&quot;Action video games&quot; is the fascinating academic-grant-ready rebranding of violent video games, in case anyone is confused what this is talking about.<p>Is there a stigma associated with violent video games? Of course. No academic institutions are funding developmental psychology research into violent video games the way they fund the study of educational games. This is despite violent video games being way more appealing to children.<p>Beyond psych? More people have inhabited the Office level in Counter-Strike for more combined time than any office building ever built in Manhattan. But you&#x27;ll never read about video game architecture in an architecture journal, design blog, etc. It&#x27;s a universal aversion to serious conversations about games just because they involve shooting aliens.<p>Can development psychologists get out of the ghetto of investigating games&#x27; impact on violence or attention deficit? Maybe. Studies like the one done in this article are a good step forward. But this study still indicts video games for something, just different video games. The improvement-in-vision studies are on the right track, but they are at this point half a decade old. Surely someone has some fresh ideas.<p>Those game developers haven&#x27;t read a single page of psychology literature. Yet they have succeeded in massive, non-chemical cognitive behavioral modifications. You&#x27;d think someone could make an academic career out of this.