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Games And Addiction - A Cynical View
Thanks to Forbes for their distinctly acerbic look at new scientific surveys that make claims linking videogames and addiction. The piece suggests: "Pick a popular consumer technology and there's probably some overpaid academic expert somewhere who's calling it addictive", and goes on to query definitions of addiction, suggesting: "...pretty much anyone who uses the Internet in the course of their work day... could meet some arbitrary early-1990s standard of [Net] addiction." The article concludes: "When was the last time you heard of a case of 'newspaper addiction?'"
I think anyone who has played AC or Everquest knows about video game addiction!
One should not theorize before one has data. -Sherlock Holmes-
The reward [...] is what makes it addictive, the theory goes.
:)
Only in a way. You are addicted to something if you need that to feel normal - not better. That is the short definition of addiction.
As an example, do you feel something missing if you didn't read your newspaper today? Or can you satisfy the need for news from other sources as well, e.g. TV or radio? Can stay away from the internet over a few days without feeling a loss? If so, you are not addicted. Many of us need internet access for the job, that hardly counts as an addiction.
It's the same with games. If you have to play several hours a day to feel normal, then you are addicted. If you play because it makes you feel better, you are not addicted. People that are addicted to drinking alcohol e.g. need a constant alcohol intake, a constant alcohol level. If they drop below that level, they feel worse, and then they consume alcohol to feel normal again.
In short: if playing games makes you happy, you are safe
My cats ate my karma. They also wrote this comment.
i would think that there is a higher correlation between people who generally use computers (rather than just gamers) and people with obsessive personalities. it's one of the standard "geek" stereotypes: late night coding sessions, long hours and little human contact.
however, when you do this in a work environment, people are hardly going to complain... you look like a dedicated employee. playing a game however, it easy to get into but you're not producing anything so it easier to view it as an addiction.
perhaps more importantly though, who cares? sure, if it's children then there is an issue as they still need guidance about what can be harmful. however, for an adult there is a point where you just have to take responsibility for yourself and stop whinging.
These articles are so lame brained. I live with a recovering alcoholic (3rd times a charm!), and I can tell you this...some people just have addictive personalities. My roommate will take any substance and go to an extreme with it. Smoking? check. Drinking? check. Drugs? check. He takes anything that should be consumed in small, controlled amounts and runs wild with it. Why? It's who he is. He has to fight very hard to not let these substances take control of him.
I would like video game "addiction" to substance abuse, sure, but that doesn't mean that the substance in question should be made illegal. That means that you have to <gasp!> exert self-control when dealing with said substance. At some point I hope that we as a collective people can stop trying to blame others and accept some personal responsibility...if not for our kids, then at least for ourselves. However, given the way lawsuits seem to be going, I don't hold a lot of hope...
--trb
But seriously... saying that video games are addictive is just another example of the current trend to shift blame away from individuals. For example, instead of a compulsive gamer blaming himself for gaming too much, why not just blame the games for being addictive? When some kids shoot at cars, well of course it was GTA's fault.
I think as gaming becomes even more mainstream, these myths will eventually fade away.
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking
Case in point... just 2 weeks ago a player wrote the following EMail to us (which is also posted on the sites home page)...
It's pretty good. Sort of fun. Okay, I guess. Ten dollars to play the game for real, huh?
When I found myself wanting to pay, I thought, what the hell is going on? This game isn't that great -- or is it?
It was then that I realized I'd been playing the game nonstop for hours. I paid my ten bucks, and I've not regretted it. Yesterday, I laughed out loud at the geometrical shapes floating around. Needless to say, that hasn't happened before. And I find myself at work thinking... "Just another couple of hours of this drudgery and I can go home and play Tranquility."
You'll note the similarities to addiction here... first, addiction doesn't hit everyone the same way. The girlfriend tried it, but it wasn't her cup of tea. Where-as the EMail author tried it and not only lost track of time, but now apparently finds himself thinking about it at inappropriate moments.
Since the games are created and served via the Internet we also can watch to see how people play the game. Some people use us once a day - often at the end of the day for stress relief. Some people use us weekly or monthly. Others use us randomly. But we have a select group of users who use us RELIGIOUSLY... that play day and night, all the time. Since the game servers never duplicates a game or a musical track, some of our users have played the entire series (441 total games) over and over again. One user has played the entire series of games over 45 times - unbelievable (that's 19,845 games... to ONE person).
Yes, SOME players get addicted... very addicted. I believe that, at least for our game, it's a combination of the patterns the game produces in junction with the sound. Almost hypnotic, and that draws SOME people deeply into the game structure.
But that makes sense... who can resist staring at the beams of an oncoming car at night. We lust for patterns, lights, flashing. It captures our attentions and captivates our minds. This is why music is so important to us - and also why raves, dance floors, etc... combine music with flashing lights - it does something hypnotic to us. GOOD plots can also do the same thing - make us feel a part of the plot - as if we're living a different life. Is this also not true of the Internet itself, for some people? Of course it is.
To a degree, ANYTHING can be abused and become adictive... even slashdot ;)) It's not about the substance - but how an individual REACTS to that substance.
How do we know that these people would have better social lives if gaming does not exist?
Also, who is to say that having a social life is any better than gaming? I find "parties" dull, just a bunch of people sitting around, getting drunk, and having lame conversations with shitty music in the background - yay! I'd much rather sit at home and play a good game. Oh no, I'm a gaming addict because I chose gaming over a social situation!