The video-game industry won a minor battle this week when a California judge shot down a state act prohibiting the sale of violent video games to children, ruling that the proposed law was too broad and that, in any case, there was insufficient evidence showing such games have a negative effect on kids.

But while politicians like Arnold Schwarzenegger may be doing their best to propose ways of limiting children"s exposure to games in which torture and murder are commonplace, more and more studies are emerging that show that video games may be the opposite of destructive – that they may, in fact, be downright good for you.