More on Addiction.

As addiction seems to be the hot topic of the week, I would like to jump on the bandwagon and continue this. In class, discussion was raised about the negative aspects of gaming addiction - like the deaths in the net cafes. But what I think is a valid point to be raised is how some people take this addiction and spin it in a positive way. I was recently talking to some friends, and one of them was explaining a new game she was into called 'Carmageddon', where the basic idea is to hit people with your car. For every person you hit, you get an extra 5 seconds of time; hitting people with the side of the car, making them do flips in the air, etc, gives you more points and more time. She said that she was getting incredibly addicted to playing it, so much so that she could spend 2-3 hours in a single session hitting people. Now, to some gamers, 2-3 hours may not seem like much, but she would take a break and then go back for another 2-3 hour session of ramapge. I asked her if she felt like she was addicted, and she was adamant that she was. It seemed that she had set up a competition with other friends to see who could go for the longest. I think what's good about this game is that there is a set time limit, i.e, if you dont hit someone within 5 seconds you're booted off the game. But the point that I'm trying to raise here is the fact that neither she, nor her competitors looked at this addiction in a negative light. I'm sure other people will have examples of friends or family or those strange aquaintances that you pretend you dont know because they embarass you saying "I spent 10 hours playing games yesterday", only to be rebutted by a fellow gamer, "Yeah, well I spent 15 hours playing yesterday!". If anyone would like examples, come listen to my sister on the phone to her boyfriend.

On another note, I wanted to mention the 'Brain Training' ads they have on tv for Nintendo DS (? Is it? I wouldn't know, I havent progressed past the original Playstation in terms of consoles. Correct me if Im wrong.) The ad revolves around this kid playing the Brain Training game throughout what looks to be the whole summer holidays. But his mother does not protest! Oh no, he's learning maths, we'll leave him alone. So it seems that its not the fact that kids are playing games all the time (if they even are...), but rather the kind of games that they are playing. Maths = good, killing zombies = bad. I dont know about you, but I'd much rather be well versed in how to survive a zombie attack than remembering the quadratic equation that I HAVE NEVER USED IN MY LIFE.

I guess the round-about argument that I was trying to set up is to question whether there can be a positive look on gaming addiction. If its teaching us maths, or science, then that's ok? If it can be turned into a competition, then is that ok too? Does gaming addiction necessarily have to be a bad thing anyway? I would have to say that the problem is with the term 'addiction'. The word has such incredibly negative connotations, that it seems that it will always be viewed in a negative light. I think that this is why a shift into defining a line between what is problematic gaming and recreational gaming is necessary before we can begin to address the concerns surrounding gaming on this level. What needs to be addressed is if it digs into other things too much - like work or other such committments, and this is when it becomes a problem. Just remember kids, if you have been playing games for 10 hours straight, you should probably eat some food, have something to drink, and check to see if you've been fired for not coming to work...

To end, heres a video of some poor kid who has some mean parents... apparantly he played WoW too much...

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