Gaming addiction

Gaming Addiction is an increasing problem in the 21st century, where technology has since evolved to the point where gaming devices are so readily available and easily accessible.

Technological devices, once solely owned by the government and corporate businesses, are now falling into the hands of the average person on the block, also known as the consumer. Many of these technological devices are capable of being used for entertainment, such as listening to music, playing videos or browsing the Internet.

With the many capabilities of our modern technological devices, addictive games can be manifested in many ways. Such examples include, but are not limited to, PC Games, Online Gaming Websites and Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, or MMORPGs. These games usually have objectives, and while some may be easy to achieve, others may take months or years to even come close to. Hence, people are devoting more of their time, consciously or subconsciously, to playing these games in hopes of achieving those objectives, laying the basis for gaming addiction.

With the continuous evolution of gaming hardware, technological devices, such as computers, are being used more extensively for gaming. As time went by, they have also changed tremendously from the big and heavy box that can only play 2D games such as Pac-Man, to the light and mobile computer less than 2 inches thick and weighing in as light as 2 pounds, capable of playing highly complex 3D games with unbelievable realism. This continuous evolution has also resulted in the creation of separate video console games, from handhelds to plug-and-play devices, which enables video games to be played from virtually anywhere.

With readily accessible technological devices getting more powerful and cheaper by the day, a greater number of people are starting to own those devices, and as a result, are getting exposed to the world of video gaming. This has led to a distressing issue, for schools; companies; and basically society collectively, as gaming addiction become more widespread.

This site was created with the hope of educating the public about the dangers of gaming addiction and how to prevent it.

Interview

Interview

An interview was also conducted with a previous gaming addict to find out how gaming addiction has affected his life. The interviewee, who only wishes to be addressed as Tom, is fifteen years of age this year. He is of Caucasian descent and currently resides in Singapore. He started playing video games three years ago at the young age of twelve, mainly because of the influence that he was being subjected to by his peers. We chose him as our interviewee as we wanted to illustrate the impacts of gaming addiction to its very extreme and instill a sense of awareness in the public’s mind about the topic in question. Although he has cut down on his gaming time as of today, he is still being haunted by his addiction.

Q: How long have you been gaming now?
A: I started about 3 years ago when I was about 12.

Q: What was the main reason(s) that you decided to game?
A: Well, everyone my age then were just crazy about video games, so I figured I should try it out, and who knew? I ended up gaming for 3 whole years. It began initially because of the hype and to kill whatever free time I have, but yeah, it pretty much escalated to an addiction pretty quickly.

Q: When do you normally game?
A: Right away when I get back from school till as late as three in the morning the next day. Sometimes, I even forgo my meals to continue gaming. The only time I leave my console is when I have to go to the washroom.

Q: How has gaming affected your life?
A: Well, to fund my gaming habit, I ended up spending over $200 a month on the newest gaming titles and upgrading my hardware components. I do not come from a family that was well off, so it was really a strain for my folks to manage. As a result, this caused distress within my family. Also, my grades hit rock bottom almost immediately after I got “into the game” and started to stay up till as late as 3 in the morning to finish up a mission. I used to be scoring in the top half of my class at the least, but not anymore. Because of gaming, I also neglected other important things in life like socializing and such.

Q: Why would you say that you’re addicted to games for such a long period of time?
A: Basically, what had me hooked on for so long was the continuous expansion packs and such for the franchise. The objectives also get increasingly harder with each expansion pack and there was no such thing as shortcuts or cheats for this game. I guess that’s what got me hooked for so long. Also, I had this desire to strive for better achievements so that I could be respected by the people in this game, and I guess that was a contributing factor as well.

Q: Given your experience, what would you say to other kids or even adults out there who may be in the same situation as you were?
A: I would say that they still have a choice. Are they going to continue to let gaming addiction take control of their lives? Or are they going to do something about it? I guess I can say that I'm a living example here of what might happen should we have the addiction overcome us. I had a chance all these 3 years to make that choice. I could have quit, but I didn't. Now I'm just wasted. I hope folks out there would not turn out to be like me, as even I look down on myself for what I did, or rather did not do. No doubt, gaming is fun, but it's pretty much like drugs. It could help you overcome stress and such if used adequately, but could also harm you if used excessively.

Dampak Negatif Kecanduan Game

Panas terik tidak dirasakan oleh Wahid dan Budi. Tanpa pulang terlebih dulu, langkah mereka segera bergegas menuju tempat penyewaan play station 2 (PS 2) dan video game. Lapar sepertinya tidak menjadi alasan mereka untuk menyelesaikan game konsol (video game console) terbaru, yang keluaran terbarunya selalu diburu oleh para pencandu video game. Jari mereka memencet-mencet tombol konsol yang ada di tangannya. Sementara matanya tak lepas dari layar monitor yang tengah menayangkan gerak akrobatis tokoh yang dikendalikannya. Mengatasi rintangan sambil menghadapi musuh-musuhnya. Begitu tokohnya mati dan permainan berakhir, dia segera mengulang dari awal dengan rasa penasaran. Tidak cukup satu atau dua jam, Wahid dan Budi bisa sampai berjam-jam sebelum dia benar-benar bisa memecahkan rasa penasaran akan permainan itu.

Ilustrasi di atas adalah kejadian nyata yang mungkin juga pernah Anda temui pada saudara, teman, atau bahkan anak didik Anda di sekolah minggu. Disadari atau tidak, dewasa ini video game bak candu bagi anak-anak kita. Masalah ini bisa menjadi sesuatu yang mengkhawatirkan jika tidak ada kontrol atau perhatian yang serius dari orang tua, sekolah, atau pihak lain seperti sekolah minggu.

Kata candu diasumsikan sebagai sesuatu yang menjadi kegemaran (KBBI 2001: 191). Candu video game ibarat sesuatu kegiatan yang amat disukai oleh seseorang dan menyebabkan seseorang menjadi ketagihan sehingga melakukannya secara terus-menerus. Kecanggihan game di abad 21 ini dirasa berkembang pesat dan semakin banyak dibuat. Anda bisa membuktikannya manakala Anda sedang berkunjung di sebuah pusat perbelanjaan dan melewati sebuah toko yang menyediakan peranti-piranti video game dan play station. Para konsumen berjubel mulai dari orang dewasa sampai anak-anak mengantri hanya untuk membeli game-game terbaru.

Mark Griffiths, seorang pakar video game, mengungkapkan bahwa game bisa membuat orang lebih bermotivasi. "Video game abad ke-21 dalam beberapa segi lebih memberi kepuasan psikologis daripada game tahun 1980-an." Untuk memainkannya perlu ketrampilan lebih kompleks, kecekatan lebih tinggi, serta menampilkan masalah yang lebih relevan secara sosial dan gambar yang lebih realistis. Kata kunci dari pernyataan tersebut adalah "kepuasan psikologis", di mana anak terdorong untuk menuntaskan dan memenangkan permainan yang berada di video game tersebut.

Mari bersama-sama melihat sejauh mana dampak negatif video game yang bisa sampai menjadi candu bagi anak-anak kita. Dampak di sini tidak bersifat sementara, namun dapat bersifat jangka panjang. Dalam jangka panjang, salah satu dampaknya adalah banyaknya waktu yang sedikit banyak berpengaruh pada perkembangan aspek pendidikan, kesehatan, keadaan psikis anak, dan kehidupan sosial anak.