A video game developer is promoting an upcoming product by making a donation to charity based on the number of people who officially “like” the game on Facebook.

Hudson will donate 10 cents to Child’s Play Charity for every person who “likes” Lost In Shadow on Facebook and will up the donation to one dollar for anyone who changes his or her Facebook profile picture to one depicting a shadow.

Morgan Haro, marketing specialist at Hudson, said the event, called “Shadows To Light,” reflects the theme of the game, which revolves around the shadow of a boy climbing a mystical tower.

“The journey is all about overcoming hardships and the barriers that prevent you from reaching your goal,” Harrow said. “Child’s Play is a charity that sees hundreds of thousands of young children in a similar journey, only grounded in reality.”

Haro said her personal goal is to get 10,000 “likes” by the event’s September 7 deadline.

“At the very least, this would enable us to donate $1,000 to Child’s Play,” Haro said. “However that’s not factoring in how many of those 10,000 would have changed their profile picture to a shadow. Hopefully, we’ll see a good amount of those.”

Hudson will count the “likes” and profile pictures on September 7 to determine the amount of its donation. Lost In Shadow comes out in North America January 4, 2011.

Mafia II tells the story of a Sicilian gangster's rise in the 1940s and '50s.

UNICO National, “the largest Italian service organization in the USA”, voiced its disapproval of Take-Two Interactive’s upcoming video game Mafia II, which places players in the role of a Sicilian gangster as he rises through the ranks of an Italian crime syndicate in the 1940s and ’50s.

Andre’ DiMino, UNICO National president, said Mafia II perpetuates the stereotype of all Italians and Italian-Americans as being connected to organized crime, a stereotype he said is based on a small percentage of truth when compared to the prevalence of other ethnic groups involved in organized crime.

“The promos and story lines go into great detail about the characters coming here from Sicily and joining with other Italians in bloody, murderous crimes and nefarious activities as their only pursuits,” DiMino said. “Although the negative stereotyping is being disclaimed by Take Two, and its misguided devotees, as a ‘period piece’ or somehow, laughably, an ‘historical account’, that belies the fact that in that period, and with historical reference, the infinitesimally small percentage of Italian Americans in organized crime were second to more powerful and murderous criminals from other ethnic groups.”

DiMino said the stereotype has been blown out of proportion by society despite the percentages.

“In all cases, it is the small percentage of Italians involved in crime during this period that are ubiquitous in the media and entertainment industry,” DiMino said. “This, as is evident, has welded that negative perception into the collective consciousness.”

To accurately portray the efforts of Italians and Italian-Americans, DiMino said the media and entertainment industry should focus on the areas in which larger percentages of the ethnic group participated.

“If there is truly to be historical perspective, where are the stories about the extremely high relative percentage of Italian Americans who fought for this country in World War II and those that have contributed so much to this world and this country?” DiMino asked. “You just don’t see or hear about that at all.”

DiMino wrote a letter to Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick expressing his disapproval of Mafia II‘s stereotypes and requested the game’s release be delayed so the offensive material could be removed. Zelnick responded publicly with a press release.

“Mafia II tells a compelling story about organized crime in America — a subject that for decades has been featured in movies, television shows and novels,” Zelnick said. “Neither UNICO nor any other organization purporting to represent Italian-Americans has seen or played Mafia II.”

DiMino said his organization’s knowledge of the game comes from “video promos, ‘walk-throughs’, gameplay accounts and reviews on You Tube and other available sources.” A demo of the game is also available on Xbox Live and Playstation Network.

“At Take-Two, we balance our right to free expression with what we believe is a thoughtful and responsible approach to creating and marketing our products,” Zelnick said. “Mafia II is M-rated in accordance with our industry’s strict standards. It is specifically not targeted toward young people.”

DiMino said a significant number of young people will still play the game despite the mature rating.

“Unfortunately, although Zelnick can hide behind the ‘M’ rating on this disgraceful game, we all know that millions of teens and pre-teens will be engrossed with playing Mafia II,” DiMino said. “Consequently, we abhor the potential of a new generation being catalyzed into automatically associating Italian Americans with the disgusting thugs and violent bums who inhabit Mafia II.  It is just not fair or acceptable!”

