Video Game Addiction

[fides' Jack]

I received this link in my email:

[url="http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/politically-incorrect/restoring-our-culture/video-games-addiction-suicide.html"]http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/politically-incorrect/restoring-our-culture/video-games-addiction-suicide.html[/url]

I really don't want to turn this one into a debate - so let's not even go there.

I just found it interesting to read about this side of gaming. I don't agree entirely with the article, but I agreed enough to read the whole thing. I agree with the author that people, and kids especially, spend way too much time gaming. I didn't know that it could lead to something as serious as suicide - I guess everything will affect everyone differently.

So - everything in moderation. But I think it's good to be reminded of the dangers that we often overlook.

[To Jesus Through Mary]

I am not a huge fan of gaming as I do think it smells of elderberries your life away. And proves to be, for some, a way of of attaining human connect, even though it is counterfeit. But this article is pretty unbalanced. Perhaps her sons mental illness is what caused him to loose his job and be evicted. I'm sure he is a gamer, but he may be more susceptible to an addiction because of his illness.

Then the portion where "parents intervened to late"- that is a terrible tragic accident that had little to do with gaming. Teens run away all to often. The problem isn't gaming it is original sin, rebellion. But he fell out of a tree. I dunno.. it just seemed over the top to me.

[fides' Jack]

Sounds like you had the same reaction as I did. But I was trying to be respectful of people who's family members have tragically died. They knew the situation better than we do from some Q and A article. We shouldn't nitpick about what caused their deaths.

[To Jesus Through Mary]

But how the article was written, it would appear they are trying to draw a correlation between his death and gaming. It is a stretch. It was tragic, indeed. But you are right, far to little information given in a Q & A to really say other then with the information provided it would seem that his death and gaming had little or no connection.

[Hubertus]

I've been a big gamer up til now, but lately I've been having trouble trying to reconcile any amount of time spent playing video games. It seems pretty pointless. But that has nothing to do with the fact that people can get addicted to it; there have been worse sources for addictions.

[cmotherofpirl]

I think if you are having difficulties in real life, you can become obsessed with gaming. Its an instant high, with instant rewards and is VERY addicting. If you are lost in the game you don't notice the passage of chronological time, because you have one more goal or one more deadline. I have met people online who literally plays games all day long, they are on til 2-3 am then get up early to start over. I know people who plan their meals, outside trips and even vacations around their games. I see tiny kids lugging aound small gaming systems, I know 8 year olds addicted to the penguin game or the legos games. Its real, its scary, totally addicting, and its growing by leaps and bounds. Some studies think about 3 million kids between 8-18 are addicted to video games. Farmville is played by 38 MILLION people.

[arfink]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' timestamp='1342898153' post='2457612']
I think if you are having difficulties in real life, you can become obsessed with gaming. Its an instant high, with instant rewards and is VERY addicting. If you are lost in the game you don't notice the passage of chronological time, because you have one more goal or one more deadline. I have met people online who literally plays games all day long, they are on til 2-3 am then get up early to start over. I know people who plan their meals, outside trips and even vacations around their games. I see tiny kids lugging aound small gaming systems, I know 8 year olds addicted to the penguin game or the legos games. Its real, its scary, totally addicting, and its growing by leaps and bounds. Some studies think about 3 million kids between 8-18 are addicted to video games. Farmville is played by 38 MILLION people.
[/quote]

My take, as an occasional gamer, is that games are a lot like alcohol- there are legitimate uses, and they can be a very good or very bad thing depending on the person's motives.

Funny how things that can be very good also seem to be the only ones that have the potential to be very bad. Like sex. Or death.

The problem is that games can help to fill some human needs, needs which for many people cannot be otherwise met. Just a quick list:

1- At the nursing home I worked at they would play Wii bowling because they couldn't really go out anywhere and have fun very often. The seniors loved it, and it really helped them.

2- Games can tell a story in perhaps the most pointed way imaginable. I played Spec Ops: The Line, and it cut me to the core. Think about reading books like "Heart of Darkness," but it's a video game. Vicarious experience has a real place in human life, and a video game can be an extremely powerful tool for story telling.

3- Games can help to build friendships. Anyone who has spent time thinking about this knows that wasting time with someone is one of the best ways to build a friendship. Some of my closest and most intimate friendships got their start playing videogames. It brought us together to compete in that way, and although the games are not necessary for our friendship (some of us hardly play them together anymore) they were still quite good.

