 Credit: Axeville/ Unsplash. Patients with traumatic brain injuries who complete computerized cognitive games show improved neuroplasticity. Original story from New York University Patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) who complete computerized cognitive games show improved neuroplasticity and cognitive performance, according to new research published in Journal of Neurotrauma. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and reorganize nerve fibers that are responsible for learning and processing. The nerve fibers facilitate communication among neurons for functions including speech, memory, and problem solving. In a healthy brain, there are myriad bundles of strong nerve fibers for these functions, but in an injured brain, these fibers can be damaged and the connections can be reduced (similar to telephone wires after a heavy storm). The researchers' findings offer new insight into the brain's resilience and ability to repair itself. “This study demonstrates changes in the brain’s white matter and shows that computerized cognitive remediation in adults with chronic brain injury can induce neuroplasticity. It builds on our earlier studies showing how these computer games can improve cognition as well as change the connections between brain regions and the structure of the pathways that connect the brain regions,” says senior author Gerald Voelbel, associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at NYU Steinhardt. Researchers randomly assigned 17 adults (ages 24-56) with chronic TBI to either an experimental group that played computer games or the control group. The experimental group used the Brain Fitness Program 2.0, a computer program with cognitive games that include recalling syllable sequences, distinguishing between different sound frequencies, and recalling details from a verbal story. Participants completed 40 one-hour sessions over 14 weeks. Using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, which measures the speed and direction of water molecules traveling through the brain, the researchers found that participants who completed the games saw significant changes in neuroplasticity over time compared to the group that did not complete them. These changes were related to improvements on objective measures of participants’ processing speed, attention, and working memory. “This study reveals that the changes in the nerve fibers, such as increased strength and stability, were related to the improved cognitive ability in adults with a chronic brain injury,” says Voelbel. “This provides great evidence that the brain can change over time, even in people with a brain injury, with computer exercises that improve cognitive abilities.” Reference: Voelbel HML, Rath JF, Bushnik T, Flanagan S, Lazar M, Gerald T. Computerized Cognitive Remediation Affects White Matter Microstructure in Relation to Improved Cognitive Function in Adults with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury. J Neurotrauma. 2026. doi: 10.1177/08977151251414085 This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here. Computer Games Improve Neuroplasticity After Traumatic Brain Injury | Technology Networks
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Video games seen becoming a new frontier in digital rights (2026-04-10T12:56:00+05:30)
 Gaming computers await players of Boderlands 3 by 2K at E3, the annual video games expo experience the latest in gaming software and hardware in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2019. (Reuters Photo) Avi Asher-Schapiro Thomson Reuters Foundation Critical digital rights battles over privacy, free speech and anonymity are increasingly being fought in video games, a growing market that is becoming a "new political arena," experts and insiders said on Thursday. With the industry set to more than double annual revenues to $300 billion by 2025, questions about how video game operators, designers and governments handle sensitive issues take on added urgency, said participants at RightsCon, a virtual digital rights conference. In recent months, a Hong Kong activist staged a protest against Beijing's rule inside a popular social simulator game called Animal Crossing, and a member of the U.S. Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, campaigned in the game as well. The game Minecraft, meanwhile, has been used to circumvent censorship, with groups using it to create digital libraries and smuggle banned texts into repressive countries. "Video games have become this new political arena," said Micaela Mantegna, founder of GeekyLegal, an Argentinian group that focuses on tech policy. Also, game designers have been tackling sensitive topics by creating games that involve issues such as refugees or mental illness. "Video games are a powerful way to start talking about topics that are hard to engage in real life," said Stephanie Zucarelli, a board member of Women in Games Argentina, a non-profit group. User rights can be at risk, however, of being violated, said Kurt Opsah, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group. Law enforcement can ask game companies their users' personal data, operating companies can censor game users and governments can pressure game operators and makers to remove content, he said. He cited an example of the U.S. military deleting critical comments that had been posted on recruitment channels it hosted on Twitch, a popular streaming platform. "They didn't want people to have an anti-military view on their recruiting channel," he said. Governments can apply pressure on video game companies, he said, such as the case of Activision Blizzard Entertainment that last year suspended a player from a video game competition for making political comments about Hong Kong in an interview.Blizzard is partly owned by Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holdings. Video games seen becoming a new frontier in digital rights | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
