You can get addicted to anything.

Me? I'm addicted to being addicted to things.
It's like that lady whos hobby is collecting hobbies.

tacking the word addiction to things is stupid. unless a chemical change is happening inside of these so called "Video Gamers" that increases their need to play games then I'll classify gaming as addictive.

If I see a "Video Gamer" suck off another person for a used copy of Resistance 2. Then I'll realize that there might be a serious problem in gaming.

If they'd just remove WoW from the list of games, the problem would be solved ;)

Australia, when will they learn?

The "main stream" media blatently are in denial. A report comes out saying video games are good, FRONT PAGE THAT NAOW. A report comes out saying addiction with video games exists, ignore it or laugh it off.

The research is their. Just because you haven't read it doesn't mean it's not true.

People will never stop being ri-goddamn-diculous.. =/

Exactly. Wow, thanks for letting us know that people can like something and take it too far, Mr. Psychology.

Next up: Alcohol Addiction - It Might Just Happen One Day!

What I'm missing is where any of this is the videogame industry's problem, just like I missed the part where alcoholism was Budweiser's responsibility. Some people can't take things in moderation like the rest of normal society. In that event, they either need to seek help for themselves, or die being an idiot.

No-one directly forces you to be a drug addict, you take the drugs and get into that state by your own free will. No matter what, there is always, ALWAYS the option to say no. Same with alcholism, same with substance abuse (glue, areosols, etc).

Yes, people DO get addicited to videogaes, that's a given, hell we've seen that in the poor souls who invest so, so ,so, so much time in a particular game (MMO's come to mind) only to die from thier addiction, (cases have been reprted in China/Japan/Europe), but then again, do the videogame designers force you to play the game? Do they hold a gun to your head?

"There are certain things about video games that are simply not present in books, to use your example. Books end. Movies end, television shows end. Video games (not all, but some) will reward you for playing hours upon hours in a row. They force you to be competitive and then reward you for being the best. Now, you may draw an analogy between this and sports. But in sports, you can't play a game for 8 hours in a row, you will collapse."

I still don't see the point where he's ever said that games can't be addictive - there's no "magic" in the games that's anymore "magic" than in heroin, or food. Sure, I can't eat for eight hours straight, as I'd probably want to puke. You couldn't play football for eight hours straight for fatigue's sake. And *I* - a normal person - cannot play eight hours' worth of games in one stretch. My hands would hurt, my eyes would be dry. I HAVE to get up after no more than two or three hours at the same game.

But there ARE some people who will gorge themselves to the point of sickness. Much the same, some people will ignore the body's signs that its tired or overworked, and will play WoW for 8 straight hours. And if you want something that lends itself to addiction - why NOT food? Everyone MUST eat it to stay alive. You deliberately HAVE to put yourself at a continued, daily risk of becoming addicted to eating (if said addiction exists). So, why isn't every fat person with an eating disorder suing every food manufacturer around?

Because it's not practical, and because the problem does not lie with the people who make the product. And what's more, any criticism of gaming's addictive effects have nothing to do with an objective, balanced look at gaming. It's more of the same "demonize games at any cost" BS or, at the very least, many will try to use it that way.

So I'll say the same thing I said when Morgan Spurlock made Supersize Me - too much of a certain thing = bad is NOT a newsflash, it's not groundbreaking, we all know this. Just as I would never support McDonald's ever being forced to alter its menu to "avoid addictive foods", I would never support game developers or publishers making games any differently to avoid people becoming addicted to them. Their problem, no one else's.

I blame the developers partially. Now that we have Flash Drives, Hard Drives, et cetera, there's no reason we can't save our game anywhere at anytime. It's games like GTA IV that have you repeat a section of a 20 minute mission over and over again which takes up hours of our time.

Developers are designing games so they have to be played hours at a time. I think that's really bad and adds to the problem.

"I still don't see the point where he's ever said that games can't be addictive - there's no "magic" in the games that's anymore "magic" than in heroin, or food."

The problem here - and the issue, as I understand it - is that yes, everything is addictive, but everything is not addictive on the same scale. For instance, find me one person who thinks that Heroin is probably more addictive than food. Highly unlikely. I think the genuine issue here, hidden behind all the bullshit, is that video games are more likely to be addictive than other past times that both children and adults engage in. Yes. You can get addicted to anything, but the point is that video games are more addictive.