Zelnick concluded his letter by saying his fully supports Take-Two’s teams and products.

“We will only release a title that meets our standards: as art, as entertainment and as a socially responsible product,” he said. “We aim to distinguish creative and compelling story telling that advances artistic expression from subject matter that gratuitously exploits or glorifies violence or stereotypes. I fully and completely stand behind our creative teams and products, including Mafia II.”

DiMino said Zelnick’s response is “ludicrous, self-serving pablum.”

“He ‘fully and completely’ stands behind his creative team and ‘socially responsible’ products?” DiMino asked. “Is he referring to Grand Theft Auto, Bully, Manhunt and now Mafia II? Perhaps he is the one living in a video game!”

Mafia II is only one source of media UNICO National has spoken out against for its portrayal of Italians.

“For many, many years, UNICO has consistently and repeatedly fought negative stereotyping and defamation,” DiMino said. “This has included protests against The Sopranos, Shark Tales, stereotypical advertisements, TV series, and many other media items.”

DiMino said he does not deny Italians and Italian-Americans have been involved in organized crime but believes the media should stop exaggerating the stereotype and start treating the ethnic group more fairly.

“To punctuate this point, can you name one show on TV that has ever portrayed Italian Americans in a positive light?” DiMino asked. “What we are seeking is fairness.”

An athlete measures his balance with Wii Fit.

The Washington Post’s Steve Yanda reported on the way some colleges are using Nintendo’s Wii Fit game and balance board to determine the status of athletes recovering from concussions by using the game’s balance exercises as a reference point for progress.

“The athletes love it because what we’ve done is we’ve incorporated this fun game that they’re playing at home into their rehab system,” said Tamerah Hunt, director of research at the Ohio State Sports Concussion Program. “But they’re also enjoying it at a time when they’re injured or at a time when their spirits are down, and they have to come into the athletic training room every day and they have to get all this treatment . . . and it’s kind of a reaction of, ‘Oh, this is fun.’ “

Read the full article in The Washington Post.

Most of the development team working on the game, from left: Arne Thomas Nilsen, (Programmer and Media Analyst), Petter Mordt (Executive Programmer), Siril Grude (Pedagogical Designer and Media Analyst), Atle Lokken (Head of Department, NettOp), and Karsten Tillerli (Production Manager, web based nursing project)

NettOp, the web-based study unit of the University of Stavanger in Norway, is developing a video game to assist nursing students in learning to prepare proper drug dosages for patients.

According to university officials, nursing students must master proper drug dosage to pass an exam before receiving certification, but the subject often proves difficult for a significant portion of students. A single miscalculation results in failure.

“At the University of Stavanger, the students have three goes at handing in an exam paper without mistakes. The last few years the percentage of fails has been between 36 and 39 both for the first and second attempt.”

Atle Løkken, director of NettOp, said he believes the problem stems from most nursing students joining the program without being prepared for the complex calculations required within the profession.

“We don’t have much scientific verification, but we believe a major reason is that the students that want to be a nurse primarily are interested in and expect the human and social aspect of the profession and are not prepared for the math and science that indeed also come with it.”

Løkken said renowned American psychologist Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory, the idea that there are a variety of intelligences that don’t necessarily trump one another, may account for why some nursing students struggle with the math of drug dosages.

“In Gardner’s theory, we may expect the nursing students to be predominantly more ‘visually’ and ‘socially intelligent’ than ‘mathematically,’” Løkken said. “This does not mean that ‘visually’ and ‘socially intelligent’ people can’t solve mathematical problems, it simply means that ‘socially intelligent’ individuals approach mathematical problems differently from how math is normally taught in academia by ‘mathematically intelligent’ instructors.”

Gardner also inspired Løkken and his team to use a video game to assist nursing students who struggle with the math.

“Referring to Howard Gardner again, he pointed out already in 1996 that ‘New media work may enable ordinary students to gain an understanding that may have been accessible only in the extraordinary classroom in years past,’” Løkken said. “Video games embrace most of the [best properties] in computing and network technologies [today] and are unique compared to other means of communication and teaching.”

