There’s a reason that gaming rehabilitation centers are moving from Korea to the United States – we are painfully addicted to video games. And by we, I mostly mean males.
It’s kind of old news; in movies, you see the 40-year-old in his mom’s basement playing League of Legends, screaming “I’m coming in a sec, Ma. I just need to NEED TO LEVEL UP!” You never see a video game-afflicted female, nor would game manufacturers ever think they need to really pinpoint the female gender except of course when it comes to their characterization in games.
However, they do have good reason for this. Researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine actually found that men get more out of video games than women. So much more that it’s comparable to real life. I kid you not, that fake sword he won after he spent hours of doing “chores” actually counts as a real object; hence why games with swords have a $5 billion worldwide market. What is the proof, you ask?
In the study, researchers hooked 11 men and women to a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine (fMRI), which illuminates the regions of the brain that are functioning during a given activity. And while they found results were completely even when it came to understanding the game, men proved to be progressing significantly farther in the game than the women did. This was because they were much more motivated to succeed once they realized their efforts would be rewarded; in fact, their brains’ reward centers – the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex – lit up when they identified methods to quickly progress in the video game. The females, comparatively, couldn’t care less, according to the story.
With this data in mind, game manufacturers should stop making their products so habit-forming. While some of the blame can be pinned on those who are addicted, the style is tailored to prey on their audience. John Hopson, a game researcher at Microsoft, literally has the job to make sure games are played again and again by using information about patterns in behavior.
“Each contingency is an arrangement of time, activity and reward, and there are an infinite number of ways these elements can be combined to produce the pattern of activity you want from your players,” wrote Hopson on Gamasutra.com.
B.F. Skinner used the same method when he randomized the amount of time rats that were given pellets. This is why enemies “drop” so many valuable items randomly in World of Warcraft. It gives you the false sense that since you worked so hard, you “earned” that random prize. These games are not made to be fun. They are made to make sure that companies can profit from children playing for the insane amount of hours that they do. How else would the Chinese MMO ZT Online attract so many people to click on treasure chests all day, without the hope that they are given the jackpot?
In order to lower video game addiction numbers within our generation, and therefore increase our productivity, graduation rates and connections with real people, we need to begin with stopping games that exploit our nature as humans. The key is moderation. More games should be built like Pac Man, or others from the past, where the amount of time spent playing didn’t matter and was not as important.
Our culture also has to change its perception of what “fun” is and how that can apply to other activities. If you were just as good at playing a guitar or soccer as you are at Rock Band or at FIFA, then you wouldn’t need the game in the first place. So if you see someone you know who plays video games an average of 3-4 times a day – the estimated average for an addictive player – try to introduce him or her to other activities. An average of 31 percent of males are addicted, as well as roughly 13 percent of females so you are bound to know someone who is affected. No one, whether male or female, should have to miss out on the real world because they were too busy in their own virtual one.
Alexa Jones is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].
futureatavist • May 23, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Just as there are people who drink regularly who are not alcoholics, there are gamers whose lives are essentially unaffected by their game playing. Conversely, and similar to alcoholism, some computer gamers exhibit classicly addictive behaviours: responsibilities are ignored, bizarre schedules maintained, skipped meals/unhealthy eating habits, choices made to play rather than complete assignments, missed classes, and often “real” interpersonal relationships fail simply because they don’t get the attention needed to thrive as the choice is to play rather than engage in interpersonal activity. These are just some of the casualties evidenced by any addiction. What is reprehensible is the idea that videogame authors deliberately use behavioural science to introduce addictive qualities into the games in order to increase dependency=pleasure/satisfaction which in the end translates to mega sales. Because mental addiction is harder to quantify than physical addiction (tobacco, alcohol, narcotics) the addictiveness of a game is hard to quantify let alone regulate – not to mention the relative newness of this phenomenon makes it an area where study is needed and is considered controversial. But if you are someone who has observed these behaviours first hand it does not seem controversial at all. Computer gaming is indeed addictive and some people’s lives are profoundly and negatively affected by this affliction.
mason • May 1, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Maybe the type of person Tiphanie was describing is someone who is innately flawed and the main way that flaw manifests itself is obsessively playing video-games and therefore these people like just represent a small portion of video game geeks.
Is it not unfair to judge all video game geeks based on these few bad apples????
Jessica • May 1, 2012 at 3:47 pm
So tell me, what’s the difference between a “video game addict” and a person who likes to play football all day, or who collects enormous numbers of stamps, or any person who has some activity that they really enjoy doing and that they would like to do all day long?
