If I happened to make a video game that was particularly addictive, and I was in any danger of government regulation, I wouldn't wait for the feds to get involved. I'd make my game stop after 12 or so hours (you know, some reasonable amount of time to play a game without stopping), and force the person playing to take a 5-10 minute break.
This doesn't even have to be for the player's benefit (though, if they've been playing for >12 hours, it probably is). This is basically, as a video game company, to cover my own ^ss and say, "Hey, I gave them a chance to stop. It's not my fault if they keep staring at the screen now."
Well, let's think about this.
* The government wants to regulate video games.
* Assume regulation of games is bad for sales.
If I happened to make a video game that was particularly addictive, and I was in any danger of government regulation, I wouldn't wait for the feds to get involved.
I'd make my game stop after 8 or so hours (you know, some reasonable amount of time to play a game without stopping), and force the person playing to take a 5-10 minute break.
This doesn't even have to be for the player's benefit (though, if they've been playing for >12 hours, it probably is). This is basically, as a video game company, to cover my own ^ss and say, "Hey, I gave them a chance to stop. It's not my fault if they keep staring at the screen now."
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If I happened to make a video game that was particularly addictive, and I was in any danger of government regulation, I wouldn't wait for the feds to get involved. I'd make my game stop after 12 or so hours (you know, some reasonable amount of time to play a game without stopping), and force the person playing to take a 5-10 minute break.
This doesn't even have to be for the player's benefit (though, if they've been playing for >12 hours, it probably is). This is basically, as a video game company, to cover my own ^ss and say, "Hey, I gave them a chance to stop. It's not my fault if they keep staring at the screen now."
Well, let's think about this. * The government wants to regulate video games. * Assume regulation of games is bad for sales. If I happened to make a video game that was particularly addictive, and I was in any danger of government regulation, I wouldn't wait for the feds to get involved. I'd make my game stop after 8 or so hours (you know, some reasonable amount of time to play a game without stopping), and force the person playing to take a 5-10 minute break. This doesn't even have to be for the player's benefit (though, if they've been playing for >12 hours, it probably is). This is basically, as a video game company, to cover my own ^ss and say, "Hey, I gave them a chance to stop. It's not my fault if they keep staring at the screen now."