How to tell if you're obsessed with video games

by Blake Snow { Mar 20th 2007 at 1:30PM }

Just because mainstream press won't entertain the alternative ("Maybe games don't 'cause all the world's problems..."), doesn't mean we can't. No, we're not suggesting that games kill, but you're foolish if you don't recognize the addictive power of gaming goodness.

Enter a 1UP feature examining the give-aways that you might be, um, playing games a little too much. The piece also offers advice on how to tame the beast if you have a problem. So, you might be obsessed with video games if...

You forgo paying the electric bill in favor of buying a new game or wait four days in line for a shiny new box (questionable priorities)
You read a newly purchased game manual while driving home from the store (lapses in judgment)
You throw a controller at the TV. In the olden days, you would have also hit reset right before your buddy was about to beat you in Tecmo Bowl. (anger issues)

Click over for the full list of signs. Gamers anonymous starts now... in the comments.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Myke @ Mar 20th 2007 1:35PM

Does the fact that I've been doodling battle scenes from C&C:Red Alert:Retaliation all day count?

2kings @ Mar 20th 2007 1:38PM

"YOU ATE MY PIZZA YOU PEICE OF ****ING ****!!!!!"

followed by some real violence and loss of a friendship
:P

jdklev @ Mar 20th 2007 1:40PM

actually, I got good enough to where I could whip my controller AT the reset button if I was about to lose in tecmo bowl. still can't quite hit the power button on the 360, but I'm workin on it...

Myke @ Mar 20th 2007 1:42PM

If you throw the controller at the NES hard enough it'll reset no matter where you hit it =)

JodyAnthony @ Mar 20th 2007 1:43PM

I look at the manuals while waiting at red lights on the drive home, or if i go buy a game over my lunch break at work the rest of the day is spent reading the manual at my desk instead of working.

scott @ Mar 20th 2007 1:46PM

there's nothing like the smell of a freshly cracked game manual ~ i always read it in the car on the way home!
the hard part isn't the reading and driving, it's the trying to get the damn plastic wrap and crap off the box while in motion...

Shmil @ Mar 20th 2007 1:50PM

i glance at the manual on the ride home, i read it at red lights, but is it just me or do manuals seem to be getting thinner and thinner these days

Axel @ Mar 20th 2007 1:50PM

I've done all of those at one point in my life or another, but I don't do them now that I'm older. With time comes maturity one would hope.

Joe Mick @ Mar 20th 2007 3:37PM

My name is Joe and I'm a gameaholic.

*Hi Joe.*

Jason @ Mar 20th 2007 1:55PM

If you throw your controller at the TV, you might just have wrist strap issues.

Jason @ Mar 20th 2007 1:56PM

Also, reading joystiq 3+ times per day? That should be on the list.

aitmanga @ Mar 20th 2007 6:09PM

Looks like I suffer from lapses in judgement too.
I tend to open my new games while I drive in the car and read the manuals while waiting for the green light. Even at night using the lights form the car behind me to get a glimpse of what the booklet says

ahatter @ Mar 20th 2007 9:53PM

"You read a newly purchased game manual while driving home from the store"

I am really bad about that.

JodyAnthony @ Mar 20th 2007 2:00PM

@jason, if it's only 'read joystiq 3 times a day', I am in a heap of trouble (probably visit 15-20 times over the course of the workday)

LunarDuality @ Mar 20th 2007 2:08PM

Not pay your electric bill?!? How could enjoy the sweet crack that is gaming without power...oh yeah...backup gaming generator.

nepos13 @ Mar 20th 2007 4:06PM

On days that I buy games, I have to carry a knife. What is up with the three sticker and then shrink wrap? People are used to me bringing my fresh bought games and sitting here at my desk removing all the wrap and reading the maual as I work. As for throwing controllers, people would get banned from play at my house and kicked to the curb for that kind of nonsense. I have taken vacation days to play before. I wonder if that counts?

Intentless @ Mar 20th 2007 2:15PM

Just 15 times a day... I pretty much sit on the refresh...

Krypson @ Mar 20th 2007 4:51PM

Driving 15 miles in utahs worst blizzard this year to replace a broken xbox so i could get back to crackdown

Shmil @ Mar 20th 2007 2:46PM

yeah jodyAnthony, i visit jostiq about 20 times a day

Emperor Samoth @ Mar 20th 2007 2:59PM

I've driven home while reading the game manual. It's not a lapse of judgement, it's multi-tasking! Saving time to pop the game in and already knowing what to do. No accidents so far!

steve @ Mar 20th 2007 3:11PM

Next question:
How to tell if you're obsessed about reading about videogames?

I log more hours joystiq and vgcharts daily than playing games ...

Intentless @ Mar 20th 2007 3:06PM

Probably wasn't the greatest idea to play FF Advance while driving... Or meteos.........

naib @ Mar 20th 2007 3:07PM

@Shmil

I don't think the manuals are getting thinner, you're probably just buying more EA games.

I'll admit to reading manuals at stop lights on the way home. A few quick glances if it's aforementioned EA "manual". :)

Intentless @ Mar 20th 2007 3:07PM

FF tactics advance....

