GAMER HEROES
The implications of this are enormous. Videogames are helping people become better translators and negotiators by giving them videogame characters to interact with such as using the classic graphic adventure Grim Fandango to teach Spanish, or the US military simulator Tactical Iraqi to teach soldiers how to behave in Arab countries. We're becoming better pilots, better navigators, better drivers, and we can learn in a safe environment: the British School of Motoring is following the lead provided by flight simulators by creating its own range of in-store driving simulators, enabling firsttime drivers to make their first foray behind the steering wheel in complete safety.

It's long been a given that hand-eye co-ordination is improved by gaming, but in recent years there has been some significant evidence for this provided by medical practitioners. One crucial example is the work carried out by New York's Dr James Rosser. A surgeon who works in the field of 'minimally invasive surgery', Rosser seems about as far from the slacker archetype of a gamer as possible. Nevertheless Rosser makes use of games for him they are as much a practical tool for improving your hand-eye coordination as they are entertainment.

Rosser's trainee doctors are instructed to play several hours of Super Monkey Ball each week, a tactic that the surgeon insists is an essential part of the success of his 'Top Gun' training programme. Surgeons who played at least three hours of Super Monkey Ball each week made 37% fewer errors, according to Rosser's studies. Even if you don't believe in the power of games as training tools, just think of them as useful distractions. The PC-powered virtual reality game Snow World has been made available to hospitals across the world. The simple game, in which you explore a snowy world using a VR headset, acts as a powerful attention distracter for children who are suffering from burns that must be regularly and painfully treated by hospital staff. Just taking a child's mind off their injuries is enough to help them bear the pain. Without games technologies this kind of non-medicinal relief would not exist.

Continue to read: How Gamers Will Save The World