by Jeff McKinney (follow me on Twitter)

G-Force, the new 3D film from Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer was number one at the box office this past weekend with sales totaling more than $30,000,000. Aside from raking in the dough, the movie about an elite team of guinea pigs, bumped Harry Potter to number two!

I haven’t seen G-Force yet but I have had a chance to play the video game based on the movie and I was impressed. You can read my full review on TimetoPlayMag.com by clicking here.

Play Categories: Video Games

By Christopher Byrne (Follow me on Twitter)

“If the music is too loud, you’re too old.” Have you heard that? It’s a supposedly humorous comment reflecting the thoughts of young people regarding the, ahem, “elderly” (30-something and above). But it’s not funny: noise-induced hearing loss in children and youth is a serious problem—and getting worse.

iPods (and similar MP3 players) are everywhere today, and when not used safely, they contribute to noise induced hearing loss, the second most common form of hearing loss today. That’s very bad news. But there’s also good news: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is 100 percent preventable.

Let’s look at some present facts in the United States. The National Centre for Environmental Health has recently revealed that 12.5 percent of children between the ages of six- and nine-years-old have a noise-induced hearing loss. That’s 5.2 million children, which is an astounding number of children, according to Ellen Rhoades, (Ed. S. and Cert. AVT), to have a problem previously thought to occur mostly in adults. Further, Ellen reports a University of Oregon study showing that 16 percent of 6- to 19-year olds have early signs of hearing loss at the range most readily damaged by loud sounds. When we add the fact that 2.4 million people between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four have hearing loss, you can see the trend—the problem is growing and at a very rapid rate.

What has caused the increase of NIHL in such a short time, you may wonder?

A leading factor appears to be exposure to damagingly loud sound over time as delivered through personal music devices set at “high” volume.

The toy industry and related agencies have monitored sound producing toys for a number of years now in an effort to reduce any potential harm to hearing that could be caused while using these toys inappropriately. For example, the European Standard on toy safety (BS EN 71-1) was adopted in the UK in 1998 and specifies noise limits for different types of toys. Likewise, in Europe, iPods are legally capped for volume at 100 decibels.

Currently, there is no U.S. limit on the volume level of personal music devices. Children, particularly, and youngsters in general, may not be aware of hearing damage occurring while using personal music devices because the loss of hearing is gradual and there are few pronounced early symptoms. With prolonged exposure, the hearing loss is also permanent.

Here’s what happens. The human ear is divided into three parts from the external ear to the middle and then inner ear. Sound is collected in the external ear, converted to mechanical energy by the eardrum and small bones of the middle ear, then delivered to the inner ear where it is translated into electrical energy to be transported to the brain in the form of nerve impulses. The hearing loss we are concerned with occurs in the inner ear. Prolonged exposure to loud sound (or an intense burst of loud sound such as that of a firecracker) can permanently damage the hair cells located in the inner ear that respond to sound frequencies (pitch) and translate them into the electrical impulses then sent to the brain. This damage usually occurs in what is perceived as the higher pitch sounds within speech. The result is hearing loss that makes it difficult to understand speech or to hear the sibilant sounds such as s-, sh-, th-, ch-, etc., as example. Once the cells are damaged or destroyed, this ability to perceive/understand conversational level speech cannot be restored because the damage is permanent.

Think of this. We detect normal, conversational speech at a level of 60 decibels (perceived as loudness); a whisper in quiet conditions at 30 to 40 decibels (dB). O dB is considered the lowest level at which sound is detectable and 140 dB is equivalent to standing on an airport runway next to a jet taking off. It’s only at the more intense levels, such as the jet takeoff, that loud sound might be perceived as painful. Hearing damage can occur beginning at about 80 dB with sustained exposure over a period of hours, and possibly at a lower level in infants. Stereo headphones set at 100 dB (the cap in Europe) can harm ears (hearing) in two hours. One study of portable compact players found that a high volume setting ranged upward from 91 to 121 dB. That’s louder than a rock concert, a sandblaster or a car horn delivered directly into the ear.

In a nutshell, any noise level that is “loud” enough to interfere with speech causing people to need to raise their voices to be heard is a level loud enough to cause hearing damage over time.

So, back to personal music players and similar listening devices. What should we do?