Shmil @ Mar 20th 2007 3:28PM

naib, i know you probably didn't mean to do so, but i take offense about buying EA games, i really don't i think the only EA game i own is NHL 07 and that has like 3 pages for a manual,

Jason @ Mar 21st 2007 10:25AM

Alright, so you might be visiting 20 times per day, I only visit Joystiq like 3 times per day because I use the RSS feed which tells me when there are 5+ new articles and then I hit it and read them all at once. That's probably just as bad obsession wise.

Judd @ Mar 20th 2007 4:45PM

Steve brings up a good point. I actually spend more time reading Joystiq then playing video games. Why is that? Non-gamers think that video games are only about actually playing video games, they don't actually realize that their is an entire culture around gaming.

When I mention this a lot of people(usually women), think of it as ridiculous. But is it any less ridiculous than reading magazines about movie stars and following them on the red carpet, more often than actually seeing them in films. In the same regards, many people may enjoy reading up about somebody such as Kojima or Miyamoto as much as playing their games.

But back to the original question, why do people care as much(or even more) about reading about games as playing them? In addition to the theory before, about people enjoying gaming in the same way they enjoy celebrities, I think there is one other reason. Hype culture. Gamers love talking about what game is coming out. When is it coming out, what engine it's running on, who's the development team...

I am guilty of this as much as anyone else. Yes, I bought into the hype for Gears of War and Twilight Princess. Having beaten them, were they both good games? Definitely. But in no way did either of them live up it's anticipation. And here I sit waiting for Halo 3 or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, knowing that I am going to be dissapointed. Halo 3 is going to have a single player that will seem outdated after Gears. And Super Smash Bros. Brawl will have a multiplayer that will seem outdated, because even if it has online, if its through Nintendo it's not going to live up to the standards of Xbox Live.

But I will keep on coming here, and Penny Arcade, and GameFAQs, instead of actually playing my systems. Why? Because ever since the internet boom, this is what video games have become about.

Zipposurelite @ Mar 20th 2007 4:58PM

8 miles to pick up a USED copy of steel battalion. during the ride home evry 10 second si would check the back seat to see if was still there; actually stoped in a parking lot to see if was ok, then proceeded to spend all night on it

Markusdragon @ Mar 20th 2007 5:47PM

I wouldn't say that I have anger issues per se, but my DS does have bite-marks on it...

Grant @ Mar 22nd 2007 11:23PM

That article was badly written, and completly subjective.

not to meantion:
"Mike Moran: "I remember waiting in line for six to eight hours for my Dreamcast on launch day. I am never doing that again."

6 hours? so i guess his mom wouldn't drop him off earlier?

ever since i was old enough to drive I have gotten all the consoles i really wanted at launch day, and waited at least 8 hours, been satisifed, and don't play them more than 6-8 hours a week.

Why? because i'm a guy, and i want the newest tech.

another note worthy thing they meantion is turning down sex to play games.
have i done it? sure.
Why?
Because i am not a deprived loser who needs to seize it now or lose it forever. it's called setting priorities, and i'm sure we have all chosen something non-human over human affection every now and again.

suki @ Mar 20th 2007 7:39PM

I read my manuals while i am takin a poop. xP

Rubang B @ Mar 20th 2007 8:32PM

The cops came by after a noise complaint from the neighbors one night. The cause: 4 player Super Mario Strikers at 3 a.m. with some booze. After the cops realized it was just 4 idiots and a video game, and not some out-of-control party, they left, and we continued to beat Bowser's Super Team.

Rubang B @ Mar 20th 2007 8:39PM

When the DS first came out, I played some of the Mario 64 DS minigames at red lights, and I later did that with Advance Wars DS too.

And somehow I actually beat an EBA song in Sweatin' mode while I was on the bus, and this busdriver would make driving on ice feel like gravel.

anonymous @ Mar 20th 2007 9:49PM

I've had more then 4 Ratchet and Clank dreams...mmmm

OK and I'll admit, I've had dreams about Runescape..

iLLwiLL @ Mar 21st 2007 12:17AM

Exhibit A and C have never applied. But I'm guilty as charged on Exhibit B. Matter of fact, the only time I eagerly look forward to red traffic lights is when I'm shauffering my newest acquisition home, where I get chances to scrutinize the cd case and art completely, although I have grown out of reading the game manual while driving. Once home, is where I'll proceed to read the only type of literature that I read from cover to cover and in the process take in the fresh ink fumes while reading the lame instructions of nowadays game manuals.

lessbiasedthanmost @ Mar 21st 2007 12:47AM

LOL

I've had both the subconscious ones happen to me multiple times. I've also read many a manual on the drive home, nothing bad has ever come of that to me though, and I had a 20 minute drive to get home from town half highway and half country(dirt) road back then.

kftgr @ Mar 22nd 2007 4:26PM

@35. but do you also read all the comments (half, depending on idiotic fanboy wars), and comment?

As for game manuals...don't read them much anymore, as there are usually in-game tutorials. However, I did way back in the NES days, as each game -- with manual being part of the whole package -- was utmostly treasured. The scent of a game manual is not easily forgotten.