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Gaming Addiction In The Media Again

Posted by Zonk on from the nothing-else-to-talk-about-i'm-sure dept.

RexDart writes "'Gamers camped out at Internet cafes typically live on instant cup noodles and cigarettes, barely sleeping and seldom washing,' declares a CNN.com article on gaming addiction in Korea. The story reports on aberrant behavior sometimes fatility linked to obsessive gaming, and is sure to add fuel to the various videogame legislation fights going on." From the article: "Many of South Korea's 17 million gamers -- some 35 percent of the population, principally males in their teens and twenties -- are obsessive. At the 1,000 won-per-hour ($1) Internet cafes popular among young South Koreans, they'll sit eyes glued to monitors for hours on end. Sometimes play will extend for days."

17 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. I can quit anytime by DeltaStorm · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just don't want to quit.

    --
    .sdrawkcab si gis siht
  2. Change the rates by Night+Goat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They're only charging 1,000 won ($1) per hour? Well, I have a way to cut down on game addiction. Raise the rates! I'd have been addicted to arcade games if they were that cheap back in the day, too! It worked out to $5/$10 per hour the way I used to play. That just doesn't lend itself to compulsive play when you're a kid with a paper route.

    1. Re:Change the rates by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

      Yeah what is up with arcade games nowadays. $1 for a fucking steer on a racing game. I can understand the good games, but Daytona USA still charges $1 for a few laps. Every console racing game at home is already better than Daytona. Why not lower the price.

    2. Re:Change the rates by AsiNisiMasa · · Score: 2, Insightful

      On top of that, they'd probably make a bigger profit. The fact that they don't make such an obvious move just goes to show you that they don't want to cut down on game addiction. We shouldn't assume that the people of that country share the beliefs of the people that wrote this article.

      Maybe they don't consider it a problem. Maybe they like playing a lot of games.

      --
      Help a student gain some exp. http://www.halovariants.com/touchup/index.php
    3. Re:Change the rates by Ayaress · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is the same thing I discovered a few years ago. I went to Washington DC with a group of seven or eight other students at my school. We just had to visit the ESPN zone's immense basement arcade. They sell you a card rather than just putting money into the machines. It's great until your card comes up "Insufficient credit" and you realize you just blew $25 on 15 minutes of fun.

  3. The sad thing... by Pichu0102 · · Score: 1

    ...Is that the media would be bitching if they threw people out if they stayed too long.
    Media craves conflict to prey on these days...

  4. North Korean Plot by uncoveror · · Score: 1

    Video games are a North Korean Plot! South Koreans will be so busy playing them that they won't even notice the North rushing across the DMZ and conquering them.

    --
    The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
    1. Re:North Korean Plot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Well doubt that they will be successful as most South Koreans should know the standard counters to a Zergling rush.

  5. Keeping people busy? by Xarius · · Score: 1

    Isn't it better that all these people who (it would seem) have nothing better to do are doing something harmless and out of the way, as opposed to roaming the streets looking for something, anything, to do?

    And how is this different from the mass TV culture the West has, where people are glued to Teleboxes all day?

    --
    C17H21NO4
    1. Re:Keeping people busy? by MayorDefacto · · Score: 1
      Then again, I suppose I'm as addicted as the koreans in the article

      Almost, but not quite. You have yet to keel over and die after a pot-noodle- and nicotine-fueled 84-hour gaming jag.

  6. Re:Ahh... by 6ame633k · · Score: 1

    you said it! ...soooo... what do they do for bathroom breaks?? hmmmm.... Those guys got more stamina than most people - I mean, I almost died when I rented the first season of "24" -- at some point I got so hooked I decided to watch the whole thing in "real time". Well, okay I didn't ALMOST die, but my ass did go numb at one point...thank god for takeout

    --
    You had me at merlot
  7. Don't forget the area by MMaestro · · Score: 1

    I've been to arcades in California where a game of Time Crisis costs $2 USD per game with the difficulty cranked up to max. The fact that some games no longer rely on pure skill (fighting games are a great way to lose money fast if you don't spend hours studying the moves at home) doesn't help either. And then of course, there are the games which are extremely alien in their designs (Virtual-On's dual sticks control? Golf games that use a trackball?).

  8. Re:Ahh... by cyrax777 · · Score: 1

    a cathater i guess would take care of the need to get up to pee.

  9. Twenty-four... or Eighteen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    With 16 minutes of ads an hour, watching 24 should only take eighteen hours.

    If you can't handle sitting on a couch for eighteen hours, /. is no place for you. How do you handle your Trilogy of Trilogy Star Wars viewings?

  10. everthing is an addiction nowadays by ecumenical_40oz · · Score: 1

    What ever happened to the concept of something just plain being enjoyable? Just because something is fun enough that one is inclined to do it to excess does not make the activity an addiction.

  11. Re:Ahh... by 6ame633k · · Score: 1

    too invasive - how 'bout "depends" - maybe gamers just need johns built in to the couch - and a fridge...

    --
    You had me at merlot
  12. I wonder hoe much is hype by Foo2rama · · Score: 1

    It seems at least one person a year dies of video games in Korea. While the family that left the infant at home seems real, the others seem a little off. Its hard to believe that 50 hours of gameplay would kill you. Remember this is also the country that thinks that fallin asleep with a fan on in the room will kill you. Makes you think of 1850-1910 newspapers.

    Fan death
    Infant Death

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    ---In a time of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey.