Today's second Youth Advisory Board post continues our Year In Review coverage with Ypulse resident techie Michael Hayball. Below Michael shares his picks for this year's hits and misses in youth tech and gaming trends.

Best and Worst: Tech Trends

The Best

Ultra Mobile PCs. Even though the first batch of tiny laptops were released in 06/07, UMPC’s didn’t take off until this year, when big computer manufacturers released a whole mess of them.

IPhone 3G. Apple’s handheld laptop just keeps getting better and better with app store support and faster speeds. Still can’t copy-and-paste though.

Flip Video Mino HD. The most user-friendly video camera in the world just got even more attractive with the addition of high definition video and a smaller size. [Editor's Note: Michael was one of two YAB members who received Flip cameras to contribute to our YouTube channel]

Video websites. The ongoing war between people who want their TV shows and movies on demand and the MPAA has settled in the common man’s favor with the popularization of sites where you can watch your favorite movies and tv shows in HD quality picture. Personal favorites include adultswim.com and hulu.com.

Zune 3.0. With the addition of games, movies, and the Wikipedia-rivaling Mixview feature, the Zune is finally on about the same level as the iPod. [Editor's Note: For more on Michael's Zune love check out his earlier post on the subject.]

The Worst

Rickrolling. What began as an in-joke on an infamous website has grown into such a colossal phenomenon that it has not only become unfunny, but extremely annoying. It’s become so big that Rick Astley was even Rickrolling kids on the Cartoon Network float on Thanksgiving, further embarrassing those who originally thought it was funny.

Sony's Handling Of Little Big Planet UGC. While the game Little Big Planet for Playstation 3 has been critically acclaimed for its grand-canyon-deep level creator, the results have not been welcomed with open arms by Sony, who delete all instances of copy-infringing levels, and even some innocuous ones.

Spore/DRM. Spore was the hotly anticipated game from Sims creator Will Wright. DRM was the bad boy of computer gaming, stopping you from installing your favorite games on more than a set number of systems, and screwing with your computer. After the two hooked up, gamers threw a fit, pirating the game almost as often as they bought it. The game wasn’t too hot either, relatively speaking. A good game, but not the juggernaut everyone thought it would be.

Animal Crossing: City Folk. Nintendo’s only big game of the holiday season was one of the biggest disappointments of the year. What could have been an entertaining tiny MMO turned out to be a copy and paste of the past two animal crossings with added voice chat that highlighted Nintendo’s strategy for its games: copy, paste, add one new feature for each generation.

About Michael Hayball

Michael lives a simple life in Allen Park, MI. When he is not attending Henry Ford Community College for his Associates, he can be seen chatting and socializing around campus and the local coffee shop. He enjoys a good iced caramel cappuccino, or a regular coca-cola. Michael loves what he calls “The Blog Music," and he was and still is raised on a steady diet of electronic music and old-school hip hop. Michael hopes to work for Spin magazine one day, and screams like a little girl every time a new issue comes to the local coffee shop.

Yesterday I was browsing my RSS feeds when this unsettling and somewhat unbelievable story caught my eye (Thanks Derek!):

The Local, an English language news site based in Sweden, reports that a 15-year old boy collapsed after playing World of Warcraft for nearly 20-hours. The boy's father, after seeing his son collapse and suffer a seizure, called and ambulance and the boy was rushed to the hospital.

Yikes. While the above incident was obviously an extreme case, it may hit closer to home than you think. Recent studies done by the National Institute of Health and Yale University show that too much media intake does lead to negative effects on kids and teens' health, linking overexposure with issues of childhood obesity, tobacco use and early sexual behavior (another hot topic of late.) So, what's to be done post-wake up call?

When we discussed the issue Anastasia expressed concerns with placing arbitrary limits on media use, calling the act of setting limits more of an art than a science. I agree. In the same way that some kids can be trusted with the whole bag of candy on Halloween and others have to select ten pieces and have the rest taken away (obviously the category this poor Swedish teen fits into,) rules should be tailored to the kid in question. Thoughts?

