I'm not really sure what the problem is. (Score 1)

As numerous people have pointed out, You have not posted the basic thesis of your paper up, Mozzer. That's a bad thing. Without it, we can only guess as to what you really want.

Saying "I want to see if there is a correlation between video game abilities and academics" is really, really vague. And a bad thesis. What determines video game performance is different for each game, and the performance in one game is not indicative of ability in other games.

So, do you want a game that tests logical reasoning? Hand-eye coordination? Ability to manipulate others? Goal setting? General geekyness? Figure out what you want to test, and then pick a game that focuses on that, and is a measure of very little else (such as hand-eye coordination).

As for worrying that experience in gaming will skew your results, there are ways around it. Check out Repeated measures ANOVA's for one....

By the way, I am in CS 412 at Cornell University, and we are looking for one more to complete our compilers team. E-mail [e-mail] if you are interested. (The last paragraph was an experiment of my own :-))