Are you Addicted to Video Games?

[Dave C]

I watched CNN's latest news clip and can honestly say I'm not even close to as being addicted as some of these people. Edit to add: Although waiting 20+ hours in the rain for the 360 launch, I can understand if someone would think otherwise.

 

Are you? Do you or your family/friends feel your addicted?

 

http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=196502256

 

Those with Gamerscores > 20,000 need not respond. :lol

[The Daisy]

I have just over half of the gamerscore that you speak of. I can't be a real addict... only a short term one.

 

Glen

[PoisonJam]

Is there a "I used to be" category?

 

Ever since Thrall granted me the strength to quit World of Warcraft, I have been anywhere from mildly entertained to moderately engaged by certain videogames, but nothing like those days I spent in Kalimdor.

[JTello]

I could answer with, "Maybe, short term - it depends on the game," but given the perception of my non-gaming family I had to answer with "No, but my family and/or friends think I am."

 

Currently I'm stuggling to find a title that draws me in at this point. I have some games I enjoy playing, but when I'm sitting there with my awesome next gen 360 controller in my hand most of the time lately I'm feeling kind of 'eh' about playing. I have been addicted to a few selective titles in the past, but it's been a while since I couldn't wait to get home to play any particular game. Of course if you ask my family they'll picture me playing Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the N64 seven years ago and reply "Yep, he's addicted, he can't put them down."

 

Edit; Like Dave, my last addiction was World of Warcraft. BTW, If anyone's interested, Keith and I may be hosting an WOW intervention for Jason ( three eyed crow).

[Calvin]

Well,I feel better now after watching that segment,because I know I'm not that bad.

[foogledricks]

My addiction, if you could call it than, is grander in scope than a particluar game. I spend a lot of time talking and reading about games, more so than playing. So taken all as a package, I am much closer to addiction than when applied to a particular game. Even still, I am simply not addicted.

[Rainmaykr]

"No, but my family/friends think I am."

 

They probably get that from the 2 years of my life I was glued to the computer playing Star Wars Galaxies. Playing from server reset to server shutdown (23 hours) was NOT an uncommon occurance. I would go through periods that would make a Korean cry for mommy. Then, the NGE hit and it worked better than the Betty Ford Clinic could have. I've been sober for almost a year now.

[HoolieMan]

I am definitely not addicted but I have to echo Keith's sentiments of spending lots of time just reading about games in general.

[PHiL]

If i start a game i play it until I beat it.. I play video games for months at a time, but then stop for 3 or 4 weeks. So not addiction here.

[Buck]

but nothing like those days I spent in Kalimdor.

 

So, all the good times Paragon City gave you and you don't mention her :furious Some hero you turned out to be

 

As for me, many probably think I'm addicted, heck I've had people come to my house for the first time and automatically think I was. Granted, I can't blame them as there are over 500 games in my living room alone

 

I won't lie, City of Heroes/Villians is by far the most addictive game I've ever played and it shows as I'm still playing it to this day and have 3 accounts. But, if I don't play it for a few days/weeks I don't breakout into sweats and cold chills

 

For me, family and friends will always come first.

[Bassmasa]

Short term here, too. If it wasn't for family, I'd probably play 4-6 hours a day no problem, but I'm lucky to get one a day as it is now. Oblivion has really sucked me in like no other game in years, but the 140 hours have been stretched since it came out in March. Still, that's almost one full week or 3 and a half weeks of working hours....

[PoisonJam]

So, all the good times Paragon City gave you and you don't mention her Some hero you turned out to be

 

COH was my first MMO love, that is true. And many hours of my waking life was spent with the character creator, or reading forum posts on builds/powers/strategies, etc. But WOW haunted my dreams, man. If COH was my high school sweetheart, WOW was the smokin' hot chick with the drug problem that you meet in college who gets you addicted to coke, forces you to drop out of school, and eventually your parents have to hire a private detective to locate your sorry ass living in a ramshackle old house in Bridgeport and then force you into rehab to kick your habit and clean up your pathetic life. And years later you look back and you are so grateful to them because you realize they saved your life, but sometimes you hate them a little because goddamn but that deady cocktail of sex and blow was sooooo goooood...

[JoeyN]

Except for the 6 months that I played COH. Not even close. Now dvd's thats another story

[JTello]

O Boy! Still no 'yes-addicted to video games' responses yet. This IS a dedicated video game forum with quite a number of very regular residents. There's got to be someone that's addicted to video games. If not, it just might indicate there may be some of us in denial. Mmmm!

[Anthony G]

I voted maybe. Someone once gave me a free trial to COH, the only time I played a MMORPG. I have to say I played that free month trial every chance I had. I think had I renewed I might be voting yes now.

[Cyberwoo]

Ugh Nate and his family just anoyed the hell out of me. Typical upper class family who probably spoiled their kids all their lives giving them anything they wanted because it is easier than saying the word "no". Did you see his room? Some pretty nice stuff for a 16yr old. His parents are feeding this problem and he is just a prick who doesn't see how much of a loser he has become. No child of mine would ever stand a chance at becoming like that. Where the hell was the Dad in that interview? Whats his deal? Why didn't he rip his son a new asshole when he went on a "waaa I'm a spoiled baby who gets what I want...you can tell me no!" tirade? This kind of parenting just really bothers me. They need to send that idiot to boot camp. Addiction to video games is NOT the issue here.

