Video games and addiction: Are we there yet?

[wraggster]

via joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/05/video-games-and-addiction-are-we-there-yet/)

Gamasutra examines video game addiction as covered by mass media, its treatment by several clinics, and its lack of research. Sure, people have problems with excessive play, but can games be as addictive as other substances?

From the article: "Games are substance-free and value-free ... There are a million wonderful examples of community building in these games. There are a million wonderful examples that could be used to build a stronger and more wholesome society. You just need to look at games with the right eyes. The informed ones."

Where do you stand on game addiction? Has that stance changed for those with children?

Are you addicted to gaming ?

[Shrygue]

I'm not a complete addict as can live without it. However, aside from that, I love gaming and will continue to do it.

[Jonesyxxiv]

well sometimes it gets in the way of me doing homework, especially when I get a new game(like when I got RE4 id play that for hours a day when I got home).

Edit:
I'm not a complete addict as can live without it. However, aside from that, I love gaming and will continue to do it. Id say thats how it is with me too. Especially lately.

[.:}<3\/!}\{:.]

well hard to say.......maybe yes........^^:)

[pt9087]

Im addicted to Call Of Duty 3 for XBOX 360

[Mc_Logical]

yeah its prob bad for kids to stay in playing games im eaven addicted to psp and ps2 and ps3 when its released in uk (march) dammit lol the thing is ppl think its bad for kids but at the same time i think games are educating, it can improve reflexes etc quik thinking so all in all it isnt really that bad only if ur going 2 turn obese lol games with maps and other things are an education for kids

[Mc_Logical]

sorry 4 double post, but yeah dont let it get in the way of homework etc theres a psoitive and negative 2 this but its the same as everything judgements and debates

[Anonymous D]

if im gonna have to say im addicted to computer games, id have to say i was addicted to playing guitar, music, band, and gigs to. and not using caps (sos).

[Broadus]

Addicted? That's ridiculous. I can hardly play even the best console/PC game for longer than an hour or two, including bathroom breaks. But I still looove video games.

[gamerremag]

um, no bull ****, i dont eat lunch at my school so i can save up for a ps3

[Veskgar]

I'm not really addicted to any particular game. But I think nowadays are too dependent on technology. THis includes internet and all sorts of media. Video games included.

I find myself seriously obsessive about PSP homebrew. On days when there is going to be a major release I find myself hitting the refresh a little too often.

Its definitely easy to get lost and distracted. You just need to discipline yourself and learn to manage time so that you don't neglect everyday responsibilities.

Its an extremely exciting time for video games.

In defense of video games, lets think back hundreds of years ago when children would spend many hours daily playing low-tech games. Video Games are just the result of technology.

Imagine that you could travel back in time and hand out PSP's or DS Lites to 18th century villages. You would see kids in that era very interested in video games just as they are in present day.

[Junixx]

um, no bull ****, i dont eat lunch at my school so i can save up for a ps3

That dollar or two a day wont help that much :rolleyes:

Anyway...yea i'm probably addicted, but i suppose i could do without them if i had to

[sinjinn]

boris johnson is more of a comedian than a polotician.
seriously though, can he not see the flaw in his own reasonings?
has he not seen someone read a book? they just sit there and twitch . its the same thing , almost exactly . information is enters the mind through the eyes and the mind absorbs and reacts to it. the major problem he has is that he is part of the older generation. books have garnered this sort of status as being somehow intellectually superior than any other medium , but at its core all it is is information passing thru the mind. the new technologies come and change the way we absorb and interact with the information butthe principle is the same.
how many newspapers have you read? how much do u read about things that go on in the world? 10 minutes here and there , at the end it amounts to nothing. in the morning at teh train station you see people with newspapers reading the same stuff again and again. its a ritual, its soemthign to do, we all do it. at the same station you'll see people listening to music and playing ideo games. theres nothing scandalous about it .
anyway, in a couple of generations everything will be transformed. and i bet some of the gamers will be horrified by the latest newfangled stuff that is going to come out soon. and the kids will be livid. **** u gramps...go back to your video games

[baracki96]

I enjoy the occasional xbox live session ( some project 8 here, gears f war there) but definitely not addicted. Now when a game like final fantasy XII comes out that changes ( maybe 15hours, 2 hour break, 8 hours etc.) but thats only for those killer apps. I say game addiction varies by games. Oh, and politicians aren't gamers, and therefore don't know S*** about what they are talkin' about.

[Xiofire]

Im not really addicted, just some games make me play them obsessively, like Kingdom Hearts 2 and Resident Evil 4. I played those for hours and hours.......
-Xiofire
PS: Kingdom Hearts 3 On PS3 in 2008 :) (so i heard)

[Lumir]

Games can be just as addicting as crack. Its no joke, in my highschool i knew some kids that dropped out, due to games. They "wouldnt" study, were usually late, missed alot of days and such.

