A large gap exists between the public's perception of video games and what the research actually shows. With all of the hype surrounding the holidays and the recently passed xbox 360 kinect release date a person should understand the differences between what is being said and what the actual truth is.

1. The content that is in the games of today is causing kids to commit more crimes.

Studies have shown that violence among young kids is actually decreasing. There have been reports that a child who plays these games also is responsible for a violent crime. But young people in general are more likely to be gamers. Most of the youth today have not turned into criminals because they are playing video games. The media is causing people to overreact. It misdirects energy away from eliminating the actual causes of youth violence and allows problems to continue to fester.

2. Adults do not like to play games as much as the children do.

While most American kids do play video games, the center of the video game market has shifted older as the first generation of gamers continues to play into adulthood and the cost of the games and systems continues to go up as evidenced by the xbox 360 kinect price so now the game industry caters to adult tastes as well as to the younger markets. Parents need to share some of the responsibility for making decisions about what is appropriate for their children.

3. Boys are the only ones who are games.

Most of the games in the past were geared towards men. However, the percentage of women playing games has steadily increased over the past decade and with the new xbox 360 kinect and the Nintendo Wii consoles that have many games that are more interactive in nature the systems are becoming more and more popular every day with women.

4. You can not get anything worthwhile out of game play.

The original games like pong were not going to teach a person to do very much. Today's games serve a much greater purpose. They allow players to navigate an expansive and open-ended world, make their own choices and witness their consequences.

5. Video game play is socially isolating.

Gaming is not done in a dark room alone anymore. Almost 60 percent of frequent gamers play with friends. Thirty-three percent play with siblings and 25 percent play with spouses or parents. There is room for people to learn good sportsmanship as they root their fellow gamer on. There are lots of games that involve large numbers of people playing. The world wide web has bought together people from all over the world to anonymously enjoy game play together. People values still control the way they interact with each other during these games despite the nature of some of these games.

6. Video game play is desensitizing.

Video game play allows kids to express feelings and impulses that have to be carefully held in check in their real world. It can help provide an outlet that the child does not have. It is up to the adults to make sure that the children know that what they are doing is not what will actually happen in today's world.

How our kids are dealing with all of the aspects of video games needs to be explored further to answer all of the questions. Because the use of video games is on the rise, more of the answers will be discovered. Video games are here to stay. Playing a game is something that a lot of us are enjoying.