by Ambassador James Davis
Hello, my name is James. I am addicted to video games. I was a level 57 Dark Paladin Knight, I can beat Super Mario Brothers in under 5 minutes, I’ve become Super Sonic hundreds of times in my life, I can survive the horrors of Raccoon City without being bitten by a zombie, AND I have ‘owned’ many unsuspecting terrorists and mercenaries in my online career.
If you understood all (or most) of that statement, then you may need to be inducted to Gamers Anonymous.
It is a fact that some games, no matter how pointless they may be to real life situations, are so addicting that they could greatly affect one’s life. Could something originally developed to be a fun waste of time become something much more sinister?
Well, let us try to examine the average video game (AVG).
AVG’s usually put the player into another place, whether it be another city or another world. Also, players have the convenient ability to do things physically unimaginable in real life, a way to break away from reality to a world of fantasy.
A perfect example would be in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where the protagonist can ride a government-made jet pack, equipped with a semi-automatic weapon (naturally), while pursuing a dirty pimp who has ties with an opposing gang that may take over your territory at any given minute.
There have been many tests on how video games have a psychological effect on the system, so to speak.
The most highly addictive games are the ones that simulate another life (whether it be human or not). The Sims, an abbreviation for simulation, is a series of video games where the goal is to literally create a house, city, or anything for that matter.
From building the houses to arranging the relationships of the characters inside them and, in practice, running and living their lives.
How realistic can a video game become? That depends mostly on the physics of the game and its graphic capabilities.
There are advancements achieved in the emulation of games every day, making every step closer to looking more realistic.
A new gaming engine named Euphoria actually simulates the structure of a human skeleton to create a realistic reaction to whatever may stimulate the human, such as a broken bone due to a car crash.
Like I said, video games are a way to break away from reality into a fantasy world, however, if a fantasy world becomes too realistic, is it still considered fantasy?
According to certain political big shots, the answer is no. They argue that video games, if too realistic, can leak out into real life.
A well-known example being the aforementioned game GTA: San Andreas, claiming that it’s highly violent content can encourage people (mainly children) to act out in similar ways.
Another big factor to video game addiction, in regards to realism, are the actions of the game. The most addictive of all genres of games are massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGS), where a large number or players (from the hundreds to the thousands on average) interact with one another in a virtual world.
You may walk around freely, fight with one another on occasion, and achieve game goals with one another. You can usually develop your own characters in terms of looks and attributes, for them to be seen by the world, the essence of t
his genre’s addiction.
Redlight Center, a free MMORPG that “creates a virtual environment that facilitates and encourages human interaction in a more natural manner” is causing a stir in addiction and psychological effects.
It simulates meeting actual people, going to virtual social events, and having virtual sexual intercourse.
John Stossel, reporter of ABC News, reported the effects the Redlight Center had on it’s players. Stossel later exposes the fact that most players create characters that has no resemblance to them at all.
For example, a 200-pound short woman would recreate herself to look like a much skinnier bombshell to seem more attractive.
Because there are no pictures of the players, they have the freedom to be whomever they desire. Why would someone emulate another person’s image as themselves, even if it’s on a virtual dating scene that probably wouldn’t progress anywhere pass the keyboard? Well the answer is simple: rejection hurts.
Maybe it’s not an addiction to the games itself, but more an addiction to wanting an escape from life (or incorporate the game with your life through imitation), and the game helps in doing so.
This isn’t healthy, and should be discussed with a professional (and I’m not referring to a professional gamer).
I grew up thinking of video games as a way of procrastination, avoiding something much more important. There is a difference to being addicted to playing and just playing a lot. Just playing a lot can be from a multiple of things with no psychological basis, such as having nothing else better to do.
Personally, I am hoping that when I play excessively, that it is due to some form of subliminal messaging in the gaming ads.
Wishful thinker, I am.
1 response so far ↓
Callan // October 19, 2008 at 3:44 am |
I think the desire to beat a game is rather like how lion cubs play fight with each other – they are learning how to take down prey. A video game stimulates our desire to improve our ability to survive. You even have games called ‘Brain training’.
However, this is a kind of conditioning, as learning a skill means changing yourself to have learnt it. So rather than playing the game, given enough time, the game starts playing you. Rather than learning skills that might help survival, your learning to keep playing the game, in order to get a result. Add in mechanics which work like one arm bandits (but pay off even more in digital trinkets) and you have a mild brainwashing device.
I do mean mild. It’s like cigarrettes – it’s possible to get hooked, and it’s possible to kick it.