Click the image below for a mind map of the entire site. This helps give the overall picture of where you can go and what you can do at KidConfidence.net. Enjoy!
At KidConfidence we use MindManager for all kinds of things – brainstorming, planning, projects, communicating ideas, presentations and more. It is a fantastic tool and well worth taking a look at!
James Paul Gee, professor at the University of Wisconsin and author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, argues that games can be the ultimate learning machine. “Video games operate with – that is, they build into their designs and encourage – good principles of learning, principles that are better than those in many of our skill-and-drill, back-to-bassics, test-them-until-they-drop schools.”
“The fact is when kids play video games they can experience a much more powerful form of learning than when they’re in the classroom. Learning isn’t about memorizing isolated facts. It’s about connecting and manipulating them.”
At KidConfidence, we agree. What’s missing is a way for parents to find games that are learning machines, and avoid games that are time wasters. And that’s why we’re here to help!
Question: What is a KidConfidence video game review?
Answer: A KidConfidence video game review provides an objective look at the different aspects of a video game. Our Editors score different parts of a video game which calculates to an overall 1-10 numerical score. The score is displayed on our “KidConfidence Scorecard”, located on the upper screen part of each video game review page. For easy browsing we represent our overall score by icons showing: Thumbs Up (Great Game – Buy), Open Palm (Mediocre Game – Rent) and Thumbs Down (Bad Game – Avoid). KidConfidence also displays the Amazon Customer 1-5 Star Rating for each video game.
Question: How does KidConfidence score new game compared to old ones?
Answer: As the quality of gaming experiences naturally improves over time, we do not simply rate new games higher, even if they’re technically better. Instead, we adjust our expectations and continually recalibrate our numeric rating scale accordingly. What this means in practice is that a high score awarded today by KidConfidence is worth more than if we awarded the same score yesterday. In other words, a game that earns a high score today is probably superior in overall quality to a game that earned the same score on our scale several years ago.
Question: What determines the “Recommended age”?
Answer: KidConfidence bases “Recommended Age” on ESRB Ratings, as well as which ages will enjoy the product. A child’s developmental skill set and popularity help us determine the enjoyment levels of a game.
While many children may enjoy games at different stages of their development, the recommended age is our suggestion for an age which will best enjoy the product. Please use the recommendation as guidelines, and use sensitivity when purchasing games based on the individuals that you are shopping for. Based on your own experience with a game, feel free to also offer reviews and feedback on the website for other visitors to learn from.
Question: What are the different parts of a KidConfidence game review?
Answer: Storyline, Game-play, Multiplayer, Replay, Education and Overall.
Question: How is the Overall Score calculated?
Answer: Game-play 60%, Multiplayer 10%, Replay value 10% and Educational Value 20%.
Got Questions?
Contact: thomas@kidconfidence.com (this is not a link to avoid spam)
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Storyline
The line of a story.
What happens throughout the game.
Game-play
How the game plays.
Fun, challenges, rewards, difficulty and/or flexibility.
The interface, how the game is controlled and how the screen is laid out, keyboard, mouse, joystick, game pad, and other controller support.
Which key game play elements make it fun or not fun.
Multiplayer features
Is this a game played over the Internet, hot seat type game (where two or more people play on the same computer one at a time taking turns), split screen (many games allow simultaneous play on a split screen) or network?
How many people can play in each mode of play?
Is there cooperative and competitive play, and how does it work?
If there is cooperative play can you only play against other humans or can you play the plot of the game?
If there is competitive play are there various scenarios specifically designed for this type of play?
Does the game encourage players to interact or play together?
Replay value
Is it a game that will have years of replay value or something that will be going back to “EBgames” after you are done?
Are there levels that will be unlocked when you finish the game or do you just get an ending once you have spent hours playing it?
Is it a game that you keep playing, even when you have played it for years, or is the demo pretty much it?
Educational value
Does the game involve the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values, through study, experience, or teaching.
Overall
Summary and closing comments
Do we recommend or not?
If so, for what group/kind of player
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The Scores and Icons:
Update: We are currently experimenting with a variety of rating icons. Examples include a Skull and Crossed Bones for video games with intense violence and a blue “E” for games with outstanding educational value.
10.0 – 7.5 Thumbs Up
7.0 – 6.0 Open Palm
5.5 – 1.0 Thumbs Down
10.0: Perfect We couldn’t have done it better ourselves. This game is a must have.
9.0-9.5: Superb We absolutely recommend any game in this range
8.0-8.5: Great This range refers to great games that are excellent in almost every way and whose few setbacks probably aren’t too important.
7.0-7.5: Good A game within this range is good overall, and likely worth playing by fans of the particular genre or by those otherwise interested. While its strengths outweigh its weaknesses, a game that falls in this range tends to have noticeable faults.
6.0-6.5: Fair Games that earn 6-range ratings have certain good qualities but significant problems as well. These games may well be worth playing, but you should approach them with caution.
5.0-5.5: Mediocre A 5-range score refers to a game that’s “merely average” in the negative sense. These games tend to have enough major weaknesses to considerably outweigh their strengths.
4.0-4.5: Poor Games that just don’t work right and maybe didn’t spend enough time in production tend to fall in to this category. They simply lack the cohesion and quality that make other games fun.
3.0-3.5: Bad You probably shouldn’t get too close to a game in this range.
2.0-2.5: Terrible Beware, for a game in this range is almost entirely devoid of any remotely decent or fully functional features.
1.0-1.5: Abysmal Ouch. The rare game that falls in this lowest-of-the-low range has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Don’t play this game.
N/A: Not available A certain feature or category is missing completely.
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59% of teachers would consider using video games in schools!
