A new study of 100 university undergraduates in Toronto has found that video gamers consistently outperform their non-playing peers in a series of tricky mental tests. If they also happened to be bilingual, they were unbeatable.
Barely a day goes by when video games, generally Grand Theft Auto, are blamed for something evil. But that doesn't mean they are bad. I have my own views on the whole "video games are murder simulators" debate, and maybe I'll write them up one day. For now though - I'll focus on the positive.
Researchers in Toronto have found that people who played video games are able to concentrate better, and excel at multi tasking.
Prof. Bialystok suspects video gamers, like bilinguals, have a practised ability to block out information that is irrelevant to the task at hand.
You can read more in the article on the Globe and Mail website.
Rocket Boards is a super fast 3D rocket boarding action. My first "commercial" (shareware) product. Didn't do amazingly well but was a good learning experience
Bubble Bomb is a polished update of a game originally built by Warren Marshal (who works at Epic games - developers of Unreal and Gears of War)
My own update of Bubble Bomb, Bubble Blitz was almost a total rewrite adding loads of new features and a shiny new look.
Seths Puzzle Boxes is a puzzle game with a surprisingly enjoyable story line, unfortunately it's quite short so won't take long to complete, but while it lasts is great fun.
6 Responses to “Games are good for you” Leave a reply ›
Hehe, fta: "'Hey, he can only play three games at the same time and I play seven.' " This is what we have to look forward to in our old age. When I was younger, the big positive you'd here was just hear about improved hand-eye coordination, but I don't think they ever had real studies to back that up.
Keep focusing on the positive, you'll enjoy life more.
Ha haa
I've just spent half an hour writing up a 'Video Game Violence' post. I'm going to polish it up and publish it some time tomorrow. I'll certainly keep away from making it a regular thing though
I was just thinking about this topic - yesterday. I'd love to read the article - do you have a free HTML copy anywhere? The Global Mail site (supported by the British Council) wants your, ah, my money to see their wisedom. I think not.
Mishinka
Well that sucks. It was free when I posted this - fraid I don't have a copy anymore, sorry.