Are video games good for us? - Pete Etchells

In this week's Science Focus Podcast, we dive into the world of video games. Over the past couple of decades, video games have often got a bad rap, blamed for everything from aggression and violence to addiction and mental health problems.

But what does the research actually say? Dr Pete Etchells is a psychologist at Bath Spa University who researches the behavioural effects of video games. In his first book, Lost in a Good Game (£14.99, Icon Books), he gets to the bottom of our relationship with games, and reveals a more positive side to our game-playing habits.

He speaks to BBC Science Focus staff writer James Lloyd.

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Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:

• What does it mean to be happy? – Helen Russell
• Why ASMR gives you tingles – Emma WhispersRed
• What we got wrong about pandas and teenagers
• What’s the deal with algorithms? – Hannah Fry
• Changing our behaviour with virtual reality – Jeremy Bailenson
• Project Discovery and its search for exoplanets

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