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Jim Carrey complains about ‘Sonic 3’: Twice the work for same pay (2026-04-01T12:08:00+05:30)
 IANS Photo Mumbai, (IANS) Hollywood actor Jim Carrey has opened up about his role in the upcoming movie “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”, where he reprised his role as the villainous Dr. Robotnik. Speaking about the challenge of portraying both versions of Robotnik, Carrey says jokingly, “Until I realized I was doing twice the work for the same pay. Next time they’re going to have to throw in a Chaos Emerald or two. But I had asked the universe for a kickass franchise that would endear itself to children everywhere and appeal to the child inside all of us. And blammo, here I am, right through the Sega wormhole.” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is inspired by the popular video game series from Sega. Serving as a sequel to “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, the film is directed by Jeff Fowler with a screenplay by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington and a story crafted by Casey and Miller. Carrey had earlier expressed that the film doesn’t mark his return because he never left the Sonic universe. Reflecting on his return, the actor shared, “I never left the Sonic universe! Where else would I go? The Sonic universe is all-encompassing. Only a fool would try to quantify it. I think it was Carl Sagan who said, ‘For creatures as small as we, vastness is bearable only through the collection of 50 rings or finding a chaos emerald.’ I’m paraphrasing, of course. Carl Sagan said something completely different, but I’m sure he was a very big Sonic fan, so I don’t think he’d mind.” Last month, the makers released the second trailer of the film, and it introduced fans to Shadow the Hedgehog, a formidable new antagonist whose arrival raises the stakes for Sonic and his loyal friends. The forthcoming movie is led by Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, and Keanu Reeves. The film also features Krysten Ritter, Lee Majdoub, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Alyla Browne, and James Wolk.“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is slated to hit theatres on January 3, 2025. Jim Carrey complains about ‘Sonic 3’: Twice the work for same pay | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
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Are video games art or products? (2026-03-29T20:26:00+05:30)
Are video games art or products? This tension lies at the heart of Australia’s gaming industryZainab Darbas, Monash UniversityIn 2004, a largely anonymous team of Australian video game developers released a prototype video game titled Escape from Woomera. In this 3D adventure, the player takes on the role of Mustafa, an Iranian refugee fleeing violent repression who is being held in a virtual re-creation of the (now-shut) Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. Mustafa is facing deportation back to Iran – which will mean almost certain death. He and the player must escape.  A screenshot from the unfinished point-and-click adventure game Escape from Woomera. Wikimedia, CC BYEscape from Woomera was one of the first Australian video games ever to receive government funding to support its development. In 2003, the creators received a A$25,000 grant from the national arts body, the Australia Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia). The game itself, and the fact it was awarded public funding, were highly controversial. They sparked conversations about what kind of art the government should fund, and why. Should the goal be to nurture new artistic talent? Or to preserve Australian-made content? Or build profitable industries?  A photo of the entrance of the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. The photo was taken in April 2003, the same month the centre was closed. Wikimedia, CC BYMore than two decades on, Australia has a robust ecosystem of video game development supported by grant programs across the country. My research looked at the scope and structure of these programs and examined how they affect game developers. My findings reveal that the structures of funding programs emphasise generating profit and growing the video game industry. This is at odds with the approach taken by many game developers, who view themselves as artists, and their games as a cultural form. This fundamental mismatch is a source of tension for game developers who rely on public funding to support their work. Competing priorities of public fundingI read through more than 50 annual reports, strategic documents and other materials from Australian arts funding bodies to analyse funding policies for Australian video games. The documents emphasised the economic potential of the video game industry, frequently citing growth rates, expenditure figures and returns on investment as justification for continuing to fund game development. However, they also promoted Australian video games as complex, experimental and culturally valuable. This shows how funding agencies juggle competing priorities. While they value games with artistic merit that contribute to the cultural landscape, agencies must also demonstrate that their public funding programs generate financial returns. These agencies’ economic priorities heavily influence how public funding programs are structured – which can make them seem highly formal and business-like. Company or community?This formality creates difficulties for game developers, whose work practices are often artistic, informal and adaptive. I interviewed 11 game developers to understand their experiences with public funding. They generally held positive sentiment towards the funding available to them, describing it as a “lifeline”, “fantastic” and “awesome”. Several developers spoke highly of the range of funding programs available for projects of various scope. At the same time, they had criticisms. They found the application processes for public funding overly formal, forcing them to adapt their artistic practices to a rigid, business-like structure. As one interviewee explained:
