The Entertainment Software Association

INDUSTRY UNITES FOR SECOND E3 COLLEGE GAME COMPETITION

Video game industry leaders will come together in June to judge the second E3 College Game Competition, an annual challenge which recognizes the top game design talent from U.S. academic institutions.

The 2014 panel of judges includes leaders from top game developers such as Vince Zampella, CEO of Respawn Entertainment; and Siobhan Reddy, studio director at Media Molecule, as well as editors of major game blogs including Brian Crecente, news editor of Polygon; and Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of GamesBeat. The panel also features industry figures such as Michael Gallagher, president and CEO of ESA; and Kate Edwards, executive director of the International Game Developers Association.

The E3 College Game Competition is open to students at colleges and universities with computer and video game development programs, and challenges these institutions to submit one video game that represents their program. Competing schools are required to submit story details and content assets from their own playable video game. Five finalists will be invited to present their games at E3 2014 in Los Angles, where they will have the opportunity to network with leading video game publishers, developers, marketers, and venture capitalists.

Last year's winners of the E3 College Game Competition

The University of Wisconsin-Stout’s winning team with ESA President and CEO Michael Gallagher.

The competition targets almost 400 American colleges, universities, art, and trade schools offering video game courses, certificates, and degree programs. Last year’s competition ended with a tie between the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Flash Frozen and Savannah College of Art and Design’s Lost in Thought.

Universities and colleges interested in submitting a game to the competition should email ESA@theESA.com for complete instructions, including guidelines on specific design, concept, and key asset requirements. The final deadline for submissions is April 18, 2014.

VIDEO GAMES AND GAME TECHNOLOGY HOLD PROMISE IN CURING PHANTOM PAIN

A new therapy system developed by a Swedish researcher uses augmented reality and video games to treat phantom limb pain, a common side effect of amputations in which patients feel a constant burning or stabbing pain where the missing limb was previously attached.

Max Ortiz-Catalan, a Ph.D. candidate at Chalmers University of Technology and the Centre of Orthopaedic Osseointegration at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden, designed a virtual environment in which patients can see and use their missing limbs. This exercise tricks the brain into thinking that the limb is no longer missing, and helps to ameliorate patients’ pain.

By attaching motion-detecting probes to a patient’s amputated limb, the system generates a virtual image of the missing arm or leg. Patients observe their missing limbs in action and later use them to play video games that mimic real-life activities, such as steering a car. Motion helps patients to engage dormant nerves that previously controlled the muscles in their missing limbs.

Ortiz-Catalan’s therapy system.

“At the end of the day, making them use that brain area, which they are not used to using, potentially helps to restore the brain map," explained Ortiz-Catalan.

Ortiz-Catalan’s therapy system builds on mirror therapy, today’s most common treatment for phantom limb pain, in which patients look at the remaining limb in a mirror. Doctors believe this technique fools the brain into thinking that the reflection is the missing arm or leg. While mirror therapy has treated some patients, it has its limitations. For example, amputees cannot simulate using the remaining limb and the missing limb at the same time. Moreover, patients missing both of their arms or both of their legs cannot benefit from the treatment. Ortiz-Catalan’s virtual reality video game system overcomes these limitations by enabling all amputee patients to see and exercise their missing limbs.

Early research shows that Ortiz-Catalan’s new therapy system has helped patients significantly reduce phantom limb pain. Since completing an initial case study on his treatment method, Ortiz-Catalan plans to begin clinical trials of the therapy system at four hospitals. He also plans to expand the groundbreaking treatment to hospitals around the world and use it to treat patients with other medical conditions, such as spinal cord injuries and strokes.

SAVING A LIFE THROUGH PLAY

New video games are educating teenagers about the dangers of cyberbullying and helping thousands of victims to cope.

Pixelberry Studios recently added a new episode “Hope’s Story” to its wildly popular video game High School Story to help students recognize and combat cyberbullying. High School Story – which has been downloaded by more than 4 million people since its August 2013 launch – is set in a typical American high school and exposes players to a variety of common scenarios ranging from prom night to student government elections.

SAVING A LIFE THROUGH PLAY

Screenshot from High School Story.