Today's Youth Advisory Board post is from Michael who seems to have stumbled upon a pretty cool online game called TubeRockers. Remember you can contact our board directly via email at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com. I'll let him fill you in…

Best In Youth Media: TubeRockers

About a day after I read my fellow Ypulse Advisory Board member Caro's article on "Tube Converting," I found this little gem called TubeRockers. The concept is simple in execution, but complex in construction, but I’ll get to that in a moment. TubeRockers is a game where you take your favorite YouTube video and make it into a rhythm game. One of the featured songs, "Electro Gypsy" by Savlonic, hooked me, and now I can’t get it out of my head.

I played a few songs, and found the concept pretty addictive. After I exhausted my list of songs, I had to make some of myself. This is a game that not only offers you the ability to make your own content, it demands that you do. It officially only has two songs, so you have to make your own. You could go with some of the user generated content below, but the choices are limited to different interpretations of a certain Dragonforce song, assorted metal, and a few ska songs.

First I started with a song that I thought would fit well: "Not A Crime" By Gogol Bordello. That didn’t work out well. The song fit, but my handiwork didn't. So then I tried some Andrew W.K., and that was just as bad. Then I tried a little techno by my favorite German techno band, Scooter. Perfect! It was a simple enough song to get a good rhythm going, and I could even sneak in some creative note arrangements.

Tube Rockers is part of a trend of DIY-ness that teens want with their music. I love that I can just put in any old video of anything into the level editor and create my own level. Instead of just converting a YouTube video to an mp3 and forgetting about it, with Tube Rockers, I can play a fun Guitar Hero/DDR-esque game with them.

About Michael Hayball

Michael lives a simple life in Allen Park, MI. When he is not attending Henry Ford Community College for his Associates, he can be seen chatting and socializing around campus and the local coffee shop. He enjoys a good iced caramel cappuccino, or a regular coca-cola. Michael loves what he calls “The Blog Music," and he was and still is raised on a steady diet of electronic music and old-school hip hop. Michael hopes to work for Spin magazine one day, and screams like a little girl every time a new issue comes to the local coffee shop.

Last week the Federal Trade Commission launched a new experiential website that uses casual gaming as a way to impart basic consumer and business concepts to young shoppers. As visitors explore stores in the virtual mall, they encounter a wide variety of games that essentially serve as a crash course in Capitalism For Beginners covering everything from basic supply and demand to target marketing.

Hmm… somehow the idea of putting anyone's economic education into the hands of the government right now doesn't seem quite right. And in the case of the site's intended audience– kids 12 and under? Studies say children under 8 don’t even know what advertising is…never mind how to be a “smart consumer.” Sure, the younger set should learn the value of a hard-earned dollar and be familiar with the notion of "buyer beware." (I think we can all recall a time from childhood when we fell victim to false advertising. I still get bummed when I think back to my Moon Shoes — they were way too dangerous to actually use. Sigh.) After all, as both the AdAge article and the FTC website point out, this demographic is estimated to spend billions of dollars on goods and services each year. But shouldn't these be the types of lessons that can be left up to Mom and Dad to teach on a trip to the actual mall? Does it really require the Feds to step in? From the article in AdAge (reg. required):

The website "teaches kids how to be more savvy consumers by demonstrating the benefits of competition, how advertising can influence buying decisions, and the rules and regulations that many business people deal with," said FTC Chairman William Kovacic in a statement. "It's a great tool for parents and teachers who are trying to help kids understand their role in the marketplace."

What do you think? Is the site overstepping the boundary between being a helpful parenting tool and an unwelcome intrusion of the state?

Last week we briefly touched on the latest Pew Study that shows that the current generation of gamers is a far cry from the anti-social stereotype many of us envision. eMarketer aggregated data from the Pew study, combined and a recent survey from comScore in a summary focused on girls and gaming further proving that old-school gaming stereotypes are no longer relevant. Check out these stats:

- The total female online gaming site audience has increased 27 percent over the past year to nearly 43 million visitors.