Tensions were particularly acute around providing diversity information. Most funding applications ask applicants to submit information about diversity, equity and inclusion in a highly formalised format. The developers I spoke to felt “icky”, “gross”, “weird” and “uncomfortable” while completing these forms, describing them as “tokenising”, “dehumanising” and “impersonal”. As one interviewee said:
More than just productsThe interviewees recommended several changes funding agencies could make to improve their application processes. They could, for instance:
These changes would signal to game developers and the wider public that our public institutions value video games as more than just money-making products. Australian-made games such as Untitled Goose Game and Cult of the Lamb – which have achieved international critical success in recent years – wouldn’t exist without public funding. Yet many video game developers struggle to find options for secure public funding. And when it isn’t available, they are forced to take a chance on over-saturated crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter. It’s important that public funding programs work to support game developers on their own terms, so they can keep creating excellent games that enrich our cultural landscape. Zainab Darbas, PhD Candidate, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Zainab Darbas, Monash UniversityIn 2004, a largely anonymous team of Australian video game developers released a prototype video game titled Escape from Woomera. In this 3D adventure, the player takes on the role of Mustafa, an Iranian refugee fleeing violent repression who is being held in a virtual re-creation of the (now-shut) Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. Mustafa is facing deportation back to Iran – which will mean almost certain death. He and the player must escape. A screenshot from the unfinished point-and-click adventure game Escape from Woomera. Wikimedia, CC BYEscape from Woomera was one of the first Australian video games ever to receive government funding to support its development. In 2003, the creators received a A$25,000 grant from the national arts body, the Australia Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia). The game itself, and the fact it was awarded public funding, were highly controversial. They sparked conversations about what kind of art the government should fund, and why. Should the goal be to nurture new artistic talent? Or to preserve Australian-made content? Or build profitable industries? A photo of the entrance of the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. The photo was taken in April 2003, the same month the centre was closed. Wikimedia, CC BYMore than two decades on, Australia has a robust ecosystem of video game development supported by grant programs across the country. My research looked at the scope and structure of these programs and examined how they affect game developers. My findings reveal that the structures of funding programs emphasise generating profit and growing the video game industry. This is at odds with the approach taken by many game developers, who view themselves as artists, and their games as a cultural form. This fundamental mismatch is a source of tension for game developers who rely on public funding to support their work. Competing priorities of public fundingI read through more than 50 annual reports, strategic documents and other materials from Australian arts funding bodies to analyse funding policies for Australian video games. The documents emphasised the economic potential of the video game industry, frequently citing growth rates, expenditure figures and returns on investment as justification for continuing to fund game development. However, they also promoted Australian video games as complex, experimental and culturally valuable. This shows how funding agencies juggle competing priorities. While they value games with artistic merit that contribute to the cultural landscape, agencies must also demonstrate that their public funding programs generate financial returns. These agencies’ economic priorities heavily influence how public funding programs are structured – which can make them seem highly formal and business-like. Company or community?This formality creates difficulties for game developers, whose work practices are often artistic, informal and adaptive. I interviewed 11 game developers to understand their experiences with public funding. They generally held positive sentiment towards the funding available to them, describing it as a “lifeline”, “fantastic” and “awesome”. Several developers spoke highly of the range of funding programs available for projects of various scope. At the same time, they had criticisms. They found the application processes for public funding overly formal, forcing them to adapt their artistic practices to a rigid, business-like structure. As one interviewee explained:
