Abstract
Research involving the uses and effects of video games has been published for nearly three decades. Despite the medium’s rich potential for a broad range of societal applications and effects, the bulk of communication research dealing with video games has focused on a relatively narrow range of conceptual problems. This chapter presents an analysis of the advancement and evolution of four emerging areas of games research: gaming and cognition, gaming and health, alternative responses to anti-social gaming content, and social dimensions of gaming. In addition to reviewing the literature for each of these areas, directions for future research are suggested.