In the game’s latest episode, players take on the role of Hope, a young student who finds out that her love interest has a girlfriend. When the girlfriend discovers that her boyfriend has been unfaithful, she encourages her friends to send Hope hurtful text messages. Players must help Hope overcome the difficult situation by collecting evidence of the text messages and getting support from a parent, school authorities, and friends.

Pixelberry also partnered with The Cybersmile Foundation, a charity that aims to combat the threat of cyberbullying through education and support, to raise funds for the foundation’s prevention and counseling programs. For each in-game purchase of virtual goods, the studio will make a matching donation to The Cybersmile Foundation, up to $100,000.

Pixelberry developers recognized the opportunity to address cyberbullying after receiving messages from a High School Story player who was contemplating suicide. “We wanted to make it impactful,” said Oliver Miao, chief executive of Pixelberry in a recent interview with GamesBeat. “We’ve had a lot of players write into us and tell us how touched they are.”

Other games teach teens how to recognize, prevent, and respond to cyberbullying. Students at the Center for Advanced Research and Technology in Clovis, CA, for example, designed Bully Blaster, a game that challenges players to fight bullies by destroying insults and collecting compliments for points. In addition, the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, an ESA Foundation (ESAF) grant recipient, created Act Now!, a game-based program that teaches students techniques for preventing bullying in their schools and online, as well as helping victims in need of support.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one-in-six teens have experienced cyberbullying and nearly half of them think that current cyberbullying initiatives and resources are ineffective. Interactive video games transform current cyberbullying curriculum into an entertaining, yet educational adventure, and help teens to understand and overcome this serious issue.

In the News

3/23/2014 — Schools begin to map out their virtual places of learning — The Financial Times

3/21/2014 — After-school club uses video game to teach math — The Grand Island Independent (NE)

3/19/2014 — Videogame technology proven to help reduce hospital falls — Chicago Tribune

3/11/2014 — South Tama Game Squad: Bringing people together — Tama-Toledo News (IA)

3/10/2014 — Testing Embedded in Digital Games Yields Key Data — Education Week

3/9/2014 — Video games have been a major economic force — The Southern Illinoisan (IL)

3/4/2014 — WISD's youngest students use video games, apps to build skills — Waxahachie Daily Light (TX)

Latest News Releases

Quote of the Month

"I like to use [videogames] as an engagement piece, to build their word skills and help with their spelling. They can battle each other, we’ll battle half the class against the other class or boys against girls. It’s good to help their word base. They have fun, and start cheering for each other or yelling for each other."

Clare Kelly, fifth grade teacher at Margaret L. Felty Elementary School in Waxahachie, TX, during the school’s recent “Bring Your Own Device Night,” an event at which parents learned how teachers are leveraging video games in the classroom, and how they can use educational games with their children at home

Did You Know?

A team of researchers from the University of Southern California’s School of Education, Game Innovation Lab, and other academic departments created three games to teach students how to successfully complete a college application. Players navigate a virtual high school and earn points by receiving letters of recommendation, studying in the library, playing sports, and setting and meeting deadlines. The game is designed to help students who are the first in their family to go to college, or who do not have guidance counselors at their school to help guide them through the tedious application process.

Statistic of the Month

According to a study by UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization at the UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka, MN, overweight children who received active games added seven minutes of moderate to vigorous activity and three minutes of vigorous activity to their daily routines over 16 weeks. This equates to four pounds of weight loss over the course of a year.

Attention Teachers: ESAF Challenge Grant Update

ESAF is accepting applications for its Education Challenge Grant, an annual competition rewarding teachers who propose innovative lesson plans that feature video games, until April 18. ESAF is also accepting submissions for its annual scholarship and grant programs through May. To learn more about ESAF’s grant opportunities, click here.

Contact Us

Entertainment Software Association
575 7th Street, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20004

For general inquiries, please email esa@theESA.com.

For members of the media only, please contact Dan Hewitt.

ESA on Twitter: @RichatESA

Copyright © 2014 — ESA Entertainment Software Association

Click here to unsubscribe from our monthly newsletter.

Click here to unsubscribe from all ESA email lists.