Tensions were particularly acute around providing diversity information. Most funding applications ask applicants to submit information about diversity, equity and inclusion in a highly formalised format. The developers I spoke to felt “icky”, “gross”, “weird” and “uncomfortable” while completing these forms, describing them as “tokenising”, “dehumanising” and “impersonal”. As one interviewee said:
More than just productsThe interviewees recommended several changes funding agencies could make to improve their application processes. They could, for instance:
These changes would signal to game developers and the wider public that our public institutions value video games as more than just money-making products. Australian-made games such as Untitled Goose Game and Cult of the Lamb – which have achieved international critical success in recent years – wouldn’t exist without public funding. Yet many video game developers struggle to find options for secure public funding. And when it isn’t available, they are forced to take a chance on over-saturated crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter. It’s important that public funding programs work to support game developers on their own terms, so they can keep creating excellent games that enrich our cultural landscape. Zainab Darbas, PhD Candidate, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
Nvidia’s new AI tool is giving female game characters a makeover (2026-03-27T10:57:00+05:30)
Sian Tomkinson, Edith Cowan UniversityNvidia’s new AI tool is giving female game characters a makeover – and gamers are pushing back: Last week leading chipmaker Nvidia announced DLSS-5 (Deep Learning Super Sampling), a new artificial intelligence (AI) rendering tool it describes as a “breakthrough in visual fidelity for games”. The software takes low-resolution images and uses AI to upscale them, adding what Nvidia calls “photoreal lighting and materials”. The tool is designed to make video games look more photorealistic, but the examples Nvidia chose to show off the technology revealed something unexpected: the AI doesn’t just makes images sharper and glossier, it also makes characters significantly more conventionally attractive. The growing backlash is about more than makeup. It points to a broader anxiety about what happens when AI is given control over creative decisions – and whose idea of “better” gets encoded in the algorithms. A ‘beauty filter’ for games?Nvidia showcased the technology using Grace Ashcroft, the protagonist of the recently released Resident Evil Requiem. Before-and-after comparisons showed the software changing her hair colour, adding defined eyebrows, lip tint, and facial contouring. Some gamers quickly labelled it a “beauty filter”, criticising the way it applies what looks like heavy makeup and reshapes her face to be more conventionally attractive. The decision to highlight a young, conventionally attractive female character and then make her more glamorous feels pointed. Representation of women in games has been a flashpoint issue for years. Female characters in games are poorly treatedHistorically, female characters in games were depicted as either helpless and weak, or as sexualised objects secondary to a male lead. The 2000s brought more varied female characters, but attempts at greater diversity triggered a fierce backlash in 2014 during the Gamergate harassment campaign. Women and minorities in and around gaming were targeted with abuse, doxxing, and threats of rape and death. The debate has continued since. Some players were furious at the muscular depiction of Abby Anderson in The Last of Us: Part 2, claiming her physique was unrealistic and demanding she be made more conventionally attractive. DLSS-5 adds a new dimension to this debate. Rather than designers making deliberate choices about how characters look, an algorithm can quietly override those choices in a particular direction. Looksmaxxing game charactersThe specific changes DLSS-5 made to Grace’s face also echo the manosphere’s looksmaxxing trend. Originating in incel communities, looksmaxxing is built on the idea that certain facial features are biologically more sexually desirable to women, prompting some men to pursue techniques that alter their own faces to increase their “sexual market value”. Seeing a piece of software automatically apply similar logic to a female game character raises uncomfortable questions. Gamers have noticed, and many are responding with humour. The software has been mocked as “yassifying” characters, with one widely shared meme applying the same treatment to God of War’s hulking protagonist Kratos, complete with blue eyeshadow, pink blush, and plump lips. The joke lands because it makes the gendered absurdity obvious. This reaction mirrors how some gamers once responded to criticism of Aloy, the protagonist of 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn. After complaints that Aloy was “woke” for not wearing heavy makeup or conforming to conventional beauty standards, some gamers sarcastically created “unwokified” versions of the character to make the same point in reverse. Bad news for game designers, tooA second, distinct complaint about DLSS-5 is that it undermines the artistic choices of developers. Rather than simply sharpening what is already there, the software uses algorithms to alter textures and lighting. The results can have that familiar AI aesthetic: glossy, smooth, bright and generic. A dark, gritty game like Resident Evil Requiem can end up looking like a luxury skincare