The Economist likes WOW

[kandrathe]

There is probably a continuum of game intensity from FPS/high twitch, RTS or brain bending rapid decision types, to the almost non-games like SIMS. Intuitively, we can agree that it would seem reasonable to expect that people who stretch their mental capacity, by practicing making rapid decisions in a low risk environment like gaming would have a higher capacity for exhibiting the same mental skills in real world activities. There are times in WOW where you hang out at town chatting in guild chat, or wander around and pick herbs. That's not the high stress point of the game.

Being the parent of two boys, who are avid console gamers, and who'd spend their life in the virtual world if I let them, I'd say that no more than two hours of gaming per day is sufficient. During the school week for them it's less, and on weekends we need to limit it to 2 hours at most, otherwise they'd never get chores done, homework completed, or spend time playing with friends outside. Yes, yes, I AM AN OGRE!