It's extremely pleasant to see the Wall Street Journal publishing an editorial praising video games - and even somewhat eyebrow-raising? But nonetheless, a piece named 'The Brain Workout' by Brian Anderson does exactly that.

Anderson references the anti-game lobby, and then notes eloquently: "New media have always met with suspicion: As The Economist editorialized a while back, a "neophobic" tendency dates from antiquity, with Plato's argument in the "Phaedrus" that the relatively newfangled medium of writing corrupted the memory-building powers of oral culture. Of course sometimes the new is bad. Yet the critics of video games are not only conjuring up a threat where none exists; they're ignoring the positive moral lessons and cognitive benefits that many of today's sophisticated games offer."

Also notable: "Most violent games put the player in a familiar hero's role, notes Judge Richard Posner in a 2001 Seventh Circuit appeals-court decision overturning an Indianapolis anti-video-game ordinance. "Self-defense, protection of others, dread of the 'undead,' fighting against overwhelming odds--these are the age-old themes of literature, and ones particularly appealing to the young," Mr. Posner observes." Overall, an excellent editorial that makes us happy that more people in the mainstream media 'get it'. [Via NeoGAF.]