 

I voted no. I used to be able to sit down and play games for hours on end when I was younger but its pretty rare these days if I'm playing anything beyond 2 hours or so.

[GreenMonkey]

I spend more time reading about video games these days than playing 'em. With the baby around, fulltime work, and part-time college (I never finish!) I don't the time to be addicted to video games any more.

 

That said, if I power it up, I'm helpless to stop playing Civilization 4 (along with a few other TBS games). I'll play a good TBS until my eyes are practically bleeding from tiredness, and sacrifice sleep over and over again for "one more turn". I learned the hard way last winter not to power up Civ in the morning when I got home from work (3rd shifter). I'd end up getting to bed at like noon and having to get up for work at 6pm.

 

I can refrain from playing Civ entirely, though. That's the only thing that works. That or the baby crying when she wakes up.

 

I used to play hours and hours of RPGs. I fell behind the year I got some mild tendonitis (brought on in part by chronic dehyrdation). I stopped playing games almost completely for almost 9 months while my wrists got better) Since then my gaming has never gone back up to the levels it used to (although Guild Wars has swallowed quite a few hours lately this year). Those hours simply do not exist any more.

 

The term "addiction" is a pretty strong term in my house, though, since my wife has an alchoholism problem (she was sober for a few years but has slipped a few times since the baby was born). We don't just throw around the term "addiction". When it's destroying your life, THAT's an addiction. Otherwise it's just an important hobby.

[The Daisy]

I just asked my wife. She say I was an addict, but after we redefined her definition of addict, then we felt good about my Maybe vote.

 

Glen

[ChrisBardon]

Could I quit-yeah, probably. I just choose not to

[Carlucci]

Ugh Nate and his family just anoyed the hell out of me.

 

Amen to that! Man, what a whiny (non)Mother he has. So if he was addicted to smack would she buy him all the needles he needs?

 

I'm skeptical of this so-called journalism though. I'm sure dude could have pried himself away from the game long enough to talk to the reporter face to face, but the producers probably got him to go along with "Let's have you keep playing while we interview you, that way America can really see how addicted you are." Please. CBS did the same thing with an interview of Fatal1ty recently, which Ed (Tendril) posted. They had reporter dude walk in and there was intently Fatal1ty playing, seemingly oblivious to his approach. Nevermind the camera crew and lighting that had to set up before the shot.

 

I think anything can become "addicting" and destroy your life if you let it consume you. I've seen guys obsess over golf before, but I guess it's not sensational enough to merit a special report.

 

As a teen, you probably could have said I was addicted, especially to the arcade experience. But now, no way.

 

I have become acutely aware of the opportunity-cost of that next hour of playing, and there are far too many things I would rather do than play. That's not to say that playing a lot isn't still one of my "wants", it's just that there are so very many other things competing for and winning my time these days.

 

 

 

Carlos.

[Romier S]

O Boy! Still no 'yes-addicted to video games' responses yet. This IS a dedicated video game forum with quite a number of very regular residents. There's got to be someone that's addicted to video games.

You got your "Yes" vote right here. Am I an utter addict that can't stop? No. My wife, daughter, and career come first. However, when I have the time, I'll gladly sit and play a game for hours on end. It helps to have an understanding wife that is willing to indulge the addict that lurks underneath. I also happen to like discussing videogames in depth and taking the time to write about them every now and again. I feel no shame for admitting any of this.:leaving

[Buck]

If COH was my high school sweetheart, WOW was the smokin' hot chick with the drug problem that you meet in college who gets you addicted to coke, forces you to drop out of school, and eventually your parents have to hire a private detective to locate your sorry ass living in a ramshackle old house in Bridgeport and then force you into rehab to kick your habit and clean up your pathetic life.

 

You make WoW sound fantastic!!! :lol

[exile]

My answer is no. I was during EQ time but not anymore.

[Ricky G]

I voted yes, but if there was an option to add an *, I would have.

 

* - I do not play at the expense of family time. My Xbox is never on if my two boys are awake. (unless its my 4 year old playing Marble Blast or Tony Hawk). After work it's dinner with the family, baths, playtime and reading to my boys. After 8PM, if I'm not watching a movie with the wife, it's Game time. I just enjoy it more than anything else. I don't watch TV other than sports so that just doesn't compete for my time.

 

Getting exercise is something that I will put off gaming for. Mainly swimming at night.

 

Those with Gamerscores > 20,000 need not respond.

 

Har, har, har!

[Jon W H]

I am, sometimes. It depends on what's going on in my life and whether I've played too long in subsequent sessions. I actually burned myself out on videogames in the 90's, so I quit playing any games of any kind for a year and a half. I've learned my limits since, since it gets a little easier to balance a life as you get older.