Video Games “Teach Children To Rely On Power Ups”

Games news: A new study suggests that video games are teaching children to smash things open, in order to obtain ‘power ups’.

“Our study suggests that if a child plays video games for more than twelve hours a week, they then look for perks in real life – smashing open treasure chests in the hope of finding some magic shoes that make you run faster, or a potion that makes you invincible for a short period of time,” says Dr. Ray Potenco of the University of Salford, Manchester.

Dr. Potenco cites one case study of a boy in Wales who played Sonic The Hedgehog so much he developed the habit of collecting hundreds of gold rings, in the belief he wouldn’t hurt himself the next time he ran into some spikes. They did not.

“Of course as adults we all know that power ups do not exists in the real world,” said Dr. Potenco. “Apart from cocaine that is. Sweet, sweet, powerful cocaine.”