ad. In at least one case, in EA Sports FC, the filter changed a real-life player’s likeness so dramatically they became completely unrecognisable. The future of game visuals – and who controls itIt is worth noting that DLSS-5 can genuinely improve visual quality in many games, enriching environments and bringing older character models to life. Nvidia has also pushed back against critics, with chief executive Jensen Huang insisting DLSS-5 is not a filter and that developers retain control over how it is applied. But the backlash reveals a real tension. Many players objected to Nvidia selecting a young female character and using AI to make her more conventionally attractive and sexualised. Many others objected to AI overriding the deliberate creative choices of game developers. Both concerns push against the same force: tech companies’ drive to deploy AI as broadly as possible, and to define “better” visuals on their own terms. Sian Tomkinson, Media and Communication Scholar, Edith Cowan University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
Mobile Games Designed to Help Save Dying Aboriginal Language and Culture (2026-03-14T13:15:00+05:30)
 Screenshots from the Nyiyaparli living language project app – credit, supplied by Nyiyaparli WidiAn Australian Aboriginal community with only 8 fluent speakers left has launched a mobile phone game to help reconnect their youth with the tongue of their ancestors. The game allows you to help preserve a wetland nature reserve where the community lives, with almost 100 words and phrases in the Nyiyaparli language. Numbering around 400 community members, the Nyiyaparli hail from a remote region of northwest Australia in an area called the Pilbara. There, as happened in so many other lands across the Commonwealth, indigenous children were placed in English-language institutions and the connection with their lingual heritage was severed. Once widely spoken across the Pilbara, the pressure of assimilation into European culture and the spread of larger neighboring Aboriginal languages has proven almost fatal to Nyiyaparli. The Karlka Nyiyaparli Aboriginal Corporation (KNAC) which manages the common welfare of the community launched the Nyiyaparli Living Language Project in 2022 in an attempt to save their dying language. But the KNAC didn’t look to the past for inspiration, rather, they leveraged the present. “The cultural working group decided that you’re never going to take phones away from kids,” said the project’s executive producer Simon Te Brinke. “Why not give them something that can help them learn?” Despite their remote location and rich indigenous heritage, Nyiyaparli children seem to be as immersed in games like Minecraft and Fortnite as anyone else. Te Brinke decided to try and utilize that existing interest: to go with the flow, rather than try to convince them to put their phones down. The game puts you into the role of a junior ranger in the Fortescue Marsh Nature Reserve which the community manages. The game contains 90 Nyiyaparli words, spoken aloud by community elders who know how. “Players have to collect cultural objects as they navigate their way through each of the locations,” Mr. Te Brinke told ABC News. “As they collect, they hear sounds and words actually spoken in Nyiyaparli. So it’s reinforcing the language.” The game has won several awards that included large cash prices which will undoubtedly help the project expand its efforts. A digital language center is in the works, with the aim being to build on the foundations established by the phone game. Apps and games are being used to help revive other Aboriginal languages too. A storybook app that teaches science concepts was designed by a man from the Goldfields region of northern Australia, who’s one of only 3 people who speak Ngalia, a dialect of a more widely spoken Mantjiltjintjarra, that’s featured in the application. Kabo Muir worked with his brother Talbot, another speaker, to compile a dictionary of Ngalia words, which benefits from the fact that it’s similar to the surrounding tongues in the region. The next step to preserving it, he says, is innovation.The Mamutjitji Story app centers around a native insect species called an antlion, and how it adapts to a changing world. Play These Mobile Games Designed to Help Save Dying Aboriginal Language and Culture
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The design tricks keeping your kids hooked on games and apps .... (2026-02-27T11:14:00+05:30)
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The design tricks keeping your kids hooked on games and apps – and 3 things you can do about it, Chris Zomer, Deakin University and Sumudu Mallawaarachchi, University of Wollongong
This article is part of a series on the great internet letdown. Read the rest of the series. Ever found yourself unable to resist checking out a social media notification? Or sending a random picture just to keep a Snapchat “streak” going? Or simply getting stuck staring at YouTube because it auto-played yet another cute cat video? If so, you’re far from alone. And if we adults can’t resist such digital temptations, how can we expect children to do any better? Many digital environments are not designed with the best interest of users in mind – and this is especially true of games, apps and platforms commonly used by kids and teens. Designers use persuasive design techniques to make users spend more time on apps or platforms, so they can make more money selling ads. Below, we explain some of the most common design tricks used in popular games, social media and apps. Decision-making made easy 🔀Social media and streaming platforms strive