Make Love, Not Warcraft

Problematic use of videogames is one of the negative connotations that seems to plague the way in which videogames are viewed by society. The media have hyped this problem into something that everybody is now aware of.
This videogame "addiction" problem started be taken very seriously after 24-year-old Kim Kyung-jae collapsed and died after playing computer games at an internet cafe in the south-western city of Kwangju, Korea for 86 hours non stop. There were also other incidents in which problematic use of games were involved in the death family member or friend of "videogame addicts"
China, The Netherlands, USA and Canada have all implemented videogame and computer Addiction Services. It is important to note that Keith Bakker, founder and head of the addiction clinic in Amsterdam, has stated that 90% of the young people who seek treatment for compulsive computer gaming are not addicted. The clinic focuses on excessive gaming as being a result of social situations rather than an addictive dependency. Perhaps this shows that excessive gamers are not addicted to the game but they are not social capable or scared to operate,communicate and express themselves normally in society. Players are often drawn into the virtual online worlds because their lives are not as exciting as the lives they could be leading in a virtual world. A good example of this can be seen in the South Park Episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" in which the boys live out their MMO fantasies because their real lives seem less interesting than their lives in the game.
Videogames still get a bad rap because of the negative effects they can have on excessive gamers such as health problems. It seems to me that extreme cases such as Mr Kim Kyung-jae have been hyped by the media and instead of questioning whether or not it is a problem with society and how we communicate in society it has been easier to label it negatively as an addiction.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2013601753