This research press release from the University of Rochester is very interesting. Titled "Action-Based Video Games Enhance Visual Attention," here is the introduction:

Research in the upcoming issue of Nature demonstrates that action video games can give a person the ability to monitor more objects in their visual field and do so faster than a person who doesn't play such games. The study by researchers at the University of Rochester suggests that in addition to making game players more aware of their surroundings while performing tasks such as driving, action game playing might be a useful tool to rehabilitate visually impaired patients or to train soldiers for combat.

"Players can process visual information more quickly and can track 30 percent more objects than nonplayers," says Daphne Bavelier, associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences, and member of the Center for Visual Science "Several game players even achieved perfect scores on tests barely doable for non-game players."

Some have suggested that this sort of sensory enrichment might account for some of the Flynn Efffect. Slashdot of course posts these sort of stories all the time....