Even myself, i just recently cut games from my life for awhile just to see if i could. And you know what? It took longer then i expected, id find myself saying... "ill start to stop playing 2marrow"...

2marrow turned into a month, a month turned into a year and i finally stopped it completely in 2yrs.

Now it wasnt just games, there were other factors as well but games were a huge part.

So yes you can be addicted, but only if you allow yourself to. And depending on your level of self control it can be hard to stop.

My challenge to you is, try and quite all forms of games in less then one month. Some may do it right of the bat, others like me will find it difficult.

[woods05]

Addiction
Noun
The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics [video games in this case], to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
----------------
No, I am not addicted to video games.
It is possible for someone to be addicted to video games.

[Xarius]

Yes, it is certainly possible to be addicted to games. I had a co-worker who would call in sick and then sit in the computer lab at work and play Second Life for 9 hours. He got fired from his job and got kicked out of college for neglecting to attend classes.

MMOs are particularly addictive. They are designed specifically to be so. The more addictive they are, the longer people play them and the more $$$ the company rakes in.

[Aryn]

Just about anything can be addictive, including nice, wholesome things that should not be a subject of addiction or any form of negative publicity. Sure, there are a few people who are so addicted to a game that they will spend thousands of dollars on a new computer just to play it properly and forefeit their social lives, but there are also people who are addicted to food and will overeat and spend more than they can afford on it, and I even know a person who is addicted to talking to people on the phone almost to the point where her boyfriend feels like she loves the phone more than him.

As for whether or not I am addicted to video games, I doubt it. I see multi player video games as a great way for shy people like myself to start socializing, but besides that I only play games while waiting in a line up or riding in an over crowded bus or in any other situation where I desire to be distracted and pass the time quickly.

[snkrock25]

I've seen video game addiction firsthand. Some of us have those cousins who get jobs to buy videogames. You know the ones who always have girlie posters on their wall, but no girls ever actually go to their house. THAT COUSIN. The one who knows the game release dates better than you. The one who's major dissapointment this year wasnt about not getting to go to the senior trip, or get a date for the prom. no, he's pissed because he cant find a Wii.

My friends videogame addiction is real, it's become the digital cigarette. The first step, is to admit...

[dvdhl89]

Im not really addicted with videogames, but a little bit addicted with technology, I can stay hours doing anything on the PC, gaming, diving, gfx, music, etc.

[mcvader]

I think I'm losing my attention span (well at least where games are concerned), lately I spend more time looking up games that aren't out yet and systems that I don't have than actually playing anything, I got scarface and medieval total war II for christmas and have barely touched them yet.

There was a time when I was addicted to video games but that was back in highschool playing C&C2 and N64, I didn't even go to my GCSE's because I was too busy playing video games ( I didn't really care about my future back then tho).

[muffinman]

i play games about an hour - 3hours a day generally. its usually the lower end of that. However when i get i truely killer game e.g kingdom hearts 2 or resi 4 i am glued to the damn console for a damn long time.

However i could live with out gaming i mearly dont want to :)

p.s my friend and my cousin both have serious gaming addictions.
my friends plays 30 hours+ in a week whilst hes also going to school and my cousin does the same and hes at colledge.
i play 9 hours tops in a week

[dupfold]

I would say yes! I have been playing championship manager since I think 1992 and can go easy 15 hours straight and often say to myself "just 1 more game", next thing I know its 6 in the morning!

For me, its without doubt the most additive game I have ever played! Probably lost a good few years to it in my teens but now I am older and wiser! It still gets the better of me every now and then but its still my (and for many of my friends) the most dangerous game ever! We understand that if we do play we should put aside the next few months for solid gaming!

Other games have me hooked every now and then but they can only go on for so long as most games have a endding, ie I like a lot of GTA style games.

[quzar]

People who claim to be addicted to video games, or people who claim others are undermine the concept of addiction and the struggle faced by people addicted to things that are ACTUALLY addictive.

I think it was best said in an episode of the tv show Boston Legal (and I paraphrase): " [to a doctor claiming he was hired to make a videogame more addictive] So you worked in the marketing department of the company? Have you ever been employed by a heroine dealer? OF COURSE NOT. Because heroine dealers don't need a marketing department, it's ACTUALLY addictive."

[jackhulk]

OK fair point and no one is taking away from the true nature of a real addiction but you know what we mean, if of course you have ever been "addicted" to a game.

[jackhulk]

off subject, I have just joined but I have not received the activation e-mail. I have checked e-mail address which is correct, had it resent but I still have not received it.

Could a mod activate my account please?