Obviously games can be abused, but they can be used as a powerful agent of good. I have seen glimmers of this in the industry at large, but we don't have enough Catholics working in there, don't have enough influence. We need to get in there and get to work!

[missionseeker]

One of my college roommates became addicted to wow and refused to leave the room for three weeks. She slept between 4 and 10 am and then spent the day playing games. It was awful.

It's definitely real.

She only left after that because I had to call her family and she flunked out

[Ed Normile]

Well, having your NVidia card start messing up and then to download 3 different upgrades only to have it gradually get worse makes one think of suicide for a moment, then thoughts turn to torture/murder of an NVidia upgrade programmer ! I have been game free for a month now with no end in sight, surprisingly I have no real side effects, save the occasional thought of using an unrelenting force shout on the nut who just passed me on the highway only to slow down right in front of me.

ed

Edited July 22, 2012 by Ed Normile

[Hubertus]

[quote name='Ed Normile' timestamp='1342922615' post='2457716']
Well, having your NVidia card start messing up and then to download 3 different upgrades only to have it gradually get worse makes one think of suicide for a moment, then thoughts turn to torture/murder of an NVidia upgrade programmer ! I have been game free for a month now with no end in sight, surprisingly I have no real side effects, save the occasional thought of using an unrelenting force shout on the nut who just passed me on the highway only to slow down right in front of me.

ed
[/quote] My card pooped out, but then I baked it in the oven, and then it worked. Maybe you should try it!

[Vincent Vega]

I won't pass any judgements on what media others use for recreation, but for me, it seems like such a waste to spend time, energy, and brain power on video games when I could spend that time reading/learning or developing other (what I would call practical) skills - practicing, in my case. Though, I suppose we all have our guilty, mindless pleasures. I have watched the entire run of The Office at least 25 times.

[arfink]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' timestamp='1342924113' post='2457721']
I won't pass any judgements on what media others use for recreation, but for me, it seems like such a waste to spend time, energy, and brain power on video games when I could spend that time reading/learning or developing other (what I would call practical) skills - practicing, in my case. Though, I suppose we all have our guilty, mindless pleasures. I have watched the entire run of The Office at least 25 times.
[/quote]

Exactly.

I read recently that in a study of people in hospice care, when asked about their regrets, they frequently said "I wish I hadn't worked so hard" and "I wish I had taken more time to have fun with others."

Video games seem like a great way to do that with a minimum of time and money invested, depending on the person and situation.

[Ed Normile]

[quote name='Hubertus' timestamp='1342923609' post='2457719']
My card pooped out, but then I baked it in the oven, and then it worked. Maybe you should try it!
[/quote]

LOL, I have considered this, even hammer therapy has crossed my mind.

ed

[Hubertus]

[quote name='arfink' timestamp='1342926020' post='2457733']
Exactly.

I read recently that in a study of people in hospice care, when asked about their regrets, they frequently said "I wish I hadn't worked so hard" and "I wish I had taken more time to have fun with others."

Video games seem like a great way to do that with a minimum of time and money invested, depending on the person and situation.
[/quote]
But is there any value to a game that's just single-player, like Skyrim or something? I suppose it could be in that you can discuss your experiences in the game with others, as a form of bonding; I don't get to see my brother much but we talk about Skyrim a lot.


[quote name='Ed Normile' timestamp='1342926614' post='2457735']
LOL, I have considered this, even hammer therapy has crossed my mind.

ed
[/quote] I'm not kidding though! Just take off the extra plastic parts if you can, so it's just the board, and then bake it in the oven for about 8 minutes on 385F and it re-solders the joints. :nods: It works sometimes, as a last ditch effort.

[url="http://www.addictivetips.com/hardware/fix-your-graphics-card-by-baking-in-oven/"]http://www.addictive...baking-in-oven/[/url]

[arfink]

As for single player games, I have an example that actually involves Skyrim. One of my best and oldest friends actually enjoys watching someone else play a video game while he basically plays as a backseat driver. That can actually be quite fun and comical, as he says things like "Hey hey, open that door. NO NOT THAT DOOR, *that* one. HOLY COW killitkillitkillit kill IT!"