Tag: development

Mario turns 30! How playing video games can be good for us (sometimes)

Super MarioHappy Birthday Mario! The large-nosed plumber, famous as Nintendo video game character who jumps down pipes and collects mushrooms, has just turned just turned thirty*. And he now the iconic video game star has a real reason to jump for joy. Research is increasingly showing us that video games could be good for us, which means all of us could benefit from a bit of Mario-time every once in a while.

Originally a tiny 130 pixel graphic, the mustachioed 1985 superhero went on to spawn a franchise worth over $10 million and in 1993 inspired the first Hollywood movie to feature a video game. (Called Mario Bros. it stared Bob Hoskins, but was awful.) Today’s photorealistic games are a far cry from these early days and are no longer the preserve of closeted teenage boys. People of all ages play computer games in their front rooms, often together. This hasn’t stopped parents and doctors being concerned, however, and photorealistic action games tend to cause the most controversy. Read more

4 Fascinating Facts on Why You Are Easily Distracted (and not likely to read all of this)

Go on and admit it, you have a terrible attention span.

But it’s not all your fault. This is the internet after all and everyone knows that the ‘information superhighway’ is a candy store of virtual distractions – endless images, buttons and flashing graphics all competing for your attention. Right now, there’s probably four or five other things you’d quite like to be doing: Shopping on ebay, browsing YouTube for funny videos, reading emails or checking Facebook (who knows, someone might have commented on your oh-so-witty status update)!

Can't Concentrate: 14/365
Find it difficult to stay focused?
If you’re still reading then feel proud of yourself – you tenacious person you – because you belong a special minority that isn’t as easily distracted! Today’s post looks at four fascinating facts that show how pitiful we all are at keeping on task (and don’t worry they are fairly short)… Read more