With children, it is important to limit the amount of time set aside for listening to short periods and with adult monitoring of loudness level. (The ears, after all, need time to rest and recover from stimulation just as we do from other forms of exercise.) It is also important, we feel, not to use earphones that fit inside the ear canal with younger children. (Earphones inside the ear actually increase the volume by up to almost 10 decibels above the same sound signal delivered through external speakers or even headphones.) Also, because very young children are more prone to middle ear infections than older children and adults, it’s best to avoid inserting earphones into the external canal and risk sound intensity damage to hearing due to an existing temporary middle ear hearing loss. Besides that, it’s much more difficult for the adult to monitor if the child chooses to increase the volume of the device when using earphones.

For young children, we strongly advocate adult-monitored listening through a standard external speaker system, or over-the-ear headphones if necessary. With older children, we recommend education regarding hearing damage and adult guidance as to what is likely “too loud.”

Don’t get us wrong. iPods and MP3 players, just as gaming devices, are fun! And what increasingly style- or trend-conscious child all the way down to preschool isn’t clamoring to have one? We certainly love ours.

We’re simply saying that noise-induced hearing loss is a very real and increasing problem. Once the damage is done it can’t be undone. So we “too old” adults need to say, “If the music’s too loud… it’s too loud! It’s up to us to help children of all ages avoid damaging something so precious as the ability to hear.

Play Categories: Advice, Experiences, Opinions

By Christopher Byrne (Follow me on twitter)

I love this. Over the past weeks, I’ve counted no fewer than five press releases that have come across my desk telling me that some new technological innovation (aka: gimmick) that allows kids to play “In ways that could only be imagined” previously.

What??

Did I miss something? Isn’t imagination what play is supposed to be about?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love technological toys, particularly when they are immersive and narrative driven like the best video games, or inspire interaction such as the growing number of reading devices and sophisticated learning toys or add dimensions of entertainment that complement a basic play pattern such as the many wonderful interactive plush items out there.

But sometimes technology can go awry, and the technology emerges as something that will delight an adult developer but leaves kids cold. Unfortunately, a lot of these current toys are taking things kids used to do in the dimensional world and putting it on the screen. Now let me say again there’s nothing wrong with that; it’s just that it changes the nature of the play.

When play is translated from the physical world into online play, once involved the kinesthetic and the centers of the brain that create imaginary pictures is overridden by the different centers that process information visually. So in bringing things “to life” in this way, the play experience is changed.

We continue to observe that kids will naturally seek balanced play experiences, given the opportunity, just as picky eaters somehow manage to get a balanced diet. For example, we see that when kids are given choices a week of video gaming often gives way to a week of skateboarding, just as a passion for, say, egg salad, often leads to a passion for fruit.

Boys are happily putting down their Nintendo DS’s and backing away from the computer screens to play Bakugan. Girls still “play Barbies” without any reference to the computer. Technology does make the toy box bigger, but it doesn’t take away the human need—and desire—for play that exercises the various centers of the brain and the imagination. Kids need this diversity of experiences to fully develop.

And it’s not all just fun and games. The ability to visualize whether with action figures or dolls uses the same mental processes that facilitate aptitude in math and reading. The child is literally creating the reality in his or her imagination, rather than the kind of stimulus/response process of online or computer games. They need—and respond to—both.

As parents, caregivers and adults concerned about healthy play, our job is to ensure that kids get a balanced play diet. We need to understand the role of different styles of play in kids’ lives and encourage them to the extent possible. The last thing we need to do is vilify one mode of play over another or think that because we played in a certain way as kids that that’s the “best” way. (Many of us had to acquire our computer skills later in life, learning to use a mouse by playing Solitaire or Mine Sweeper.)

Amidst all the computer time, take the time this summer to encourage kids to play in ways that can only be imagined. It may not seem new in the marketing sense, but it’s new to them and critical to their development.  And that’s the most important thing of all.

Play Categories: Opinions

by Jeff McKinney (follow me on Twitter)

The video game Rock Band, Pepsi and MTV have gotten together for one of the coolest promotional contests I have ever heard of with the Rock Band Music Video Contest. Just make a Rock Band music video (a video of you and your gang playing Rock Band) then upload it to the contest website and you can win an MTV Moonman – the highly coveted award bestowed only to the music industry’s biggest players.

You have until July 28 to submit a video at which point, the top five videos will be selected based on originality, creativity, and viewer ratings. Those top five will then be online and viewers will vote for the ultimate winner.

Pepsi drinkers can also try to win free Rock Band downloadable songs for Xbox 360 and PS3 plus Nintendo Points, which can be used to purchase music and games through the Pepsi bottle cap contest. Just enter the code under the caps of specially-marked Pepsi bottles for a chance to instantly win music, games and Rock Band accessories.

