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Social Impact and Significance of Video Games – Why Have video games become so addictive and how do they lead to violence?
It is estimated that about half of the United Kingdom UK
Video game addiction is known as a compulsory event that interferes with day to day life causing problems with family relationships and social contact.
The Seventh generation of video game consoles is one of the main eras of gaming addiction due to their popularity and added internet services. In my opinion, The Wii (which is currently the best selling console of the generation) is more a family console due to its simplicity and age range of games. As an example the Wii Series (Sports, Play and Fit) have PEGI 3 Age Ratings. The Xbox 360 is popular for its multiplayer features and ability to create and share games for the community to play. The Playstation 3 is more complex with its graphics and also online play with is free to use whereas the Xbox 360 is around £30-£40 a year to subscribe to Xbox Live.
From My Perspective, I have been playing video games for at least 15 years starting with the Sega Mega Drive
Playing Video games can have the same symptoms as smoking and drugs or others that effect behaviour of Gamers. Players are more interested in activities within games rather than activities in the real world. As mentioned in the Introduction, players can play for up to 10-20 hours a day causing many disruptions to personal hygiene (failing to have a Bath or Shower), nutrition (failing to follow a daily eating routine), weight (gaining or losing), sleeping patterns (lack of sleep, inconvenient timing) and finally causing sufficient damage to health (which will be covered later on). Gaming is also known to be a cure for stress. Players use gaming to come away from day to day life by accessing a virtual world of their choosing.
Online Games have had massive concerns with the press and there have been many documentaries about this problem. The most recent was shown on Britain ’s longest running documentary series ‘Panorama’ where they discussed about Addiction to Gaming around the world as well the UK
One mother described World of Warcraft and gaming in general as a ‘Dangerous Tool’ after her son caused a violent outburst when she cut off the internet connection. One section of the Documentary mentioned about Blizzard Entertainment who are best known for creating the popular MMO World of Warcraft who gave out a statement on the show saying:
"Our games are designed to be fun… but like all forms of entertainment… day-to-day life should always take precedence. World of Warcraft contains practical tools that assist players and parents in monitoring playing time.
Many of the popular television shows have parodied gaming addiction using their own made up games, the likes of South Park South Park
Some Governments has taken game addiction seriously especially in China where nearly 20 million people currently play online computer games in which they added a restriction to how much can be played online which is set to a maximum of 3 hours after which the player would then be disconnected from the game and would be unable to play online for 24 hours but players have managed to bypass this system so they introduced a new system where after 3 hours players only get half of the experience and after 5 hours players get no experience. In the US
“With the explosion of educational resources available online, one might
think parents would be 100% pleased with the internet’s role in their children’s
lives. But surveys show just the opposite: a late 2006 survey that showed 59% of parents think the internet has been a totally positive influence in their
children’s lives-- down from 67% in 2004. You might find it alarming that one
of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S.
Game Addiction has lead to unexpected deaths in the USA and China Shanghai with a Dragon Saber Sword from Legend of Mir, a Cardiac arrest in South Korea Ohio
Over 1000 games were released in 2009 and this has been the same with 2010. Experts are predicting the same outcome in 2011. Some notable games include Killzone 3 and Duke Nukem Forever. This section will explore the computer games which have a big effect on addiction explaining why and how they have become addictive for many hardcore gamers.
World of Warcraft is the biggest and most popular MMO on the Planet. Created by Blizzard Entertainment, this video game has been taking over internet gaming by storm with currently 12 million subscribers especially since they released the latest expansion pack on 7th December.
Players can develop their character to learn new talents and skills by battling and taking on quests. World of Warcraft is known for its highest addiction rating with the average hardcore gamer playing for a very long period of time which can cause major health problems and irritation of the nerves and reflex of the eyes. Japan is known for many free to access Online Gaming Cafes where players can play many of the current MMO’s on the market which has given a lot of concern with the government as the Chinese government are with their experience system in place.
Players can develop their character to learn new talents and skills by battling and taking on quests. World of Warcraft is known for its highest addiction rating with the average hardcore gamer playing for a very long period of time which can cause major health problems and irritation of the nerves and reflex of the eyes. Japan is known for many free to access Online Gaming Cafes where players can play many of the current MMO’s on the market which has given a lot of concern with the government as the Chinese government are with their experience system in place.
So, the question is why is it so addicitive? In my Opinion, ranking is main reason; players keep coming back for more, levelling up their characters to obtain new features which take time and practice to obtain. Mining is also is one element that makes up for my question. Players can mine for gold and can use their own in-game bank to buy and sell items.