Kat • Apr 21, 2012 at 7:37 pm
I am a veteran girl gamer, geek mom, Tech and Video Game Industry Radio Talk Show Host, and Author of “Why We’re Failing As Parents In A Tech-Driven Society”. This article needs a refresher course and more information other than from the scientific study side that pinpoints human brain patterns, as those patterns are also hyped up while doing studies in Sports addicts, gambling addicts, and even drug addicts … AS WELL AS Entreprenuers, Small Business Owners, and Successful Women Business Leaders. Why? because as you stated … “because they were much more motivated to succeed once they realized their efforts would be rewarded”. This proves nothing to the addiction of video games. This simply shows “addiction” is part of human nature and it is the responsibility of the human being (him/her self) and NOT the game developers. Please read my book for more information on game addiction in the society and how it can co-exist positively.
Brandon • Apr 20, 2012 at 9:37 am
@Tiphanie
The author does make confusing claims as to which audience she is addressing. First, it’s the MMO crowd. Then by the end of the article, it’s anyone that has put in enough time to be good at a game like Rock Band or FIFA. Even so, being a “gamer” is what society, by most standards, would consider being “addicted.” For example, I play, read, and discuss videos in my free time. I do it quite a bit, in fact. But I do these three things in cycles and balance them with other priorities. When I don’t have that many priorities, I play video games for hours a day. Sometimes if a new game that interests me is released, I will spend a weekend playing it (if I do not have other important priorities). If you do not consider that an addiction, that’s great. But the author loosely defines what moderation or addiction is and does not address the gaming community as a functional social tool. Save your bleeding hearts for more important causes. The author’s philanthropic efforts to rescue gamers from themselves really ranks high in comparison to other problems in the world, especially since most studies suggest 10-15 percent of those who game are considered addicted. Source: http://www.video-game-addiction.org/
Tiphanie Hargis • Apr 19, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Who I think this article was mainly adressed to is,The gamers who play all day every day; who don’t want to shower,don’t have jobs,who order take out so that they can still play the game and not miss out on too much. I know people who work and play video games. I know for a fact when Halo and Call of Duty came out(the first ones)there were guys on my job who played as soon as they got off of work until the following night without sleep,showering or even eating because they were so into the game they didn’t want to stop playing. The fact that they were off for two days gave them all the reason to play. They said they would sleep for two hours then get up and play some more. But that isn’t to say that only happened that one time, no, that still goes on till this very day. I think those are the people that Alexa is refering to. They are truely addicted to playing these games and others. They always get into arguments with their girlfriends about not helping them keep the house clean or with the children because they are to busy playing the game. I don’t think this article was intended to make anyone feel like she was just targeting all people just the ones who are really concidered “ADDICTED”.
Brandon • Apr 18, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Ultimately what I think the author is ignorant of is the sense of community and culture that is built around video games. There are websites, conventions, tournaments, and forums that are designed to bring individuals with the common interest of gaming together. Moreover, the article tries to pass off gamers collectively as being cut off from the world and from one another, but that interpretation couldn’t be further from the truth. As a gamer that is “addicted” to video games, I have a girlfriend that doesn’t share the same interest in my hobby, study in my free time, and I’m even learning a musical instrument. Honestly, someone should try to introduce Alexa to gaming culture; she might actually learn something about us for her next article before branding us all as the same.
Ben • Apr 18, 2012 at 4:59 pm
The comments have already made a lot of good points about what’s wrong with this article, but I’d like to add that it makes specious claims about sex differences (and evidently forgets them halfway through). What are the actual demographics of WoW? What about other MMOs? (Different games are in fact geared toward different audiences, as it turns out.) What are the demographics of FarmVille (which is the essence of the pellet-dispenser model), and if they are not in fact 90% male, what does that say about your thesis? Why are the most stereotypically masculine games not WoW or other RPGs (or pseudo-RPGs), but games with relatively little advancement or character development (Halo, StarCraft, CoD)? League of Legends (a game that actually seems to have decent appeal with the ladies, thank you very much) isn’t an MMO in any real sense: you start a new game every 30 or 40 minutes, and there’s only a thin wrapper of “get XP and unlock cool skins for your characters” laid over that. So do people play LoL for the action, for the sense of achievement, as a social activity, or for some other reason or combination of reasons?
Those are some interesting questions, I think, but they’re the kind of question that simplistic analyses (with this article being a case in point) never even consider.