to provide “seamless” user experiences. This makes it easy to stay engaged without needing to click anything very often, which also minimises any obvious opportunities where we might disengage. These seamless experiences include things such as auto-play when streaming videos, or “infinite scrolling” on social media. When algorithms present us with a steady flow of content, shaped by what we have liked or engaged with in the past, we must put in extra effort to stop watching. Unsurprisingly, we often decide to stay put. Rewards and dopamine hits ðŸ§Another way to keep children engaged is by using rewards, such as stars, diamonds, stickers, badges or other “points” in children’s apps. “Likes” on social media are no different. Rewards trigger the release of a chemical in our brains – dopamine – which not only makes us feel good but also leaves us wanting more. Rewards can be used to promote good behaviour, but not always. In some children’s apps, rewards are doubled if users watch advertisements. Loot boxes and ‘gambling’ 💰Variable rewards have been found to be especially effective. When you do not know when you will get a certain reward or desired item, you are more likely to keep going. In games, variable rewards can often be found (or purchased) in the form of “loot boxes”. Loot boxes might be chests, treasures, or stacks of cards containing a random reward. Because of the unpredictable reward, some researchers have described loot boxes as akin to gambling, even though the games do not always involve real money. Sometimes in-game currency (fake game money) can be bought with real money and used to “gamble” for rare characters and special items. This is very tempting for young people. In one of our (as yet unpublished) studies, a 12-year-old student admitted to spending several hundred dollars to obtain a desired character in the popular game Genshin Impact. The lure of streaks 🔥Another problematic way of using rewards in design is negative reinforcement. For instance, when you are at risk of a negative outcome (like losing something good), you feel compelled to continue a particular behaviour. “Streaks” work like this. If you do not do the same task for several days in a row, you will not get the extra rewards promised. Language learning app DuoLingo uses streaks, but so does Snapchat, a popular social media app. Research has shown a correlation between Snapchat streaks and problematic smartphone use among teens. Streaks can also make money for apps directly. If you miss a day and lose your streak, you can often pay to restore it. Loss of reputation 👎Reputation is important on social media. Think of the number of Facebook friends you have, or the number of likes your post receives. Sometimes designers build on our fear of losing our reputation. For instance, they can do this by adding a leaderboard that ranks users based on their score. While you may have heard of the use of leaderboards in games, they are also common in popular educational apps such as Kahoot! or Education Perfect. Leaderboards introduce an element of competition that many students enjoy. However, for some this competition has negative consequences – especially for those languishing low in the ranks. Similarly, Snapchat has a SnapScore where reputational loss is still at play. You do not want a lower score than your friends! This makes you want to keep using the app. Exploiting feelings of connection 🥰Another tool in the designers’ bag of tricks is capitalising on the emotional ties or connections users form with influencers or celebrities on social media, or favourite media characters (such as Elmo or Peppa pig) for younger children. While these connections can foster a sense of belonging, they can also be exploited for commercial gain, such as when influencers promote commercial products, or characters urge in-app purchases. What can parents do? 🤷Persuasive design isn’t inherently bad. Users want apps and games to be engaging, like we do for movies or TV shows. However, some design “tricks” simply serve commercial interests, often at the expense of users’ wellbeing. It is not all bleak, though. Here are a few steps parents can take to help kids stay on top of the apps:
For the moment, the responsibility for managing children’s interactions with the digital realm falls largely on individuals and families. Some governments are beginning to take action, but measures such as blanket age-based bans on social media or other platforms will only shield children temporarily. A better approach for governments and regulators would be to focus on safety by design: the idea that the safety and rights of users should be the starting point of any app, product or service, rather than an afterthought. Chris Zomer, Associate Research Fellow at the Centre of the Digital Child, Deakin University and Sumudu Mallawaarachchi, Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, University of Wollongong This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
All work, all play: the art of videogame writing (2026-02-26T11:31:00+05:30)
