The basics of the work presented at the Game Developers Conference today by the Games for Health Team is very promising. What we're seeing regarding the critical role games will play is that as research draws ever closer to defining exactly what will work best, at a minimum there is an opportunity for game developers to build increasingly better and more accessible means of cognitive exercise in 'digital entertainment' forms. Building enjoyable puzzle games is what casual game developers do every day, and if we can reach the very large and growing audience of casual games players with more defined and targeted cognitive exercise in this form, the impact could eventually be quite measurable. Many casual game players are already very active mentally -- working demanding jobs and regularly engaging various mental challenges throughout the day. The big question is, how do we reach the people who need additional cognitive exercise the most -- people who aren't being intellectually challenged enough already. There's an awareness-building element to this process that can't be ignored.
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