While video games are constantly being considered a dangerous factor in a child’s development, Clem Burke (the drummer from Blondie) and the University’s of Chichester and Gloucestershire in the UK are researching the mental and health benefits of playing drumming based interactive games.
The project is set to start middle of this month and is the brain child of Clem Burke and his drumming project (The Clem Burke Drumming Project) and Activision, since Guitar Hero World Tour is one of the featured games. The research will focus on the effects games like Guitar Hero World Tour can have on obesity, autism and on those suffering from stroke. They will even be investigating into whether or not having games like Rock Band in the work place can actually lower stress levels, yes that might actually mean Rock Band in your office.
Dr Smith from the King Collage London believes that children with suboptimal brain functions may benefit for the planning and the learning of motor skills in such a fun and entertaining way and that this can have an affect on cognitive flexibility and in some cases can help facilitate a recovery from an injury.
It is great to read not just good press about video games but actually read press that means that video games may actually be used for, and dare I say it, education and as a developmental tool. Recently it feels like everyone assumes that all video games have an 18 rated sticker on the front and only teach kids how to gain head shots and pimp slap their bitches. It’s great to see two leading universities, The Clem Burke Drumming Project and Activsion all working together on this. Hopefully research will show that video games can have a positive effect on children and adults alike.
February 8th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Finally a video game related study I can get behind. Something analyzing potential health benefits, instead of the usual finger pointing!
February 8th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
This is awesome! I’m so excited to see what comes of this. I don’t know about the obesity aspect of it, but it does seem like the type of game that gets your mind working. Musical ability in general is shown to be a great thing for the mind, so maybe fake musical ability is as well.
February 8th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Totally agree with GeminiDragon. It’s good to finally see something positive regarding video games!
February 9th, 2009 at 3:25 am
How is there any question to the obesity thing? Take fat person, change their diet, give them drums, bump that shit to Expert and let them go crazy for an hour a day. Trust me, it works.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I’ve played video games all my life and I turned out normal!!! =B
Well, for the most part.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Having DDR used in schools across the US helped legitimize the industry to an an extent, but it still has a bad rap. I think studies like this are fantastic, and will help to prove that there are benefits to engaging in these activities. There is a conference I heard of last year that focuses entirely on games for health, and I am going to try to make it out to it because it is such an interesting subject!