Scott Knight, Bond UniversityGames writers dream up characters, dialogue, motivations and plot much like film screenwriters. But rather than keeping an audience captive for two or three hours at a time as in cinema, gamers will play for dozens if not hundreds of hours over the course of a game. While some factors of screenwriting come into play in videogames, the nature of game storytelling is quite different. This is the theme being explored at Perth Festival this weekend in The Game Changers: The Writer and The Game, which on the face of it seems to break the traditional model for writers festivals. So what can we say about writing for games? Player agencyAt the heart of game storytelling is the concept of “player agency”. Here, “agency” refers to the ability of a player to make changes within the game environment, or even more importantly, the illusion of being able to do this. If the game presents a convincing enough illusion of freedom then the player suspends his or her disbelief in the artificiality of the game’s world and the limitations in their choice of pathway. As a medium of interaction, videogames present the player with different possibilities and ask them to enact stories based on designed structures. This may take a linear form, as in the clearly defined pathways of the action-adventure The Last of Us (2011), to the relatively non-linear in the sense of freedom experienced playing game Skyrim (2011). Videogames run a broad spectrum and, while it is accepted that all games have rules, it can be argued that videogames are not necessarily a story-based medium. Looking to early game history, game spaces were more akin to game boards or sports fields. Think of maze games such as Pac-Man (1980), sports games such as Horace Goes Skiing (1982), and tower defence games such as Plants vs Zombies (2013). The objectives of these types of games are straightforward – stay alive as long as possible, and/or obtain a high score. The game space may be limited but the play strategies are endless. Story may be ascribed to these types of games, but they aren’t considered story-based games in a significant sense. Narrative evolutionAs game history progressed, the abstraction of games like Pac-Man evolved into the “convincing illusion” of fictional game worlds. The advent of navigating 3D space in games from the mid-1990s such as Super Mario 64 (1996) and Tomb Raider (1996) led to the living, breathing worlds we experience in games such as Skyrim (2011) and Grand Theft Auto V (2013). Over the last ten years, game storytelling has made significant developments along with the rapid rise in new capabilities of each subsequent console generation. Building on this, the flourishing of the indie game movement has led to an increased experimentation and sophistication in game form and storytelling. We now see a greater range of subject matter and variety of storytelling approaches from both mainstream and indie game development, from the emotional drama of Heavy Rain (2010) to the pixelated puzzles of Fez (2012) and the simple ethereal serenity of Journey (2012). With the further maturation of videogames as a form of expression, and the average age of gamers being over 30 in countries such as Australia, game developers have greater remit to create and explore more adult-orientated experiences. Contemporary videogame experiences can be so emotional and encompassing that players are moved deeply while playing certain games – think of the harrowing decision-making of The Walking Dead (2012) or the relationship that develops between Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us (2011). American media scholar Henry Jenkins argues that games use their environment to tell stories and may exhibit four dimensions of what he calls “narrative architecture”: games may draw upon pre-existing stories and enact story through traditions drawn from other media such as cinema in the form of non-interactive expository scenes or “cut scenes”, embed story elements within the game space, and create the possibility for players to author their own stories by constructing the world in which they play as in the case of Minecraft (2011). Exploring human emotionIn Braid (2008), game creator Jonathan Blow set out to explore loss and forgiveness. A game “mechanic” is a feature that describes how the game behaves or operates. It is tied in to the game’s rules and what a player can do within the game. Braid is a puzzle game in which the core mechanic is the player’s ability to manipulate the flow of time, including rewinding time. Here the central thematic and conceptual concerns of the game are designed into a gameplay feature that explores memory and the feelings associated with failed relationships. A game such as Gone Home (2013) demonstrates environmental storytelling. In it, the player assumes the role of Katie, who returns home from a long trip overseas to her empty family home and discovers a mysterious note written by her sister, Samantha. A liminal example of game design as exploration, Gone Home is akin to a detective story, in which the player searches the house for artefacts that develop the tapestry of the intriguing narrative about Samantha and the rest of the Katie’s family. The accomplishment in the writing of Gone Home can be seen in the way the game activates players’ curiosity to draw them into the mystery. There’s a subtlety and elegance to the writing of this game – despite not encountering any other physical characters, fragments of narrative are dispersed and embedded throughout which the player must actively piece together to interpret the story. In many ways, the similarities between the game writing and screenwriting processes are limited to constructing overarching plots or writing character dialogue and cut scenes – should these techniques even be employed in the game’s approach to story. Videogames are designed and programmed for action, which means storytelling has the capacity to be complex and engaging in ways not possible in other media. Story is affected on a moment-to-moment basis dependent on the affordances employed, the way spaces are navigated, or choices the player makes. Videogame environments create a world for meaningful play where events unfold, challenges evolve and the story is different for each and every player. The Game Changers: The Writer and The Game takes place on Saturday February 22 at Octagon Theatre, University of Western Australia. Perth International Arts Festival runs until March 1. Scott Knight, Assistant Professor of Film, Television and Videogames , Bond University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
