NAPPA Awards Wii Games, Virtual Worlds

The National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) awarded 30 software products, video games, and web sites that it considers exceptional for younger audiences or excellent resources for parents. With the help of kid testers and parent testers, NAPPA's judges selected several video games for the awards, including Hudson's Deca Sports and Electronic Arts' Boom Blox for its "Tweens and Up" category, and Disney's MMORPG Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Brighter Minds Media's Venture Arctic for the "Teens and Tweens" category. In its 18th year, NAPPA is a juried competition that seeks to help parents make the best buying choices for their families, evaluating hundreds of offerings to select fun, appealing, safe, educational, age-appropriate, and enduring products. The organization also noted that it saw an increase in the number and quality of online offerings, such as those provided by virtual worlds. Disney's Club Penguin, Numedeon's Whyville, Mind Candy's Moshi Monsters, and several others won NAPPA awards. The full list of award-winning software, video games, and web sites is as follows ("Gold" winners are marked with an asterisk):

"It is a tremendous honor for Hudson Entertainment and Deca Sports to be named Gold Award winners by NAPPA," said Hudson Entertainment's Product Development VP Sabine Duvall. "This award signifies that Deca Sports not only provides great entertainment value for both children and adults, but that is also a family-friendly, nonviolent, and enjoyable interactive fitness experience.”