Axe • Apr 18, 2012 at 3:15 pm
T-T-T-TTRRROOOLLLLLL!!! …in the dungeon… Thought you ought to know…
Alexa. You should play more video games. They really help you unwind when your stressed out about some stupid nonsense like “video game addiction.”
distraught • Apr 18, 2012 at 12:26 pm
“If you were just as good at playing a guitar or soccer as you are at Rock Band or at FIFA, then you wouldn’t need the game in the first place.”
Thanks, another reminder that because I have to walk using a cane, and cannot play sports, I should be able to do it in an format whatsoever. I think you miss the point of video games being simulated EXPERIENCES. Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe people play video games for fun, AND do other things in their life.
Also, as someone who works as a research assistant here on campus, that study is complete bullshit. Its not statistically significant. There are about as many types of games as there are gamers. People who play Angry Birds, Farmville, COD, Finanl Fantasy…… they all game in different ways.
Tim Jones • Apr 18, 2012 at 11:56 am
Wow, where to begin on this.
First, that “study” was ridiculous. It just said 11 men and women. If these were 11 men and women who were passionate about gaming, then it wouldn’t have mattered what gender they were. Women are just as capable as men about being involved in a game as men. That “study” was poorly executed.
“..game manufacturers should stop making their products so habit-forming”
The point of a video game, more or less, is to provide entertainment. Certain variables are made in order to ensure that a person remains entertained, but that doesn’t mean that habits are formed just because of this. It’s all about moderation. Certain people get hooked to an obsessive state because they lack the will power to stop. Blaming developers doesn’t quite work here. Most developers try to make a fun experience, and also try to make sure that experience earns them a profit, and there not forcing that on anyone.
“These games are not made to be fun. They are made to make sure that companies can profit from children playing for the insane amount of hours that they do.”
This is the worst claim in the whole article. Seriously. One, you’re not even looking at the entire picture, just Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO)games. There are games, that, yes, aim just to make a profit, and you can see gaming culture calling them out for their practices. Two, fun is subjective. If someone gets a rush picking up their loot, that’s fun to them.
“More games should be built like Pac Man, or others from the past, where the amount of time spent playing didn’t matter and was not as important.”
All games are from the “past”. Be more specific if you’re going to bash. If if Pac-man is the best example of a good game you can think of, you shouldn’t be commenting on this subject.
And that last paragraph is a horrible generalization.
“If you were just as good at playing a guitar or soccer as you are at Rock Band or at FIFA, then you wouldn’t need the game in the first place.”
Thanks for having an open mind. Yep, all gamers are anti-social nerds who are incapable of doing physical activity.
You missed the point entirely in this article.
Alex • Apr 18, 2012 at 5:28 am
Where is your source from the addiction statistic? I’d like to disagree with what you’ve said here, as I have some sources which tell me that the average male games for 34.6 hours a month, which is (lets just say) an hour a day, this kind of exposure to gaming single handedly helps give a continuous release of dopamine into the brain which greatly helps just about everywhere, if you were to tell me 31% of males contribute to this 34.6 hour statistic as addiction persons, then that would make this figure much much higher, as the average addicted person actually games literally 10 times more than that, so I can’t but see some fallacy in this article.
Also FYI, I’ve played WoW for 5 years and I’ve never had a problem with not enjoying the game, you only don’t enjoy the game if you physically go and do something which is uninteresting, as there is always something enjoyable to do on the game.
Oh and a second FYI, I’ve played drums and the bass guitar for many years of my life, yet still adore playing rock band, so you may not need the game, but you’re completely missing the concept of actually enjoying a game.
Mist • Apr 18, 2012 at 1:00 am
I’m sorry to say that’s what happen when u want to conduct tests in a box try a real life studdy/survey plz
Andrew April • Apr 18, 2012 at 12:15 am
I do agree that addiction is a severe problem to have, however that stands for anything, not just video games. If you are addicted to a job, drinking or tobacco those are extremely unhealthy as well. Have you ever thought that maybe video games with positive motivators to reach a goal can be influential in anything you may do outside of the video game world? You stated in this article that moderation is the key, that same mindset must be used for everything. This article shouldn’t have been strictly about gaming seeing as these same unhealthy tendencies can be brought on by a number of daily habits people have. If you are against video games than so be it, that is your right as a person but you should also realize that you can make this same argument for just about anything anyone has ever been addicted to.
Adam • Apr 17, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Just because someone plays a video game a lot doesn’t mean they are addicted and with that does not also mean they don’t do other things. Plenty of us have school, jobs, sports, and plenty of other social activities we participate in. Most of us use video games as a way to broaden our activity spectrum, hang with friends from our homes, beat up on some dragons or whatever, and just relax. Just my opinion but I’m sure many others agree.