The Real Story Behind Gaming Addiction

Gamespot is running a feature looking into the facts behind gaming addiction: what it is, whether it exists, and why the need still exists for objective research into the issue. Quoting: "[Richard M. Ryan, a psychologist and professor of psychology, psychiatry, and education at the University of Rochester in New York] thinks the lack of quality research into video game overuse will be rectified with time as games become more sophisticated in the ways they satisfy people's psychological needs. 'We have a lot of people, some in the media and some in the sciences, who are too ready to make very strong claims about video games, whether we are talking about aggression, addiction, or cultural estrangement, based on very little evidence. I think that is especially how the media often sells stories. Some commentators exaggerate risks, and on the other hand there are defenders of games who deny any and all problems and attack any perceived bad news. Games are relatively new in our culture, and such vacillation between hysteria and denial I suspect often greets any new phenomenon, from hip-hop to the Internet to video games. Both sides usually have some part of the truth, but it may be a while before at least we as scientists, much less as a society, have a coherent understanding.'"

Comments

felonious 'bankers' use your tax $$$$....

[Anonymous Coward]

to prop up the price of their funny (phony) payper.

unprecedented evile never sleeps.

no matter, all we're really here for anyway is to take care of one another. failing that, (which we're prone to do) we're just passing through, being distracted/consumed by the trappings of man'kind'.

no need to confuse religion, with being a spiritual being. the lights are coming up all over now. better days ahead.

Re:Time to stop enabling spoiled brats

[Zero__Kelvin]

"They should shut their mouths ... actually, they should have shut them 20 years ago"

I love it when I read a long and idiotic diatribe that has been modded insightful and I get to the only thing the person has to say worth reading right before I see the "Read the rest of this comment" that there is no way in hell I am clicking on, only to discover that they are too stupid to follow their own advice (Intentional run-on sentence) ;-)

Seriously tomhudson. You should shut your mouth. You should have shut it more than 20 lines ago.