LOGIN conference hosting two panels on game addiction

That's... that's entirely what they're going for.

I just spent the last five hours playing one game of Civ 4, and I've got multiple classes today.


Tis definitely a bad thing.

In medicine we define a true addiction as something that has a negative impact on a person's functioning, whether it be biological, psychological, or social functioning. Gaming has a HUGE impact on social functioning, and at extreme levels, can make you frustrated, withdrawn, or depressed when the individual in question is pulled away. There are many cases to prove my point.
Gaming addiction is a very real and very serious thing that is becoming much more prevalent now that games are more accessible to the average person; the only difference is because there is no instant physiological dependency (such as with several illicit drugs) so its not as often seen. But in my days of Everquest I saw many a person lose their job, wife, custody of their children, health... People would play sitting on the toilet so that they wouldn't have to get up.
Look at the Canada teen that ran away because his parents took his CoD4 away when he got bad grades: and froze to death. Telling me he wasn't depressed about it? How about all the korean people that STARVE TO DEATH, sitting in internet cafe's playing Starcraft. I would say giving up food to play video games is a very real addiction. I'm sure most of you know someone who forgoes other activities to play video games, past the point of an innocent hobby. Luckily, for most of us, it's just our preferred form of stress relief (and thats better than beating your wife IMO).
That being said: I do hate how society ALWAYS portrays video games as evil, even though several studies show them to be beneficial. But, just like alcohol, one drink a day is good for your health, but three times that amount everyday, and well, you've got some problems in your future.

That's fresh, coming from a guy who misspell the president's name and can't comprehend a jest. Really sharp too, it hurt.

Hey, Jerry, don't you need a question mark?

I'm not sure why everyone is getting up in arms about this. Video games *can* be addicting. For those addicted, this is a real problem. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm)

If the panel were to take stories like the one I linked and make a broad statement about all video games and say that all video gamers were a danger to themselves, then we'd have a right to rise up in protest. But that's not what they're saying, and we don't even know what they're saying. The panel's not for another 2 weeks.

The large majority of you aren't truly addicted to video games and don't know anyone who is. With any luck, this panel will not be focusing on you or anyone you know. Why is everyone getting so defensive?

Alcohol most definitely is addictive. It can cause heavy physical and psychological withdrawal for heavy abusers. Video games, on the other hand, can be put down and picked up much like another falsely labeled "addictive" substance...marijuana.

The reason I personally get defensive about this is because people approach this debate in such an ignorant manner. I had some people say that I might be addicted to games back when Modern Warfare 1 was still new, because I played for hours everyday from release until the map packs were released.

Was I addicted? Not in the least. I just loved playing that game because it was one of the best games I have ever played online. I've also done the same with a couple of other games over the years, but everytime I would get bored with them and put them down. I always still had an active social life and while I may have put off some social activity to enjoy my hobby, it did not cause any real problems in my relationships.

As I stated before, if you call video games addictive then that needs to apply to music, television, and any other form of entertainment that people spend hours a day enjoying. Hell, next thing they're going to say is I'm addicted to driving....pfft.

Derek, unlike most other forms of entertainment, games are intentionally designed to be addictive, especially MMOs. They want you to keep paying that subscription fee, so they dole out minor reward- you know what, you can just read the article yourself.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html


Games are designed to be addicting, so it's no surprise that they are. Even in non-MMO games you see some addictive elements; look at the Diablo or Borderlands styles.

ever heard of dopamine and the affect on human physiology?

obviously not.

No no.. the Wii is like what you give someone who's addicted to ween them off. Cause it's so boring and gimmicky and riddled with shovelware.

If all I owned was a Wii, my gaming would decrease 95% for sure.