Action-packed video games can improve your eyesight, according to a recent study at the University of Rochester funded in part by the US Navy's Office of Naval Research.

Researchers set one test group playing first-person shooters Unreal Tournament 2004 and Call of Duty 2, and the other The Sims 2. After 50 hours over 9 weeks, FPS players were found to have a 43% improvement in their contrast sensitivity--the ability to spot slight differences in shades of grey--while Sims 2 players saw none.

"If you are driving at dusk with light fog it could make the difference between seeing the car in front of you or not seeing it," explained study leader Daphne Bevelier. After six months of gaming, a 58% improvement was seen over non-gamers.

Improving contrast sensitivity--a crucial factor in how well we see--was thought to take glasses or surgery. Previous research by Bevelier into video games' ocular benefits discovered they can improve our ability to see objects accurately in a cluttered space.

According to this post on the Infinity Ward forums, we can expect some kind of announcement from the Call of Duty developer next Saturday.

Amazing Things To Happen On April 28th:

1758 - James Monroe, 5th President of the United States is born.
1788 - Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
1932 - A vaccine for yellow fever is announced for use on humans.
(Then nothing really happened for a long time.... but now....)
2007 - What goes down this April 28th is equal to, if not surpasses, the magnitude of any of those.

Whose ready?!

Valve has just announced that major publisher Activision is the latest game industry company to pledge support for Valve's successful Steam digital delivery service. Recently, publisher Majesco made several of its games, including Double Fine's Psychonauts, available via Steam, and various independent developers have used Steam as a primary distribution channel for their games. Today's deal will see four Activision games on the service: Infinity Ward's Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2, Grey Matter's Call of Duty United Offensive, and Neversoft's GUN.

Details such as pricing and availability dates were not revealed. "Activision has been a player on every major gaming platform dating back to the Atari 2600," said Valve co-counder and president Gabe Newell. "We're delighted to welcome them to Steam, and offer this legendary company's products."

Update: Valve has provided Shacknews with pricing information for the games. Call of Duty, Call of Duty United Offensive, and GUN will all be priced at $19.95. Call of Duty 2 will be priced at $39.95. All four games are expected to launch this month.

Activision sends along the latest Linux server binaries for Call of Duty 2, allowing Penguin server admins to host players with the v1.3 patch installed.

Activision sends along a new patch for Call of Duty 2, updating the World War 2 shooter to v1.3. Changes are as follows

MULTIPLAYER FIXES
-Raised the gamestate from 16k to 128k
-Added loading bars to maps mp_harbor and mp_rhine
-Addressed the PB GUID issue where players were not being assigned PB GUID's of exactly 32 characters.

mp_rhine map changes:
-Fixed player getting on top of broken wall and seeing through second story of bombed out building.

mp_harbor map changes:
-Reduced overall fog density
-Fixed missing water texture
-Fixed player not being able to shoot through lower portion of the first gap in a railing found on east side of map.
-Fixed player not being able to shoot through lower portion of railing found on east edge of map.
-Fixed a partially floating crate and a couple holes in sandbags.

All you Call of Duty 2 Linux server admins can now head over to FileShack to grab updated dedicated server binaries. The 1.2c release fixes a crash on disconnect issue and also fixes mods with localized strings. Thanks 3D Gamers.

For all of you interesting in modding Call of Duty 2, mod tools are now available from FileShack. The download includes the COD2 version of Radiant, and Maya plugins.

For all the Penguin loving server admins out there a new version of the Call of Duty 2 dedicated server is now available. The new release is compatible with the latest client patch for the game.

Activision sends along the long-awaited v1.2 patch for Call of Duty 2. The update offers various multiplayer improvements, the addition of Punkbuster, and two new multiplayer maps. Here are some of the changes

NEW FEATURES
- Added a new Multiplayer welcome screen when joining a server that details the Map objectives and victory conditions.
- Added Multiplayer spawning logic that will reduce instances of players spawning in front of enemy players.
GENERAL FIXES
- Corrected an issue that occurred on certain systems using AMD(R) Dual-Core processors where player health would not replenish at the intended speed.
MULTIPLAYER FIXES
- Fixed a potential exploit where players could get outside the map boundaries.
- Corrected an exploit that caused some servers to shut down unexpectedly.
- Hovering over an enemy player no longer causes the crosshairs to highlight in red. This change does not affect teammates and crosshairs pointed at a friendly player will still highlight green.

Activision let us know that the long awaited update for the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 2 is now available. The multiplayer update offers "significant enhancements, including improved multiplayer performance, the ability to reserve friend slots in private game lobbies, post-game lobbies so friends can play longer, configurable host options and more". A PC patch is coming as well, which will include Punkbuster support and two additional multiplayer maps: Rhine, and Harbor (converted from the original Call of Duty).

Infinity Ward sends along the latest bulletin of what's coming for Call of Duty 2. There are updates for both PC and Xbox 360 in the works.

As you recall, back in December, we announced plans to incorporate Punkbuster, as well as offer some MP maps to the PC version for Call of Duty 2. We're happy to report that this PC update is currently in testing and all is going well. In fact, we are testing these now and will be releasing them soon, so stay tuned. With regards to the update, here are a few things to look forward to:

• Punkbuster functionality
• Two new multiplayer maps.
• HTTP redirect in multiplayer, which adds an option for modders to send players to an external website to download their maps and mods.
• Repair of multiplayer exploits and minor bug fixes
• We're also putting finishing touches on the map editing tools for the game and will have those out very soon as well.

And here's the full email, including the 360 information.

Activision sends along the first Call of Duty 2 patch, updating Infinity Ward's fantastic WW2 shooter to version 1.01. The update is similiar to the last Quake 4 one, as in it offer performance improvements on systems with Intel HT Technology, multiple processors, or dual core processors.

New at GameCloud is this Call of Duty 2 Q&A, asking the Infinity Ward about their recently released WW2 shooter. It's good stuff, you should pick it up!

Gamasutra has coverage of a Montreal Game Summit postmortem of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2 (X360, PC). Infinity Ward CEO Grant Collier speaks on the development process, a growing team size, and failing Xbox 360 dev kits.

Activision sends along Linux dedicated server binaries for Call of Duty 2, allowing penguin powered machines to host Internet servers.

GameBiz Australia has the latest Call of Duty 2, asking Infinity Ward lead designer Zied Rieke about the WW2 shooter sequel. Topics include the campaigns, research, the battle chatter, AI and PC / Xbox 360 differences.

GameZone has a new Call of Duty 2 Q&A, asking producer Eric Riley about the WW2 action game sequel which is now in stores. The questions are about enhanced realism, improved graphics, the amount of missions, mod support and online play.

Apparently there was a Call of Duty 2 chat log on xFire they other day; there is now a transcript up at GDHardware.com. The Infinity Ward team was asked about remade Call of Duty 1 maps in Call of Duty 2, the health system change, game research, the new game engine, AI, improved battle chatter, the Pointe du Hoc level and plenty more. Call of Duty 2 is now in stores.

Over at Music4Games you can find a new Q&A with music composer Graeme Revell, who talks about his work on Call of Duty 2.

Over at GameCloud this morning you can find a Q&A with music composer Graeme Revell, who just tackled his first game project with Call of Duty 2. Revell previously scored movies like The Crow, Pitch Black, Kingdom of Heaven and many others.