In “Education vs. Entertainment,” Mizuko Ito clearly defines three genres that comprise children’s software – academic, entertainment, and construction. Although all three types are designed with learning goals in mind while at the same time incorporating fun, they differ based on the degree of emphasis placed on educational versus entertainment purposes. Disparities in production and advertising between the genres are also made evident. Beginning with the ‘academic’ strand, which is designed for the consumer market and more specifically, marketed directly to parents rather than children, clearly advertises achievement of goals, not gaming or fun. On the other hand, the ‘entertainment’ strand of children’s software is more geared towards attracting children. By featuring an open-ended, exploratory online environment and fantasy worlds rather than goal-oriented games, the entertainment genre advertises to a more youthful target audience comprised of children who seek adventure, imagination, pleasure, exploration, and creativity, in contrast to the academic strand’s learning and reflecting goals. However, I would like to focus on the last genre, construction. After defining what the constructivist approach symbolizes, I will use the example of the online gaming series, “The Sims,” to show how this genre differs from the academic and entertainment types in terms of content, benefits, and advertising techniques.
The construction genre is often also called authoring, for it involves a player who is the writer, builder, or creator.
“This constructivist approach focuses less on conveying academic or cultural content and more on providing tools for construction and tinkering… They draw less on explicit educational ideologies or images of play and more on images of mastery and control” (101).
This genre integrates both education and entertainment, in a way. The games associated with this category provide children with a toolkit to create simulations. For example, a popular online game is called “The Sims.” It represents a life simulation game, or a “sandbox game,” in that it lacks any defined goals. Players create every physical and even emotional feature of their “Sim.” Directing their moods and satisfying their desires are the only true goals of the game. Building a town or constructing a house for your Sims is also part of the game. Some argue that it lacks educational purposes, but I beg to differ. The Sims certainly satisfies the player in terms of amusement and pleasure, but the game can also be beneficial to a certain degree. It can teach a child how to make effective decisions under stress, gain strategic thinking, learn how to manage money, persist and solve both financial and relational problems, and how to manage people in general. Learning the concepts of building a home or constructing a whole town from scratch are also helpful learning tools for creative, innovative children.
Unlike the other genres of children’s software, the construction category does not have a clear target audience in terms of ages to advertise towards. Simulation games like The Sims bridge the gap between child and adult. Both old and young players spend countless hours designing towns and controlling their Sims’ lives. The Sims is just one example of a game within this genre that lacks age-specificity and marks a cross over between adult and kids markets. Thus, defining distribution and marketing channels is a challenge for these construction and authoring games. Overall, the constructivist approach drastically differs from the other two genres, in content, goals, and advertising techniques. Unlike the others, authoring games like The Sims can be useful and entertaining for both adults and children.