Video games have a history of receiving a lot of flak from mainstream media for corrupting peoples' minds with blood, death, violence and promoting obesity and inactivity. It's becoming more and more apparent, however, that video games offer a slew of various health benefits – more specifically, the fighting game genre.

A psychology and self-improvement website, ARoleModel.com, has been running a series relating to the positive effects playing video games can have on peoples' day-to-day lives. In a recent articlethey focused on the benefits that come from playing fighting games such as patience, pattern recognition, adapting and relaxation. The last one seems ironic given the usual fast-paced nature of the genre. Here's an excerpt from the study:

The first benefit of fighting games, as is here seen, is the ability to make quality decisions in minimal time whilst under pressure. This is the exact same skill that is used in thousands of occupations, from stock and options trading to police enforcement (of course the amount of pressure and the amount of knowledge required varies but the underlying, core mental process that occurs in these activities remains the same: we make judgment calls under pressure).

This year will be seeing a lot of highly anticipated fighters that began late last year with Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ver. 2012,and will continue on with the release of Soul Calibur 5 on Jan. 31. Street Fighter x Tekken and Tekken Tag Tournament 2are slated for release later this year. With all these fighters coming out, this study couldn't have come at a better time. How about you, have any fighting game fans out there noticed an improvement in the aspects mentioned in the article? What are your thoughts on these findings?

Also, be sure to stay tuned for details on Level Up's fighting game tournament that's going to be held on Feb. 11. So, make sure you practice your hadokens, 20+ hit combos and Critical Edges, you'll need them.