Løkken said video games offer numerous advantages when combined with education.

“[They introduce a method of teaching] appealing to a larger group of students than traditional education and a safe environment to training otherwise not available.” Løkken said. “A video game gives us a visual interface to mathematical problems, giving us a methodology and a tool that appeals to students that may be more ‘visually intelligent’ than ‘mathematically.’”

With a limited budget and the goal of educating students, Løkken said he and his team were inspired by Nintendo’s philosophy to focus on effective game mechanics rather than impressive visuals for their game’s interface.

“Graphically, the interface will be 2D, which is sufficient to all we need to convey at this point,” Løkken said. “The main task of the interface is to visually present the concepts of the relationship between weight, volume, liquid, dissolutions etc.”

Løkken said he expects the game to be completed for this fall so he and his team can begin gauging its effectiveness with students. The team plans to use its findings to develop an extended version of the game next year.

“The intention is to develop a game to also deal with the treatment and distribution of medicines,” Løkken said. “The idea is to make the game train all stages from the point the nurses receive the prescription to the selection of the right drug in the medication room, preparation of the medication in the prescribed dosage, and the distribution of the medication to the patient and also the effects of the medication on the patient, including the fatal cases.”

He said the game will attempt to simulate realistic situations and settings.

“It will be scenarios where we will add external distractions and time restrictions often found in the hospitals and health institutions that easily may lead to short cuts and eventually fatal errors,” Løkken said. “The idea is simply to make the whole game more real.”

He said this type of training is only practical with the use of video games.

“It is not possible or, for practical reasons, feasible to do this safely in any other way,” he said. “Students do of course handle drugs while in practice, but we have seen examples of serious errors during their practical training. Thus the game will simply reduce the risk.”

Rich Taylor, senior vice president for communications and industry affairs at the ESA, said the increase is a sign of the expanding role video games play in society.

“While computer and video games have been a source of entertainment for decades, our society is increasingly recognizing the broader uses of games and their positive impact. Whether it is in healthcare, education, business or government, schools across the country see the value of games and are training their students to meet the demand.”

For a full list of the schools offering computer and video game-related degrees, read the full press release on the ESA’s website.

Fox & Friends’ Clayton Morris interviews Gold Star Mother Karen Meredith about her reaction to Electronic Arts’ upcoming Medal of Honor, which takes place in modern day Afghanistan and allows players to assume the role of Taliban soldiers.

Michael Cera 'levels up' as Scott Pilgrim in one of the film's many game references.

NPR’s Linda Holmes reported on the way several movie reviewers criticized the target audience of “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” in their negative critiques of the film.

After referring to the first part of the movie as a “dork-pandering assault,” The Boston Phoenix reviewer goes on to say that Michael Cera’s performance is “irritating” in part because of “the non-stop Pavlovian laugh track provided by the audience at the screening I attended.” (As far as I know, that’s a first: “You made the audience laugh, you irritating actor in a comedy, and that’s what’s wrong with you.”)

The review in the St. Petersburg Times begins, “First of all, I’m not a video gamer. I have discovered more appealing ways to not have a life.”

The New York Observer sniffs that the film is “clearly directed at an audience with generational ADD.”

Here’s one from Philadelphia Weekly: “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is Fan Service: The Movie, an insular, punishingly alienating experience preaching only to the faithful, devoted hearts of arrested 12-year-old boys. It’s singularly fixated on video games and shallow visions of women as one-dimensional objects to be either obtained or discarded and offers no possible point of entry to anybody over the age of 30.”

Read the full article to see how Holmes combats these assertions as a fan of the film despite not fitting into any of the above reviewers’ categories.

Also read Dennis Scimeca’s take on the reviews as well as their greater implications in his article on Bitmob.

Viewers can now watch Moral Kombat, a 2007 documentary concerning the history and impact of video game violence, for free on Hulu.

The documentary features a variety of panelists (including game designers, scientists, college professors, politicians, children experts, military personnel, etc.) speaking for and against video games.

Ben playing Nintendo DS.

