Now here's a policy that will win over the children.

Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson says youngsters should be encouraged to play more on computer consoles like Xboxes. He reckons even violent games can be educational and increase intelligence.

Mr Watson, who is in charge of encouraging new technology across Government, said: "Basically, I think playing games is a good thing.

"I'd rather my boy be playing on his Wii than passively watching telly.

"Most games are educational. They make you think, focus, challenge and change - 500 years ago a medium that did this would be called art."

Mr Watson revealed his three-year-old son learned to count using a Telly Tubbies game. And he said a friend's eight-year-old learned how to make bronze - by mixing copper and tin - after playing Runequest.

He added: "Even the fun stuff has serious real-world applications."

But the remarks clash with Government attempts to cut childhood obesity. Ministers want parents to stop children playing on consoles.

Former sports minister Richard Caborn said: "We all have a role to play in encouraging young people to get out from behind their computer games and playing sport." Figures this week showed a quarter of five-year-olds are overweight or obese. That rises to a third by the age of 11.

ARE COMPUTER GAMES GOOD FOR KIDS?

YES says KEVIN LYNCH Mirror Technology Expert

While conventional wisdom used to say that staring at a screen for hours was bad for your eyes, there's evidence to suggest gaming can improve your visual skills and actually "sharpen the mind".

A recent study by the US government's National Institute of Health, found regular players of shootem-ups like Half-Life and Medal of Honour were better at spotting details in busy, confusing scenes and could cope with more distractions than average.

And researchers found that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made 37 per cent fewer mistakes.

On top of this, the Nintendo Wii is a great way for kids to keep fit and active.

There is also now a positive sociable side to modern gaming with the likes of Xbox Live and Sony's PS3 Network allowing you to play against pals and make new friends. And the likes of Singstar and Rockband actively encourage you to gather some mates and have a singsong!

Screens creating obese children

NO says HEATHER WELFORD Childcare & Parenting Author

No One would deny that these games can be fun.

And some may even be educational.

But the risk is that children play them at the expense of interaction with real people - especially parents and friends.

It's preposterous to claim that children need these games to develop properly. Sitting at the table eating a meal will help to develop their co-ordination skills just as well and a three-year-old can learn to count by playing simple games with mum and dad.

There is plenty of research to show that children are spending too long in front of computer and TV screens and missing out on active playtime outside - the rise in childhood obesity is testament to that.

The research I have seen shows children are now starting school with shorter concentration spans, poor social skills and language delay. At least partly to blame is parents relying on computers to entertain youngsters.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...name_page.html ...

Now here's a policy that will win over the children.

Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson says youngsters should be encouraged to play more on computer consoles like Xboxes. He reckons even violent games can be educational and increase intelligence.

Mr Watson, who is in charge of encouraging new technology across Government, said: "Basically, I think playing games is a good thing.

"I'd rather my boy be playing on his Wii than passively watching telly.

"Most games are educational. They make you think, focus, challenge and change - 500 years ago a medium that did this would be called art."

Mr Watson revealed his three-year-old son learned to count using a Telly Tubbies game. And he said a friend's eight-year-old learned how to make bronze - by mixing copper and tin - after playing Runequest.

He added: "Even the fun stuff has serious real-world applications."

But the remarks clash with Government attempts to cut childhood obesity. Ministers want parents to stop children playing on consoles.

Former sports minister Richard Caborn said: "We all have a role to play in encouraging young people to get out from behind their computer games and playing sport." Figures this week showed a quarter of five-year-olds are overweight or obese. That rises to a third by the age of 11.

ARE COMPUTER GAMES GOOD FOR KIDS?

YES says KEVIN LYNCH Mirror Technology Expert

While conventional wisdom used to say that staring at a screen for hours was bad for your eyes, there's evidence to suggest gaming can improve your visual skills and actually "sharpen the mind".

A recent study by the US government's National Institute of Health, found regular players of shootem-ups like Half-Life and Medal of Honour were better at spotting details in busy, confusing scenes and could cope with more distractions than average.

And researchers found that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made 37 per cent fewer mistakes.

On top of this, the Nintendo Wii is a great way for kids to keep fit and active.

There is also now a positive sociable side to modern gaming with the likes of Xbox Live and Sony's PS3 Network allowing you to play against pals and make new friends. And the likes of Singstar and Rockband actively encourage you to gather some mates and have a singsong!

Screens creating obese children

NO says HEATHER WELFORD Childcare & Parenting Author

No One would deny that these games can be fun.

And some may even be educational.

But the risk is that children play them at the expense of interaction with real people - especially parents and friends.

