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The scientists' conclusion? "Whatever you've learned in the computer game does have an effect on how you behave toward the stimulus in the real world" says the leader of the study, Paul Fletcher. For those of you who play computer games on a regular basis

In Games of Empire, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter offer a radical political critique of such video games and virtual environments as Second Life, World of Warcraft, and Grand Theft Auto, analyzing them as the exemplary media of Empire, the twenty-first-century hypercapitalist complex theorized by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. The authors trace the ascent of virtual gaming, assess its impact on creators and players alike, and delineate the relationships between games and reality, body and avatar, screen and street.

First things first. Get into a World that has epic goals with massive emotional, social and cognitive domains. Following that experience, Second Life might actually mean something. Secondly - more information wrong, have more goals that are relevant to what you're looking into.

A gallery of my avatars and explorations of virtual worlds and MMOs

Edward Castronova on the max exodus to virtual worlds (via Liam)

"It's not about virtual worlds; it's about the real world. It's about people. That's what makes virtual worlds the killer app. It's us. It's other people." Must read if you're at all interested in where this stuff is going. (via Liam O'Donnell

One way to invest gaming with the same cultural relevance of other forms of media would be to place players inside compelling, sophisticated stories.