READ THE FULL ARTICLE:
A MORI Poll looking into teachers’ attitudes to computer games in schools has revealed that 59% would consider using them in a classroom to aid pupils’ education.
According to the investigation, commissioned as part of Teaching with Games, a research project by NESTA Futurelab and EA, 59% of teachers questioned would consider using games in their classroom for educational purposes. The study also found that 53% would consider using computer games as an interactive tool to help motivate and engage pupils.
The majority of teachers questioned believed that playing mainstream games can lead to improved skills and knowledge, with 91% feeling that those who played games developed their motor-cognitive skills, and 60% felt that users would develop a higher order thinking skills and could also acquire topic-specific knowledge.
“I am excited and intrigued by the prospect of using gaming technology in the classroom. Individualised learning, at rates hitherto thought impossible, may be the norm if we get it right,” said Marius Frank, Head Teacher at Bedminster Down School in Bristol.
One of the issues to come from the poll are the barriers stopping the use of mainstream games in schools. Firstly there is a lack of equipment available in schools capable of running the games. There is also a lack of evidence to support the educational value of mainstream games, and the concern that computer games may “present stereotypical views of others and lead to anti-social behaviour.”
Teaching with Games is attempting to explore the issues of using interactive computer games in school by using three games: The Sims 2, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and Knights of Honor. Researchers will be working with teachers to develop lesson plans to incorporate these games.
“The Poll confirms what we have long believed at EA – that interactive computer games have the capacity to engage both teachers and learners. In a short space of time, Teaching with Games has already highlighted the importance of collaboration between industry and the education sector to show how learning can be enhanced through gaming,” commented Claus Due, Market Development Manager, EA Europe.
Video games in schools? What will they think of next?
THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED BY:
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) tries to provide accurate and objective information about the content in computer and video games so you can make an informed purchase decision.
ESRB:http://www.esrb.org ratings have two equal parts: rating symbols suggest age appropriateness for the game and content descriptors indicate elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern.
My youngest daughter will be 4 this month, and she’s discovering video games. She just figured out how to play Elmo’s Pre-School and is very proud of herself. It is teaching her how to use the mouse and navigate around the screen. Elmo asks her to pick up a feather and “tickle” him or to give him a cupcake. He asks her to find the letter “Z”, and if she has trouble, he gives her help and keeps things constructive.
When I watch her playing this game it is such a different experience from watching TV. It is interactive. Elmo tells her: “Elmo thinks you’re smart.”
Yesterday morning, she asked to play “Elmo” again and I told her she could play while I took a shower. A few minutes later she came bursting into the bathroom saying “Daddy – I have to go poddy but don’t turn off Elmo, ok!!??”
Like I’m going to jump out of the shower and turn off her game. Well, I guess she just wanted to be SURE.
E3 2006 : A floor report.
As every year at this time we ask the question: “What’s hot and What’s not” in the interactive gaming industry.
The gaming industry is trying to fight the stereotype that games are to violent and for the male audience only. And yet…this years E3 is dominated by big guns, massive battles, barely glad big breasted fantasy avatars, drug-lords, Orc’s and all sorts of blood thirsty Aliens – all this in HD of course.
You have alternatives – that is if you like sequels. But how may “Tony Hawk” or “Gran Turismo” sequels can we take? And if the only new thing SEGA has for us is just another “Sonic” game – then that’s not a good sign.
But hey at least it’s HD, that supposedly makes everything better.
But there has to be credit to who credit deserves:
Some of the new 2KSports and EA titles take good advantage of that HD color fidelity and dynamic available with 3rd Gen consoles. Most people however will have to buy a new TV after dropping $599 for their PS3, and oh make sure you have a Dolby Surround System otherwise your 3rd Gen is probably a waste of your money.
Nintendo steers in another direction with their “Wii”.
Gyro controlled, 24h online-even if turned off, super fast startup and all your favorite old games online for free. Too bad the wait time was almost 2hours to get some hands-on “Gyro-controller” Wii action.
Last years Guitar Hero showed us all that “super” graphic is not necessary for a smash hit – it’s innovation we love.
Good luck Nintendo, because the graphics quality of Wii can only compete with medium PS 2 games. Nintendo is betting on innovation and fun- and let me tell you it looks like a lot of fun to me. Having a retail price under $300 will make it appealing for a lot of people.
Nintendo I salute you.
But what’s new for the kids:
“The game factory” is in my opinion the most innovative kids gaming company. Well established in the European console, handheld and PC market, they are now taking on the US market.
Their titles are licensed non-violent characters like Strawberry Shortcake, Garfield, Noody, Franklin etc. The games provide solid, fun, good looking, 3D, educational game-play, available for all platforms. What stands out is the fact that they do consoles and handhelds not only PC as most other companies like Brighter Minds Media Inc. or Topics Entertainment – who still believe that PC is the only way to go and that they cannot sell their games on other platforms.
I asked them:
If parents had a choice- would they rather play “I Spy” with the whole family in the living room on the couch or have their kid be all alone in mommy’s or daddy’s office?
I heard a lot of excuses, but nothing I could buy into, except maybe that some games are build in “Director” and a port would be waaaay too expensive for a small company.
So,
What’s hot:
Nintendo’s gyro controllers, fling and swing yourself thru the levels.
What’s not:
Sequels, sequels, sequels – the gaming industry is getting just as bad as Hollywood
By Thomas Hasch
Editor Kid Confidence
The KidConfidence discussion forums are now live! Drop by and join one of our discussions about Kids and gaming, Games and Learning, and more!
KidConfidence Discussion Forums
This is a simple Flash game for my daughter. You are a sea otter and have to decide what is good for you to eat and what isn’t. Give it a try!
What Do Otters Eat?