It's preposterous to claim that children need these games to develop properly. Sitting at the table eating a meal will help to develop their co-ordination skills just as well and a three-year-old can learn to count by playing simple games with mum and dad.

There is plenty of research to show that children are spending too long in front of computer and TV screens and missing out on active playtime outside - the rise in childhood obesity is testament to that.

The research I have seen shows children are now starting school with shorter concentration spans, poor social skills and language delay. At least partly to blame is parents relying on computers to entertain youngsters.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...name_page.html ...

CNN has declared Sony's PS3 "a sinking ship" riffing off last Thursday's "plummeting" NPD sales results. CNN bases its gloomy diagnosis on Sony's sales plunge of 19 points, compared to sales in November 2007. That's a fair criticism, but it isolates a superficially negative statistic while ignoring the fact that this November only included two days of post-holiday sales (11/28 - 11/29) compared to last year's eight total (11/23 - 11/30). I'm speculating here, but if you could adjust for that difference, it's very likely PS3 sales would have increased, however slightly, year-over-year.

What's more, Sony rightly points out that the PS3 has seen hardware sales grow 60% year-to-date. I realize the PS3 wasn't selling well in 2007, so that figure's less impressive than it sounds, but growth is growth, any way you slice it. What's more, look at PS3 and Xbox 360 units sold in total worldwide, and Sony pretty much throughout 2008 has actually been playing catchup.

Then there's the PlayStation brand overall, which when you factor in the PSP and PS2, topped 1 million units, more than the Xbox 360's 836,000. The PlayStation brand has in fact pretty easily muscled past the Xbox brand practically every month since the PS3's launch. Sony's margins on the PSP and PS2 are almost certainly better than the PS3's, so which company's actually been more profitable in overall unit sales is less obvious than it seems.

On the other hand, CNN's whacking the nail on the head when it raises the problem of the PlayStation 3's price. The recession's been on well and long enough for Sony to have reacted by now, and yet it's stubbornly clung to that $400 entry point. Had it dropped the PS3's price to $300 or even $350 it's a safe bet October and November's numbers would've tallied much more favorably. Both Microsoft and Sony have a solid stable of exclusives, and both have interesting companion services, but it's price and not NXE/Netflix or PlayStation Home that's deciding the battle at the moment.

Quick points...

CNN's right that the video-game industry isn't recession proof. Nothing is. The rest of us saying as much merely mean "recession-proof-so-far," which it clearly is compared to other ebbing economic indices.

CNN says the differences between Blu-ray and DVD are hard to see on a TV less than 50". I suppose that'd be true if your eyes are somehow genetically fixed at 720 x 480 (NTSC). For the rest of us, Blu-ray at even 720p (1280 x 720) with all its other commensurate upticks in sample rates and color quality is shockingly better than the visuals output of the average DVD.

And finally, "the PS3 just doesn't have any must-have titles exclusive to the console." Really? I guess CNN's not familiar (or perhaps just not partial to) exclusives like Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future, Wipeout HD, Valkyria Chronicles, the original Resistance: Fall of Man (twice the game the sequel is, in my opinion), and MLB 08: The Show. When you're talking new unit sales, you count the whole history of notable exclusives, not just the last month or two of holiday attention-grabbers.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/15548...king_ship.html ...

Playing computer games used to be a lazy activity before Nintendo's Wii Fit shook up the industry. Now the company who brought simulated tennis and yoga to the masses is sending gamers outside to exercise.
The Japanese electronics giant are launching the game 'Walk With Me!' for DS consoles guaranteed to put a spring in your step.

Instead of slouching in front of the TV, players are encouraged to create a personal walking regime and compete against friends, family and even their pets.

The software comes with two pedometers called 'Activity Meters', which monitor how much activity you do during the day. The data is collected and stored on the pedometer for seven days and is transferred by an infra red signal to a Nintendo DS.

Users can set daily walking targets and compare their activity to up to three other users.

There are also a number of motivating mini-games, with collected steps used to unlock trivia, create images and find out how much electrical energy walking has generated.
Computer users can also compete with players from around the world to become the planet's top-ranked walkers and combine their steps together to plot a virtual walk through the solar system.

Walk with me! launches across Europe on 20th February.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...AVE-house.html ...

Eke-Eke has released a new version of his PC Engine Emulator for Nintendo Wii and Gamecube:

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Eke-Eke has released a new version of his PC Engine Emulator for Nintendo Wii and Gamecube:

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Eke-Eke has released a new version of his Genesis(Megadrive) Emulator for Nintendo Wii and Gamecube:



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Eke-Eke has released a new version of his Genesis(Megadrive) Emulator for Nintendo Wii and Gamecube:



Heres whats new:


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News/release from Indiket.




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