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.