Now, what to do with this information? For me, the problem starts when people take it and say "oh well, video games are wholly addictive, and thus must be wholly stopped." That's not productive, that's not going to get anyone anywhere. But the understanding that people can play video games way too much can influence all sorts of people. Maybe a person's friend will say "hey dude, you've been playing that a lot." Maybe video game developers can use this to develop pauses in games. (I'll admit, in Metal Gear Solid 2, when the colonel told me I had been playing too much, I freaked out and put that shit down).

All I'm trying to say is that saying it's absolutely not a problem at all is every bit as foolish as saying that video games are destroying today's youth.

@Mushman

For normal people, this is true. But that is what makes someone an addict: an inability to say no. If you have ever lived with an alcoholic (or anyone with an addiction problem), you will find that they simply can't cope with not having alcohol in the house. Especially when it comes to substances like heroin which pretty much causes your brain to forget how to produce serotonin (the neurotransmitter in your brain that basically controls pleasure). Quitting is next to impossible because they literally cannot be happy without the drug; they have to survive months of unhappiness while clean before their brain is able to produce serotonin on it's own again.

But this doesn't have to be a reaction to ingested chemicals as some might argue.My step-father happens to have an addiction to collecting comic books an related paraphernalia. You may think I am joking, but I'm not. My mom had to cut up his credit cards because he racked up thousands of dollars in debt because he simply couldn't forgo his monthly comic book pick-ups (which usually run him about $200). There was a point in time when my mother was the only person bringing an income because he would literally spend all of his money on books, comics, and action figures. He still spends most of his pay on those things before he makes it home from work.

There are simply some people who are predisposed to addiction because they are not as good at controlling their impulses. That's why people struggle with problems such as gambling addiction.

So on those points I do agree.

But well, OF COURSE the industry would be in denial about a problem like this. What industry would want to admit that the product they profit from can be potentially addictive, and in turn, harmful to their customers. Just like fast food chains will never say "If you eat our food a lot, you'll probably get fat." It's just bad business.

I'm with John Johnson on this.

Most of the comments indicate in themselves that many gamers are indeed in denial over the effect videogames have on them. The argument that "No-one directly forces you to be a drug addict, you take the drugs and get into that state by your own free will" is ignorant, for example; it is looking at things in an all to simplistic manner. While trying out a drug is an act of free will entirely, the impact it can have on you differ severely from person to person. At this point somebody would probably like to cut me off at the pass and say "yeah, well, it still isn't the fault of the drug that you get addicted to it; it's your own disposition and the fact that you chose to try it at all". Such argumentation is ridiculous. Not to be rude, but it's not about forcing you to play the games or not; it's about consciously designing games so that the people who play them will be hooked on the experience enough to keep playing them for hours.

I doubt such design decisions are conscious in each and every game, but the gaming industry gets inspired by the best of the best in the business. The best MMO's are the ones with a loyal player base that span several years and generate a steady revenue for the developers, and to do this you have to design the game world in such a way that people stay in it. I work with graphic design myself, and I know how much even a simple poster can affect people if you know your target audience well enough.

The argument here isn't whether getting addicted to games is forced upon you or not. It's simply that video game addiction is a reality, and we better be willing to discuss it like adults if we want to be taken serious about our hobby...

@Bioautographical

So you're saying you don't think video games can appeal to archetypal dispositions that will affect the majority of its targeted audience?

Regards to what we should do about it, I agree with you, and there really isn't much that can be done; games need to sell as long as they need to be funded, and for games to sell they need to offer something gamers want. For some, that is the addictive elements they get high on in their own ways.

"I wish I knew how to quit you."

If that's as much as it should take, fine. I have no problem with something similar to McD's posting their nutritional facts for all to access. But generally, when people start in with "There's a problem and ________ is in denial", it amounts to much more than that (such as having to reward vast sums of money to people, stupid legislation, etc). In that event, I'd say they should fight tooth and nail on the arguments I've already presented - addictions are commonplace and lie with the person, not the product.