- Growth was even faster among female gamers ages 12 to 24, rising 55 percent, and 55 to 64, rising 43 percent.

- 94 percent of teen girls play video games regularly

- Fashion and dress-up sites and virtual worlds such as Neopets and Gaia Online helped the category grow in popularity among younger girls.

- More older women visited gaming sites because of partnerships between women's content portals and casual game sites.

- The game genres girls are most interested in include puzzles, racing, and rhythm. Interestingly, they are least interested in virtual worlds (huge surprise!) and survival horror (no surprise!).

- 40 percent of gamers are women

While these studies zero in on computer and online gaming, girls have been embracing game consoles in a big way, too. Half of the Nintendo DS users are female, largely due to the selection of entertainment, pop culture, and fashion-focused games, and it's becoming more and more acceptable for girls to show interest in games.

Nintendo plans to continue courting women, and their latest partnership with Bags To Riches, a luxury handbag "rental" company is looking to a neglected consumer as far as gaming goes - the middle-class mother. When women log on to the site to select designer purses from names like Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton, to carry for the next month, they can also choose a Nintendo game to try out for the next 30 days.

I love fashion, and while my feelings about video games are rather neutral, that could be because I've never received a game console on loan with any online shopping purchase. Who knows - if I received a shiny new Nintendo with my next shoe investment, maybe I would jump on the girl gaming bandwagon. Even if that did happen, I'm not quite sure a game console could ever be considered the next "must-have accessory." From Media Post:

Samuel Mangiere, chairman and co-founder of the online handbag rental site, calls the Nintendo DS this year's must-have fashion accessory that goes well with handbags. "Carrying the Nintendo DS in your purse makes a statement because I truly believe there's a link between the DS and any belt, sunglasses or pair of shoes," he says. "It tells people: 'I'm up-to-date. I like electronics. I probably have a BlackBerry or an Apple iPhone in my purse, too.'"

We've mentioned the new Pew study on teens and gaming a couple of times on Ypulse this week — it is a must-read and is choc full of interesting stats. To me the biggest trend is how gaming has become much more social for teens, defying the teen boy gamer stereotype. Games like Guitar Hero and Rockband, consoles like the Wii, social gaming on websites, virtual worlds and within social networks have all contributed to pushing the percentage of teens who game to nearly 100 percent. There has been lots of coverage of the study, but I wanted to share this video from our friends up north (Canada!), which I think illustrates these key findings (for those of you who don't have time to download the report).

After reading through the 1,000 + panel and speaking proposals for this year's SXSW Interactive, I'm really excited to see so much youth-specific content (in addition to the Ypulse teen panel - voting ends next week so vote now!). There are tons of other amazing looking panels that indirectly related to youth, but I wanted to call out a bunch that caught my eye (many are friends/readers of Ypulse!). It's like a mini-Mashup at SXSW — speaking of, if anyone attending in the youth space wants to team up for a Ypulse youth oriented party/evening event, hit me up!

Not Cool: Getting Youth Marketing Right

Ask the Moderators: Q&A with Kids Communities Managers

Why Gen Y Won't Friend Your Brand

Student 2.0 revolution

Growing Up as An Internet Oversharer

Sex Ed Online: How Teens Self Savvy

Gaming in Education: Theory Becomes Reality

Girls Helping Girls: Social Networks That Change the World

Ads and Kids - The Extremist's Conundrum

Gaming as a Gateway Drug: Getting Girls Interested in Technology

Getting the Kids Behind You

Brave New Virtual World: VW's as Learning Environments

Lessons Learned from a Toy Company

Sex, Violence and Video Games: Where's It All Going?

But Mom, I'm Studying! Learning With The DS

Enabling Social Citizens: Generation Y Redefines Cause Engagement

Edupunk: Open Source Education

Only a very small percentage of hard core console gamers are female, so video game corporations are constantly trying to come up with new ways to appeal to women. One company might have just tapped gold, with a game that combines the age-old hobby of shopping with high-tech virtual simulation.

