Something we at Absolute Gadget have known for years and finally the boffins have proved us right - there is nothing wrong with playing on your Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360. In fact it may even do you some good.

According to a new study, kids who play computer games before going off to school achieve better grades than those who don't. The study of kids at St Columba's Primary School in Dundee took a group of pupils and gave them a Nintendo DS to play for 20 minutes before lessons.

The kids then showed showed 'dramatic' advancements in the classroom after playing. Unsurprisingly enough the game that the kids pitted their skills against was ‘More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima', which as we all know has a number of challenges, including reading tests, problem-solving exercises and memory puzzles. The challenges are designed to 'exercise the brain' by increasing blood for to the pre-frontal cortex.

Ten weeks into the study the kids were given a Maths test and results showed a ten per cent average increase compared to those taken before the experiment. Also, the average time for completing of the test was cut from 17 minutes to around 13 minutes. Some children even halved the time it took them while maintaining or improving upon their score.

Another control group was given Brain Gym during the same experimental period. While these kids improved they didn't improve as much as the Nintendo-bothering kids. Not only did the the pupil's scores improve, they also behaved a lot better and were able to concentrate more.

Derek Robertson, Learning and Teaching Scotland's development officer, has backed the role of computer games in improving kids' classroom performance. He told the TES that he saw a "dramatic enhancement in their mental maths ability in such a short period of time - I didn't expect that to be the case.

Of course, after all that brain training you need to work out the rest of your body, anyone for Wii Tennis?

(Having trawled through our website - we've noticed another similar story here, you see how can games be bad!)