Video Games
Stop Associating Video Games With Youth Gun Violence
Separating our conversations about school shootings from our conversations about video games will improve our approach to both.
'We Have to Keep Fighting': A Conversation With Anita Sarkeesian
The new documentary Netizens offers an intimate look at how cyber harassment has affected the lives of three women.
New Research Finds No Link Between Violent Video Games and Aggression
The debate over the potentially troubling effects of these massively popular games continues.
Gaming-Inspired Aggression Spreads Within Social Groups
You don't have to personally play violent video games to experience their negative effects.
TV, Video Games in Kids' Bedrooms a Very Bad Idea
New research suggests they are a destructive diversion.
Female Gamers Are Unfazed by Trash Talk
But sexual harassment is a different story.
Product Placement in Violent Video Games
Even if you get into a gunfight in a virtual fast-food restaurant, you're not likely to remember it was a McDonald's.
Can Exposure to Violence Inspire Unethical Behavior?
New research finds words or images depicting violent human-on-human contact increase one's likelihood of cheating for monetary gain.
Frozen in Time
What a 22-year-old video game can teach us about nostalgia.
The Business of Playing Video Games
A famous professional video-game player on the Internet, Tom Burke has made waves for treating his passion like a full-time job. Does that make him a sellout?
Need for Speedrunning
Gamers have found a way to get a younger generation excited about raising millions for charity. And they don’t even need to put down their controllers.
Sex Doesn't Sell
And violence might actually hurt sales, a new analysis suggests.
Treating Trauma With 'Tetris'
Neuroscientists say the timeless video game's challenging visual and spatial attributes may block unwanted memories.
Anxiety Games: For When a Little Distraction Is Good—or Even Necessary
There’s a lot of comfort to be found in virtual worlds.
Video Game Play May Not Boost Brain Power After All
On this charged issue, a team of researchers comes to the opposite conclusion of some of their colleagues.
Has Anita Sarkeesian Been Silenced?
Gamergate is a cautionary tale that may dampen others’ willingness to speak out, but the problems of video game misogyny and the online harassment of women are more visible than ever.
What Will We Do With Virtual Reality?
It’s not just for gaming. Cheap and accessible virtual reality will soon change how we look at just about everything, and this group of novelists, artists, and designers are leading the way.
When Playing Video Games, Go for the Flow
Research suggests highly skilled players who achieve a "flow state" are buffered against the games' negative psychological impact.
Threaten My Group, and I’ll Belittle Your Science
New research from Germany helps explain why people attempt to discredit scientific findings in online comments.
Zombie-Infested Virtual World Reveals Our Ethical Blind Spots
Players of an online survival game expressed guilt for killing, but less so for non-lethal actions that would result in a character’s death.
Science Still Doesn't Understand Video Games
But even with odd experiments and disparate conclusions, researchers are edging closer to a more nuanced idea of how they change our behavior.
Virtual Economies Are the Future of Consumption
You know the $21 billion mobile gaming industry you contributed to by purchasing the latest iteration of Angry Birds? Look to it for clues about how we’ll soon consume all digital content.
How Sega Ushered in an Era of Video Game Violence
In an effort to unseat Nintendo, the company of Sonic tried to offer an alternative to their competitor's family-friendly image. It worked—and then some.
We’re on the Brink of the Biggest Change in Gaming Since the Atari
As part of our week-long series on booms and busts, Jamie Wiebe considers the contenders for the casual gaming crown. Since the early days of Nintendo, the games you play have been secondary to the systems you play them on. And now, the options seem limitless.