When Video Games Research Attacks

It's good to see positive research into the effects of video games on people. There we've stated our bias. So, when we see a respected organ such as Time magazine bigging up brain training games, we read it. Then we read the research digest...

Time runs with, "Grandpa and grandma may be wrestling the grandkids for the Nintendo, thanks to a study showing Brain Age can improve cognitive function". Cool.

The story reads, "Researchers from Tohoku University in Japan show that elderly men and women playing the game Brain Age, made by Nintendo, can improve some of their declining cognitive abilities.

"For the new study, 32 elderly Japanese participants were tested for cognitive function and then randomly assigned to play either Brain Age, which is touted by its makers as a 'brain training game,' or the classic arcade game Tetris, in which players arrange an onslaught of differently shaped blocks to form a solid line, for about 15 minutes per day, at least five days per week for four weeks. At the end of the four-week study period, the participants were then tested again for cognitive function."

Excellent! So, off we head to see the details of the new study here.

All seems fine, until we get to:

"Competing interests: RK is the creator of the Brain Age. Tohoku University, where RK belongs, has received royalties generated by the Brain Age's sales. RK has no other competing interests. All other authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The authors confirm that this does not alter their adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials."

Now, we're not saying that the research isn't 100% squeaky clean even if the university receives revenue from one of the games tested. We're not saying that. We are, however, going to be fascinated to see how this story is reported outside of Time magazine.