AfterDawn: News

Game developers target mental health

Nowadays, the most news you read about video games affecting people debate whether violent video games can influence a person's behavior. With many lawmakers suggesting legislation to limit violence in games and several terrifying events that have been blamed on gaming influence, it is easy to focus on the negative effects of video games. A growing number of developers however, are focusing more on the positive.

After the success of the Brain Training games from Nintendo, which aims to improve the concentration and memory of users (amongst other things), some developers have decided to focus on how video games can affect psychological health in a positive way. Tokyo-based Dimple Entertainment will begin selling its new "DS Therapy" in Japan for the DS in May.



The title promises to deliver a a measurement on your mental and emotional health on a daily basis based on the input of the user. Mark Baldwin, a psychology professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, also offers another game, "MindHabits Booster". This game aims to make players feel good about themselves.

Baldwin and his team designed the game based on social psychology research. They found that repetitive components from video game play could be used to shape the way people think and how they perceive themselves.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 8 Feb 2007 11:45

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• 8 comments

• solarf

  lol thats pretty cool.

  8.2.2007 13:08 #1

• croy00

  Oh my god I can't believe I seen a story for once not criticizing the gaming industry. I can now die happy.

  8.2.2007 15:13 #2

• jb2453

  There are already games that make me feel good about myself. They're called violent video games.

  9.2.2007 00:51 #3

• Vdizzle

  Sounds pretty gay to me. But then again if u get the rumble pack feature, it can massage u in "all the right places" too.

  9.2.2007 04:32 #4

• ZippyDSM

  Using video games to teach ,mental skill ,concentration and memory and apply this to learning electronics or machining or any other skill that takes mental skill ,concentration and memory , one day it could fully replace books.

  9.2.2007 17:28 #5

• cart0181

  On that note, check this out from the University of Rochester NY.[url=http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2764][/url]
  
  http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2764
  
  It's a recent study about how video games like Unreal Tournament can actually improve certain aspects of your vision.

  9.2.2007 18:36 #6

• ChappyTTV

  Quote:They found that repetitive components from video game play could be used to shape the way people think***Your MIND now belongs to US...***
  
  Wonder what little gems of info they'll try to implant in the users brain with this..;-)

  11.2.2007 08:36 #7

• borhan9

  This could be put in two words.
  
  Quote:Mind Games :)

  11.2.2007 10:55 #8