Over at GAMASUTRA they are running an article about a study that was recently finished. The study was done by Jayne Gackenbach, a college professor in Canada . The study found that gamers have a higher chance of having lucid dreams than non-gamers. Lucid dreams are dreams where the person sleeping knows they are dreaming and can sometimes change the dream or even experience the dream in third person, much like a video game. However, the question I have is if having lucid dreams any different than having normal dreams? Does having better control of your self in your dreams somehow help you when you are awake?

As an avid gamer I can say that I have my far share of dreams that I seem to be able to control and I also sometimes dream about video games as well. I also remember reading some time ago about a study done on surgeons who played video games right before going into the operating room and how they were like 30% more effective. While the topic of what violent video games do to the worlds children is still a deep rooted much divided subject, it is much different for adults. I personally believe that games can be very beneficial for both kids and adults. Besides obvious hand-eye coordination advantages I also believe that video games help to a large degree with problem solving. Also now with more and more games online and multiplayer teamwork is actually also shown in some games. Now there is also a push for games that can be used as learning tools. I am so surprised it took this long to come around. I grew up with the games like the Castle and Island of Dr. Brain , number muncher, and several others. Before I ever played any game with Mario in it I was playing these games that promoted thinking and learning. I think that video games in the future will prove that even for a casual player they can be more than a form of entertainment or stress reliever.

-Mark (8-Mar-2005)

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