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The perils of covering game addiction
Gamers will argue almost endlessly over which games are the best, which ones were most important, what the proper way to play is... but one thing we almost universally agree on is that we are not addicted. We all know the arguments -- the guy who plays sixteen hours a day in his parents' basement would have acted like that anyway, it's just a game, he doesn't have a substance addiction. Why even bring it up?Neils Clark, author of Game Addiction, wrote up a post about ten fallacies in addressing game addiction. The point of the piece, rather than concluding whether or not it's worth discussing, is to point out the ways in which many of the arguments on both sides are inherently flawed. The first point, for instance, is taking on the oft-quoted stance that "well, games aren't drugs" by laying out the many kinds of repeated behaviors that psychologists already recognize as potential addictions and treat accordingly.MMORPGs, more than perhaps any other genre, are usually replete with tales of utter addicts and non-stop players. The article is worth reading if you care even the slightest bit about the topic, because it reminds us that the elephant is not a part of the furniture. It's an elephant, and it's the sort of thing that needs to be addressed -- especially as the genre expands its appeal and its user base.[ via GamePolitics ]
Psychologists talk gaming addiction, online friendships
1UP's Scott Sharkey has written an article titled "Hook It to My Veins: Can Videogaming be an Addiction?" in which he provides anecdotal experiences with excessive gaming and conversations with two experts -- researcher/author Neils Clark and psychology lecturer Dr. Nadine Pelling. The conclusion is made pretty quickly: yes, video games can be an addiction. Big surprise there! But the details can be wishy-washy, it turns out. Virtual worlds are the subject of in-depth analysis. Clark borrows from a theory by J.R.R. Tolkien by suggesting that gaming addiction is about a conflict between what ought to be a primary world, and a secondary fantasy world. Gamers with a problem have difficulty prioritizing, or even acknowledging that the gaming world is secondary. Immersion is an important part of enjoying a game, right? But if you're thinking about how you need to make sure the primary world gets its due attention, then you're not immersed anymore -- so begins the problem.