For more information on both of these contests or to submit a video or cap code, visit the official site at pepsi.yahoo.com/rockband

Play Categories: Video Games

By Audrey McClelland, Author, MomGenerations.com

In my family, the summer is all about being outside.  Our days are filled with going to the beach, going to the pool, playing in our backyard and heading to our local park.  Simply put, my sons love playing outdoors.  I especially love it because it’s time for them to be BOYS!  They don’t have to worry about being inside and having to be quiet while the others nap or have to clean up the toys in the living room when they’re done.  They can run and jump and skip and swim and hop and race with smiles and laughter – true excitement in the sun.

Lately we have been bringing them to a local Youth Running League on Monday nights.  Talk about summer fun!  500 kids who are 12 and under meet up at a high school in Rhode Island and good, old-fashioned fun races are put on – 50, 100 and 200 yard dashes, long jump and ball tossing.  Each child performs with their own age group, even kids as young as 1 year old can join in on the fun.  It is the cutest thing in the world, but mostly, every single child there is having fun.  There are high-fives and giddiness, laughter and healthy competition.  There’s even lemonade and watermelon for the kids between races.  My boys cannot get enough of it!  They have met friends, learned how to do a runner’s start, enjoyed stretching before each event in a group environment and just spend every minute with complete joy on their faces.

I love that it’s all about children playing outdoors, together on warm Monday nights.  Nobody is home in front of the TV or game stations.  Everyone is out and about.  It’s the way summer should be.  Kids outdoors playing.  Whether it’s at a local high school track or in a grassy field or on a playground, the point is, it’s outdoor play.  On Monday nights for us, there is music playing and adults helping out and timing the races and ribbons being passed out to every single child that finishes a race.  These are the moments they will remember.  It’s a beautiful thing to see, all these children outside playing with their families close by and just taking in the evening with all its joy and delight.  It truly brings me back to the days when I was a child in the summer.  A carefree summer evening, enjoying my friends, having a blast and best of all, having time to play outdoors.

For great giveaways, product reviews, fashion tricks, social media tips and life on raising four boys under the age of 4, don’t forget to visit Audrey at MomGenerations.com and follow her on Twitter.

Play Categories: Time to Play Guest Blogger

By Jim Silver (Follow me on Twitter)

As a parent of three children, one of our favorite family activities is going to the movies. When the kids were younger, choosing what movies to see was pretty easy; we only took them to G-rated films.

As our kids got a little older, things became a little more complicated. We introduced PG films into the repertoire, but we wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any nightmares after seeing a film. When they get a little older it’s a little tougher: what PG-13 movies are appropriate for kids to see? I was always shocked and amazed to see the movies parents brought there kids to see. I even “messed up” once bringing my two oldest kids to see Austin Powers in Goldmember when they were 11 and12 (I took a lot of grief from my wife for that one, although, in my defense, almost every other kid in their classes also saw it.)

What movies did my kids like when they were younger? Almost everything we took them to. Not until they reached they age of 10 did they discriminate and start to really compare films. And some of those films we had to sit through were just plain torture for a parent.

Unfortunately, there weren’t too many places that I knew of to find reviews with the information I wanted. I didn’t care if it was a great screenplay, didn’t care about the cinematography, or costume design. I wanted reviews that told me whether my kids would like the film, what age and gender would like it better, and, as a parent do I need my iPod in the theater as distraction. Also, I wanted to know if there was content that a parent might find objectionable.

With that in mind, we have started a Family Film Review section in TimetoPlaymag.com that will hopefully answer all of these questions in short, concise reviews with a respected movie critic, Cynthia Fuchs, who understands what parents are looking for in a film. We hope this makes choosing what movies to take your kids to a whole lot simpler.

Play Categories: Advice, Experiences

By Christopher Byrne (Follow me on Twitter)

As the summer travel season kicks in, the issue of whether or not to have DVDs in the car is heating up. As with any conversation online these days, it can be polarizing.

On the one side there are those who say they keep kids quiet and entertained on long car trips and what’s the problem?

On the other side there are those who are equally convinced that DVDs in the car are part of what is contributing to the decline of the family.

And, as always happens these days, each side asserts that kids are suffering.

For the record: Boredom isn’t suffering and being entertained at every moment is not a right of children or a requirement for parents to provide.

However, whether or not you choose to have DVDs in the car is a completely individual choice that should be based on your family, your trip, your individual kids. There is not “right or wrong” on this issue. Yet it seems like both sides have something to learn, and that’s moderation.

