BobTD
11-04-2010, 08:37 PM
Apparently this is breaking news because my "local" media station is running a special on it right now. And I think fox 11, who is very "balanced" in their coverage totally wont run this as a scare tactic. (right?)
But I wanted to take time to really discuss video game addiction and weather or not video games are to blame vs. just people falling into bad habits naturally.
A good place to start I decided was with some extensive google research. The wiki entry turned out to be rather interesting as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction
An MRI study found that the part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings is more activated in men than women during video game play.
All kinds of interesting information. I think to some extent video games have made it easier to give into an impulse control disorder, but calling it a mental health disorder seems a bit drastic to me. By that logic anyone overweight has a mental heath disorder by having an eating impulse control disorder.
What are some of your thoughts and experiences with this? I will post a comprehensive opinion later but its a lot to think about.
In August 2005, the government of the People's Republic of China, where more than 20 million people play online games, introduced an online gaming restriction limiting playing time to three hours, after which the player would be expelled from whichever game they were playing. [34][35] In 2006, it relaxed the rule so only citizens under the age of 18 would face the limitations.[36][37] Reports indicate underage gamers found ways to circumvent the measure.[38] In July, 2007, the rule was relaxed yet again. Internet games operating in China must require that users identify themselves by resident identity numbers. After three hours, players under 18 are prompted to stop and "do suitable physical exercise." If they continue, their characters gain 50% of the usual experience. After five hours, their characters gain no experience at all.[39]
China has some reasonable policy's for a communist country lol. While there initial reaction seemed like to much, the current system of prompting minors to set aside time for other things every three hours or they gain less xp is actually... kinda impressive.
and another interesting quote for why MMO's are considered more addictive:
"In the hypothetical world created by such games, they become confident and gain satisfaction, which they cannot get in the real world."
But I wanted to take time to really discuss video game addiction and weather or not video games are to blame vs. just people falling into bad habits naturally.
A good place to start I decided was with some extensive google research. The wiki entry turned out to be rather interesting as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction
An MRI study found that the part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings is more activated in men than women during video game play.
All kinds of interesting information. I think to some extent video games have made it easier to give into an impulse control disorder, but calling it a mental health disorder seems a bit drastic to me. By that logic anyone overweight has a mental heath disorder by having an eating impulse control disorder.
What are some of your thoughts and experiences with this? I will post a comprehensive opinion later but its a lot to think about.
In August 2005, the government of the People's Republic of China, where more than 20 million people play online games, introduced an online gaming restriction limiting playing time to three hours, after which the player would be expelled from whichever game they were playing. [34][35] In 2006, it relaxed the rule so only citizens under the age of 18 would face the limitations.[36][37] Reports indicate underage gamers found ways to circumvent the measure.[38] In July, 2007, the rule was relaxed yet again. Internet games operating in China must require that users identify themselves by resident identity numbers. After three hours, players under 18 are prompted to stop and "do suitable physical exercise." If they continue, their characters gain 50% of the usual experience. After five hours, their characters gain no experience at all.[39]
China has some reasonable policy's for a communist country lol. While there initial reaction seemed like to much, the current system of prompting minors to set aside time for other things every three hours or they gain less xp is actually... kinda impressive.
and another interesting quote for why MMO's are considered more addictive:
"In the hypothetical world created by such games, they become confident and gain satisfaction, which they cannot get in the real world."