Worried that grandma or grandpa might be losing their edge? Get 'em in front of a game console -- fast!

Eldery gamers see benefits (Cay Anderson-Hanley/Union College)A new study published in the current American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that select video games may have positive mental benefits for older adults, and could help stave off dementia.

As you might suspect, titles like Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin's Creed didn't make the list, but researchers found that exergames, like Wii Fit, resulted in better planning, memory, attention and problem-solving.

Times are hard. Money is tight. Congress's approval rating is even lower than normal. In these recession-struck days, there's still one thing that unites Americans of all political stripes: a dislike of politicians. And if there's a second, it's the certainty that you could do better.

Care to put that to the test?

You can do just that in with these election-themed political games, which range from highly realistic recreations of famous U.S. election races to tongue-in-cheek simulations of the political hustle and bustle of running your own banana republic. Democrat, Republican, or Independent, you're sure to find something worth your vote.

Got a few minutes to kill?  Why not unwind with a free webgame?  For your gaming convenience, we've assembled the week's top new releases on Yahoo! Games in this handy roundup.

Concerned Joe

This devious arcade platformer is proof that webgames can be just as creative as their bigger brothers.  The key feature here is the sadistic narrator, whose comments are as reactive as those in the acclaimed indie 'Bastion' and as snarky as Portal's legendary villain GLaDOS.  Be sure to play with the sound on!

Fit Freeway (BitGym)The iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch might have some great gaming experiences, but they're all fairly sedentary, unless you consider pulling the Angry Bird slingshot a cardio workout (in which case, we salute your level of sluggishness).

A new developer, though, is looking to change those perceptions.

BitGym has launched Fit Freeway, the first title in what it says will be a portfolio of apps that blend fun and fitness. The game is meant to make a real cardio workout (technically, one that takes place on a treadmill or the like) more fun by adding gaming elements to engage people and help them stick by their now-faltering New Year Resolutions.

By Nita Bhalla, Reuters

Angry Brides (Shaadi)(Reuters) - Anger at the practice of demanding dowries, which can lead to violence against brides, has prompted a takeoff of "Angry Birds" called "Angry Brides" that aims to highlight the illegal practice still prevalent in many South Asian countries.

Dowries -- such as jewelry, clothes, cars and money -- are traditionally given by the bride's family to the groom and his parents to ensure she is taken care of in her new home.

The custom was outlawed more than five decades ago. But it is still widely practiced, with the groom's family demanding even more money after marriage, leading to mental and physical harassment that can drive the woman to suicide.

'Like it' or not, gaming on Facebook is big, big business. And it's only getting bigger.

Last year, social game companies raised a stunning $1.5 billion in funding. With that kind of money backing them up, most industry types expect 2012 to be an even more lucrative year for Facebook gaming. But will it be a better year for gamers?

That depends of what kinds of experiences you happen to enjoy on the social network. Here's a handful of game types expected to be all the rage -- and a few fit to be unfriended.

While December was a grim month overall for the video game industry, it was particularly brutal for Nintendo. Wii hardware sales were down a whopping 55 percent compared to a year ago, a clear sign that interest in the once-hot console has dried up.

All of the major consoles saw sales declines last month, but they were muted compared to Nintendo's drop. The Xbox 360 was off 8 percent and the PlayStation 3 saw sales fall 22 percent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A new video game has gotten its hooks into Brian Kealer, a 26-year-old San Francisco software engineer. He's not killing birds or using his vocabulary to impress his friends. No, Kealer is after real prizes, like the iPad2 he just scored. And he's playing with his bank account.

Getty ImagesAt least once every day, Kealer signs into SaveUp.com, a new financial website, and does some financial activity that wins him credits he can then use to play for big money prizes. To earn those credits, he can pay a credit card bill, deposit money into his savings account, or watch a sponsored video about personal finance.

To be clear, Kealer's not making any real dollar bets; he's just paying his bills. But by participating in SaveUp, he is playing into the financial services industry's latest attempts to attract and keep engaged consumers. Call it, inelegantly, "gamification." It involves the use of game-like attributes and mechanics -- contests, prizes, scorecards, badges, friendly competitions and the like -- to make the boring business of money more appealing to hard-to-snag consumers.

"It's a word that everybody hates, but it is descriptive of what's going on," says Jim Bruene of Netbanker, a banking technology consulting firm.