Games people play

The height of summer is upon us and Ramadan is nearly here. Life slows down, working hours are shorter and no one objects if you want to stay indoors. It's gaming paradise.

Last summer, Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption was a storming success. Visually stunning, great gameplay and an awesome Old West setting meant it was the hot topic of the iftar majlis, with everyone comparing notes on how far they had got.

So what's going to be this year's Red Dead, and which will be the Infinite Undiscovery (come on, you can't say you actually enjoyed that one). Here are my picks for the hot summer games.

And then the same old argument: video games make you violent, aggressive or anti-social. They don't. Nor is there any evidence to show they do.

It's true there are studies which do show a link between aggression and violent media. About 300 studies have been done. Many have been criticised for poor methodology.

Not the primary factor

Most of the studies, Professor Henry Jenkins of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says, are of generic media violence, not video games.

Subjects, who may not be gamers, are put into a laboratory situation and shown violent images, not necessarily from games, out of context. No study has yet shown games cause aggression or violence. Some have shown a correlation. A correlation, mark you, is not cause and effect — it is just as likely that aggressive people simply like violent images.

Video: Impact of video games on kids

Jenkins, in an essay on misconceptions about gaming for America's PBS, says: "If there is a consensus emerging around this research, it is that violent video games may be one risk factor — when coupled with other more immediate, real-world influences — which can contribute to anti-social behaviour.

"But no research has found that video games are a primary factor or that violent video game play could turn an otherwise normal person into a killer."

Making the assumption that the correlation means video games cause aggression is bad thinking, bad logic and bad science. That's all the ingredients you need to cook up some lazy, sensationalist journalism.

Don't isolate the child

What does contribute to anti-social behaviour is isolation. Plonking a child in front of a video game for hours on end as a substitute for human contact is isolating.

But games — video games included — are social activities. We enjoy playing them with each other. Parents, don't leave your kids gaming alone all the time. Play with them. Most video games have multiplayer modes where you can work together or in competition with each other. Even in single-player games, you can swap control between levels.

You may find you enjoy the games, as well as spending some good, quality social time with your child, laughing about your successes and failures in the game. You'll find not all video games are violent: there are driving games, aircraft simulators, puzzle-solvers and sports games for about every sport you can imagine. And if your child is old enough to enjoy shooters, do not be surprised when they frag you or drop you with a headshot. They're younger and faster. Speed counts.

And you can laugh about it together.

 Fire retro rockets 

My top game buy of the past few weeks is a Sega Mega Drive.

Yes, the venerable 16-bit console is back in production. I picked up a new Mega Drive II at Carrefour for Dh60. It comes pre-loaded with 368 games and even has a game cartridge slot if you can find any Mega Drive cartridges for sale.

Now, the 368-game claim is a little misleading. There are more variations of Sonic than I ever knew existed (Barbie Sonic, anyone?), and a similar number of Pong variations.

But what you do get is a hugely fun retro experience with cartoon-bright 2D graphics and a MIDI soundtrack.

We've been having great fun with Sonic 1, and the zippy little hedgehog is now rivalling Ben 10 as my 4-year-old's ultimate hero. For years I've been telling people how much I dislike platformers, but I've been having a blast racing around collecting rings and turning bad beasties into bunny rabbits. Even my 4-year-old can make it through Green Hill Level 1.

Then there are Tetris, Asteroids, Pro Soccer and dozens more.

Put on your rose-tinted nostalgia specs and relive the glorious days of pre-PlayStation gaming. It's great fun.

Lego Pirates of The Caribbean

Out now. PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, NDS, 3DS

Don't laugh, but I love the LEGO video games. They're generally great fun with good gameplay, they're family friendly and cute (for similar reasons, my favourite aerial combat game remains Airfix Dogfighter). Pirates is no exception — and who doesn't want to be Jack Sparrow, even in LEGO version? The game draws on all four films and lets you play several of the main characters. You can two-player in split-screen mode. You may not admit you play it to your friends but who cares when you're having fun — it's a pirate's life for me, yo-ho!

Dirt 3

Out now. PS3.

I'm rubbish at driving sims. Burnout Paradise and even Super Mario Kart are more my scene. But I know you hardcore racing fans are going to be all over off-road rally simulation Dirt 3. My car-mad buddy tells me Dirt 3 has what it takes under the hood, and that there's a significant difference in the way the various cars handle under different conditions, which he says is a good thing. All I can say is I can crash spectacularly and the graphics are absolutely beautiful, right down to little details such as dusty windscreens on desert tracks and snow build-up in winter courses.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Out on August 23. PC.