World of Warcraft has caused violent scenes to occur for many reasons such as a player account been hacked, cancellation of an account, losing all data, gold, characters created and an internet connection cut off. Many Videos on Youtube have been uploaded of reactions not just of World of Warcraft but many other online games. The most popular has been seen by 38 million people and hit the media since its popularity.
It all became popular with the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare when this system was introduced. So how did these games become addictive to some players? Unlockables are the main aspects; as players level up, they obtain new features within the game but some items can only be obtained after a huge amount of gaming time. These games have also lead to many divorces, break-ups (mainly by women) and broken relationships with family and friends. It is also listed that these series of games is listed as one of the top 10 reasons for a college or University drop out.
There are many other areas of gaming which make games addictive. One of the newer aspects which were introduced with the Xbox 360 is the achievement system. My simplest explanation for this system is ‘A task that has no immediate feedback’ which means something that has no purpose and does not lead specific goals. Achievements are challenges that must be met in order to unlock them. Xbox uses a Gamer Score whereas Playstation uses a trophy system with the same concept but includes a platinum trophy for players that have completed the other trophies within a game. Achievements have good and bad aspects about them which make part of how games become addictive. The Good points are firstly, they reward players for effort on completing a task which make them come back for more, they can also have a social bond with the community, and it creates a lot of replay value for players with the number of multiple modes to play.
One player claimed that they were addicted to video games when the trophy system was introduced:
‘I myself have been a victim of MMO addiction which I finally cured by becoming a console gamer. The addiction nearly retook me over when trophies were introduced. To understand MMO addiction you really have to partake in playing them at a competitive level - I was very high on leaderboards for 2 games, 1 of which I was the highest level of my class on the server I was on and the last one I played I maxed out the character level and got banned from the official game forum for obsessively complaining about the game and lack of updates. So I for one understand this MMO addiction and wouldn't wish it on anyone.’
This leads to the reasons why the achievement system is a bad idea and why it has lead to addiction. It can become very obsessive to complete and collect each achievement and make players have a false sense of accomplishment for the achievement. It can also break immersion with games and other media and can be also frivolous.
As mentioned in the introduction, Addiction has lead to violence on very different levels and has had the potential to influence certain groups to conduct acts seen within games. Laws are lacking to make sure age ratings are taken seriously but kids between the ages of 9-16 are playing games illegally like Grand Theft Auto where the acts within the game are things that children cannot take in and process properly. Mainly non-gamers are people who argue that video games encourage violence in real lives saying video games increase aggressive cognitions, emotions and behaviours.
Many Websites include advice for parents on how to make sure that children are safe whilst playing video games. Many Websites give advice such as: Checking the content of the game before showing it to their children (like you do with films), gaming with friends or family, having a set limit of game time, ban them from gaming if necessary until appropriate. UKIE (United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment) states areas of health and safety about playing video games, shows age ratings and gives ‘Play Safe’ gaming tips.
UKIE, most recently, quoted on the Panorama documentary stating how serious they take health and safely with gaming:
UKIE, most recently, quoted on the Panorama documentary stating how serious they take health and safely with gaming:
"UKIE is aware of some individuals that play games excessively but often the causes of many of the sad cases that we hear about are down to other underlying medical, social or environmental issues concerning the individuals concerned. UKIE and the wider video games and interactive entertainment industry takes the health and wellbeing of consumers very seriously and promotes balance and moderation as part of its safe and sensible gaming message. This includes recommending gamers take regular breaks of at least five minutes every 45-60 minutes as a rule of thumb.”
In conclusion, there is no official cure for game addiction. It is up to the player themselves to stop their game addiction by doing other various activities instead of using up their spare time to play video games. But for some gamers this can be hard to do like trying to quit smoking. Many players can realise playing games could have severe consequences to education and work causing gamers to have no money to live on with losing jobs due to excessive gameplay. In my opinion, been a casual gamer has less strain than a hardcore gamer so player can find it easier to enjoy gaming to the full.
In conclusion, there is no official cure for game addiction. It is up to the player themselves to stop their game addiction by doing other various activities instead of using up their spare time to play video games. But for some gamers this can be hard to do like trying to quit smoking. Many players can realise playing games could have severe consequences to education and work causing gamers to have no money to live on with losing jobs due to excessive gameplay. In my opinion, been a casual gamer has less strain than a hardcore gamer so player can find it easier to enjoy gaming to the full.
