Tip of the hat to Kotaku to pointing us towards this Guardian blog on literacy concerns in the UK that gives the Ace Attorney series a major high-five.
Author Steven Poole responds to his own paper's claims that "England has plummeted from third to 19th in an international league table of children's literacy levels as pupils replace books with computer games." Hm.
Here's a clip from the piece:
"News headlines don't tell you, for example, about the wonderfully batty series of games for the Nintendo DS starring Phoenix Wright... At a rough estimate, one Phoenix Wright game contains at least as much text as your average children's novel... In my opinion, Phoenix Wright is funnier and cleverer than most TV made for adults."
I once read an editorial piece in which the author posited an alternate universe where radio was invented before the written word, and how nanny-state types would react to children spending all their time ruining their eyes squinting at black ink rather than improving their knowledge of the world listening to radio dramas. Poole also imagines a similar situation in his posting.
Beyond the Ace Attorney series, imagine trying to succeed in a Final Fantasy title, undertake a quest in World of Warcraft, escort survivors in Dead Rising, or sing along with a song in Rock Band without varying degrees of literacy. Poole's conclusion, I personally feel, is right on the money. For more along these lines, I highly recommend picking up Everything Bad is Good For You by Steven Johnson. And the latest Ace Attorney title, too ;)
Here's a fun quote from the Guardian's original piece on the findings:
"Unless children get a buzz out of reading, the computer will remain much more interesting to them." -- Mick Brooks, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. Maybe that's the problem; if you could catch a buzz from reading, perhaps more teens would be getting together on the weekends and binging on Oprah's latest recommendation.
I love seeing the different things that our fans send in to us to prove their love for our games. I've always considered myself a gamer, but there are levels of fandom far beyond my own. The above papercraft is, in a word, excellent. Congrats to the creator. You are much better at art than I will ever be. Can't wait to see what gets sent our way when Apollo Justice steps into the courtroom.
It took us awhile, because it was too hard to pick ourselves up off the floor after all of our ROFLing, but I can finally announce the winners to our Ace Attorney LOLCats Contest. I better do it quick though, before I regress back into fits of laughter again!
We'll start off with our two runner ups, who will be receiving a Phoenix Wright plush toy along with an Ace Attorney poster signed by the producer of the series, Minae Matsukawa.
"Invisible Barbell" by Amanda Morrow
"I haz a parrit" by Michael Teague
And finally we have our grand prize winner, who, along with the signed poster and plush-toy, will also be receiving a free copy of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations.
"Invisible Yo-Yo Convention" by Kimberly Powell
This was by far one of the most enjoyable contests we have ever ran, and we rofled throughout, which you can do as well by checking out all the entries in our Flickr archive. Thanks to everyone who entered and all the laughter it brought us. As a show of thanks, everyone who entered will be receiving a 10% off coupon from the Capcom store as well!
You don't have to be surprised, but you've still gotta be excited: Apollo Justice is coming to America! Check out the photo gallery. Full fact sheet and press release are here.
CAPCOM® BRINGS APOLLO JUSTICE™:ACE ATTORNEY™ TO NORTH AMERICA
A Fresh Member of the Bar is Sworn In for the Popular Nintendo DS™ Legal Adventure Series
SAN MATEO, Calif. — November 9, 2007 Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that the latest installment of its highly popular courtroom drama series, Apollo Justice™: Ace Attorney™ is scheduled for release in North America in early 2008.
This is the fourth game in the series and the first developed specifically for Nintendo DS™ and sees a change of direction for the story line with the introduction of new defense attorney Apollo Justice and a host of new characters. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB.
Players star as rookie defense attorney Apollo Justice as he visits crime scenes, questions key witnesses and collects vital evidence before stepping into the courtroom to prove his clients’ innocence. Facing Apollo across the courtroom is the highly talented and flamboyant prosecutor Klavier Gavin who, in addition to being a legal genius, is also lead singer with Gavinners, a highly successful rock band with a string of hits to their name.
He may be young and inexperienced but Apollo’s confident manner and passion, coupled with his unique ability to uncover witnesses’ lies by studying their body language, will prove invaluable assets in the courtroom as he pleads the case for the defense. Thankfully, Apollo is not alone and is aided both in and out of the courtroom by his assistant Trucy, a mysterious female magician. Apollo also receives invaluable advice from his mentor the ultra-cool Kristoph Gavin, elder brother of Klavier, whose perfect logic and natural instincts have won him numerous cases and the respect of his colleagues.
