What Makes a Video Game Addictive?
Most adolescents like to spend at least part of their free time playing video games. But for some, what starts out as innocent recreation can become an addiction. Soon, friends, family, school, and even personal hygiene are neglected as nearly every spare moment is spent playing the game.
But what makes a game addictive? Are there certain characteristics that make some games more addictive than others? Why are some teens more susceptible than others to this kind of addiction?
As with any addiction, video game or "gaming" addiction is usually a multi-faceted issue. For starters, video games are designed to be addictive. Not "addictive" in the clinical sense of the word, but game designers are always looking for ways to make their games more interesting and increase the amount of time people will spend playing them. There are Web sites devoted to gaming design where gamers try to answer the question, "What makes a video game addictive?" They want you - once you log in or pick up that controller - to never want to stop playing.
Consequently, games are designed to be just difficult enough to be truly challenging, while allowing players to achieve small accomplishments that compel them to keep playing. In that respect, the design of video games is similar to the design of gambling casinos, which will allow players to have small "wins" that keep them playing. There are several "hooks" that are built into games with the intent of making them "addictive":
• The High Score
Whether you've tried out the latest edition of Grand Theft Auto or haven't played a video game since PacMan, the high score is one of the most easily recognizable hooks. Trying to beat the high score (even if the player is trying to beat his own score) can keep a player playing for hours.
• Beating the Game
This "hook" isn't used in online role-playing games, but is found in nearly every gaming system. The desire to beat the game is fed as a player "levels up," or finds the next hidden clue.
• Role-Playing
Role-playing games allow players to do more than just play - they get to actually create the characters in the game and embark on an adventure that's somewhat unique to that character. Consequently, there's an emotional attachment to the character, and the story makes it much harder to stop playing.
• Discovery
The exploration or discovery tactic is most often used in role-playing games. One of the most popular online games currently is World of Warcraft, and a good portion of the game is spent exploring imaginary worlds. This thrill of discovery (even of places that don't really exist) can be extremely compelling.
• Relationships
Again, this is primarily an online "hook." Online role-playing games allow people to build relationships with other players. For some kids, this online community becomes the place where they're most accepted, which draws them back again and again.
Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) can be especially addictive because there's no ending. Unlike standard games like Super Mario Brothers, where you win when you save the princess, you can't rescue the princess in an MMORPG.
Another consideration is that some people are more prone to addiction of any kind than others, gaming or otherwise. Kids who are easily bored, have poor relationships with family members, feel like outcasts at school, or tend toward sensation-seeking are more easily drawn into video game addiction because it fills a void and satisfies needs that aren't met elsewhere.
In addition to the psychological addiction, it's now believed that there may be a physiological element to addictive game playing. Researchers at Hammersmith Hospital in London conducted a study in 2005 which found that dopamine levels in players' brains doubled while they were playing. Dopamine is a mood-regulating hormone associated with feelings of pleasure. The findings of this study indicate that gaming could actually be chemically addictive.
Though the debate rages on as to whether gaming addiction is a diagnosable disorder, the behavior undeniably exists. The combination of intentional programming by designers and the predisposition some teens have to addictive behavior means this is a real issue that parents, teachers, and friends should be aware of and take action to prevent.
http://www.video-game-addiction.org/wha ... ctive.html
I prefer Games with no friends, no story line. False relationships, no one matters on the internet
As many parents have known since they were first created, video games can be bad for you (they can be good for you too, but that is another article). While many gamers do not fit the usual stereotype of the gamer, the stereotype did come from somewhere. Sadly enough, many people have become the fat slob sitting on his/her parent's couch all day and playing video games. Becoming the fat loser is only the tip of the iceberg of things that can go wrong when people play video games.
Even though a recent study has concluded that gamers can lose up to 600 calories an hour from playing video games, those calories are easily negated by the snacking that many gamers do (not me, I cannot eat while I am playing a video game, Cheetos on my controls, yuk). Also, only the most active gamers lose that much (Wii gamers can lose even more than 600 an hour). Many players cannot sit completely still and just move their thumbs when they play a game. Those people are the ones that burn the 600 calories an hour.
It may sound stupid to you, but many hard-core gamers and game testers can develop problems with their hands. Gamers can develop tendinitis or carpal tunnel syndrome, requiring the gamer to undergo a surgery to correct the problem. Another common ailment is simply sore thumbs. One example of how bad sore thumbs can be is one time, when I was trying to meet a deadline for a game guide, I began to have bad cramps in my hand resembling when I get writer's cramp. It began to hurt to put any pressure on my thumbs. I had to stop playing for a little while and the pain mostly went away. I still couldn't use my thumbs for a few days. It was a good thing that i do not use my thumbs when I am typing, or else I would not have been able to meet my deadline. I couldn't write out anything, play games (after that marathon, I was gamed out anyway), or do anything else that required the use of my thumbs without pain.
Many video games have bright-usually flashing screens. Certain patterns and colors can give someone playing the game a seizure. Some people would be very prone to the seizure, others would not be affected at all by the same pattern of colors and flashes. There is even a warning in the manual for the Playstation 2 (and probably in the manuals of all other gaming consoles) about the possibility of seizures. It has been known for a long time that certain images on a TV can cause seizures. One famous example of a mass seizure caused by television happened several years ago when a large percentage of the kids watching an episode of Pokemon had seizures all at once.
A gamer can quickly develop bloodshot eyes from playing a video game. I get them almost everytime is play a game for more than one hour, but I have been prone to bloodshot eyes since I was nine and was shot. That eye is the only one that gets bloodshot. Playing the games for any length of time can also affect you vision, a most games are best played in the dark and the changing intensity of the light from the TV screen will make your eyes work too hard.
Playing a game for a long time can also give a person headaches. This is caused by the same things that cause seizures and bloodshot eyes.
Video games can be costly. New video games can easily be $50 or more. Even older games can be costly. I pay at least $10 for each game I receive, but I refuse to pay more than $20 for a game (the cost of a greatest hits game at Walmart). The only way that I am able to afford to buy games is because I buy one, then play it, then write one review and one guide on that game, then I re-sell the game to get another one. I always come out ahead on each game, making up to $5 on each one. Also, the consoles can cost as much as a computer.
One of the worst possible consequences of playing video game is that fact that gaming can be addictive. A few of the symptoms of video game addiction include not wanting to be around real people, thinking about gaming all of the time, and spending large sums of money for games all of the time.
Video games are a good form of entertainment, but only in moderation. Too much gaming will make you the gamer's stereotype for sure.
This is another article games are where people can escape their real life instead of those two or eight hours you could be playing you could be doing something real beneficial. That's why you will barely see me on but rarely only my sister. It does ruin your mind and your life. Loosers
I am only on forums most of the time because I make another tab and take breaks from my research.
