Gamertell

The two biggest stereotypes when it comes to gamers are a) that they are kids and b) they are males. A recent study put out by, IBISWorld, Inc. (one of the nation’s most respected independent publishers of business intelligence research), indicates that the complete opposite it true.

Results of the study suggest that most of the current gamers are older adults and may of those are - you guessed it - women.

According to the study, the average purchaser of games in the U.S. is 39, which means these adults started playing video games when they were teenagers and haven’t stopped. As if that’s not enough, 24% of current gamers today are…

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Two papers presented on August 5, 2008, at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Boston, MA (USA), demonstrated that some videogames can help improve the ability to solve problems and dexterity.

In the first paper. titled Children’s Problem Solving During Video Game Play, Fordham University psychologist Fran C. Blumberg, PhD, and Sabrina S. Ismailer, MSED, presented the results of a study that examined the problem-solving skills of grade-school aged children while they played videogames.

Another paper titled Four Dimensions of Video Game Effects by psychologist Douglas Gentile, PhD, and William Stone, BS, described effects of game usage within high school and college-aged students along with a few professionals in the field of laparoscopic surgery…

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Overenthusiastic female Wii-exercisers in UK are relentlessly sabotaging their own houses. According to an intriguing study by British insurance company Sheila’s Wheels, female Wii Fit gamers in the UK are responsible for cumulative damage worth £20.1 million ($40 million) to their homes.

In the study, women confessed to having damaged costly vases and furniture during Wii Fit-induced hysteria.  The study also revealed that…

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Dan Laton, a Psychology graduate from Victoria University, recently conducted a study on the effects of games on social well being. Gamers tend to be thought of as a group of socially awkward, shy nerds. The purpose of the study was to find out whether or not that stereotype is actually true.

His study had shown that there are no clear links between shyness and gaming, since only one percent of his subjects actually suffered from shyness. The gamers that have been found to have problems socially end up being the players of MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and Everquest. These findings have some implications for the American Medical Association (AMA) which will be readdressing whether or not video game addiction as a mental disorder by…

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According to SignonSanDiego.com there’s a growing concern about children learning unpleasant behaviors through game addiction and warns that parents should pay attention to what their child is playing even more, especially the Nintendo Wii.

Grant it, the Nintendo Wii is so easy that even my cat, Maki, can figure out how to play with it. But I’m not quite sure why a Wii system should a cause for an alarm. When I read this article by Jennifer Davies, a Union-Tribune staff writer, Davies focused on a family with three toddlers ranging from 18-months old to a five year old playing Wii-Tennis…

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We all know that the Wii has found extensive use as a fitness device besides being incorporated into rehabilitation programs world over. There have been a few researches to study its relationship with a player’s health and fitness but a deeper understanding of the subject can fashion a fitness revolution of sorts. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced grants worth $2 million for research on effects of video games on health through its Health Games Research program…

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A recent study has found videogames may be creatively galvanizing. Researchers around the world seem to be locked in a seesaw battle when it comes to video games as they draw conflicting inferences. But this is certainly not one of those studies that anti-game attorney Jeff Thomson can use to make his case against our first love.

The research was conducted by a group of media researchers led by…

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The gaming population is on the rise, making up 72% of the entire US population, according to a new NPD report that was released last Wednesday (April 2, 2008). That figure is for the year 2007 and is up 64% from 2006.

NPD found that 58% of all the people who play video games like playing them online. Many gamers dream of owning more…

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The UK is all set to revamp the videogame rating system according to the recommendations made by Dr. Tanya Byron, who is heading a review into the ill effects of games and the internet in the U.K. Byron told Next-Gen that the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has assured her that the government will adopt her recommendations in full.

Byron also talked about the appreciation her report has drawn from British parents but her suggestions might be…

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Dr. Tanya Byron, a clinical psychologist, who is heading an independent review into the ill effects of games and internet on kids, published a report on Thursday (March 27, 2008). In the report titled “Safer Children in a Digital World” she has made several recommendations regarding children’s safety in cyberspace and ways to keep them away from adult content.

She has recommended greater cohesion between the UK government, game industry and parents, and also prescribed a greater role for the British Board of Film Classification in assigning ratings to the game. She wants BBFC to assign rating to all games 12 and above…

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