "non" activities leads to a lack of being involved in other things such as playing with gadgets and tools which develop higher level thinking. The UK education system has responded that measures were being taken to "ease the burden" of testing. According to the article in the Mail Online, the UK government had also scrapped the SATs for fourteen-year-olds.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 57,000 Rage Wireless Guitars due to a defective circuit board. If the AA batteries are installed incorrectly, the circuit board can cause them to leak, posing a risk of chemical burns to players.

The Rage Wireless controller is made to be used with the Nintendo Wii system. The guitar is blue or white and is 31 inches long. The guitar contains battery-operated LED-lighted fret buttons on the neck of the guitar.

These were made in China and distributed by Performance Designed Products LLC, of Sherman Oaks, California. They were sold at mass merchandisers and specialty retailers nationwide from June 2008 through September 2008 for between $40 and $60.

If you have one of these guitars, you are advised to stop using it immediately and return it to the place where purchased for a full refund. Do not contact or return it to Nintendo.

For more information, you can contact Performance Designed Products by calling (800) 331-3844 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or by visiting their Web site.

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Computer time is a big deal at our house, so much so that we have to set a time limit. My kids love to play the games they find at sites like PBSKids, Noggin, Sesame Street, and Starfall. I figure that if they're going to get screen time, it might as well be at least semi-educational, right?

Educational Games Research recently compiled a list of the most influential educational video games of the 1980s. If you, like me, were coming of age during that time, then you'll remember these games well. Here's the list:

• The Oregon Trail (Who remembers sitting at those ancient Apple][e's, playing this one? I do!)
• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
• SimCity
• Reader Rabbit
• Math Blaster
• Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
• Lemonade Stand
• Number Munchers
• Zork
• Windows Solitaire

Several of these games are still around, updated of course for a new generation. So if you're looking for a trip down memory lane and a great way to teach your kids early lessons about geography, economics, and strategy, a quick Google search will get you and your little gamer on the road to some learning fun.

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