Page 2 of 2

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:46 am
by Gonic
I'm not gonna watch this, I've read and watched things similar to this and there all exgerated.

Though i do wonder if addicted WoW players fall under this 'addiction'

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:28 am
by Reknoc
Wrath Oskvro wrote:Game addiction is a problem, but I don't think the games themselves are. It's the idiots who let themselves be addicted.
That's pretty unfair, people don't choose to get addicted.

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:40 am
by richarddavies
There's people addicted to alchohol, drugs, movies, my little pony, Garfield ,you name it someones addicted to it somewhere. Pinnin the blame on the actual thing people are addicted to is just spazmatic. It's a genuine character trait in some people. They need to help the person themselves not look at what there addicted to... Well except maybe crack. That is actually pretty damn addictive now I think about it....

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:45 am
by Wrath Oskvro
Reknoc wrote:That's pretty unfair, people don't choose to get addicted.
Maybe not but you can get addicted to anything. It's up to the person to be responsible and have a little common sense. You don't just play a game for an hour and then automatically become addicted like you would a drug, like Panorama is trying to imply. That's nonsense.

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:04 am
by Reknoc
The thing is though, some games have concious design decisions to be addicting.

Or maybe it would be better to say that devs know what buttons to press to make people keep playing their game which can for some people cause addiction. Bar filling multiplayer didn't become popular for no reason.

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:36 pm
by Tru
Okay, I've just watched the show and it wasn't as bad as people are making out. Are gamers overreacting here?

They didn't really state that gaming is evil and overly additive, it mostly just pointed out that games can be addictive to some people, which we know already, and parents should keep an eye out on their kid's behaviour when playing games, which they already should.

Some games do use psychological tools to keep gamers addicted, like FarmVille. Maybe there are some ethical considerations that game developers can think of. I also think that MMO's and online gaming should be kept away from younger kids.

The show raised some points though. Kids these days don't have anything better to do, so it seems. That's mostly because we don't seem to be providing them with much else to do, other than TV, games and what have you.

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:39 pm
by Reknoc
CapnCloudchaser wrote:Are gamers overreacting here?
Yes. But then gamers seem to love playing the victim.

Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:37 pm
by Rayne
'I'm worried about my son, he shuts himself in his room and I never know just what he's playing or what content he's seeing'

Wow, so you buy your kid a bunch of 18 rated titles without checking what they're about, and then let him play them all day? That's obviously video games being a force of evil, bad parenting doesn't have any say whatsoever :I

People can get addicted to anything, games provide a great sense of escapism so I can imagine many developing unhealthy obsessions. When properly regulated and played in moderation there's no danger though

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 3:22 pm
by IvyRave
CapnCloudchaser wrote:Okay, I've just watched the show and it wasn't as bad as people are making out. Are gamers overreacting here?

They didn't really state that gaming is evil and overly additive, it mostly just pointed out that games can be addictive to some people, which we know already, and parents should keep an eye out on their kid's behaviour when playing games, which they already should.

Some games do use psychological tools to keep gamers addicted, like FarmVille. Maybe there are some ethical considerations that game developers can think of. I also think that MMO's and online gaming should be kept away from younger kids.

The show raised some points though. Kids these days don't have anything better to do, so it seems. That's mostly because we don't seem to be providing them with much else to do, other than TV, games and what have you.

I agree. Some game companies program it on purpose so that gamers are hooked, which is the reason why I would never recommend the Sims as I spent over a year addicted to that game.
Some people can really go overboard with their addiction as one boy stole £900 from his mother to spend on Farmville.