Computer Game Addiction Essay

ABSTRACTWith the constant improvements in gaming technology, ranging from graphics to impudent types of controllers to faster processors, there is a growing worry of computer gamy addiction. In order to lavishy understand this problem, nonp beil must regulate addiction. According to the Center for colony and Mental Health, addiction is a mental or a physical dependence on something.LITERATURE criticismIn this paper, we leave discuss the problem of computer patch addiction, one of the most addictive games, and ways to prevent or stop addiction.massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing bet onsGame addiction in truth started turning into a problem with the advent of Massively Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Games, or MMORPGs. While regular games would uphold you entertained until you beat it, MMORPGs have no ending, so there really is no reason to stop playing. MMORPGs immerse the player in the man and since there is no way to beat the game, the goal is character progre ssion. aim up your character and obtaining better and better armor and weapons is usually the norm in most MMORPGs. addiction QuestionnaireDr. Kimberly Young, known as the worlds foremost Cyber-Psychologist, created a set of eight questions to ask ones self to test for online gaming addiction.1) Do you need to play online games with change magnitude amounts of time in order to achieve the desired excitement?2) ar you preoccupied with gaming (thinking about it when moodyline, anticipating your next online session)?3) Have you lied to friends and family members to veil extent of your online gaming?4) Do you feel restless or uneven when attempting to cut down or stop online gaming?5) Have you do repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop online gaming?6) Do you use gaming as a way of escaping from problems or placate feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, or depression?7) Have you jeopardized or lost a strong relationship, or even risked your marriage beca use of your online gaming habit?8) Have you jeopardized a job, educational, or c argoner opportunity because of your online gaming habit?Answering yes to some(prenominal) of those questions could mean that you be addicted. One would think that pictorial matter games are harmless, exclusively once they start interfering with real life and even con precedence over it, then there is a real problem. icon game addiction has not received official recognition as a diagnosis in theDSM IV standard 8, but is put away aconcern for mevery a(prenominal) people.Problems with addictionOne study done on the problems of addiction used a modified version of the formal commentary of playing period addiction. 607 8th and 9th grade students where surveyed, and of these 15% where classified as addicted. Of the addicted students, close to 80% where male. Less than 30% of non-addicted student describe having been in a fight in the past year, while some 50% ofaddicted students reported the same . colony also correlated with reported arguments with friends, and with teachers. Just as many students classified as addicted reported having a B average as those classified as nonaddicted. However, there where 4 times as many F students classified as addictedas there where non-addicted, and far more(prenominal) non-addicted A students than addicted ones. Not surprisingly, students classified as addicted averaged almost 4 times as much playtime as nonaddicted ones 7. These figures are somewhat worrying. macrocosm of Warcraft (WoW)The current king of MMORPGs is populace of Warcraft. According to a press release on Blizzards World of Warcraft webpage, World of Warcrafts subscriber base numbers more than 8.5 million, as of bump into 7, 2007, and it continues to grow every day. The expansion pack that was recently released sold about 2.4 million copies worldwide just on the first 24 hours 3. It is frequently referred to as World of Warcrack. Dr. Maressa Orzak, a Harvard professor and founder of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, MA, estimates that as many as 40% of the people who play WoW are addicted. She believes that games like World of Warcraft are designed to keep people in the game and that they are inherently addictive 4.There are dozens of websites just for the suggest of providing support for WoW addiction. The game has a feature where if you type / vie into the chat interface, it displays how much time you have played out playing that peculiar(prenominal) character. Some people report that theyve spent 200 to 300 days played in the game 5. In 2004, Zhang Xiaoyi, a 13 year old Chinese boy, committed suicide by jumping off a building afterplaying World of Warcraft for 36 hours straight. He left a suicide note saying that he wanted to join the heroes of the game he worshipped 6.Fig. 1 A large battle in the midst of the Alliance and the HordeIs it Addiction?According to Weimer-Hastings and Ng, many people who are excessive M MORPG users are not actually dependent on video games 8. They propose that many of these people use video games not because they are addicted, but because it is the only comfortable social medium for them. This was found by means of a comparison ofMMORPG player and other video game players. The MMORPG players tended to cash in ones chips far more time playing, but much of that time is spent socializing. Some MMORPG players who showed long hours of playtime didnt actually show any of the signs of addiction 8. This study shows that care must be taken with the definition of addiction.Conclusion picture game addiction is something we must come to hurt with as a society. Whether it is decided to be a read full fledged addiction, or just a compulsive behavior, it can liquid cause trouble in peoples lives. The problem will not go away either, it will probably only agitate worse, as designers get a better understanding of what makes consumers want their games. On the other hand, the pr oblem is not as bad as it sounds at first. For many people these games are a social outlet, not an addiction. Video games are an integral part of many peoples lives now, and theyre here to stay. Lets learn to use them responsibly.References1. Center for Addiction and Mental Health What is Addiction? http//www.camh.net/About_Addiction_Mental_Health/Drug_and_Addiction_Information/Addiction_Information_Guide/addiction_what_is.html2. Center for profit Addiction convalescence Are You an Obsessive Online Gamer?http//www.netaddiction.com/resources/online_trading.htm3. Blizzard Entertainment PressRelease.http//www.blizzard.com/press/070307.shtml4. Rob Wright mmORPGs and GameAddiction. August 8, 2006.http//www.twitchguru.com/2006/08/08/world_of_warcraft_players_addicted/5. WoW Detox Ex-playerstestimonials.http//www.wowdetox.com/6. Associated Press ChineseWarcraftGame electrical distributor Sued Over Teens Suicide.May 12, 2006.http//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195236,00.html7. Hauge, Marny R. & Gentile, Douglas A. Video Game Addiction Among Adolescents Associations with Academic Performance and Aggression http//www.psychology.iastate.edu/FACULTY/dgentile/SRCD%20Video%20Game%20Addiction.pdf8. Wiemer-Hastings, Peter & NG, Brian D.Addiction to the Internet and Online Gaming Cyberpsychology & Behavior Vol8, Number 2 http//www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/cpb.2005.8.110