Why do video games have the most potential for abuse?

[Randoman01]

*remove thread*

[Terahertz]

Well, from what I understand and from what I gathered it's just that video games are sort of new nowadays and that people used to blame their problems on reading books and watching TV in the past.

[Aeula]

Because people are scared of new technology and/or are idiots.

[Mechar]

Certain people who play them who can't control themselves. They give most things a bad name.

[Dezerte]

We don't like change, to keep it short.

[mickybrighteyes]

Because it's the new 'thing'.

Before this was television, the many genres of music (rap, hip hop, rock and roll... hell even some of the classical stuff was deemed satanic or ungodly), trading cards, playing cards (as in the kind you play poker with)... etc...

There will always be something that's blamed because people can't realize it's their own damned fault.

Like people saying werewolves exist because they don't want to believe people butchered one another.

[talann]

the music industry fought the same battle video games did back in the day. Marilyn Manson was blamed for the some mass shootings. Black Sabbath was blamed for kids doing drugs. Someone wants to blames someone else for the reason people kill. If we were to blame the parents or hold the person accountable they will do everything they can to lay blame on something else.

[Pull My Finger]

Interesting conspiracy theories here.

Video games have this addiction rep because they have greater addiction potential than passive media. Simple as that.

Video games require an active form of attention because you're not just consuming something - you're actively partaking in it. Further, there's a greater identification and emotional investment. This makes games more immersive than passive media, which means that people get absorbed by it easier and more thoroughly. Paired with the numbing and disconnective effect all screen-based media has, there you have it. Another highly important factor is the instant gratification effect you don't have when you're just watching things. Video games stimulate the "reward center" of our brains, just like drugs do.

[mizeri]

because it gets votes for politicians from ignorant people.

[Romeothecat]

Partly because of shitty parents who can't take responsibility for how badly they raised their kids. Mainly though because the gaming industry is just starting to get its feet on the ground and doesn't seem to know how to defend itself. Right now the industry has to fight off a lot of ignorance from some powerful places.
We've got Glenn Beck telling his stupid regular viewers "This 'Watch Dogs' game teaches people how to hack! If someone plays this they could become a cyber threat!" or Bill O'Reilly saying "This Smash Bros. game is teaching kids that its okay to kill each other! It's not like that 'Call of Duty' where kids learn that they can serve the military."
Even Jon Stewart sees one of the Mortal Kombat fatalities and says "That's disgusting! I don't know why anyone should be allowed to be exposed to that!" (He said this years ago so that's a paraphrased quote)

It really just comes down to total ignorance on the side of the accusers.

[Faroth]

It's simply because it's new. Keep a few things in perspective:

Dungeons & Dragons turned people into devil worshippers.
Harry Potter taught children witchcraft.
Comic books turned children gay.
Heavy Metal turned kids violent.
Catcher in the Rye brainwashed people into murder.

Partly because of shitty parents who can't take responsibility for how badly they raised their kids. Mainly though because the gaming industry is just starting to get its feet on the ground and doesn't seem to know how to defend itself. Right now the industry has to fight off a lot of ignorance from some powerful places.

Are you familiar with Patrick Scott Patterson? He's invited Glenn Beck (whose studio is right here in the same area) to panels at conventions and has asked if they'd like him to be a guest on Beck's program to legitimately have counter points regarding the video game discussions.

Surprise surprise, they don't want anyone that can debate the pro-game side. :/

[YouAreAllWrong]

So why is it that video games have the biggest potential for abuse and addiction than say other mediums?

Because video games are interactive and more immersive than other mediums, therefore more addictive. Also, some of them (MMOs especially) are designed to be addictive and endless, because that is part of their business model.

[Lazy Gecko]

People don't really get addicted to video games. In the case of MMOs they get addicted to the social aspect which is completely player-driven. I don't think there's anything mechanically addictive about them. I consider games like Civilization to be far more mechanically addictive but you never hear about people who ruin their lives over that, because it's single player. Interacting with a community of other people in the game changes things completely depending on the type of person you are. The social aspect just gets bundled into the game part which is a gross oversimplification of the issue.

[Randoman01]

I think video games are viewed as addictive because people think if you spend more than a few hours playing video games than doing constructive activities that means you are addicted. Just my guess

[Kraenen]

I would like to know: why is it that video games get the most bad rep for being addictive? I hear people blame video games for their problems by saying how their lives were ruined by gaming addiction. So why is it that video games have the biggest potential for abuse and addiction than say other mediums? People binge watch TV shows and movies and read books for hours and hours but for some reason that's seen as normal. But binge gaming seems to be the most damaging or destructive. How come?