·1st fully new title to be developed specifically for the Nintendo DS.
·Touch screen interface progresses players through the game
·Microphone can be used to yell “Objection!” and “Hold it!” as you cross examine witnesses
·All new “Crime Recreation Mode” that allows players to reveal hidden clues by re-creating the scene of the crime
·Two distinct gameplay segments:
Investigation phase – survey crime scenes, interview witnesses and gather evidence that will be used in court
Court phase – present findings from the investigation to support your case, listen to testimonies and examine witnesses
·Diverse cast of characters
Apollo Justice: the new main character who leads the series into a new chapter
KlavierGavin: in addition to being a top prosecutor, Klavieris also the lead singer in a highly successful rock band who brings his star qualities into the courtroom
Kristoph Gavin: the coolest character on the judicial circuit, and Apollo’s mentor. His cool headed thinking means he always provides his clients with the best defense
Trucy : The mysterious magician Trucy started working with Apollo after a chance encounter.
ABOUT CAPCOM
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including best-selling franchises Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Devil May Cry. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Tokyo and Hong Kong, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom can be found on the company web site, www.capcom.com.
While we're pretty sure no one is going to pass the bar exam just by playing Ace Attorney, curiosity still often begs the question of just where Ace Attorney's legal system and inspirations come from. MTV finally put this, and other questions in front of Minae Matsukawa, the producer of Ace Attorney, so that we can obtain some inner peace.
MTV: The "Phoenix Wright" games are very funny, but as far as I know are not at all accurate to the way the legal system works. How did you decide upon the legal system in "Phoenix Wright"? Is it based on any real-world legal system? Or is it just designed to be one that simply works well as a game?
Matsukawa: Well, going back to how the game system was conceived, the team didn't think of the court idea first, and instead was focused on the idea of uncovering lies and contradictions. Actually, what’s funny is when the Japanese press asks us about this same issue, they usually think we based the game’s system off of the American judicial system! But if we really had based the game off of a real court system, it might not be quite as interesting as a game, simply because court proceedings usually aren’t interesting, right? I think that more than the setting, the game itself has to be interesting. The system in the game is really, at its core, about chasing down witnesses and trying to catch them in the act of lying, so keeping this as the most important aspect of the game and gameplay in mind, we didn't base the judicial system in "Ace Attorney" off of any real systems, but instead created something unique to the "Ace Attorney" world.
Tip of the hat to Kotaku to pointing us towards this Guardian blog on literacy concerns in the UK that gives the Ace Attorney series a major high-five.
Author Steven Poole responds to his own paper's claims that "England has plummeted from third to 19th in an international league table of children's literacy levels as pupils replace books with computer games." Hm.
Here's a clip from the piece:
"News headlines don't tell you, for example, about the wonderfully batty series of games for the Nintendo DS starring Phoenix Wright... At a rough estimate, one Phoenix Wright game contains at least as much text as your average children's novel... In my opinion, Phoenix Wright is funnier and cleverer than most TV made for adults."
I once read an editorial piece in which the author posited an alternate universe where radio was invented before the written word, and how nanny-state types would react to children spending all their time ruining their eyes squinting at black ink rather than improving their knowledge of the world listening to radio dramas. Poole also imagines a similar situation in his posting.
Beyond the Ace Attorney series, imagine trying to succeed in a Final Fantasy title, undertake a quest in World of Warcraft, escort survivors in Dead Rising, or sing along with a song in Rock Band without varying degrees of literacy. Poole's conclusion, I personally feel, is right on the money. For more along these lines, I highly recommend picking up Everything Bad is Good For You by Steven Johnson. And the latest Ace Attorney title, too ;)
Here's a fun quote from the Guardian's original piece on the findings:
"Unless children get a buzz out of reading, the computer will remain much more interesting to them." -- Mick Brooks, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. Maybe that's the problem; if you could catch a buzz from reading, perhaps more teens would be getting together on the weekends and binging on Oprah's latest recommendation.
"Invisible Barbell" by Amanda Morrow
"I haz a parrit" by Michael Teague
And finally we have our grand prize winner, who, along with the signed poster and plush-toy, will also be receiving a free copy of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations.
"Invisible Yo-Yo Convention" by Kimberly Powell
This was by far one of the most enjoyable contests we have ever ran, and we rofled throughout, which you can do as well by checking out all the entries in our 
