Microsoft is putting up $1.5 million US for a joint venture with New York University that will look at whether shoot-em-up video games can promote learning skills that carry over to the classroom.

The Games for Learning Institute has already begun lining up student-age avid gamers as test subjects.

"We want to figure out what's compelling about the games," said John Nordlinger, head of gaming research for Microsoft, which publishes the video game Gears of War.

"If we can find out how to make the games fun and not make them so violent, that would be ideal," said Nordlinger.

Research about the educational aspect of video gaming is not new. Much has been done on educational and role-playing games.

For instance, University of Wisconsin researchers found that playing World of Warcraft can encourage scientific thinking. The researchers noticed that players used mathematics and models to deal with situations in the game's fantasy world.

What's different about Microsoft's entry is that its research will focus on more violent games that often come under criticism.

Microsoft chief researcher Craig Mundie said during a visit to the company's Fargo campus that games could stimulate educational abilities by helping people develop "a higher-order cognitive capability."

Many shooter games force players to track "how many bullets and bombs and missiles do I have, and how do I spend and where do I go get more of them," Mundie said. In Gears of War, players must navigate underground tunnels and buildings, monitor weapons systems, gauge their health and find places to take cover.

Not everyone is convinced goodness can be found in every type of video game, however.

Vince Repesh, a counsellor at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, said gaming adds little to education and in fact can hinder it. He recalled a couple of students coming to him for help after they got hooked on World of Warcraft. One student had gone from straight As to flunking out.

"I accused him of coming in loaded from smoking dope, he looked so bad," Repesh said. "Turns out he had been up for 28 hours straight playing the game."

With files from the Associated Press