The 'Halo' effect returns. Xbox 360s are in overdrive.

The move from physical hangouts like neighborhoods and malls to virtual ones like an online "Halo" match between distant players worries Prof. Michael Bugeja, author of "Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age," which argues that technology is often used to isolate people into affinity groups that are easier marketing targets.

"The problem I see in young students is they know how to work really well in their affinity group like 'Halo,' " he says, but have more trouble with cultural differences. "Life is a rich, fulfilling experience where we should talk to people who challenge our beliefs."

Other experts disagree, noting that networked games can bring people together from across generations and continents. "Most gamers don't just sit and play a game. They take part in this wider community, and it often involves teaching each other," says Jane McGonigal with the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif., a group that studies emerging trends.

While video games may be gaining credibility with some parents as a social lubricant, concerns about their addictive and isolating potential haven't disappeared.

The American Psychiatric Association has flirted with formally recognizing "video game addiction." And teachers and principals say they notice games getting in the way of academics for some students.

"I have had a couple of students in my classes in the past whom I had chronically not gotten any homework from. When I pulled them aside they said, 'I've got a gaming problem,' " says Bethany Blackwell, a high school teacher in Lafayette, Calif.

Beyond the extreme cases, some data suggest that gaming does cut into the time students spend on schoolwork. Nearly half of college gamers said interactive games pulled them away from studying sometimes, according to a 2003 survey by the Pew Research Center.

Another study, from the University of Texas at Austin, found that boys spend nearly an hour on average per weekday playing video games and 97 minutes per day on weekends. Though they do spend less time doing homework, they still get it done, the study concluded.

Gamers who no longer live with their parents more often talk about playing long hours. "I told my boss three or four months ago I wasn't coming in" when "Halo 3" debuts, says Malcolm Lear as he waited hours in line Monday. "I have a can of Red Bull at home, and it's going to keep me up for a long time."

Long bouts of game play don't worry Ken Goldberg of the UC Berkeley Center for New Media. "Oftentimes the same kid who spends all that time figuring out how to optimize his play is going to figure out how to optimize some computer program," he says. "That kind of real focused commitment is usually a good skill."

Page: 1 | 2