Pants on fire
Cantor says U.S. paid seniors $1.2 million to play World of Warcraft computer game

House Majority Leader Cantor says Washington’s spending habits are so bad that they’ve entered the realm of fantasy.

“The National Science Foundation spent $1.2 million paying seniors to play World of Warcraft to study the impact it had on their brain,” Cantor, R-7th, claimed in a Feb. 19 news release identifying examples of what he said are wasteful spending.
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Our ruling

Cantor said the federal government spent $1.2 million “paying seniors to play World of Warcraft,” a popular fantasy game. His facts are all messed up.

He’s referring to federal grant for a study to determine whether computer games can slow mental decline in the elderly. But the grant application never mentioned WoW and participants in the federally-funded study did not play that game.

Before applying for the federal money, the researchers conducted a small, pilot study in which seniors played WoW over the course of two weeks and were tested to see if it improved their cognitive abilities. This study was funded with a $5,000 grant from N.C. State. No U.S. money was involved.

The federal study involves hours of testing each participant and efforts to identify the aspects of computer games that might help seniors better deal with life offline. Cantor’s statement ridiculously suggests that Washington is sponsoring a geriatric gaming club. We rate his claim Pants on Fire.

On the politifact front page they even invented a new category for this one “Pure Fantasy”