What 40 years of ‘Space Invaders’ says about the 1970s – and today (2026-02-16T13:08:00+05:30)
 The iconic shooting game in its original stand-up arcade form. Jordiferrer, CC BY-SA
Lindsay Grace, American University School of CommunicationThe “Space Invaders” arcade video game, celebrating its 40th anniversary, is an iconic piece of software, credited as one of the earliest digital shooting games. Like many early games, it and its surrounding myths showcase the cultural collisions and issues current at its creation by Japanese game designer Tomohiro Nishikado. As a game designer and teacher of games, I know how meaning is carried from designer to the mechanics of play. As a game studies researcher, I also know how games reveal myth, meaning and culture. An analysis of “Pac-Man,” for instance, shows how that game embodies many values of its day – including consumerism, drug use and gender politics. The message in “Space Invaders” is as basic as the graphics: When faced with conflict, players have no option except to blast it away. Avoiding an enemy only delays the inevitable; players cannot move forward or back, but can only defend their space. There’s not even a reason why the invasion is occurring. Players know only that the invaders must be destroyed. It’s a distinct cultural perspective, emphasizing shooting over everything else. A historical pioneerThe history of many shooting games can be traced to “Space Invaders.” It’s not the first – MIT’s “Spacewar!” was earlier, in 1961 – but “Space Invaders” is among the most copied. Even people who never played the original “Space Invaders” have likely played the more than 100 clones of it – including the first advertising game, “Pepsi Invaders.” The release of “Space Invaders” foreshadowed the growth of the Japanese games industry, which itself was seen as a fearsome cultural invasion of the U.S. by Japan. The tension was expressed in popular media as a defense of American individualism against the power and efficacy of Japanese collectivism and corporate culture. This tension displayed itself in popular media like the comedy film “Gung Ho” as a combined Japanophobia and Japanophilia. “Space Invaders” also highlighted how tenuous some elements of Western identity were. The U.S. had built its sense of self on being the greatest, but was being challenged by Japanese economic growth. But it was complicated: As Japanese automakers won customers from the American car companies, they began to build their cars in the U.S. – so were they Japanese or American cars? In the same way, if the American game maker Atari’s biggest hit was a Japanese-made game, how American was Atari’s success? In any case, millions of U.S. consumers bought the Atari 2600 game system to be able to play the hit arcade game “Space Invaders” at home. Five years later, in 1983, the games industry crumbled in large part because American-made games were not interesting and too similar to each other. In 1985 the Japanese-made Nintendo Entertainment System ushered in a new era of home console play. That continued the challenge to the American identity: U.S. companies failed to innovate and lead, and a Japanese company filled the innovation void. The myths of (space) invasion“Space Invaders” also has collected some myths around it, which reveal more about society than about the game itself. The most notable legend is that “Space Invaders” was so popular that the Japanese economy ran out of the coins needed to play it in arcades. It’s not true, but like many myths about games, both positive and negative, it sounds so good it’s easy to champion anyway. That fable is a prequel to larger popular fictions about games. People blame games for the decline of economies and for joblessness. The innovations created in games support technological innovations that change society and the way people socialize, yet people are also eager to blame large systemic issues like gun violence in schools on video games. Another tale is that “Space Invaders” demand was so strong that even with multiple game machines installed, there were lines to play. Whether or not they were queuing up for their own turns, it’s definitely true that people watched others play. That helped set the stage for the growth of arcades and LAN-gaming parties, precursors to professional players and today’s multi-billion-dollar industry of e-sports. History shows that games change society, pointing it toward play and creating new economies. The advent of arcades was as novel as the contemporary use of the micro-transactions common in mobile games now. Their incubation of community and spectator play spawned countless YouTube gaming channels. Like the space invaders that descend on the player, unknown but always threatening, games scare some people. They seem to be unrelentingly approaching, different and hard to keep pace with. Games challenge players to adapt and dismantle the conventions under which people hide. But, like playing “Space Invaders” itself, the joy comes in interacting with that change, mastering it and moving on to the next level. Lindsay Grace, Associate Professor of Communication; Director, American University Game Lab and Studio, American University School of Communication This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