"Pop Cutie!" is a street fashion simulation game that combines street style, fashion design, retail shopping and trend hunting into an interactive game. In what sounds like a style-savvy Sims game, you work your way up from a fashion designer selling clothes at a flea market all the way to the boss of a fashion empire.

From Koei, the brand (and brains) behind the game:

Players manage the day-to-day happenings of their very own fashion boutique. They'll hire models and assistants, choose the look and music for their shop, run the cash register and even place magazine ads. Best of all, they'll take to the streets and meet different characters in search of up-and-coming trends. Players will then use this inspiration in their studios where they'll create new clothes, accessories and even hairstyles. However, other shop owners are also prowling the streets looking for the next big thing.

By gathering "images" from people on the street and combining them, players will create clothing lines ranging from the conventional to the most outrageous trends from the streets of Tokyo. A simple touch interface allows players to consider color and shape combinations on the bottom screen while reviewing the actual design on the upper screen. Using Nintendo DS Multi-Card Wireless Play, up to two friends can challenge each other in fabulous Fashion Battles.

I'm not much of a gamer, but cheesy names aside, "Pop Cutie!" almost makes me want to invest in my own Nintendo. Instead of spending several hours zoning out to some mindless game, the press release makes this seem as though this will inspire players to be creative, enterprising, competitive, and, well, stylish. It is bound to be solely targeted to females, but even those who aren't clothes-crazy girlie girls can get into the competition and business aspects of the game. I think it will be brilliant for tweens and teens, and can even picture it becoming popular among 20- and 30-somethings.

Set to release this September, the "shopping simulation" game will be exclusively available for Nintendo DS. Read more here.

Allison Luong and Jeff Yip, from one of our new Ypulse Research partners, Pearl Research, have written a guest post summarizing some of the highlights from their report. Remember, you can now purchase this report on our new Research channel. If your company produces research and you're interested in selling it on our channel, please get in touch with Charles Pelton.

Leveraging the Popularity of Gaming and Blogging with China's 107 Million Young Internet Users

China has 107 million Internet users under the age of 25, making it one of the largest youth-oriented digital media markets in the world. These young Internet users account for 51% of the 200 million overall Internet users in China, according to figures by CNNIC, a Chinese government agency.

Pearl Research believes companies need to develop a deep understanding of Chinese youth if they hope to tap into China's burgeoning domestic markets.

As a part of our ongoing analysis of Chinese youth, Pearl Research explores the social and consumer behaviors of this large market demographic.

Online Gaming

Approximately 74% of Chinese Internet users under the age of 18 played online games within the past six months, making gaming one of the top leisure activities. The year 2007 was a banner year for China's online games industry and 2008 is expected to be just as robust. China's online games market raked in an impressive $1.66 billion in 2007, up 60% according to Pearl Research's latest estimates.

What this means for companies is that gaming is an important industry to ally their products with. For example, Coca-Cola printed millions of Coke cans with the gaming characters from Blizzard's World of Warcraft, a popular online massively-multiplayer game.

Users who purchase these imprinted Coca-Cola cans could then redeem extra playing time for World of Warcraft. This promotion effectively cross-promoted both Coca-Cola and World of Warcraft and helped Coca-Cola create a relationship between it and the legion of dedicated World of Warcraft gamers. Gamers who purchase these Coke cans could enjoy their favorite beverage and at the same time save money on a popular game.

The game World of Warcraft generates more than $100 million annually in China, making it a bigger hit than most movies or music albums.

Blogging

Blogging is another activity that has grown in popularity in China. By the end of 2007, the number of blog writers reached 47 million compared to just 16 million in 2006. With an estimated one out of every 30 Chinese citizens writing on a blog service, Pearl Research believes companies must begin to formulate digital strategies focused on the needs of young blog users.

Approximately 47% of the written content on blogs contains inner monologues or records of personal feelings indicating blogs are a means of self-expression. Functions such as the upload/display of personal pictures, music and video were cited as being the most used by blog writers.

