The science behind game addiction

Are games addictive? That's the question posed over at Gamasutra, and Neils Clark has gone into some detail to explain the science behind addiction and its relevance to gaming. Unfortunately, the answer isn't as clear-cut as a simple "yes" or "no".

Addiction itself is a complicated area of psychology and neuroscience, and it's often implicated with gaming by those who fail to understand either concept. What's increasingly clear from this article is that there may be flaws in research relating to game addiction--from conceptual confusion to extended assumptions, as well as the tendency to embrace concepts before they are fully investigated. Clark points out that "research has simply suggested that at most, people are becoming addicted to games, not that games themselves are actually responsible for addicting people."