PlayStation:: Talking Gaming with Dr Jason Fox (AKA Gamers gonna game)

A couple of weeks ago the smalls and I were invited by PlayStation for a morning of games and a chat with Dr Jason Fox. Well the games sounded exciting, but who wants to spend a morning listening to a middle-age podgy doctor banging on about something?

Oh how wrong I was, dear reader. 

We spent three blissful hours hopping across a range of PlayStation games - including an epic SingStar battle between Tiny and I (where she tried to sabotage me by covering my mouth) - where I leapt ahead to claim the title of SingStar champion with over 2 million points. WAY TO GO MAMA! 

And the middle-age doctor bit? Oh man. SO wrong. SO WRONG! I really, really loved listening to the good doctor. He was smart. He was funny. He had sharp threads. And a really good beard. 

As with many parents I am constantly worried about how much screen time my kids are getting, so I leapt at the opportunity to ask Dr Fox some questions. 

What's an ideal amount of time for children to spend gaming? 

Ah, what’s the ideal amount of time for children to be engaged in immersive, mentally stimulating puzzles and creative challenges (aka games)? A heap! 

Of course, like all things, this needs to be balanced. On a school day, one needs to ensure that kids are getting the right mix of time for homework, outdoor activity and indoor play. I’d suggest that 60–90 minutes is good for a weeknight, and something best done before dinner.

The key is balance. Another important question to ask is: what’s the ideal amount of time for parents to invest playing games with their kids? Again, it’s a heap. This is probably one the biggest opportunities modern parents have today — playing with their kids. Much akin to building sandcastles together, or kicking the footy — playing games is a wonderful shared experience parents can tap into with their kids.

Steve Jobs was once interviewed and talked about how his children weren't allowed much screen time - because he knows how addictive it can be. What do you think about this?

I’d tend to agree with Steve — but it’s important to make the distinction between passive screen time (simply watching tv) and active screen time (playing games, engaged in challenges). While it’s important that we’re all allowed time to ‘switch off’, passive screen time doesn’t convey the same learning benefits as active screen time. 

Making progress is highly motivating. We love seeing how our effort contributes to something, and it’s partly why screen activities are ‘addictive’ — we can see that our effort is making a difference. Rather than simply limit screen and game time, we also need to explore how we can bring the benefits of game design into the real world.

I've noticed my son goes red, and becomes pretty intense (read: obsessed) sometimes when gaming. What's that all about?

He’s probably entering a state of flow — that perfect balance between challenge and skill, where he is achieving something very complex or difficult, beyond his comfort zone. Here things become ‘autotelic’ — he is at one with the task, in the same way that champion golfers or surgeons get when doing their thing. 

Coupled with this is the perception of ‘fiero’ — an Italian word meaning ‘pride’. According to Dr Jane McGonigal (multiple TED speaker, and author), this is an important outcome of games. After periods of intense flow in which we are triumphing over adversity or epic challenges, we can experience a fiero as a powerful neurochemical high.

In her book, Reality is Broken, McGonigal also writes that “games not only gratify intrinsic needs for happiness, but also ‘do it safely, cheaply, and reliably’”. 

Our family really loves spending a couple of hours on Sundays playing Little Big Planet together. Is this a good thing? 

Yes definitely! You’ve got a real shared experience in which you are creatively and collaboratively engaged in the resolution of meaningful, story-driven challenges. It’s hard to think of anything better. The fact that Little Big Planet 3 allows up to 4 players to play together means that the whole family can be involved in this shared experience. And, you can create new levels too, opening up opportunities for you and your kids to create challenges for each other too (imagine: special birthday challenges). This gets them into ‘user experience design’ — an important new skill and industry in the modern world.

And do you have any other similar games you could recommend for us to play as a family?

Well, the PS4 now supports 4 x player Minecraft, and there are games like Singstar which are immense fun for the entire family. For younger kids, there’s Disney infinity, which is another open game like Minecraft. 

Do you game with your kids?


* This post is not sponsored. 

Let's Pretend I Am Dead

I am lying on my sofa doing my tax. I know, I know, you are wildly jealous because anything to do with a pile of invoices and an Excel spreadhseet is akin to an aphrodisiac. It's hot.

But not as hot as being a mother. Because you take the heat, every flipping day. Parenting is hard. But I'm going out on a limb. Mothering is harder. So much is expected of us.

A couple of weeks ago when I got home from work - Matt proceeded to ask me some pretty... silly questions. I can't remember what they were specifically, however if he said: "Where are all the spoons?" - it would make sense. They were those kind of questions, and I had just walked in the door - and he'd been home all day. So how the Hector would I know where the flipping spoons are?

So right then and there I launched a new game.

It's called : "Let's Pretend I Am Dead". Mattel are probably getting the patent ready as I type.

The rules to this fun game are quite simple. Let's pretend I am dead, and you have to forage for the spoons/towels/whatever it is you're looking for by.your.self. And don't ask me for any assistance.

Did you get that the first time around?!

It's a fun and interactive game, where I get to walk off in a huff and lock myself in the bathroom. Until you find the flipping spoons/towels/whatever it is you're looking.for.by.your.self.

It's so fun - the whole family can play.

Has anyone else noticed this? I feel the weight of the household on my shoulders for the most inane matters.

As a mum, I have to do so much - and it's just expected of me. And it's not ok! And for the record, it's not just Matt asking me for things. Bake a cake for the school! Do canteen duty! Volunteer for an excursion! Do reading!

