Ten Ton Hamster - Your Games. Your Friends. Your Worlds.

Club Penguin has released it's new Big Screen version of the game. This is now the default for the game.

Personally, I do not like the new look. Everything on my screen now is huge! I can appreciate why the folks at CP thought this would be a good idea, but I am still young, and my eyesight is still sitting at 20/20. The bigger picture actually starts to give me a bit of a headache if I play for awhile.

Thank goodness the folks at Club Penguin put in an option so that you can switch back to the original smaller screen.

I love to play Club Penguin, especially with my son. We have fun waddling around the island, playing the various games and hunting for the newest pin that may be out.

Although Club Penguin is a fun place to play, I am finding that Club Penguin is lacking in some areas. Here is a list of the things I would change about Club Penguin:

Disney recently announced that they are closing their online game, Virtual Magic Kingdom. There has been a huge outcry of grief, disbelief and rage from community members and players (approximately 300,000 play VMK) who found a home in the Kingdom.

Have you noticed lately that there seems to be a new online game being released in what feels like every moment? As I was perusing through my daily news sweep, I came across some information about some new games that Nickelodeon plans on releasing. At the bottom of this article it listed that they have 3,000 online games now, and plan to release another 1,500 in the upcoming year. Does anyone besides me think this is a lot?

As I research the world of kids’ online games, I stumbled upon one that I find has a very interesting and promising concept: A game that can become part of a curriculum in the classroom. What a great idea! Finally, someone thought of a way to harmonize with gamers! Instead of looking down on kids and thinking that they are losing their minds in games, IBM decided to accept this generation of gamers and create something educators can use. As the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them!”

You all probably know by now all about good gamesmanship. If you’ve ever played sports or a board game, you know its good to not be a sore loser, and its also not good to rub your victory in to your friend’s face when you’ve just beaten them.

But did you know that good gamesmanship should also apply when you play games online?

How much time should kids spend gaming?

This is a loaded question I know. Many parents use items such as the television and computer games and other gaming consoles as a babysitter for their children. Some parents completely ban those types of electronics from their homes.

For me personally, I think that gaming should be approached much like everything thing else in life. Everything in moderation.

Children's MMOGs are starting to really rev up lately!

With the success of Club Penguin, Toontown and Webkinz (just to name a few games), other companies have been working to come out with online communities for children that are built around games and social content.

Gaming is obviously not free. There are three main ways to pay for gaming when it comes to children’s games.

Monthly Payments

I stumbled across an article the other day that proposed the idea of having age-defined servers in World of Warcraft. This was in an attempt to let adults play in a teen free atmosphere.

I thought it would be interesting to take the thought a step further.

What if games like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online made servers that catered toward the younger gamers and family gamers?