Though I’m generalizing here, the “just pop it in” crowd seems to feel the need to keep kids entertained so that the long car trip is endurable, and they get very nervous if they haven’t planned for every moment.

The “never never never” crowd seems to romanticize family car trips from their youth when DVDs in the car—or even home video—weren’t available. This is probably not accurate, given the vagaries of human memory. Remembering playing games and talking as a family may be sweet, but what about the fully pitched, high decibel turf battles over a few square inches of vinyl upholstery, the whining and the tedium? If your parents are still around, ask them if they remember the car trips of your youth as “Walton’s Mountain on Wheels,” or if they might not have been grateful to be able to show you a movie and have you sit still and quiet for a couple of hours. The reality check might do you good.

You’ll never change the world back to what it was. DVD, handheld games, cell phones are realities of today’s kids. Those of us who are adults can’t miss what didn’t exist. The in-car DVD player is a reality, whether it’s integrated into the mechanics of your car or is a handheld. At the same time, the availability of technology doesn’t mean you have to be a slave to it.

We’ve been talking to parents about how DVDs can be successfully used in the car, and it will come as no surprise to find out that moderation and judgment make all the difference. Just as an airline flight has to be a certain length to offer a movie, so, too, can a car ride.

Let’s say you’re driving Route 80 through Nebraska. (I’ve done it.) After you realize explain this is built along the route of the original Oregon Trail and you’ve discussed that this is the route the Mormons took to Salt Lake City, it’s pretty much cornfields. Doesn’t watching a movie sound great as you travel those 450 miles? Why not take advantage of this option, particularly as you can control what kids are watching?

It doesn’t mean the family doesn’t talk, sing songs or play the license plate game or stop for a picnic so the kids can run around. It’s just another option. It’s neither good nor bad.

I was one of four very active boys and we took long car trips every summer. I remember being unable to read because of motion sickness. Seatbelts in the back seat were unheard of, and we freely clambered over the seat tops into the “way back.” These are not options today. Nor, probably are the games we made up with the small, marble sized Super Balls that sent them winging around the back, caroming off the windows as we drove the Kanakmangus Highway.

While it’s hard to support allowing kids simply to zone out for the duration of a trip, and never interact or see what’s around them, it’s also hard to deny kids an entertainment medium that’s part of their world because an adult has an idea of how something should be.

As we always say, balance is the key, but this is a personal decision. Make it a conscious and realistic one.

What do you think?

Play Categories: Advice, Opinions

by Jeff McKinney (follow me on Twitter)

The biggest game in baseball is back this week with The Bigs 2 now in stores. This sequel from 2K Sports puts a new spin on baseball with gravity-defying moves and stunning visual effects. The game is an arcade style baseball video game featuring MLB All-Stars that gives players the ability to achieve power-ups, which can be used to perform over-the-top plays in the field and at the plate. There are several modes, in addition to playing a game of baseball, which include the Home Run Pinball mode that lets players smash home runs into windows and neon signs in Times Square, Las Vegas and Tokyo.

The Bigs 2 is rated Everyone 10+ and is available for the Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii. For more information, check out the games site at www.2ksports.com/games/thebigs2.

Play Categories: Video Games

by Jeff McKinney (follow me on Twitter)

Last week I told you about two new Nintendo games coming out this Summer. Today, I’ve got details on four more games that should be in stores this Fall, in time for the holiday shopping season. The first is Style Savvy (DS/DSi), a fashion-based game where the player owns a clothing boutique and must run the store while catering to fashion-savvy customers. The game will require you to monitor inventory, watch your budget and, off course, shop!

This Fall we will also see the release of the new Wii Fit Plus (Wii), a follow up to the fitness training Wii Fit game. Plus will feature the original exercises from Wii Fit along with more than 20 new games and activities that rely on the unique Balance Board controller.  You will also find enhanced features that allow you to customize your workout.

Link is back in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS/DSi). The game recreates the look and feel of the Zelda game, Phantom Hourglass, but features a whole new action, puzzle solving adventure.

Finally, my favorite, Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) will bring Mario, Luigi and a whole cavalcade of popular Nintendo characters onto the Wii for the first time in a Super Mario Bros. game. In another first, the game will allow up to four players to play together as they move through game levels. Whether you choose to help or compete against each other is up to you.

All in all, the second half of 2009 is shaping up to be a great year for Nintendo fans. Keep checking in with us here for more info, including release dates for these games as they become available.

Play Categories: Video Games