February 2007

Digital Natives ... and Deep Emotions

Two recent studies offer new (and sometimes unexpected) insights into how kids interact with digital content and on what keeps gamers gaming.

The first study, "Kids and Digital Content," was conducted by The NPD Group and measured how children ages two through fourteen use and acquire digital content. It was no surprise that the study showed children to be extremely savvy with digital content. What was surprising, however, was the age of some of those children. The study found that about 15% of kids between two and five (pre-schoolers, that is) are already using cell phones. And 10% of seven-year-olds are already downloading digital content. Of course, the numbers go up substantially among older children: 62% use cell phones by ages 11-14 and about 50% of 14-year-olds currently download digital content.

Another interesting aspect of the study is that it found that children are actually willing to pay for their content. 87% of the kids who played games had paid for games they’d downloaded, and 70% of children who’d downloaded music had, in fact, paid for the privilege.

"Without a doubt, kids are digital content natives, seamlessly navigating between traditional and digital sources of media without missing a step," said Anita Frazier of The NPD Group. "To kids, there is nothing new or novel about digital sources of entertainment."

The second study, conducted by the University of Rochester and the think tank Immersyve, explored the reasons gamers keep playing their games. While one might expect fun to be the key motivation for continued game play, the results showed something quite different. "We think there’s a deeper theory than the fun of playing," said principal investigator Richard M. Ryan. "It's our contention that the psychological 'pull' of games is largely due to their capacity to engender feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness." The study found this to be especially true for MMO (massively multiplayer online) games where players most valued their relatedness to other players.

To learn more about the Rochester study, read the Gamasutra article.

 

The Sims Get a New Story

As part of the gaming industry's continued effort to reach out to non-gamers, Electronic Arts (EA) is releasing "The Sims Life Stories," a new version of the Sims franchise that's sold over 70 million units worldwide.

What's new about this version of "The Sims" is that it comes with two already created 12-chapter storylines. Earlier incarnations of "The Sims" have always been open-ended with the onus on the player to create his or her own stories. EA believes the new game will appeal to the non-gamers and casual gamers who may have been scared off by the unstructured, nonlinear nature of other "Sims" games. "Everyone loves a good story. 'The Sims Life Stories' gives players two wonderful romantic comedies to enjoy," said EA's Rod Humble. "For those who are interested in the Sims, 'The Sims Stories' are accessible and fun for everyone."

Other features of the new game include laptop-friendly system specs, meaning you don’t need a powerful graphics card, and the option of playing the game in a separate window while keeping IM and email open at the same time.

Find out more about "The Sims Life Stories" at the game website.

Taking on the Climate Challenge

A new "serious game" is getting quite a bit of attention in the U.K. and raising awareness about environmental issues, too.

It's called "Climate Challenge" and it's an online simulation where players become "politicians" charged with improving the world's environment while at the same time growing their economies and staying popular with voters. The current version of the game is targeted toward young professionals in their 20s and 30s, but an upcoming version will be aimed at school children and accompanied by lesson plans for teachers.

So far, it seems like the game is having an impact. The British Minister for Environment and Climate Change has praised "Climate Challenge," saying that the government "understands the challenge of educating people about climate change and recognizes that innovation and interesting ways of engaging people are necessary…. I welcome the 'Climate Challenge' game."

The producer of the game, Gobion Rowlands, sees the success of "Climate Challenge" as a possible harbinger of things to come for the gaming industry. "At some point in the not-too-distant future, people will feel confident enough about some of these educational and serious games, that they believe they are 'real' games… and will be willing to buy them," Rowlands said. "[In the meanwhile,] we want to give them away for free because we want to get the games out to as many people as possible."

Sure enough, you can play "Climate Challenge for free, and learn about the science behind it, at the BBC website.

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