Third instalment of Square Enix's cyberpunk epic. The original was legendary: a superb hybrid between a first-person shooter and a roleplaying game (RPG) — a concept that shouldn't work at all, never mind work so well. Expectations are riding very, very high for Human Revolution. It'll miss Ramadan, but unless the release date slips, we can still count this as a must-have for summer. Let's hope we aren't disappointed.

Dungeon Siege III

Out now. PC.

Distinctly old-school dungeon crawler with the usual fantasy stereotypes, gorgeous graphics, tonnes of phat loot and — hold on to your hats — a story. A dungeon crawl with a story. The single-player version is fun, with plenty of options in combat to help you avoid repetitive mind strain.

Conduit 2

Out now. Wii.

Let's face it, if you've got an Xbox or PS3, you aren't likely to get a first-person shooter for the Wii. But maybe you should. And if the Wii is what you have, this is the FPS you want. It's a science fiction epic (think Halo), with a host of improvements on its prequel, including the ability to leap and dodge behind cover, and blast away opponents' armour to expose weak spots. It has got a pretty good single-player campaign, and a split-screen mode for up to four players.

Lord of The Rings: War in The North

Out on August 23. Xbox 360, PS3, PC.

Tolkien-based RPG from Snowblind, who did the rather cool Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Unlike previous LOTR efforts which have tried to follow the books (all right, movies then) and been linear and dull, War in the North is an original story. You get to play a human ranger, dwarven fighter or elven spellcaster off dealing with a big bad in the Misty Mountains while Frodo and the Fellowship are heading south with the Ring. Artwork is looking pretty good — let's hope the gameplay matches up.

L.A. Noir

Out now. PS3, Xbox 360

A third-person thinker from Rockstar. It's nowhere near as pretty as Red Dead, but that isn't where the fun lies. In L.A. Noir you play a cop investigating crimes in 1940s Los Angeles. Your job is to collect clues, identify suspects and interrogate them. If the clue-collecting is reminiscent of old Sierra games, or the first outing of Broken Sword, the interrogation is something new. Most of the graphics development has gone into faces, because to successfully interrogate suspects you'll need to read their expressions and body language, deciding when to press them, when to call them out on a lie and when to hold back. Clue-collecting, while it would make a modern forensics expert weep, seems about right for the 1940s. It's Rockstar's usual open world style, with a chapter-based structure which builds into an overall story for the game. It's innovative, stylish and great fun.

Alice: Madness Returns

Out now. PC, PS3, Xbox 360

A decade after her first outing from the lunatic asylum, our heroine returns to Wonderland to try to defeat her madness and find out who murdered her family. It's a stylish, acrobatic, third-person shooter with a gothic steampunk flavour, and it's so dark it makes Tim Burton's Alice look like Disney's. But it's a flawed gem with some disappointing clunkiness in graphics and gameplay.

Infamous 2

Out now. PS3.

Bike courier Cole MacGrath is back and still crackling with electricity in this follow-up to 2009's streetwise superhero action adventure. The original ranks high in my list of great games I haven't actually finished, so maybe I'll actually manage to play the sequel through to the end. Word is that the gameplay is just as good as the original, and the setting even better as Cole leaves Empire City for the New Orleans-inspired New Marais.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel

Out on July 19 (North America). PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Shades of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia as Ubisoft's Western first-person shooter gets dragged into modern-day Mexico. While it lacks the wow factor of Red Dead, the Juarez series has always offered solid gameplay and decent graphics, and I expect no less of this instalment. No word yet on when we can expect the EU/Middle-East version, but I don't expect much delay and I think it'll be in the shops during Ramadan.

Autumn releases

There are some pretty big releases coming up for the Christmas market.

Topping the list are two of the hottest franchises in gaming: September sees the release of Resistance 3 for the PS3 and Gears of War 3 for the Xbox 360. I'm looking forward to both of them, though I think Marcus Fenix and the Gears may have the edge on my anticipation-o-meter.

Batman: Arkham City is scheduled for an October release. Expectations are that it will be even better than its predecessor, the phenomenal Batman: Arkham Asylum. Word is that the Dark Knight is getting even grimmer.

October's also due to see Battlefield 3, the latest incarnation of DICE's tactical shooter.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are due in November.

Mass Effect 3, however, has slipped from its November release date. BioWare are now looking at March 2012, so you'll have to wait until then to play Commander Shephard again. On the other hand, if you haven't played one of gaming's most awesome RPGs yet, you have extra time to play the first two instalments.

Psychiatrist and parents share their views on the pros and cons of video games on kids.