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Over the past decade countless studies have arisen supposedly proving a causal link between video games, violent behavior, and depression. A new study conducted by Christopher J. Ferguson pinpoints why all of the others may have gotten it wrong. More »
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While more mainstream video games are under fire for causing depression, a new study at East Carolina University finds that playing casual puzzle games is an effective way to combat clinical depression and anxiety. Guess who underwrote the study? More »
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In a survey that's sure to be taken the wrong way by somebody, researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have discovered links between "problematic gaming" and negative health behaviors like smoking, doing drugs, and fighting. But first, good news! More »
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With the economy on the ropes and a recession running around like death at the masquerade, it seems inevitable that we're going to be dealing with question eventually, so let's get to it now. More »
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Are video games the movies of our current economic slump? In an article wittily titled, "In Tough Economic Times, Video Games Console", NPR writer Laura Sydell explores the similarities between the growing popularity of video games in mainstream culture with the movie boom that occurred during The Great Depression in the 1930's, at time when a weary nation turned to nickel theaters to escape the grim realities of the economic climate. She compares the relatively steady sales of movie tickets to the ever-expanding gaming market, with software sales up 43 percent from this time last year. More »
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I'm not sure what some of the anti-video game faction would have to say about this, but researchers at the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland have said that using video games, or modifications of games, can not only help in diagnosing depression, but also help in determining the severity of such problems. More »
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The Nintendo Short Cuts Showcase contest is entering the home stretch, and they've narrowed everything down to 10 entries, almost all of which are amazingly bad. Seriously, I hope this once and for all proves to gaming companies that the gaming community is not the hidden well of producing / directing / acting talent they think it to be. More »
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Students at South Shore High School in New York have been passing up normal after school activities for video games...though not to play them. For the past year they've been meeting after school in order to develop meaningful video games with messages attached. It's all part of a program that melds game development with social awareness, and with the help of Global Kids and local developer Gamelab their first game has just been released online. Called "Ayiti: The Cost of Life," it puts the player in control of a family of five poor Haitians in what can best be described as a family management sim. More »
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When the Yakuza voice cast was announced I was depressed—well, as depressed as one can justifiably be when learning of a potentially bad dub for a video game. Enlisting a handful of B-minus acting talent filled my head with awkward, phoned-in performances from an all anglo cast doing their worst Japanese gangster impression. Since Sony—not to mention the gross majority of Western PS2 owners—would never go for a subtitled localization with the original Japanese language track intact, we're stuck with, well, shit. More »
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