Video Games Archives

Social Justice

Your Addiction to Dots May Be Helping Your Brain (Sort of)

Research on casual games—games that are quick to access, easy to learn, and require no special knowledge—is ongoing, but early studies suggest that playing them improves skill-specific cognitive functioning.

Jared Keller

Social Justice

Are Video Games the Next Big Addiction?

Horror stories and growing alarm that kids are becoming gaming addicts are pressuring experts to make it a medical diagnosis. But some specialists—and a billion-dollar industry—are pushing back.

Bryan Le

Social Justice

The Power of Tetris

What if you could make a game of Tetris last forever? What would that mean for our minds?

Ryan O'Hanlon

Social Justice

City on a Digital Hill

What SimCity tells us about America’s metropolitan optimism.

Tim Fernholz

Social Justice

Girl Scouts Add ‘Game Developer’ Badge, Video Games Still Sexist

Yay! Ugh.

Ryan O'Hanlon

Economics

In a Violent Media World, YouTube is an Oasis

New research finds far less violence on YouTube than on prime-time television.

Tom Jacobs

Environment

If Only Yosemite Were a Video Game

Those who experience nature through the windshield typically donate less toward conservation than those with no exposure to nature.

Brad Wittwer

Economics

Get Plenty of Sleep Before Imitating Rock Gods

Paper reveals that players of a popular video game increase their performance when they've had a full night of rest.

Matt Palmquist

Economics

Counterinsurgency Training by ‘Virtual Human’

Using artificial intelligence and the graphics techniques behind "Avatar," a USC institute creates “virtual humans” and interactive immersions that train American soldiers to win hearts and minds in Iraq and Afghanistan.

John Mecklin