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STUDY SHOWS ON-LINE VIDEO GAME PLAY COMES WITH COSTS - AND BENEFITS | |
| Contact: Joshua Smyth, Ph.D. Phone: 315.443.3723 Email: jmsmyth@syr.edu Embargoed until: March 4, 2005 |
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Vancouver, BC - On-line video games with thousands of simultaneous players, such as EverQuest, are hugely popular and a tremendous financial success. Yet playing these games is a double-edged sword - they seem to interfere in some aspects of "real-life," such as academic performance and social life, but also foster strong feelings of "virtual" support and friendships. That is the finding of a randomized trial of video game play, conducted by Dr. Joshua Smyth at Syracuse University. Video game play has increased dramatically in the last two decades, and now is a multi-billion dollar industry each year. Computer networking - linking players from across the world together in a single game - dramatically changes the nature of video games, from a solitary activity into a large, thriving social experience. One type of social gaming is massively multiplayer online roleplaying gaming that involves thousands of players in persistent virtual worlds. In this study, 100 college student volunteers were randomly assigned to play one of 4 types of video games, including traditional arcade style games (such as those in the local mall), single player console games (PlayStation), single player computer games, or a fantasy-themed persistent on-line multiplayer game. Notably, this study was able to contrast the effects of playing the on-line socially interconnected games with more traditional single player or arcade-style games. "The most striking result of this study is that playing on-line multiplayer games has a much greater effect on people than playing traditional single player video games," says Smyth. "Students played these games about three times as much, averaging over 14 hours a week, than other game types." "Playing persistent on-line multiplayer games has some negative consequences, with students reporting worse health and sleep, and interference with their real-life socializing and academic work," continues Smyth. In sharp contrast to these costs, participants also experienced some benefits from such game play. Smyth notes "Participants assigned to play persistent on-line video games enjoyed their play more than other game types, and created new friendships in this on-line environment." | |
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Psychosomatic Medicine is the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, published bimonthly. For information about the journal, contact Vicki White, Managing Editor for Manuscript Production,
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