Ben, from Billericay, Essex,  spends two hours a day playing Mario Kart on a Nintendo DS with his twin Jake. Ben wears a patch over his good eye to make his lazy one work harder.

The twins’ mother, Maxine, 36, said that from being ‘nearly blind’ in the eye, Ben’s vision had ‘improved 250 per cent’ in the first week.

Read the entire article at Mail Online.

Enemies bludgeoned with a golden wrench turn to gold in Team Fortress 2.

[Update: Valve has officially endorsed the event on its website:

"The TF2 team knew that the Golden Wrench event would be controversial -- an experiment in the distribution of an ultra-rare item. We never imagined that it would empower a small group of players to benefit a much vaster group of children in need. We are constantly shocked and impressed by the creativity of the Team Fortress 2 community, but today we are humbled."

Read an updated version of this article at Bitmob.]

A recipient of a rare and controversial Team Fortress 2 weapon will delete the item along with seven other recipients in an attempt to rid themselves of the weapon’s stigma while raising over $5,000 for charity.

One hundred Team Fortress 2 players received golden wrenches last month, and while the weapons only differ from the default wrench cosmetically by turning defeated enemies into golden statues event organizer WiNG said the golden wrenches have created controversy within the community.

“The Wrenches have been controversial for many reasons, but primarily because there were only 100 distributed and Valve told a few white lies about how they were ‘randomly’ distributed,” WiNG said. “A hacker later proved it wasn’t completely random.”

WiNG said he realized how controversial the golden wrenches were when a recipient’s account was hacked and the weapon deleted. “When I saw how much drama this decision caused, I realized I could draw a lot of publicity by purposefully doing the same,” he said.

Rather than just re-crate the drama by deleting his golden wrench, WiNG said he wanted to use the attention to do some good.

“I thought if I was going to get a lot of attention, why not use it to help benefit a good cause?,” WiNG said. “And I also figured that everyone was so angry about the whole situation, it would be good to vent some of that emotion into something positive.”

WiNG said he didn’t know what response to expect when he announced the event.

“I had never run a fundraiser before, let alone an online one, so I didn’t know what to expect,” WiNG said. “I thought it could be $200 or $30,000, but really wasn’t expecting much.”

He said the initial reaction was very negative but the donations quickly added up.

“In the original Steam Forum Thread where I announced my decision, the first several pages of replies were full of very negative, angry responses,” WiNG said. “I thought it was doomed, but then before I knew it, the charity had raised $500, then $1,000, then $3,000! So, in that regard it’s been astounding.”

WiNG said it has been difficult to get in touch with other golden wrench owners to invite them to delete their wrenches for the cause.

“So far, I have contacted about 20 or 25 of the golden wrench owners,” WiNG said. “It has been very hard to contact them, because they get a lot of harassment and attention from strangers. Even beyond that, most live in other countries and play at odd hours, or don’t speak English or French, or don’t even really play Team Fortress 2.”

While most have been sympathetic to WiNG’s cause (seven have joined him so far), he said several refused because they enjoy owning the rare weapon. Others, however, have reacted negatively to the proposition.

“The rest basically told me to go f*** myself,” WiNG said. “Two of them even had me banned from their servers. Overall I’d say it went pretty well, considering!”

Valve hasn’t commented on the golden wrench controversy or his charity event other than a representative wishing WiNG good luck in an e-mail response. He said he understands why the developer won’t comment on the negativity surrounding the wrenches but wishes they would help publicize his charity event.

“I can understand that it is offensive or annoying to see so much backlash over their labor of love,” WiNG said. “I think if Valve publicly supported, or even just mentioned, this fundraiser, it would really help drive donations for Child’s Play!”

People can help support the cause even if they can’t or don’t want to donate money. “I’d like to just ask anyone out there, even if they can’t donate, to help by spreading the word to friends, to Valve, and to the gaming news media.”

WiNG said over 200 people have already donated to the cause. All proceeds will be going to the Child Play’s charity, an organization that helps hospitals purchase toys and video games for children staying at their facilities.

WiNG will be the first to delete his golden wrench on August 31. The top 20 contributors will be invited to join WiNG in the game to celebrate his deleting the first wrench.

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