Rockin' in the real world

I’m a gamer and as such, I’m pro-gaming across the board. So, I was thrilled to see some new research out of the UK that shows that playing games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero has encouraged up to 2.5 million kids to learn to play real musical instruments. You constantly hear the doom and gloom merchants bashing gaming on the head for distracting kids from other activities, but here we have a story about gaming encouraging kids to take up music for real. The research, conducted by UK charity Youth Music, shows that this relatively new genre of game is the inspiration behind this revived interest in musical instruments.

In addition, guitar stores around the country have reported increased sales of instruments featured in the game and music teachers have reported an increased number of requests for lessons. In an interesting twist, many of the kids are asking to learn what we would now deem rock-classics such as numbers by Alice Copper and Birmingham’s finest, Black Sabbath, because they are featured in the games. With Wii now in on the act, the number of kids looking to take-up musical instruments for real will surely increase, especially on the back of the success already had by the guys and gals at Xbox 360.

MyTake – Yet another reason why gaming is good and actually enhances and enriches lives. We constantly hear about the shrinking number of kids taking up the more traditional pastimes and hobbies, yet despite all efforts by society to reverse this, it’s gaming that actually gets the job done in the end. Look at the impact of other games such as the Brain Training products from Nintendo, the Viva Piñata from Xbox 360, yet more examples of the positive impact gaming can have on our kids. I guess for some people, the world is still flat and that’ll never change….shame, they’ll never get to enjoy the delights of Pro Evolution Soccer!

Frolicking with "frolleagues"

"Frolleague". Sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings doesn’t it? A “frolleague” is in fact a work colleague that you add as a friend within your social networking activities. The term is becoming so widespread that it’s being considered by the Oxford English Dictionary for inclusion in its next revision.

A recent survey by LinkedIn that canvassed UK users found that around one third of UK users felt they had to add a colleague to their social networking group. Despite this, the number of “frolleagues” being added to members social networking groups is on the increase. Funnily enough, the guys over at LinkedIn think that you should keep your professional and your personal contacts separate to “manage our online reputation as effectively as possible”. I wonder what the guys at Facebook would say...

MyTake – I love the new term, pure tabloid genius and it gives us all something to talk about at the water cooler. I think LinkedIn are wrong if they honestly believe that you should keep your contacts separate. I share contacts across both Facebook and LinkedIn and have many “frolleagues” on both – the whole point of social networking is about sharing, and that includes both our professional and personal thoughts, after all – aren’t all our thoughts personal?

More A-Grade gamers

I was in a pub at the weekend and they had an old school games machine that had the likes of PacMan and Space Invaders on it. Naturally I went and had a go, as did my mate that I would never have picked as a gamer, let alone someone that’s in to classic games. The embarrassing thing was that he was bloody awesome at it – way better than me – even though (as he confessed) it had been a long time since he played.

He is, of course, yet another victim of the “I’m too old to play video games” culture that has kept many adults away from a whole host of games consoles for decades. Which brings me to the point of this post –another attempt to get people to think about gaming in a different way.

New findings discussed at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston (the home of my favourite beer, Sam Adams) looked at the effect that playing video games has on people. We’ve already heard about the recovery of rehab patients using the Wii, or surgeons improving their hand-eve coordination, but according to psychologist Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University, games are “powerful educational tools and have many effects we might not have expected they could."

MyTake – Surprise, surprise, yet another academic that thinks gaming is a good thing. We have to get over our pre-conceptions about gaming and jump-in. I went to a conference a while back where someone described Facebook as a giant game and I reckon they’re right, the only difference between this and gaming on a console is the negative connotations placed on console gaming by technophobes that refuse to embrace new technology (and probably think that the internet is a bad thing). Jump-in, experience it because in the next two years gaming, social networking, TV, entertainment is all going to be the same thing.

...and I am an addict

Yet more research, yet more claims… This time it’s about us being addicted to technology. We’ve probably all heard the term “Crakberry” before, so in that sense we are aware of how addictive certain gadgets can be. I myself can attest to getting sucked in to massive PES or Football Manager sessions and hours just fly by – but hey, I’m having a good time! This new research says that “techno addiction” can get so bad that some people get up several times a night to check their e-mails and text messages.

Not surprisingly, this level of so called addiction can start to interfere with all parts of your life. Professor Nada Kakabadse of Northampton University, who ran the research, reckons the addiction comes from technology becoming more interesting over the past decade and that it has become more portable and accessible. According to her research, up to a third off those surveyed were addicted to some form of technology, the down side of this is that addicts can be withdrawn from their families, suffer axieties and even sickness – and what’s worse is that by the time it’s identified, it’s usually too late! OMG…..

MyTake – Ever heard people talk about an “addictive” personality? I have, and I think it’s true. It’s not the gadget, the sport, the beer, the cigarette – it’s the person. Technology is an enabler, it’s there to make life easier, more interesting and more fun. When you lose sight of this, I think it could become very easy to get addicted. The old saying, “everything in moderation” ;-)