Skip to content

Members
  • More sites
  • BAFTA in Scotland
  • BAFTA Cymru
  • BAFTA in Los Angeles
  • BAFTA in New York
  • BAFTA Guru
  • BAFTA Kids' Vote
  • BAFTA Young Game Designers
  • BAFTA Prints on Demand
  • London Venue Hire
  • Home
  • About
  • Film
  • Television
  • Games
  • Heritage
  • Awards
  • What's on
  • Awards Database
  • Information
Bafta Awards
A Video Game focus group

Play Time

20 September 07

The EA British Academy Children’s Awards now recognise excellence in video games alongside children's film, television and websites. And who better to help judge the year’s top games than the children who play them?

2007 saw the introduction of the Children’s Video Game category into the EA British Academy Children’s Awards. As with all Awards categories, a jury of expert practitioners evaluated and judged the entries. However, the Academy recognised that many of the best judges are the people who play games at home and felt the jury would benefit from seeing children interact with the shortlisted titles.

Children aged between 7 and 14 from five schools in the Tower Hamlets area of London visited the BAFTA office. Everyone in the focus group was given the opportunity to play games on a variety of platforms including Nintendo’s DS and Wii, Sony’s Playstation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

One of the key questions the children had to answer was: If you were given money to buy one of the games that you tried, which one would it be? A sure indicator of popularity! After an intense afternoon of game playing and argument over the top title everyone left with smiles on their faces, sore thumbs and a BAFTA goodie-bag under their arms.

The video games on the shortlist for consideration in 2007 were:
Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party; Crash of the Titans; Disney Princess – Enchanted Journey; EyeToy: Play Sports; Harry Potter – Order of the Phoenix; Jam Sessions; The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night; LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga; My Word Coach; PaRappa The Rapper; Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl; Sonic Rush Adventure

Anne McNulty, Literacy Development Teacher at Central Foundation Girls School, fully supported the intiative: “Offering students opportunities like this are really important. They can get a real feel for the city they live in and get the chance to meet with other students and adults. It is great for their confidence building and communication skills. The students really embraced the tasks and gave some very useful feedback. The day was a huge success and we look forward to the next one!”

The session was run by Glynn Hayward, Creative Director of Complete Control and member of the Academy’s Children’s Awards and Event Committee. “It was a great opportunity to watch children engage with some of the latest and pre-release game titles. They were an enthusiastic and responsive group and we are very grateful to Tower Hamlets for supporting us with this project.”




Please answer the simple sum below.


11 - 5 =

Vassilios2

(15-41-2007)

"A very interesting site with top design and contents! Your site is very convenient in navigation and has good design. Thanks! "

Claire

(15-35-2007)

"I think Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix is the best game by far! I love the magic of it (Pun not intended) and i really enjoy playing it!"

  • Twitter
  • add to Delicious
  • Digg it
  • share on Facebook
  • Stumble it
  • ( What is this? )
  • Print

Awards Information

My Parents are Aliens

As Ofcom moots the possibility of “public intervention”, Matthew Bell reports on the crisis in children’s programming...

Winners from the BAFTA Kid's Vote

In the 2009 BAFTA Kids’ Vote, children cast over 425,000 votes for their favourite Film, TV Show, Video Game and...

13-year-old Leah Cooper from Essex won the CBBC me and my movie award in association with BAFTA, for her short film 'The Prank'. The Award was presented by Blue Peter's Andy Akinwolere and Harry Potter star Bonnie Wright.

The winner of the 2008 CBBC me and my movie award in association with BAFTA was been announced at the EA British...

British Academy Children's Awards

Discover the numerous Awards Categories in this year's EA British Academy Children's Awards.

BAFTA masks wait to be presented at the British Academy Television Awards.

Entries for the Awards in 2011

British Academy Children's Awards

The British Academy Children's Awards will take place on November 27 2011.

British Academy Children's Awards

Campaigning guidelines for the EA British Academy Children's Awards in 2011.

British Academy Children's Awards

Ticket's are no longer available. Information about tickets for the 2012 British Academy Children's Awards will appear...

$format.trim($!articleObj.version.summary,115)

British Academy Children's Awards

Our sponsors and suppliers help maintain the high standard and quality of the British Academy Children's Awards

About BAFTA

  • The Academy
  • Awards
  • Sustainability
  • Supporting Talent

BAFTA Channels

  • BAFTA Film
  • BAFTA Games
  • BAFTA Television
  • BAFTA Heritage

Other BAFTA Sites

  • BAFTA Guru
  • BAFTA Kids' Vote
  • Young Game Designers
  • Venue Hire

BAFTA Branches

  • BAFTA in Los Angeles
  • BAFTA in New York
  • BAFTA in Scotland
  • BAFTA Cymru
  • Site Map
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Press
  • Partnerships
  • Jobs
  • Contact Us