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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.8 - NOVEMBER 2000
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Video Games: Not Just For Males Ages 12-24 Anymore
"THQ’s history has been about not only doing games that appeal to the core, 12 to 24 male audience but also for the gamers with unsatisfied needs," Ardell says. "In 1998, in response to the popularity of the PlayStation Platform we released Rugrats: Search for Reptar as one of the first video games that was specifically designed for a young audience, ages 6 to 12." Continuing to serve this audience, THQ has recently shipped on September 25, the PlayStation title The Little Mermaid II, for girls ages 6 though 8, along with new Nintendo 64 Scooby Do and Power Rangers titles. "Our titles geared for children are designed to involve parents in with the play experience," explains Ardell. "Parents may be sitting with them helping them to spot clues or solve puzzles. You must remember that parents have often gone with the children to see the movies, so they know the characters and are equally entranced with the game play." As new consoles are being released, new road is being paved for the entertainment industry as a whole. Technology is converging to provide greater access to electronic entertainment, much of which -- from the commercials we watch to the games we play -- will be interactive.
And even with the majority of the games being released appropriate for family play and filled with rich wonderful animations, the question of violence will continue to plague the industry -- both for consumers and creators. "I think there are a lot of positive things to be said about video games, including that they introduce children to technology at a younger age," Dr. Funk says. "I also feel that children under the age of ten are much more susceptible to negative massages. "I would be most protective of the media experience of children under ten, while recognizing that video games are a part of the child's life experience. As with any media, television, movies and music, parents need to be aware of what their children, of all ages, are playing and how much time they are spending on this one area of their life." Jacquie Kubin, a Washington, DC-based freelance journalist, enjoys writing about the electronic entertainment and edutainment mediums, including the Internet. She is a frequent contributor to the Washington Times and Krause Publication magazines. She has won the 1998 Certificate of Award granted by the Metropolitan Area Mass Media Committee of the American Association of University Women.
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