Massively Multiplayer Academia

Are videogames worthy of academic study? Sure they are! Here are some people from Trinity University who prove the point. (Although academics who still insist on hyphenating "on-line" deserve some skepticism.) With papers such as "MMOs as therapy: A therapeutic tool or barrier to psychological growth" and "Aesthetics and gratification: Sexual practices in virtual environments" you have to give props to the depths to which these scholars were willing to sink in order to shed light on these complex issues. Humankind will undoubtedly benefit from their collective efforts.


(Okay, so maybe you detect a little sarcasm here. In all seriousness, it's nice to see the academic community turning to games as a subject worthy of study, although I don't think a paper entitled "Violence in MMOs: It's not only adolescent boys who like this stuff" is really tackling the tough issues.)

Thanks to Kotaku for posting this!