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.

If you are old, you should probably play video games. Really, everyone should play video games. But especially if you're old.

With video games so consistently a topic in the mass media's examinations of the recent Sandy Hook shooting, we decided to take a look at the studies that try to determine what effect—if any—video games have on violent or aggressive behavior. President Obama made a call for more studies, providing the CDC with $10…

This is rather interesting: a study floating around over the past few days (and documented in the above video) concludes that in a simulation of surgery, high schoolers who play video games regularly do as well—and sometimes better—than actual surgeon residents.

Guild Wars, the first game, didn't offer a whole array of character races for players to choose from. Players were always human, even while free to play with variations on appearance. And it seems that Guild Wars players who got used to their looks have brought that bias with them into Guild Wars 2.

The battle over whether and how violent media damage the youth of the world who consume them continues apace. Today's study adds fuel to the argument that yes, violent games are bad for kids.

Sneaking in a little World of Warcraft during business hours is probably a great way to get yourself fired from most jobs—but it seems that spending your personal time in an MMORPG may actually make you a better employee.

It seems that violent games may indeed desensitize players—but in a way that can actually be helpful.

Many years ago, researchers confirmed the existence of the "Lady Macbeth Effect." The gist of it is that we humans really do associate metaphorical uncleanliness with the more literal sort: if we've done or witnessed something immoral or unethical, we are often likely literally to want to go wash or bathe in…

It's good timing for everyone to be excited about Call of Duty: Black Ops II, it seems. New research finds that playing the game, and others like it, can actively change your brain for the better.

Free-to-play games are all the rage here in 2012. With MMOs, social games, and mobile games leading the way, some analysts see the model as the inevitable wave of the future across genres. And given how very well freemium games seem to be doing, they might just be right.

Studies in the past have found that winning competitions can make you mean, and we've all seen the stereotype of the angry gamer yelling at his console. But the latest research on the psychological effects of video games finds that, contrary to popular opinion, what really makes gamers tick is their ability to…

It's become a well-worn truism over the past few years now that video games, far from being "just for kids," appeal to a wide and diverse audience. The average gamer is in his or her late 30s and has been at it for many, many years.

Researchers have looked at mainstream video games for years, trying to determine the effects games have on players' brains. Maybe they make us faster decision-makers, or better thinkers, or more aggressive. Studies come out nearly weekly and often seem to contradict each other's findings.

A number of recent research studies conducted on games and gamers have found a generally positive trend in the effect that gaming has on players' brains, the Wall Street Journal reports. Not only is World of Warcraft good for senior citizens brain function, it's good for a lot of other groups as well.

Apparently, being a gracious victor in a competitive situation really is hard to do.

It's been close to thirty years since video games began their great leap from arcades to living rooms, and for all of those years parents and pediatricians have been counseling that kids spend too much time sitting on the sofa, controllers glued to their hands.

For many years, researchers have conducted various studies on the effects games and play can have on the aging brain.