I hate to tell everyone and break the illusion. I am not Superwoman. WonderWoman. Or any other large-undied superhero. I'm plain old Lexi. Stop asking me to do things for you. Stop asking me where the spoons are. I think I'd struggle with it all even if I was a stay-at-home mum. How are we expected to do it all?

We can't. I can't. You can't. Let's pretend I am dead. Just for 10 minutes of silence in the shower - let's just pretend I am dead.

Let's Pretend I am Dead is out now. Please pay funds in to my PayPal account so I can go live with Pixie Skase in Majorca. That'll do nicely. You can visit me at Christmas time.

hot image via here

Playing

The Doctor is a mad keen word fantatic. He's seven, and has just finished reading Harry Potter, the first and second books. Yikes I haven't even read one.

He loves curling up with a good book on the weekend, and reminds me of a younger me - lying in the sun devouring books in a day. Nothing beats the thrill of a page turner.

It is a joy to see him enjoying the written word. There's so much to be gleaned from a love of words. Well in my book (pun intended) there is.

I was sent the game Bananagrams. I've seen it around the traps but never played it before. But my goodness, it is a really good game. We've been playing it after dinner. In fact the Doctor likes it so much he'd play it at every opportunity.  Before school, after school. He even tried to bring it with him when we went to Cockatoo Island the other day.

No scoring (which is great in my book), just playing all the letters to make adjoining words. Good old-fashioned word nerd fun.

I foresee long rounds of Bananagrams during the school holidays.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Bananagrams was sent to PMM to try. Honesty is the best policy. It's a great game. I like it. The Doctor likes it. Matt likes it. Tiny likes joining random letters. I think you might like it. I wanted to share.

Awww Man!

Conjunctivitis! Tonsilitis! Fevers! Runny nose! Blocked ears! General lethargy! The Doctor sure knows how to get sick when he gets sick.

He's miserable and holed up in a birdie's nest* on the couch during the day, early to bed at night. Oh man. I hate the smalls being sick. It makes me so sad to see them so sad. He even asked me to come home early from work so I could be with him. Break my little heart dude.

I'm sick of the sick. Roll over Winter, Spring and Summer need to make their grand entrance. I'm over you Winter. I usually love you. But April - August we've been sick. I'm over it. I'm done. Winter, you stink this year.

On the flip side of down and out in Beverley Hills *cough*, the Doctor saved up for a really, really long time to buy a Nintendo DSi. He finally reached his goal, and this has been a huge saving grace while he's been sick and I've told him he has to lay low and hang out on the couch. He's been playing 'Ready Set Grover' like crazy these last few days. Phew for this small grace!

* A birdie's nest in our house is when I plump up the cushions on the couch and tuck my wee little birdies in with a blanket, when they are feeling poorly.

Addicted to Angry Birds

I have a confession to make. It's embarrassing, but I am hooked on Angry Birds. I borrow Matt's phone to indulge this addiction. I stay awake way past my bedtime playing Angry Birds. Matt wants the light turned out? "Nope, playing Angry Birds." The Doctor is hooked on Angry Birds too. It's a big angry cycle of Angry Bird lovers.

Which is why I was overjoyed when Matt shared this with me. Barcelona + life-size Angry Birds game. AYE CARUMBA!

How fun is this? How good-looking is the crowd? Looks like I will have to relocate to Barcelona where all the beautiful people are playing Angry Birds.

via atome

The Ever Evolving Lego Loving

Yesterday we got our filthy little mitts on something pretty darn fab! Lego are launching the world's first buildable board games in Australia in September.

The Doctor is suitably chuffed, and he has not stopped playing or talking about it since we took the game out of the packaging.

Lego is the toy de rigeur in our household at the moment. Park trips have been put on hold because he needs to clock up time constructing. I have to enforce outside play because it's not just an obsession, it's a hardcore Lego addiction. The Doctor has also been known to be ridiculously sad for having to go to bed instead of spending hours creating new buildings (his latest creation is a rad dog - skater boy).

But who doesn't love Lego (the only thing not to love about Lego is treading on it in bare feet - yowsers)? I bet you couldn't find one person who doesn't love sitting down to enjoy the merits of building something from bright blocks.

We're lucky enough to have Minotaurus ($39.99). And I am not kidding that we have been playing it since I walked in the door yesterday, I got woken up to play it this morning, and as soon as the Doctor came home from pre-school, we're back into it.

In fact, the Doctor loves it so much he's carrying around the catalogue everywhere (in the car, in the park, in the supermarket) and planning which one he wants next. Thankfully Minotaurus is a fun game. Matt and I are loving playing it with him - spending the time together, playing a game that relates to a five yeard old, but is fun for two 30+ year olds? Completely rad.

Even better is that you can change the game (and you get to build the board yourself) to keep it exciting. Minotaurus, you can not bore us.

PottyMouthMama On A Hot Tin Roof

Phew! When it's hot it's hot. The Doctor is wondering where all this 'sweating' is coming from. I'm sitting in our living room, which is currently doubling as a sauna. Hot in the city is damn right!

I could do one of those ads and say "I lost twenty-two kilos in one hour, just by sitting at the computer, just pay $20 and come sit in my living room and you too can do the same!" My living room = the ultimate sauna destination.

Right now we're into card games. Snap for the smalls. Uno for the biggies.

Phew! It's hot. Ice cold drinks all 'round.

If only I looked this saucy hanging about my house on such a stinker.