• 16Jun 07

  Does videogame addiction exist? And should we care?

  A metric buttload of comments followed the GameSpot NewsBlog article about the American Medical Association's deliberations on whether or not videogame addiction should be recognized as an illness and added to standard diagnosis handbooks. Most of the comments have been along the lines of, "oh, so now gamers are mentally ill?" or "that's the stooopidest thing I ever heard" or "they should stop wasting time on this and cure cancer or something".

  I would like to propose a different point of view on this topic.

  I think a lot of people are jumping to the wrong conclusions. They're talking about excessive gameplaying, like you got fired from three jobs because you blew off work because you *had* to play WoW, or you flunked out of school and don't care, and have no friends whatsoever, have no contact with family, or don't even take care of yourself physically because you can't tear yourself away from playing. The comparison to Compulsive Gambling is a very apt one.

  I don't think the AMA is out to attack video gaming. There are all sorts of mental illnesses out there, some very common like clinical depression, others astoundingly rare like the stereotypical strain of Tourette's Syndrome (the uncontrollable cursing is the least common variation -- most commonly it involves involuntary tics and twitches of the face and body). Addictions are always a controversial area because those of us who can control ourselves view those who cannot with contempt, as if it's just a character flaw.
  
  What they're trying to decide is if videogame or Internet addiction exists, and if so, what it's symptoms are. They are NOT saying all gamers are mentally ill as a pretense for taking your XBox 360 away. Nobody is going to come after you and say, "give up your Wii because we think you're addicted". Any real mental health practitioner will tell you that a certain type of behavior is generally not considered a mental illness unless it constitutes a severe impairment of one's abilities to manage one's self in the real world.
  
  It is very likely that many people who are, or look like they are, addicted to the Internet or videogames may in fact have a condition that predisposes them to that trap, such as Asperger's Syndrome or ADHD.
  
  One commenter thought the AMA should spend its time on things that will "lead to better health care and medical services for disadvantaged people", as if the AMA was wasting its resources on mental masturbation The realit ys that this actually probably will lead to better heath care and medical services, because if a person really has a mental condition related to excessive videogame or Internet usage, most insurance companies won't pay a dime without a formal diagnosis. The typical, fanboy-on-line may have the attitude of, "who cares, they don't deserve treatment. They should just get off their asses and straighten up." People have, for decades, had that attitude about alcoholism, and look how effective that attitude was in addressing the problem.

  So I would caution all of you to put your paranoia on simmer. This article doesn't describe anything new. It has been debated for years. If there wasn't something real and measurable to this, the AMA and APA would never have bothered. Really. I know you find that hard to believe, that the only purpose the AMA serves is to ban what you like and dream up new reasons to bill you, but most doctors in fact do not want to take away your toys and make you live like a monk. They just want to help their patients.
  
  David V

  • Posted Jun 16, 2007 10:45 am PT
  • Category: Relationships
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• 8Jun 07

  Review: Super Mario 64 (Virtual Console)

  One of the all-time best platformers is a no-brainer buy on the Wii VC. But expect to relearn the controller a bit.

  The Nintendo 64 launch title is still one of the most played video games, even 11 years after release....it is the game to which all other platformers were compared for the next decade. $10 scores you a downloadable clone of the original game. And clone is the right word visually. The small number of variations come in when using the required Wii Cllassic Controller.

  7.9

  Read the entire review.

  • Posted Jun 8, 2007 8:35 am PT
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• 8Jun 07

  I finished Elebits

  Last night, I finally finished Elebits.  The last couple of levels were particularly challenging, wlith Level 27 full of guns and Level 28 full of black Elebits.  I had been watching Ann and Eric trying to complete the last boss battle, so I picked up a lot and thought about it a lot, but last night was the first time I was able to apply my strategy.  It worked like a charm!  Watching Eric in stage 1 helped me knock the Zero Elebit around and avoid his attacks, and both Ann and Eric's brief but unsuccessful attempts at the final stage told me what I needed to get it done.  It was tough and I ended up with 1/2 of a life left, but I pulled it off.  The ending movie was quite satisfying, and kinda sweet.

  I'd be totally shocked if Konami didn't make a sequel to this game.

  David V

   

  • Posted Jun 8, 2007 7:16 am PT
  • Category: Games
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