Addiction in Games?

In his Paper “Problems with the Concept of Video Game “Addiction” ” Richard Wood argues that the concept of Video Game addiction is down to ineffective time management skills or some other problems that a person is trying to escape from rather then an obsessive need to play games.

Although I do think that Woods has a point for some cases ,playing a video game for more then 5 hours a day is a bit more then ‘time mismanagement’ in my opinion.In the news every so often I hear about another case where a person has died form playing video games as a result of dehydration or starvation.Anything that causes someone to ignore or forget there basic survival needs is addition in my opinion,plain and simple.For the  vast majority of us  fortunately I believe that Woods  “time mismanagement” explanation holds true.Video games are an escape from everyday reality in which you can become fully immersed in fantastical worlds.So the concept of losing track of time while doing so makes perfect sense.However most people are still grounded in reality whilst playing and will be able to step away if the needs arose.This is because these people are not addicted to playing games.

I implore you to ask yourself this question.Is this not similar to most other forms of addiction?Take alcohol for example.A non-alcoholic can be in control of their drinking habits.An alcoholic can not ,they let it overtake and consume their everyday lives.The only thought in there heads is where the next drink will come from.In my opinion this is the same  situation as a person who can walk away from playing games after an hour or two and a person who cannot.Addiction is addiction in my opinion

I myself have a bit of an addictive personality.I can sometimes over think and obsess about things,most of the time to my own detriment.This is especially the case with college where I constantly worry about projects and deadlines in my head.The reason I bring this to your attention is when I was younger this obsession was manifested towards games.For a  time I would play games from when I got up until I went to bed.I would refuse to come out to play with my friends and I would give out to my mother whenever she suggested I stop playing and go outside.I didn’t realize it at the time but my health and socials skills were being harmed by my obsession with playing games.My every thought was geared towards finding a way to play the PS3.Sound familiar. Sound familiar?

Thankful I’m much better at managing my time with respect to games nowadays.A temporary escape from college work.In closing my opinion is that anything can become addiction if indulged too greatly Whether it is games or any other form of addiction

My attitude towards drink is healthy too..Just encase you were wondering.

 

War Games.A new type of Propaganda?

Many years ago when I was a young child in primary school I remember a particular history lesson quite vividly.I do not recall what who my teacher was,what year I was in or who I was sitting beside but I remember the content of that lesson near perfectly.The time period we were covering was World War 2 and in particular Nazi Germany.What I heard on that day made my stomach turn.What the Nazi did was inhuman and destroyed my façade that bad people only existed in movies.Beyond all of this the fact that they justified these actions by manipulating the public’s view on Jews through propaganda still disturbs me to this day. The regime employed every medium they could to depict the Jews as a subhuman race of wandering cultural parasites[1].

The reason I bring this to your attention is  during a lecture in the past week I experienced that similar disgusted  feeling when the video game Americas Army was brought to my attention.When it comes to video games I am of the opinion that a games developers should be given free regain to make their game and tell their own story in anyway they see fit.I do not believe that developers should shy away from controversial and sensitive topics.Doing so would diminish the artistic integrity of the story they were trying to tell. Take Modern Warfare 2 for example which was surrounded in controversy due to its depiction of an massacre in a Russian airport.The player took control of a undercover CIA agent who allied with the terrorists,however the player was not forced to make a single shot.This was one of the single most memorable moments I ever experience in a game.It was powerful,terrifying and  heartbreaking . I would never have experienced this incredible moment if infinity ward were too afraid to tackle taboo topics.

However this is not the case with Americans Army,which in my opinion is a modern day equivalent to propaganda.The game is both published and developed by the US army in an attempt to attract potential recruits. Millions for dollars have been spent on Americas Army,32.8 million as of 2009[2].In 2009 along 3.4 million was spent on the game.In an article on latfusa.com[5] David Morris mentions a great point about the hypocrisy of the US government administration in giving money to study violence in videogames while at the same time financing  this project.Americans Army has the polish and style of other commercial FPS such as call of duty but at the same time it is a marketed propaganda tool.Quotes such as the following actually appear during loading screens ”

“I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit”

Did I mention it was also free so that anyone can download or play it?The game boasts about its realistic take on the life of a US soldier but neglects the negatives and sheer horrors of war.The ‘gore ‘ element of the game is low in order to lower the ERSB rating so it can reach young kids.There is no bodily dismemberment when shot and the damage taken is represented through icons rather then visual stimulation like in other conventional FPS[3].The American soldiers are depicted as honorable brave heroes who have to take down the faceless generic enemy.

This biased view of war for recruitment  purposes makes me very uncomfortable and in my opinion is disgusting.Young kids are very impressionable and they will only learn one view on war from this game.

Cowlishaw[4] quote in his article resonates with me which is why I will sign off with it

“any truly realistic recreation of war would cast some doubt on the idea that war is cool and enjoyable, and that, as in sports, all one has to do is “step up” and become an instant hero“.

[5]  Morris,2013. David America’s Army Video Game: Propaganda or Entertainment?October; available at http://www.latfusa.com/view_article.php?id=930.

[4]Cowlishaw, Brian, 2005. ‘Playing War: The Emerging Trend of Real Virtual Combat in Video Games’, American Popular Culture online magazine, available at http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/emerging/real_virtual_combat.htm

[3]Americas Army:more than a game?David B.Nieborg(2004)

Nazi Propaganda http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005274