Studies about video games say the darnedest things. Either it is plainly obvious that being a gamer hurts your income — because you have to spend money on these games! — or there is a mathematical revelation here.

The New-Brunswick Telegraph Journal reports the findings of Economics student Ryan MacLeod, who has crunched some demographics numbers to determine that, the more men play games, the more their income drops.

He's put a number on that, the paper reports:

The effect is so notable that for every minute a video game is played, MacLeod's research suggests gamers can expect a 0.4 per cent decrease in income.

And more from MacLeod:

"My work confirms that, in general, the more income a person has, the more time they spent playing video games," MacLeod said. "But that playing video games could also have a negative effect on a person's income."

I've long wondered how much money avid gamers commit to their gaming hobby each year. When you add and subtract all your game purchases, trade-ins and whatnot, what's the tab at year's end? And, as the story notes,