I don't know about you, but I'm the Half Life, Heroes and Company of Heroes type of guy. As far as Half Life is concerned my girlfriend barely dragged me away to get a bite to eat. She was even less successful with Gothic and Sokal's Syberia. Despite this, I am not a hard core gamer. Let's just say that I indulge myself from time to time when I want to forget about the outside world.

However, Microsoft has discovered the softer and casual side of gamers. According to Microsoft, MSN Games website casual games are great stress relievers. A Microsoft study reveals that 56% of men (age 18 to 34) and 71% of women (age 18 to 34) dedicate less than one hour per day to themselves for relaxation activities. Microsoft's answer? Giving as you already have less than an hour a day to relaxation, why not waste it playing MSN casual games? There' no reason for you not to do that, right?

And in order to give you the feeling that you are not in fact wasting precious time, Microsoft has teamed up with Dr. Kathleen Hall, "world-renowned expert in stress and work-life balance and founder of the Stress Institute" to put a spin on the whole thing and to advise users to play MSN games in order to reduce stress.

"Reclaiming just 10 minutes of 'me time' each day can greatly improve your sense of well-being," Dr. Hall said. "Stress can have a catastrophic effect on our mental, physical and spiritual health. In today's harried and hectic world, taking time out for stress-reducing activities is no longer a luxury, but a 21st-century necessity. More than 13 million people each month play "brain food" games on MSN Games, such as the numeric logic game "Sudoku," virtual aquarium "Fish Tycoon," gem-swapper "Bejeweled 2" and the family favorite card game "UNO."