From the limited findings based on a recent experiment, researchers at Brandeis University found that sounds can affect how we interpret visual cues. Participants in an experiment found it more difficult to score points in a simple game when its audio was messed with or turned off entirely. More proof that listening…
In the “water is wet” category, researchers at Indiana University just published a study confirming that Twitch viewers on popular women’s streams like to talk about boobs. It also asks why big-name female streamers hear a higher ratio of chat comments about their bodies than women who run less-trafficked Twitch…
Strategy games can be exciting. They can be...strategic. They can be easy, they can be hard. You might not have ever wanted to see some of the biggest games in the genre compared across these metrics—I’d never thought of it—but seeing them mapped out is pretty interesting!
Do violent video games make people more aggressive? Politicians and pundits have been asking that question for years now, and although everyone thinks they know the answer, scientific studies have yet to come up with results that satisfy even the most basic probing.
I tend to get angry at little things in video games. A lot. Sometimes really, really, really angry. I'm starting to think I should stop. Why? A recent study explained just how bad for us small yet frequent day-to-day stresses really are. The short version? Life-threatening.
After this thing the other week here’s some actual science proving actual things. Specifically: “’immoral’ virtual behaviors in a video game can lead to increased moral sensitivity”.
I self-identify as a straight male-bodied dude, but recently I've taken to playing as a female-bodied character in many games. It's not something the majority of people do, but it's also not uncommon. Oddly, however, men play as women far more than women play as men. Let's break down why people choose the avatars they…
Video games have their rockstars. But they're not the same kind of rockstars as the ones who strut around in dresses made of meat or go on talk shows to argue about their Twitter feuds. Compared to pop music or Hollywood, games often seem like they have a culture of celebrity that's far more subtle. Nonexistent, even.…
Getting old is never easy. Candy tastes less sweet. Hangovers get ever more brutal. Pop music becomes increasingly terrifying. And, of course, video games get harder.
Korean researchers have developed a stroke recovery program that uses Kinect. As you can see in the above video (via tipster Sang), the software even features a space shooter as part of the therapy.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota say they've found a link between motion sickness and iPad gaming. The fact they played Gameloft's Call of Duty clone, Modern Combat is delightful to me, but the game itself isn't what makes people queasy. It's how games are played on the tablet in general.
By now we should all be on board with the idea that texting while driving is a particularly dangerous and irresponsible thing. But how does it affect one's driving within Mario Kart? A physician and some elementary schoolers found it significantly increases the risk of driving backwards, among other hazards.
You've seen contract killings go down in TV shows and movies. You've played hired killers in video games series like Hitman, Grand Theft Auto and Assassin's Creed. But a new study from Great Britain reveals that the modern-day business of paid murder is more mundane, bumbling and boring than what's shown in popular…
There's a good reason for that. According to Microsoft, a bra is close to the heart. You know what else it's close to? The stomach, that's what.
Any time a high-profile act of violence happens, some media pundits are quick to blame video games for influencing the perpetrators' actions. But results of a UK study says that such a link may not exist.
This is called a Dynamic Shape Display. MIT built it, and it uses a Kinect sensor. In one of its applications, instead of a user in real life manipulating something on a TV, it puts the user on a TV, manipulating something in real life. See for yourself.
I'm not sure what to make of this study, by researchers in Germany and Australia. On a literal level, RPG gamers are better than others at fishing paper clips out of a container of ice-cold water. Scientists think that means they're desensitized either to pain or, going further, important life events, even.
This local news report has all of the ingredients: Sex, teenage girls, the exploitation of them, video games, and a respected university's research. Here to synthesize it all for us is Life Coach Jenn Lee: "This is even worse than watching Miley Cyrus twerk."