Reading books for hours is not considered 'normal'. Someone asks you what you did last night and you say you read a book, and they give you a weird look. Not many people in popular culture read books for an interest in literature, only to keep up with the Joneses.

The TV/video game hypocrisy is wrong, but I think video games have bigger potential for abuse and addiction because you have more control over them. When people (used to) watch TV, they'd have to watch whatever is on and if there's nothing on, you can't watch anything. You can play sc2 or WoW or w/e whenever you want, for however long you want. These days with on demand type of TV services the difference in that aspect is less. Still, playing games is a much more 'active' activity, so I'd think it involves using your brain more than watching TV. Debatable whether your mind is more active than reading a book though.

People don't really get addicted to video games. In the case of MMOs they get addicted to the social aspect which is completely player-driven. I don't think there's anything mechanically addictive about them. I consider games like Civilization to be far more mechanically addictive but you never hear about people who ruin their lives over that, because it's single player. Interacting with a community of other people in the game changes things completely depending on the type of person you are. The social aspect just gets bundled into the game part which is a gross oversimplification of the issue.

That's interesting. What makes Civ's mechanics more addictive?

[hakujinbakasama]

Anyone know if there has ever been a substantial study on whether or not humans just have addictive personalities by nature?

I get into this conversation frequently where I state that via my personal experience (anecdotal i know) most religious people (devout anyway) that I've encountered are generally addicts.

In reality, from what I've witnessed in life, everyone I know has had some predilection towards one addiction form or another. I believe that Video Games get the biggest attention lately because of how directed they are (or seemingly) towards children. The problem I have is that the conversation is constantly steered away from "l2fucking parenting" and directly placed on Developers and or Publishers.

[Bushtuckrman]

Like just about anything else in life, if you enjoy playing video games then your brain gets rewarded with some dopamine. The brain wants moar dopamine so it wants you to play some more video games to get that dopamine fix. Same for sugar, cocaine, sex etc etc etc. Thats about all it amounts to. Which is why pvp and games like CoD are si popular. Killing ppl in games rewards your brain with moar dopamine!

[Zaelsino]

It's not like TV binging has no stigma, especially for kids. When I was growing up at least, watching TV too much was considered pretty bad. Binge reading wasn't really considered normal either, just better for you. You were just marking yourself with a different coloured pen. Games are just the newest boogeyman; which is peculiar, since you'd think a medium that generally requires some degree of thought and input would be seen in a better light than most of the trite on TV.

Then again, some would argue it's easier for a young person to get "addicted" to something interactive.

[Lazy Gecko]

That's interesting. What makes Civ's mechanics more addictive?

It's the way the game's turn-based gameplay is structured and getting as much efficiency as possible out of each turn. Then you get the "just one more turn" syndrome and before you know it several hours have gone by. In Civilization 5 I spent something like 8 hours in what felt like just an afternoon session, and I've heard of plenty of people who have had way worse than that. It's kind of frightening what the game does to you really. But, it's really not something that hooks you in the long term and compels you to go back and play when you're off doing something else. I don't think "addictive" game mechanics are really capable of doing that.

That's what makes MMOs unique with the social aspect tacked on. Over the years I've always seen people try to rationalize MMO addiction with stuff like "getting an epic gives you the same rush as a dose of heroin" which is just utter bullshit if you ask me and it's approaching the problem from the wrong perspective. There's plenty of single player games that more or less work just like MMOs, but they don't have the same pull since they lack that special ingredient: the social aspect.

This is where things get interesting with human psychology. General, people tend to care about how others percieve them. Some more than others. In MMOs, and specifically within MMO hardcore raiding circles (I don't think I've ever seen a typical "MMO addict" who isn't a raider. Barring the awful vanilla WoW PvP system.) you have this social culture perpetuated by the players which tugs at the things human beings consider socially important. You want to be seen as a valuable, hard working member of the group and deserve a good status. I think the type of personality who project social hierarchies on everything which they desperately need to climb (ie the type of person who genuinely believes stuff like having better gear makes you better than others, or a higher guild rank, or more posts or moderator status on a forum) are especially at risk of getting hooked because this stuff is so important to them. It becomes much more than just a game to play for fun. This has always been a completely alien viewpoint to me so it's been fascinating to observe in other players.

[May90]

People who play video games to escape from reality blame them for their problems. People who smoke marijuana for that purpose blame it. People who read tons of books for that purpose blame them. People who earn millions for it blame them.

The truth is, video games are good if they enhance your real life and bad if they replace it. They are no special in this regard, every hobby is like this. Video games is just one of the most widespread hobbies today, so...