Mobile phone-maker Nokia is a company that has leveraged the popularity of blogging in China, promoting its products through various company-owned blogs. These blogs are written in a more informal manner and help update Chinese consumers on Nokia products, what applications are available and also contain photos from Nokia marketing activities.

Blogging and online gaming follow the same theme and that is of young Chinese Internet users choosing to focus on entertainment, sports, celebrities, food and tourism while surfing the Internet.

Pearl Research believes companies seeking to connect with Chinese youth should consider a targeted strategy focused on leveraging the popularity of both of these activities, as both Nokia and Coca-Cola have successfully accomplished.

Today's Ypulse Guest Post is from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop's Carly Shuler, who is also author of D is For Digital and a couple of forthcoming studies on mobile learning and kids perceptions of "the digital den." Carly offers us a recap of the Center's recent invite-only symposium "Logging into the Playground: How Digital Media Are Shaping Children's Learning." If you have an idea for a Ypulse Guest Post, just email me today!

A Very Important Play-Date: Logging into the Playground: How Digital Media Are Shaping Children's Learning

On May 9th, a rainy Friday in New York City, about 200 thought-leaders in the field of children's educational media "logged into the playground." Though "logging in" meant convening on the 50th floor of McGraw Hill's New York Headquarters, and "the playground" was actually a day-long symposium, this was one play-date that anyone interested in kids' educational media would not want to miss.

The event was the inaugural symposium for The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, a new organization housed at Sesame Workshop with the mission of advancing children's learning through digital media. The packed room of invite-only guests spent five hours listening to presentations from a diverse group that included scholars, game developers, teachers, philanthropists and policymakers. But as diverse as the group was, all were working towards one common goal: to set a new benchmark for the way in which digital media is used to improve children's literacy, learning and development.

The day kicked off with a warm welcome from McGraw Hill's William Oldsey, Sesame Workshop's Gary Knell, and the founder of Sesame Street herself, the amazing Joan Ganz Cooney. Following these inspirational welcomes, The Cooney Center revealed the results of three special reports. Michael Levine, The Cooney Center's Executive Director, presented The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media and Our Nation's Future, a challenge report that focuses on the recommendations of over 60 industry leaders. Getting over the Slump: Innovation Strategies to Promote Children's Learning was presented by its author, Arizona State University professor and gaming Guru James Paul Gee; the paper features strategies to promote children's literacy and learning. And finally, Jim Steyer, Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, talked about the results of a national survey Growing up Digital: Adults Rate the Educational Potential of New Media and 21st Century Skills, which explores the perception of parents and educators about new media's educational potential.

Next up were two panel discussions; one about children's digital media usage and trends, and the other discussing how to address literacy challenges in a global age. Over lunch, guests were treated to presentations from special guest Congressman George Miller, Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and keynote speaker Bing Gordon, Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts. Gordon surprised guests by pointing out the amount of mathematics, statistics and probability that are an integral part of the popular video game franchise, Madden Football. He brought the house to laughter when he analogized "congressmen being cool" to "video games being educational;" both of which he agreed with after hearing the Congressman's call for a new emphasis on 21st Century skills and ways to "unlock the power of digital media for kids benefit."

The last panel was the most controversial, and perhaps the most inspirational, challenging key sectors to capitalize on digital media to advance children's learning, and debating which priorities the next President should tackle first. As Connie Yowell, Director of Education for MacArthur Foundation articulately pointed out, "the commercial industry is driving learning. They are fundamentally driving learning. They have outstripped anything the textbook industry is doing or anyone else. What has to shift in a significant way is the relationship with and our understanding of the relationship between public and private, and I think that's a good thing."

The day ended with a technology forum and tech demo, where guests had the chance to get their hands on a selection of promising educational digital media products. International Children's Digital Library, Google Earth, and Kerpoof are just three highlights out of the over 30 products available. And though attendees were certainly entertained, rocking out with products like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, all left with a renewed vision of how such products have the potential to go beyond entertaining to become truly educational.