Cranial Gunk

Conversations about this year’s combined New York Comic Con (NYCC) and New York Anime Festival (NYAF) would not be complete without mention of Marvel’s Superhero Squad – cute cherubic depictions of existing Marvel characters with oversized hands and feet and Kewpie doll smiles like Japanese Super Deformed (SD) or Chibi drawings.

In addition to the release of Marvel Superhero Squad: Infinity Gauntlet video game this November on all the major consoles, the Squaddies will be online in a Beta test of Marvel’s first MMO this coming Spring 2011.

Before I go any further I must apologize to the presenters at the Saturday Superhero Squad Gazillion session who also staffed the Gazillion and Marvel booths. Despite stopping by both Saturday and Sunday and asking on both occasions, I cannot remember anyone’s names. They were all very nice and took the time to introduce my boys the new MMO environment and rules of the physical card game associated with it. AND they showered the boys with pins and cards. I was told the latter was a conference exclusive so I am doubly appreciative.

I am new to videogames and have never played an MMO so am unable to rely any firsthand experiences. However, the name itself – MMO – gives insight into what is most valued about it – The ability to “communicate” and play together live across space.

While their panel offered insight into the authenticity of the characters in the Marvel universe(meaning they stayed true to the darker, more tragic, grown up personas of the heroes), I was hoping for a demonstration of how – and how much – players in the Superhero Squad MMO would interact. I walked in without the prerequisite knowledge of MMOs and it would have helped me appreciate the concept beyond the immediate oohs and aahs of seeing my favorite superheroes Chibi’d and animated.

As expressed by the panel, their target audience is boys ages 6 – 12. Their secondary audience is composed of girls and parents. So there are safety concerns. How well are users protected against social predators and bullies? The latter becoming more epidemic and dangerous in recent years. I am eager to test the safety options I was told about by a panelist after the presentation.

Where the Superhero Squad MMO really succeeded was simplifying the play. My boys love videogames. However, where my eldest is able to manage the various buttons to animate his character and play the game, my youngest struggles (often giving up). In the Superhero Squad MMO all you do to animate your superhero or engage in a battle is move your cursor (a big gloved hand) in the direction you wish to go or mouse over the evil characters to fight them.

In addition to the ongoing collection of tokens through the succession of levels, the Superhero Squad MMO includes a virtual card game. The boys and I were fortunate enough to be given a real deck and taught play at the NYCC.

At home the boys created additional rules to make the game easier for them to play. Their version of the card game also incorporated the collectible Superhero Squad figures like the ones they got on this year’s NYCC Kids Day.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation from the Superhero Squad Gazillion panelists was they didn’t anticipate kids wanting to be villains. I don’t think I would’ve either. But the desire is intriguing. Digging around the Internet I found this whimsical post on Mamapop.com by a mother whose 6 year old has chosen the Dark Side of the Force. My head is popping with theories about why kids might chose villains over superheroes –

Is it because more care is given to providing villains with sympathetic backstories? A result of the anti-hero symbolism in pop culture? Or simply because villains have some pretty cool costumes?

Whatever the answer sign up at Heroup.com for the Superhero Squad MMO Beta. It promises to inspire some interesting situations educationally and developmentally.

I’ve been calling it my “succumbing to mid-life crisis” purchase (in addition to the electric guitar). For my birthday this year I bought myself a Playstation 3 (or as the young people refer to it – a PS3).

I convinced myself that the PS3 was more than just a video game console – like the ads say “It Only Does Everything” –

My “investment” in a PS3 game console was a “family” purchase as well as being a money saving “investment” because I wouldn’t need a Blu-Ray player, a DVD player, or a CD player. It connects to the Internet and with only some difficulty can be networked to play music, video, and image files via WiFi from my laptop. And using a DVD that Netflix sent me over the mail, I can stream movies – This month Netflix is streaming Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

A child of the Pong generation – teen of the Pac Man era – I am easily awed by the sophistication of PS3 games in play, storytelling, and cinematic presentation (just to name a few). We have a Wii and it was exciting at the time but the PS3 has broadened our (the kids and me) gaming experiences.

I am not a hardcore gamer. My understanding of videogames and the surrounding “culture” is an amalgamation of whatever I manage to glean from G4 and talking the guys behind the counter at my local Game Stop. I am enjoying learning the language and the aesthetic expectations they have for a “good game.”

One of the games I kept hearing positive things about before I bought our PS3 was Little Big Planet. It was one of the first games I bought and has turned out to be a great game! Like a Nintendo Mii (but better), the game’s central character, Sack Boy, is amazingly customizable – and it’s dynamic! – you don’t have to leave the game for a different screen to change your Sack Boy’s facial expressions – that’s how much control you have over the character!

While extensive character customization is cool and fun, it is the ability to customize the environment and create your own levels and share them that lifts Little Big Planet from “good to great.” (I’m referencing the Jim Collins’ book here.)

The game is also great because for the kids and I (casual gamers at best) it is hard enough to be challenging, while not being frustrating (we never get stuck at a level long enough to give up… at least we haven’t yet). And the controls are pretty manageable. Being from the Atari Generation and estranged by the ColecoVision, I am easily confounded by all of the buttons on the controllers.

The PS3 has unarguably seen much more play than my electric guitar. And it certainly has fulfilled its promise of being a “family” purchase. Sony has joined with the MacArthur Foundation to host a National STEM Game Design Competition – “Sony will participate in one segment of the competition and encourage the development of new games that build on the existing popular video game Little Big Planet.” So I guess you could view my purchasing a PS3, as my preparing my kids for academic success.