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Club Penguin is massively multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG) that was launched in October 2005. It was developed by Club Penguin Entertainment and purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 2007. The website consists of online games and activities for children from age 6 to 14. The site has a typical Disney-looking feel to it with cartoon penguin avatars that children customize to use as their online personality. The game has also spawned physical video games for Nintendo and books.

Children can try the website for free; however, this limits the activity they can have in the virtual world. Paid memberships begin at $7.95 US per month. 6 months is $39.95 US and 12 months is $59.95 US. A paid membership allows players unlimited access to all games, themed parties, priority server access and new activities. A unique part of the website is the Coins for Change program. This program is an online charity where players donate their ‘coins’ for various real-world charitable causes. The website is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.

Features

Club Penguin exists in a winter virtual world where children choose an avatar in the form of a cartoon penguin to be their online personality. They choose a home for their penguin which is an igloo. Both the igloo and the penguin can be customized with accessories to fit the player’s personality. Igloos are on the world’s map so other players can find them. Players can also own pets called Puffles. If not taken care of, they run away and must be replaced. The Club Penguin Times is a virtual newspaper where players can submit writing, art and jokes.

When players log into the game, they first arrive in ‘The Town’ which hosts typical stores found in any town. Themed parties such as Christmas or Halloween happen once a month and are available to members only. The main focus of this virtual world is for players to earn ‘coins’ by playing games. These ‘coins’ allow players buy their avatars food, clothing, shelter and household items. The chat feature was originally only a small part of Club Penguin, but has recently been expanded. Members can chat about their penguins with other members in a chat room and make friends with other players. The use of emoticons is a large part of the chat feature.

What’s Good

Club Penguin is a fairly innocent website that will appeal mainly to children well below age 10 who are interested in friendship with other children and simple games. The penguins are designed to appeal to small children. The facial expressions are kind and pleasant – those that would be found on a children’s cartoon show. Disney and the developers were successful in designing an innocent-looking atmosphere for children. There are no adult themes in the virtual world or on the website. There is no overt violence, drinking, smoking, drug use, sex or offensive language. The games use math and reading to enhance a child’s basic skills.

Disney must be commended for spending a lot of time and effort to keep the chat system safe. Ultimate Safe Chat allows only pre-scripted phrases. Standard Safe Chat blocks all profanity and inappropriate behavior even if users try to get around the filters. Words not previously approved go into a queue for review before they are posted. Moderators are plentiful. Having a chat system on a children’s virtual world can be socially meaningful and Disney has done a good job in keeping it safe.

What’s Bad

The age range that Club Penguin is going for seems to be a bit out of touch with the graphics. The design of the characters may be fine for post-kindergarten children, but children over the age of 10 will find them juvenile. Parents may find an increased level of consumerism as players that move through the game will learn how to acquire things for their avatar and their home. These are small quibbles for a generally good virtual world for children.

Online Safety

The website has gone above and beyond to provide a safe atmosphere for children. No personal information is ever displayed in chat – even if a player is a boy or a girl. Even the open chat (which is usually a candidate for inappropriate behavior) is strictly moderated. The section for parents is very thorough. Parents are encouraged to be highly involved in their child’s online life. All personal and credit information that is collected follows the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

When it comes to online video games, the market is a strong one, and being a video game designer can be a lucrative career. Unlike technological fads that may come and go, the video game industry has only grown stronger since its beginning, and video games are appealing to a wide demographic. A video game designer will be in constant demand as long as he or she has the training and the skills to keep up in this highly lucrative and competitive business.

The Art Institute Online has a comprehensive program that can get people into the video game designer business quickly and successfully. Their Game Art and Design Bachelor degree program helps students focus on all aspects of video games, including producing detailed graphics, scene and set design, animation, background, and characters. A successful graduate of the Art Institute On line’s Video Game Design program will be qualified to enter into the video game industry as a sought-after video game designer. Video Game Designer Video game tester, background artist, conceptual designer; these are just some of the fields that a graduate of the program will be able to enter.

If you are interested in enrolling in The Art Institute’s Online Video Game Design program, then this probably means that you love video games. Although it may seem like a moot point, it is an important one.

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Computer games come in all shapes and sizes, and they are also available for lots of different consoles and gaming systems. From the Wii to the Xbox and the PlayStation to the PC games that are always being released, you are sure to find something you will enjoy playing time and time again.

But how can computer games be useful for us? Let’s look at some of the advantages of playing them.

They can help us learn new skills

How often have you played a computer game that has required you to solve a puzzle or meet a challenge of some kind?

This type of mental game is good for us and helps us learn new skills. For instance we could find maths dull, but when we play a computer game based around this topic it becomes far more challenging and exciting to play.

They can challenge our brains

The best type of game is one that we cannot solve immediately, and yet it is not beyond solving completely. It challenges us to get underneath it and understand how it can be solved.

In this way we can stretch our brains and learn new things and ways of solving problems. They can even keep us mentally fit and young, which is always a good thing as they keep us alert and able to solve problems of all kinds more quickly than we would be able to otherwise.

They can help us get fit and stay fit

Most people have heard about how the Nintendo Wii gaming platform is getting people up out of their armchairs and exercising without even realising it. If you have ever played one of the sports games on this console you will know how tiring it can be.

And with the likes of Wii Fit and various other sporting games available to help you exercise and have fun at the same time, computer games no longer have to mean sitting around and staring at a computer screen. They can mean so much more than this.

As you can see, computer games have lots of advantages. And since some of them have a multi player mode available as well, it is possible to be sociable with them too. They used to be blamed for bringing up a generation of children who did nothing but sit in front of the TV or computer, playing a game on their own.