With video game sales in the billions and strong opinions about their potential and their peril growing louder,  Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound brings something new to the discussion. It is the first truly balanced review of the psychology of video game motivation and engagement, based on years of research with thousands of gamers. The book addresses both the positive and negative aspects of game play by drawing on significant recent studies and established motivational theory to explore the fundamental drivers of engagement, how games satisfy basic psychological needs, and how an understanding of these factors can be applied to controversial topics such as video game violence and game addiction. Filled with examples from popular games and the real experiences of gamers themselves,  Glued to Games  gets to the heart of gaming's powerful psychological and emotional allure--the benefits as well as the dangers. It gives everyone from researchers to parents to gamers themselves a clearer understanding of the psychology of gaming, while offering prescriptions for healthier, more enjoyable games and gaming experiences. “This accessible survey of the psychology of video games serves as a useful introduction. Summing Up: Recommended.” ― Choice “As games mature, and the average age of gamers continues to rise, we can hope that game scholarship will evolve as well, and Glued to Games is a good step in that direction.” ― videogamewriters.com Scott is founder/president of Immersyve, Inc. (immersyve.com) and a veteran of both the ivory tower and interactive media development. After earning his doctorate in clinical psychology with a research emphasis on motivation, Scott spent eight years building Internet games and interactive content for Sony, Time Warner, and Viacom as well as online games based on major feature films such as AI:Artificial Intelligence , Red Planet , and Frequency before founding Immersyve in 2003. Scott was the host of several television shows in the NY region, including Your Internet Show and Metro Channel's Plugged In with Scott Rigby . His interactive work can also be seen as part of the "Explore the Universe" exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.  In addition, Scott is the principle investigator on several grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)  looking at innovative ways to enhance learning and deepen motivation for healthy lifestyle change through virtual environments. Scott has served on the faculty of the Game Developers Conference, the New York New Media Association, and been a contributing feature author on Gamasutra . His work on measuring the player experience has been featured by EGM as part of its "Future of Video Games" special edition (May, 2007), as well as being featured by ABC News and Scientific American.