Topic: BBC One - Panorama

Will you Brits be tuning in to next week's episode on gaming addiction?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlmj0

Of course not... I'll be too busy on WoW!

I'll watch it yes, but on iPlayer, when it suits me. TV must not ruin ma gaming time, in fact, nothing must!!

@Machu...yeah, well footy games have completely ruined my Wii gaming. I have become obsessed and watch every game I can find. Stupid soccer.

Yep. Because, speaking as (obviously) a gamer, I do actually believe gaming addiction is very much a thing. Not in the sense that stopping gaming for a period of time is going to give you massive cravings for it or whatever, but in the sense that, regardless of how good a game actually is, playing it for 10+ hours straight simply isn't normal or healthy behaviour. It's not an addiction that's hard to break out of, but it does somewhat sap your motivation to do so.
I don't buy into the whole "OH GOD GAMES COMPANIES ARE PURPOSEFULLY PUTTING ROBOTIC MIND NINJAS (or whatever) INTO THE CONSOLES TO MAKE THEM ADDICTIVE" thing though. They're addictive just because they are, not because someone purposefully designed them to be that way. I mean, we've all been completely sucked into a good book, or a marathon of films, from time to time. It happens.

@MERG: Football is football, that comes before everything.

@Machu, while I now have come to accept that, I can't say my wife and kids have.

Football sucks.

_{Troll mode ACTIVATE}

Anyway back on topic... it does concern me that kids these days play sooo much VG and hardly go outside anymore, but I don't think they're addicted, much. Erm...

@Raylax...I think you meant to say "American" football sucks.

I agree Machu...my kids like video games a lot but their first preference is to play outside, so I'm lucky.

You can become addicted to anything. Video games are just an easy target for the media. Its called self control, people.
Now get outside and build a godamn snowman
_{l'll probably watch it though just to see what ridiculous claims are made}

I watched it and it left me pretty unncovinced.

They mainly attacked WOW and COD. I've never played WOW, but I've played lots of COD and i understand there point about the random rewards that keep you coming back. All those "1000pts cos you just got 150 headshots" and stuff like that is kind of addictive as you feel like you're getting a pat on the back every so often. Maybe when I was younger that could have made me addicted but not now.

Overall I think playing games is just one form of entertainment and all forms of entertainment (TV, internet, sports, hobbies) can be addictive if you really enjoy it.

I'm American, and I think I agree.

I missed it 'cos I was watching Corrie xD
I'll catch it on iPlayer later.

I watched it. And actually, I think it made many good points. In fact, I can't remember anything in it that I vehemently disagreed with, even though I really expected to after watching other shows on the same subject (hurrah, they didn't base childrens' addiction on them playing 18-rated videogames). I recognised a lot of the things they mentioned in myself too, having previously verged on (and perhaps, for a short while, toppled into) gaming addiction. I never missed school for it or anything, but my marks and ability to concentrate certainly slipped a lot. I damn near failed the first semester of year 2 of my current degree, thanks in part to excessive gaming, which is when I realised I really needed to reign it in.

I know even now if I stint on gaming for an extended period of time (more than a few hours), it's really hard to get motivated to do anything else in the day, and I'll often just end up wandering the house feeling bored and easily become depressive. Regardless of how many other things I could be doing or often need to be doing (ulp, deadlines), if I spent the morning playing a game, chances of me doing anything else that day are slim (even if I've stopped playing the game).
Protip from me: If you wake up and you're too tired to do work in the morning, don't boot up the console. Go for a walk instead, or watch morning TV, find something else to do until you're awake enough to work (a walk into town does wonders for me, personally). Then do your work, and then play later in the day. Trust me, it works. If anything, I end up bored of gaming faster in the afternoon, so I don't play it for as long and aren't as enticed to go back to it in the late evening.
And uh, don't game straight before going to bed. It makes your mind hyper-active (hence why if you don't go to bed, it's not even difficult to spend the entire night on the console. We've all been there once or twice, right?), which makes sleep difficult. Especially if you turned off the console after a rage quit, I find.

If you're in the UK, then WATCH THIS PROGRAM (it's on iPlayer). And watch it with an open mind, don't immediately write it off as scaremongering journalism, because for once it isn't.

OMG! I thought you were cool.

Anyway, it should have been called "Is WoW addictive". This was epic fear-mongering. The only part which had any weight was the look at S.Korea, where it seems they actually do have a bit of a problem. :/ The rest of it was pure floss _waffles, by the end they had completely backtracked, by saying there was no real danger unless of course you have some pre-existing psychological issues. /applause.

LOL if you thought Panorama was bad have a look at this http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=279596
P.S Be sure to read the comments underneath, some are classics!

P.P.S I watched Panorama and thought it to be a load of old tosh. Of course there are some idiots who play WOW for 22 hours, but to try and tar every gamer with the same brush was ridiculous. At least the geezer stood next to a Wii tried to balance the programe a bit. Hopefully I think anybody with half a brain could see through this flimsy piece of sensationalist reporting for what it was. Daily Mail readers will be going nuts over it though
To be fair though, if the facts about South Korea were true, then it seems it is becoming a nation wide problem for them, which is a little scary

At no point in the program did they infer that all gamers do that. Some people do get addicted to games, which is what they said, and it should be recognised as a psychological condition, or at least have better research going into it. Their problem was with the as-yet-unconfirmed status as gaming addiction as a thing, and whether it needs more research, not "all gamers are addicts." Not everyone who drinks alcohol is an alcoholic, but some are.
If you're all going to stick your fingers in your ears and oppose every single negative thing the media has to say about gaming, that makes it no better than the media outlet sticking their fingers in their ears and opposing every positive thing gaming has going for it.

@Raylax. The problem is that gaming is being used as a scape goat.The fact of the matter is that in this world there is a percentage of people with addictive personalitys.Background, upbringing and circumstances will inevitbly lead said persons to become addicted to something,whether this be Booze , drugs, shopping ,football , sex ,p0rn and yes even gaming.We know this. The programme needn't had singled out gaming the way it did.It was merely designed to scaremonger people who have no knowledge of games whatsoever. Of course these people need help but I'm not convinced that the programme was the right way to go about it.