It's often seen as a lazy activity, but new research suggests that playing video games could have a surprising benefit – improving your reading skills. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan say that gaming may improve peripheral attention skills, which are essential for reading ability. 'Attention is an important part of successful reading,' explained Shaylyn Kress, who led the study. 'Your eyes need to scan across a page in a systematic manner to correctly process each word and sentence, for example. 'Therefore, activities which may impact attentional processes, such as video games, may also have an impact on reading as well.'

Shooter video games like Call of Duty are often citied as the motivation for real-life gun crimes. But according to a new scientific study published today, there's no evidence that these games cause violence in the real world. The London-based study author looked at how adolescent boys' violent behaviour is affected by the releases of new violent video games in the US. She concluded that policies intended to place restrictions on video game sales to minors – as attempted by several US states – are unlikely to reduce violence. Real-life displays of violence, such as mass shootings, have famously been blamed on video games by some politicians, rather than lax gun regulation and easy access to firearms.

Researchers from Massey University, the University of Tasmania and Stetson University reviewed multiple long-term studies into video games and aggression. They found no evidence of a substantial link between'aggressive game content' and signs of anger or rage later on in childhood. 'Poor quality studies' in the past likely exaggerated the impact of games on aggression, while better quality studies show the effects of gaming are'negligible'. Regulation of violent games also did not appear likely to reduce aggression in real life, suggesting parents shouldn't worry about their kids shooting up virtual enemies. Real-life displays of violence, such as mass shootings in the US, have famously been blamed on video games by some politicians, rather than lax gun regulation and easy access to firearms.

Video games do not lead to violence or aggression, according to a reanalysis of data gathered from more than 21,000 young people around the world. The researchers, led by Aaron Drummond from New Zealand's Massey University, re-examined 28 studies from previous years that looked at the link between aggressive behaviour and video gaming, a method known as a meta-analysis. The new report, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science on Wednesday, found that, when bundled together, the studies showed a statistically significant but minuscule positive correlation between gaming and aggression, below the threshold required to count as even a "small effect". "Thus, current research is unable to support the hypothesis that violent video games have a meaningful long-term predictive impact on youth aggression," the report said. Between them, the various studies included in the research dated back to 2008, and had reported a range of effects, including a small positive correlation between violence and video-game use in around a quarter of them and no overall conclusion in most of the rest, with one 2011 study finding a negative correlation. One common argument for a negative effect of gaming is that small harms can accumulate over time: if a player ends every game slightly more aggressive then, over the long term, that might add up to a meaningful change in temperament.

People have long blamed video games as a cause of school shootings, but a new study has found that this is more likely to be the case if the perpetrator is white. Researchers have found that video games are eight times more likely to be mentioned when the perpetrator was a white male than if the shooter were an African American male. Experts believe the public looks to find an explanation for this type of behavior if the act is carried out by someone who doesn't match the racial stereotype of a violent person. Although many politicians and media outlets point to violent video games as the cause of school shootings, experts have yet to find scientific evidence to support these claims. 'Video games are often used by lawmakers and others as a red herring to distract from other potential causes of school shootings,' said lead researcher Patrick Markey, PhD, a psychology professor at Villanova University.

You won't find violent video game displays at Walmart anymore. Late last week the company announced it is removing them from stores. This came after President Donald Trump, commenting on the Dayton and El Paso shootings, complained from the White House about "gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace" and surround troubled youth with a culture that celebrates violence. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, told Fox News he has always felt violent games present "a problem for future generations and others." Would someone please point out to our leaders -- neither of whom cited actual evidence -- that they are more than a decade behind the scientific consensus?

After Mike Rufail graduated from college in 2001, he turned to video games as a cheaper alternative to nights out, buying an Xbox 360 paired with popular first-person shooter Call of Duty 2. "I realized I was one of the better players pretty quickly," says Rufail, 36. Rufail went on to become a professional esports athlete and, later, founder and CEO of Envy Gaming, an esports squad that competes in tournaments for games like Fortnite, Overwatch, and, yes, Call of Duty. "I was a fairly good athlete, and played sports my whole life," says Rufail, who retired from competitive play in 2013 to manage Envy's roster. "But I also had a love for gaming." But in the past few days, Rufail's profession has been criticized by politicians and pundits who argue that violent video games have at least in part fueled America's mass shooting epidemic.

Scientific studies do not find any links between video games and gun violence. The claim that they do has been repeatedly tested, studied and debunked. Yet on Monday, US president Donald Trump insisted that "gruesome and grisly video games" were causative in the gun massacre deaths of 22 people in El Paso and another 9 in Dayton (not Toledo) Ohio. Why scapegoat video games and demonise the people who play them? It's established that science, expertise, evidence and the truth are not dominant themes of the Trump presidency, and with increasing numbers of people bleeding to death in US streets, he has to find someone – something – anything!

Talking about acts of violence like mass shootings with your children is not easy. If you have to have that difficult talk, remember the four S's. Video games again have been invoked as one of the causes of violence in the U.S. in the wake of mass shootings this weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. President Donald Trump, who last year held a video game summit after the February 2018 Parkland, Florida, shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was among several public officials who called out video games as a potential factor in shootings, mentioning video games and violence. President Donald Trump on Monday condemned white nationalism and said he supported "red flag" laws, which could limit a person's access to firearms if the person is determined to be a potential threat to the public.

Playing violent video games regularly makes people less sensitive to disturbing images, warns a new study. Scientists found regular players were better at disregarding graphic content while viewing a rapid series of images. In the experiment, this meant they were better able to remember more of the images than non-players. Experts believe this is because they suffer less from emotion-induced blindness, which occurs when a person's emotions impact their perception of the world. Playing violent video games regularly makes people less sensitive to disturbing images, warns a new study.