The other night I was looking on as my girlfriend played through Epic Mickey (which is surprisingly good by the way). During one of the platforming sections she became increasingly frustrated as she was unable to figure out the correct series of jumps that needed to be made to successfully traverse the level. As she wrestled with the jumping puzzle (she eventually gave up and my roommate took over for her), I observed the screen and very quickly figured out the correct sequence of jumps that needed to be made. It's not that I'm more intelligent than she is, and it's certainly not that I'm more coordinated than she is (as anybody who knows me will dismiss as laughable). The advantage I had in that situation was that I have been playing video games for the better part of my life, whereas she (like most normal people) has not. That is not to say that I am merely "better" at video games than she is, but that in my 2 decades of gaming I have gotten ample practice at the specific types of thinking and problem solving that is unique to video games.
Video games are characterized by a couple unique features that make them ideal for the development of problem solving; they contain challenges (in the form of puzzles, etc) that are [usually] challenging, and these challenges, regardless of difficulty, are always solvable. What this means is that a persistent gamer, when confronted with a difficult task in a game, will keep constantly attempting to solve the problem, approaching it from all angles and trying a variety of different ideas, since he knows that there is a solution; his failure to solve the puzzle does not mean that it is impossible, it just means he hasn't found the correct solution yet. This contrasts the real world, where it is not a given that all challenges have solutions; thus people would be more likely to denounce a challenge as "impossible" after exhausting the more common possible solutions. In games, there is always a solution, and the gamer knows this, so he will never give up trying new and different ways to solve puzzles. Whether that challenge is a tricky platforming section in a Mario game or a difficult assassination target in the latest Assassin's Creed title, gamers know that these challenges are possible, and will keep trying things just a little differently until they find the perfect solution to beat the proverbial "high score."
Another interesting feature of video games that makes them make you smarter is that they are completely closed systems. What this means is that in any given game, you control your character (duh.) This character has his or her inventory containing specific items, and maybe a repertoire of special abilities that he or she can carry out - that's it. Like a carpenter or a plumber, you possess a "toolbox" of items and abilities, and it is solely through this toolbox that you interact with the game world. You are given a challenge, whether it be a puzzle or a difficult enemy to defeat, and a "toolbox" of items and abilities, and you must figure out a solution using only this toolbox. If at first a challenges seems insurmountable, it means that you have not fully explored all the options that are available to you with your current toolbox (remember, no challenge in video games is impossible!). All that is required is that you get a little more creative with the tools you have. My roommate and I refer to this as the "Zelda mentality", since that game really drives home this point: every dungeon poses new challenges that require the creative use of a finite set of items to overcome. If a solution does not present itself, it merely means that you must use your items and abilities in different, more creative ways (yes, the boomerang can be used to knock flying enemies out of the air, but did you know that it can be used to activate series of switches in particular orders too?). Because video games are a closed system, it forces you to focus on the tools you have available, and explore new and creative ways of thinking in order to make the most out of the tools that you already have. Like a child using a pile of Lego bricks to build a submarine or a dinosaur, it forces us to get creative, and to thoroughly examine all options when faced with a problem.
As I hinted earlier, I am thoroughly and depressingly uncoordinated. I didn't build my first Transformer until I was 12 (it was Starscream by the way). But my hand-eye coordination has improved drastically over the years, and this is in large part due to all the video games I play. Not only am I more coordinated, but a lifetime of playing video games has made me a better problem solver, a better critical thinker, and more creative, as well as granted me a knack for strategy and tactical planning (thank you competetive Halo). Forget the protests of angry parents who don't understand, I firmly and truly believe that video games, on top of being the fastest growing entertainment media on the planet and just a lot of fun to boot, really truly do benefit people on an intellectual level - they really do make you smarter.
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