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I can still hear my parents begging me to put down the controller and "go read a book". When they gave me an Atari for my 11th birthday, they assumed that I would gradually lose interest in video games. They had no idea that what should have been just a toy was going to become a passion and an obsession. They lectured me time and again about how I was rotting my brain, that playing video games was a waste of time and energy. And they weren't alone in their opinion. Once thought of as a passing craze, it soon became apparent that video games were here to stay, and parents across the nation began to worry about the negative affect they would have on their children.

It turns out that their fears were unfounded. There are numerous benefits to playing video games. One of the most vocal supporters of video games is Steven Johnson, author of "Everything Bad is Good For You" which explores the benefits of popular culture staples such as television and video games. Johnson goes so far as to question whether reading books is as stimulating and educational as playing a video game. Johnson explained his reasoning during an interview for the New Yorker magazine. "Reading books chronically understimulates the senses. Unlike the longstanding tradition of gameplayingwhich engages the child in a vivid, three-dimensional world filled with moving images and musical sound-scapes, navigated and controlled with complex muscular movementsbooks are simply a barren string of words on the page. . . ."

Video games are often viewed as a passive activity. But anyone who has played a video game will tell you that there is nothing passive about it. Reading a book is a passive activity. You sit down and read words, nothing more is required. Video games are an interactive medium that force the player to make quick decisions, map out strategies, and solve problems. The player is offered immediate feedback that allows the player to not only experience the consequences or rewards of their actions but also gives the player the opportunity to re-evaluate their choices.

Video games have been used as a learning tool since their invention but they are being utilized more today because researchers have discovered how useful they can be. The Federation of American Scientists have actually stated that video games have the potential to be powerful learning tools and have asked for funding to research which type of games could be used. Of course video games have been used in the military to help train

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