I'd just hope they'd do it as a courtesy to consumers and a way to cover their ass, and not as a way of conceding that "videogames are horrendously addictive". I already think the punitive measures taken against the tobacco industry are heinous and unwarranted, and I would not want to see the same happen to games, especially where extra "sin taxes" are piled on because the industry caved to some public demand that we all acknowledge the evil addictive nature of games. I'm not willing to let the public off the hook like that, and I don't think anyone else should be either.

When I was a kid, we had Atari and it would get boring really quick since there was like 2 boards only. So, we would go outside and play but these days these games are so much engaging that you spend hours playing them while drinking soda and mac and cheese all day. that is one reason why there are so many little fatty kids these days.
If a good game comes out I can get in addict mode and then I get nothing productive done but stuff I like that much fortunately does not come out that often.
VGs are addictive(more than books) but it is the parents, individuals, whoever's responsibility to not let it get out of hand.

Everyone in that picture looks like they're ready to suck a dick.

Oh, come now. Look, the entire advertising industry exists to "prey" on people. If a fast food commercial comes on TV, do you expect it to pander to those who are full up? "For all you people who have already eaten . . . consider dropping into Burger World the next time you feel a bit noshy." No. They pander to everyone they possibly can, including and especially the hungry. They'll show you pictures of the burger (which never truly match the reality). They'll talk up the exceptionally low price. They'll throw in their kids' meals with worthless plastic toys in them so that if YOU aren't easily swayed, your kids will badger you endlessly to take them there. That's simply how advertisement works.

Truth is, I know people who play WoW and FAR, far more of them are reasonable about their playing habits than the one or two who play it excessively. It's not the advertising industry's job to attempt to market JUST to those without an addictive personality. Such a thing would be impossible. Besides, if it weren't for advertising in general, sites like Destructoid and others you enjoy for free wouldn't exist.

Just, man - we've blamed devs, we've blamed publishers, we've blamed the advertising industry. Can we please start assigning responsibility to the people who deserve it - i.e., the parents who don't monitor their kids' gaming and eating habits, and the adults who have no self-control? Most of what I absolutely abhor about society these days is how we pathologically cannot STAND to take the blame for anything we ourselves do, instead trying our damnedest to put it on others.

Both arguments can exist together.

If WOW is affecting your life YOU need to stop playing and take responsibility.

Also

As a company it is THEIR responsibility to ensure that they are not taking advantage of these vulnerable people who are always going to exist.

I'm surprised it wasn't penned by Andrew Bolt, the conservative twit.

Bioautographical, of course people need to take responsibility for their own choices but you're saying that companies don't at all. As humans they're are always going to be vulnerable people who can't make rational decisions in their own best interest.

So would you feel comfortable owning a liquor store next door to a homeless shelter, or a casino fuelled mostly by problem gamblers in a poor area?

These are ethical decisions that a business needs to make. They're is money to be made off vulnerable people but would you do it? and should you do it?

Obviously the case of MMO's is not as obvious as this but if research (unbiased) shows they are more harmful than good it needs to be looked at.

As an Australia, I have to tell people that the Herald Sun is an awful newspaper. In fact, MOST newspapers in Australia are terrible and are incredibly biased towards one party or another. The Herald Sun is owned by News Corp, and like The Australian, is very right wing (although the Australian confines its right-wing stance to its opinion page, most of the time). The Herald Sun is, however, a trash newspaper, reporting on sensationalist stories that don't matter, always moaning and whinging about the destruction of society by the modern evils of the world (Oh won't somebody PLEASE think of the children), while often plastering the image of a scantily clad model on the front page of its website. The Herald Sun isn't as bad as the The Sun in England, but it's not too far off.

The Herald Sun, Like the Courier Mail, needs stories like this. These two newspapers fan the flames of sensationalism, filling their pages with nonsense and going off on every little thing like it's the end of the world. Pay no attention to the Herald Sun.

I'm pretty sure World of Warcraft's simple reward for suffering scheme is designed ENTIRELY to keep players coming back for more. And they do. The Scroll of Resurrection (give a player who quit a free 10-day trial) is pretty much like giving your month-sober friend a drink. Video games in general are not the problem, as you mentioned, but some are. There is a pretty strong argument to make for MMO addiction. You pay money and you waste your life, as with any illicit drug.