The Changing Face of Video Games and Video Gamers: Future Directions in the Scientific Study of Video Game Play and Cognitive Performance

Abstract

Research into the perceptual, attentional, and cognitive benefits of playing video games has exploded over the past several decades. However, the methodologies in use today are becoming outdated, as both video games and the gamers themselves are constantly evolving. The purpose of this commentary is to highlight some of the ongoing changes that are occurring in the video game industry, as well as to discuss how these changes may affect research into the effects of gaming on perception, attention, and cognition going forward. The commentary focuses on two main areas: (1) the ways in which video games themselves have changed since the early 2000s, including the rise of various “hybrid” genres, the emergence of distinct new genres, and the increasing push toward online/open-world games, and (2) how video game players have changed since the early 2000s, including shifts in demographics, the decreasing specialization of gamers, and the fact that gamers today now have a long gaming history. In all cases, we discuss possible changes in the methods used to study the impact of video games on cognitive performance that these shifts in the gaming landscape necessitate.