BBC Documentary to Investigate Videogame Addiction

EeveeElectro

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Aug 3, 2008
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I saw the advert for this and sighed >.>
Panorama is a bit like Daily Mail, trying to scare old ladies and mums.
I want to watch it to laugh at its fail, but I'll probably get angry too.
 

Dexiro

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Dec 23, 2009
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Mechanics are in place to make games more addictive but it's not entirely an issue with those mechanics, some people are more susceptible to addiction then others. Severe cases of addiction probably tie in with mental issues.
 

KiKiweaky

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Aug 29, 2008
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Ohh thats on in 2 and a half hours.

Hearing the stories about people forgetting to feed themselves or sleep do make me go and then collapsing dead generally surprise me I must say. It will be interesting to see what they find out, I hope they conduct it fairly though. Im sure they will though BBC programs are generally very well done.
 

BreakfastMan

Scandinavian Jawbreaker
Jul 22, 2010
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Sounds good. Compared to all the crap that games often get in the media, this seems like it could be a breath of fresh air in the subject.
 

megs1120

Wing Commander
Jul 27, 2009
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Wait, what's wrong with spending all day in bed, playing video games? There's no better way to make a sick day into something tolerable.
 

Shivarage

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Apr 9, 2010
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Jandau said:
So, we're going to let the whole "games make kids violent" thing lie still for a while and get back to beating dead horse called "addiction"? Alright, if it makes them happy...
"makes them happy" the whole reason this issue will not go away...
 

lee1287

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Apr 7, 2009
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Tis on now..

"this game is a disese"

No it's not, you're just a weak person!
 

scw55

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Nov 18, 2009
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I'm currently watching it whilst I wait for Cataclysm to go live, here's my thoughts and observations.

They seem to try and make it balanced.
Any positive comments is over-shadowed by gross-negative observations.
They had a section about what looks like an 18 year old who 'claims he doesn't want to go to school' because he plays wow for 20 hrs a day.

The kid seems an iscolated case. I don't know anyone who can play WoW for 20hrs. I can barely play for 6hr at the moment. It was probably when an expansion launched.
Firstly, why is his parents letting him play for that long?
Secondly, maybe school isn't for him. I remember in my last year of school, I started being wary of the schooling system. I developed a sense of free-thinking.

Also when the kid's internet was cut off he got the shakes and IRL nerd raged.


A story about a Korean couple letting thier kid die of starvation when they play an online game. But it's stated that they were mentally unstable to begin with.

They state gaming addiction is to do with emotional insecuriies. A mother says she used to hit her kid.

They use the phrase "So called addicts".
Surprisingly open minded.

An over opinnionated Korean medical expert saying addiction will raise when Britain gets high speed internet.

They interview a guy when he's trying to play a game. Good Game. It's like trying to interview someone who's reading a book or watching a film. The guy's giving a negative image by qqing that he dies alot in a Battleground.

The nerd raging kid has tattoos. If he plays 20hrs a day, how does he get time to get tattoos done? Also, parental control ftw :)

The final point is that only a minority have a problem.
 

D Moness

Left the building
Sep 16, 2010
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Could have been much much worse in my eyes.
Ok the few brits they did interview were gone far (specially the wow player).
 

lee1287

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Apr 7, 2009
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I'd rather my son sit at a computer and be "addicted" then do what the rest of kids do around here, which is walk the streets with a bottle of alcohol in there hands. Waiting to get beaten / raped.

Seriously? Go sort out the worst addictions before tackling "gaming addiction" whihc in my mind, people only spend that much time on games because there is nothing else too do.
 

JasonBurnout16

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Oct 12, 2009
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Yer well that was a pretty biased program.

Everything they said was positive about games they overshadowed by showing something horribly negative.

It also seems they only studied extreme cases. Two mentally unstable Koreans and a boy who plays 20 hours a day is evidence now? I don't see them interviewing someone who gets home from school and plays 1/2 hours a day?

Or when the kid got sent to that camp, and it's revealed the mother hit him. Well of course he's going to play games! It's a form of escape from her bloody hitting him!

People need to remember it's only isolated cases people get addicted. Not everyone will get addicted to a game.
 

Svenparty

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Jan 13, 2009
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This was suprisingly informative and balanced. It gave advice for parents of addicted gamers and ultimately it came to the fair conclusion that ultimately you can be addicted to anything and gaming is a problem for some.


Mind you sone of the people on that documentary were awful...your going to have a captive audience and all you want to do is stare blankly into Call Of Warcraft.
 

Cpt Corallis

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Apr 14, 2009
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In all I thought that this wasn't too bad, only a few things that rankled with me, such as trying to apply South Korean Culture to the UK. There are clear differences in emphasis between the two countries and i feel this could have been made more clear. Also I had hoped more would be made of the lengths family members should be going to help deal with the problems.
In addition, the online resources that were mentioned at the end were fairly useful, if sparse.

On a lighter note , I was sitting laughing at the warhammer posters on one of the british gamers walls as i kept looking to the left and seeing the same posters.
 

skullbone

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Sep 29, 2008
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i was balanced so i found it very good to watch. the mechanics are a small problem its the users too since if you have an addictive personality then its easier to become addicted to games and other things. i thought the BBC might go to the extreme on the bad side but at least they pointed out some key good points that show how useful it can be for people. :)
 

KiKiweaky

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Aug 29, 2008
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Was rather negative I thought, they talked to people who were well and truly addicted. Fair enough viewing the bad side to what can happen is important.

They merely mentioned 'now we know many people play and enjoy these games and live a normal life' but they just sort of brushed past it. Then again how would you define that in a few minutes :s

I wonder are they going have to pack computer games the same way they do cigarettes, 'Computer gaming is highly addictive, dont start!'.
 

wolf thing

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Nov 18, 2009
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i posted this yesterday

but i was supriesd that wasnt as biased as it could of been, but still alittle one sided
 

Musiclly enhanced

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Sep 8, 2010
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JasonBurnout16 said:
Yer well that was a pretty biased program.

Everything they said was positive about games they overshadowed by showing something horribly negative.

It also seems they only studied extreme cases. Two mentally unstable Koreans and a boy who plays 20 hours a day is evidence now? I don't see them interviewing someone who gets home from school and plays 1/2 hours a day?
People need to remember it's only isolated cases people get addicted. Not everyone will get addicted to a game.
i really agree with you its far too biased and so i have to do a gsce presentation tomorrw and im doing on violence in video games and how its not that effective its just afew people that the media pick out in their increddibly biased studies to scare parents into thinking that their children will turn into these 150 hour a week playing WoW nerds just because there child wanted to complete their game of CoD