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At the Hollywood and Games Summit this week Jesse Alexander, the executive producer for TV shows like Heroes and Lost, spoke on a panel dedicated to the connection between television and games. "The conversation started by looking at how Lost ... has really used websites and online [Alternate Reality Game (ARG)]-like structures to draw people into the show - Moledina suggested that the TV show has deep problem-solving skills like in games. Alexander noted in response: 'Yeah, that was part of what we wanted to make. Alias came out in 2001, the same time that Neil Young was doing [early subscription-based ARG] Majestic. That was very inspiring to us. His keynote at GDC where he talked about that, was similar to us with Alias, in terms of serialized narrative.'" For full notes from the event, Alice and the Wonderland blog have you covered.

The British Board of Film Classification recently released a study describing players' reactions to videogames. The synopsis of their findings makes for fascinating reading. "Gamers are starting to play at a younger age, even as the average age of gamers is increasing. Males and females differ greatly in taste in games, how long they play, and how involved they are in the gameplay. Negative press about a game significantly increases it's sales and many young gamers choose games based on word of mouth. Games provide a sense of achievement, unlike passive mediums like television. Active participation decreases the tendency to 'forget' your experiencing a fantasy vs. non-interactive visual mediums. Gamers find violence in television and movies more upsetting than violence in games. While parents agree that games should be regulated, some still consider the whole genre as 'kid's toys', even games that may include adult content." One of the most controversial findings is the assertion that games are less engrossing than other media, with players having less of an emotional connection to in-game events than the events in a book or movie. The Wonderland blog offers up the full report as well as commentary on their findings.

Will Wright gave the keynote address at the Texas SXSW event, showing off Spore to a packed crowd and offering up hopes that 'Toys' will change the world. His hope is that offerings like Spore might force kids to rethink their understandings of nature. Likewise, non-linear storytelling via 'branching' gaming is what he sees as the future of the medium. He cites the movie Groundhog Day as an example, a movie which told the same story over and over again but never did it the same way twice. "'I think if we can teach the computer to listen to the story that players are telling,' Wright said, a game could detect patterns of what the player wants, and adjust music, lighting, and other immersive elements to reflect the story that a player wants to play. He thinks this modeling would best be accomplished by networks that constantly mine and refine player information." Alice, of the Wonderland blog, helpfully provides extensive notes, and Kotaku has a video of the demo the attendees saw.

Alice, over at the Wonderland blog, had the chance to see the demo of the new social/game world Whirled . It's a web-based project with tons of the MySpace/Second Life/YouTube elements that are becoming so common with these projects. The difference with the Three Rings design is the look: it's ugly. "Kids can make their own animations which is good, because if you look out there, it seems ugly is a key feature of rapid viral growth. [laughter] So we'll release all the source for these minigames and make it really easy to hack them up... so people will make their own stuff. Most of [what you are seeing here] is player-created."

Alice, over at the Wonderland blog, had the chance to see the demo of the new social/game world Whirled . It's a web-based project with tons of the MySpace/Second Life/YouTube elements that are becoming so common with these projects. The difference with the Three Rings design is the look: it's ugly. "Kids can make their own animations which is good, because if you look out there, it seems ugly is a key feature of rapid viral growth. [laughter] So we'll release all the source for these minigames and make it really easy to hack them up... so people will make their own stuff. Most of [what you are seeing here] is player-created."

Kate Thompson writes "Alice Taylor at Wonderland writes that BBC Radio 1 is coming to Second Life, with a virtual festival and simulcast this weekend to coincide with Radio 1's One Big Weekend event. Second Life users can catch live performances in-game by acts including Muse, Razorlight and Gnarls Barkley. Pitchforkmedia.com also reported on the rise of live music in Second Life a couple of weeks ago, focusing on the launch of Muse Isle and the swarms of coffeehouse performers playing covers every night in-game."