On 6 September 2007 the PM Gordon Brown asked Dr Tanya Byron to conduct an independent review, looking at the risks to children from exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games.

Ok I understand that the internet is a big scary place. Parents might not know how to educate or protect their children online (etc). We do need to work out how to educate and protect them. But in-regards to computer games, I don’t feel naivety is an excuse. Adult games are labeled 18+ for a reason. These games are inappropriate for under 18’s. The games industries target market is progressively getting older, I think it was estimated at the average gamer being between 26-34 years old, don’t quote me, but its around that! Parents need to understand if a game is rated at 18 there is a good reason why, that the game contains themes of a strong violent or sexual nature. I suspect that parents don’t acknowledge this when buying games for their children. If the Byron review helps improve or educate parents about this, that would be fantastic.

I have a funny anecdote relating to this…

Back in the day, when I was about 13 I purchased the original “Resident Evil” or RS1 (15 rating) for the PS1 without my mum knowing via the “for sale section” of the local paper… Well I got busted playing it, at 10pm on a school night lol

My mum walked in just as the very first in-game cut scene occurred, remember, the zombie looks up from chowing down on a fellow STAR’s member, gripping stuff, I was scared out of my skin!!! Nightmares for several days after!

Well regardless, my mum forced me to take the game back and I didn’t play RS1 again until I was about 16 years old, precious gaming time lost there! haha

Well on a serious note, I think my mum was right, I’m kind of glad she took an interest and forced me to take it back, it was inappropriate and I was under the 15 age rating.

Another time (when I was 16) I tried to buy “Duke Nukem 3D” (18+ game) I went to every shop I could imagine in Plymouth, with no luck, every time I heard the words “have you got any ID”. Alas the system does work! Or are the parents buying 18+ games for their children?!

The review is currently on going until the end of March, but there are already growing concerns from the gaming industry and general internet chatter, that this will be used in many ways:

• Used as political propaganda to counter knife crime in the UK
• Introduce a BBFC rating system on all games, not just games of an extreme sexual or violent nature
• Re-solidify the stereo-typical view of the pail white gamer of 13 years, we are actually mid-twenties to mid-thirties now, we’ve grown up. Still pail tho…
• Even give MP’s the power to out right ban games completely, Manhunt 2 has recently been banned by the BBFC, I do believe!

My personal belief… I’m unsure, I’m eager to see this review, and see how it gets used. To educate parents on how to protect their children online isn’t a bad thing. I just hope it’s not used as a “cheap below the belt” shot at the games industry.

Just for the record these are my own personal views not my employers!

Check out some other articles on the subject here;

www.rockpapershotgun.com

www.gamepolitics.com

www.chewingpixels.com

The clever chaps responsible for the Havok physics engine for Second Life and many other games. Were showing off this cool little tool at the recent GDC (Games Developer Conference) last week… Simulation of the movement of cloth, i can’t think of a better word, but slick! Completely Slick!

Early November last year LL (Linden Labs) released its WindLight First Look Second Life client; it incorporates the technology Linden Lab acquired when it took over Windward Mark Interactive in May 2007.

Well last week I got 5 minutes away from my typical pleasures at work to test it, I ignored the warnings regarding using a “alt” with the usual scariness about losing your linden dollar balance, inventory and your dog! But I’m a Husky?! Epp, cough, err, I’m a human, oh, err, never mind… Anyway well I just didn’t have time to register a new account! (I do advise you do this if you plan to test it though).

So what’s the difference?!

• Firstly, the new system makes more extensive use of vertex and pixel shaders. This has considerably improved the lighting model throughout SL.
• Water effects are just amazing. You really have to see it to believe it!
• The new skies are also amazing; again you really need to see it in action, to believe it!

• Completely alterable day/night, altering the complete atmosphere (looks unbelievable in comparison to the standard SL). In future versions, we have been told that sim-owners will be able to set preferences to fit the mood of their places. How cool!
• Shininess looks real and object-glow, amazing!
• There are a phenomenal number of settings to tweak, enabled, disabled or tuned individually. Making it look pretty good on most hardware setups.
• Improved User-interface, I found it, a lot simpler, i took to it, like a duck to water. I was impressed.

In the final analysis, Windlight is, well, um stunning!

You can get the Windlight First Look viewer here for Mac, Linux and Windows.

First Look viewers contain major feature previews, but run against your live account on the main grid (Agni) rather than on the beta-test grid (Aditi). The new viewers get a much more solid workout on the Agni grid, but there’s always the risk as mentioned that it could eat your Linden Dollar balance, your inventory and your dog…err… Husky!

These little fellows are looking unbelievably cool and so cute! You must watch these videos! Currently not realised yet for BETA testing, but i look forward to their UK release, including Playstation’s Sony Home this year!

Little Big Planet is a child friendly game where you can choose everything from what to wear to what to do. The figures are unbelievable movable, using the controllers analogy sticks, powerful physics engine and perfectly hi-def rendered real world graphics. The PS3 processor is able to calculate everything in real time!

It seems to have an unbelievable amount of learning potential for young players and old alike, I was fascinated by the videos. A little interesting fact for you all, 80% of school-aged children own a games console (well ok granted not a PS3, but still what a great way for informal learning).

This game really grows with you, as the better you become the more you can contribute. Build your own areas, create your own designs, anything is possible with teamwork! No longer “user driven content” but now “communal creativity” in “gaming 3.0″… I can dig the lingo! I tip my hat at you Sony, good show, sir!

I’m delighted to announce I will be a guest author during the month of February on TerraNova with several posts on there way.

Last night my introduction post on Terranova finally went out… Click Here

Terranova is a highly regarded academic blog for Massively Multiplayer Online Environments with many renowned contributing authors! I’m extremely excited about this opportunity and I look forward to some lively debate!