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Intervention: Peter/Game Addiction
Dr. Face
King of PantsRegistered User regular
King of PantsRegistered User regular
A little setup for those who don't watch "Intervention" on A&E. The usual setup is there are two people per episode they follow and document their addition/problem. Usually drugs and alcohol with every 3rd person hooked on meth. What the people don't know is that their families are also being filmed and preparing for an intervention (the last part of the show).
Well last night's was interesting as one of the people, Peter, has a video game problem. A 17 hour a day, dropped out of college, video game problem. At one point during the filming (they film for a couple days) he gamed for 24 hours straight ending in a DDR session after which he looked like he could barely stand.
Anyway thought it would be interesting to see what others thought of this (last nights show if you saw it or game addiction in general). Has anyone you know (or yourself) bordered on this kind of behavior? It really made me think about the time I spend killing orcs and making headshots. Being a gamer who has perspective on life and knows what the sun looks like I always assumed the whole "gaming addiction" thing was a made up problem created by pushy parent's organizations and asshats like Jack Thompson. But now I wonder.
Links:
http://www.aetv.com/intervention/
http://www.aetv.com/videos/display.jsp (you can see Peter from about 1:00 in to 1:45 of the "Bottom Line" video if you care to see his face).
Well last night's was interesting as one of the people, Peter, has a video game problem. A 17 hour a day, dropped out of college, video game problem. At one point during the filming (they film for a couple days) he gamed for 24 hours straight ending in a DDR session after which he looked like he could barely stand.
Anyway thought it would be interesting to see what others thought of this (last nights show if you saw it or game addiction in general). Has anyone you know (or yourself) bordered on this kind of behavior? It really made me think about the time I spend killing orcs and making headshots. Being a gamer who has perspective on life and knows what the sun looks like I always assumed the whole "gaming addiction" thing was a made up problem created by pushy parent's organizations and asshats like Jack Thompson. But now I wonder.
Links:
http://www.aetv.com/intervention/
http://www.aetv.com/videos/display.jsp (you can see Peter from about 1:00 in to 1:45 of the "Bottom Line" video if you care to see his face).
Dr. Face on
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I'm not in half-bad shape, either. So I know it hasn't impacted my health too much.
Hardly 17 hours, and hardly neglecting what I need to do every day.
I think I'm fine.
However, I do need to reduce the time I spend online doing whatever.
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
Yeah, that's a part of it.
[spoiler:a7391bb4cd]I know I'm setting myself up for a joke for what the rest of it is, but you all know I don't mean that![/spoiler:a7391bb4cd]
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
I thought it was really obvious that everyone in G&T talks about games much more than they play them.
I multitask. I'm posting in between songs on GH2.
**edit** think I found him
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80407723@N00/73561568/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80407723@N00/73561557/
Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to post pictures here yet so you'll just have to do the clicky thing until then.
Is it him?
And since the Wii keeps track of this stuff, I have official record - 9 hours, 42 minutes, the second day I had the console/game.
That is the longest I've ever played a game by about 6 hours. And I never plan on doing that again, because I was pretty much blind the next day, and had a crazy fucking headache.
So anyway, I wouldn't say I'm addicted to games. Just seems like a weird concept, but I guess you can become addicted to most anything.
Only because it's much harder to subtley play DS at work than it is to be on the forums.
How does he provide himself with food, shelter, TV and console(s)/computer, games?
Intervention? Kick the kid out of the house and make him get a job and pay rent.
NintendoID: Nailbunny 3DS: 3909-8796-4685
Your avatar works particuarly well in this thread.
The kid manages to do this because his father lets him stay at the house. He doesn't do shit all day.
His life was fucked up when his mother left the family - his father, him, and his younger brother - to pursue her career as an Art History professor. He was a little kid at the time.
Every time the mother cries and says how much she doesn't want to see him this way and yaddyadda, you can see the anger and hatred in his eyes. He hates the lady for ditching his family. She comes to visit them twice a year. He shakes her hand and says "hey" when she shows up. No hugs or "Hi mom" or anything.
I think he uses videogames to escape from his depression, not unlike most people use alcohol for the same reason. His mother fucked up his family and sent him into a downward spiral of depression. It doesn't legitimize the problem, but it explains it.
The interesting thing about this episode of the show was that it wasn't a drug or some kind of substance abuse like that... and the kid seemed to think the whole thing was kind of a joke. Usually the addicts tear up and feel bad about putting their friends/family through all this, but this kid acted like, "What's the big deal? I play videogames."
Anyway, he has a serious problem. He ended up going on the little 42 day camping trip for 'rehab,' but at the end of the show it said that he didn't stop playing videogames; of course it didn't say if he still spent 20 hours a day doing it or not. I'm thinking he still plays obsessively.
I know somebody, one person, who dropped out of college because he couldn't stop playing World of Warcraft. It's all he did, all day long. Then he started taking pills for depression, and that only made him want to stay inside and play WoW even longer. Then he went and bought a PS3 with money he doesn't have. Now he's moving out of the state to hopefully work somewhere to try and relieve himself of some of his videogame addiction and/or depression and learn some skills/responsibility.
It's a shame.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I had a friend who went into a downward spiral like this guy. Similar reason. (His mom ran off with someone out of the blue.) His room turned into a landfill. A huge garage conversion that was literally filled with garbage a foot deep. Then he moved into a smaller house with a room a fraction of the size and it didn't take long to fill that room with garbage. He didn't even have a bed, he slept in a beanbag chair. This was also around the time he started playing WoW and everyone lost contact with him. Then his car broke and rather than fix it he started biking to work, then he started showing up hours late and he lost his job. Finally he moved in with his mom and left his dad to clean the mess he left behind. When they piled out the trash they found out he'd spilled something on the ground causing mold. The mold was so bad it had eaten through the carpet and into the hardwood floor underneath it. I wouldn't thumb your nose at him though, he was one of the best players on his server.
Small consolation for the screwed up life he has (had?). Is he still like that?
And slash000, I was a little pissed at the ending how the just said "He still plays games." just like other failed attempts that end with "Jane still does heroine and is a prostitute". I mean, they are GAMES. If he learnes balance in his life and can game with moderation there's nothing wrong with it. But who knows, maybe like alcoholics he just needs to cut himself off or he'll fall back into addiction.
That would suck to have to give up video games 100%. Don't know if I could do it. I'd need to take on another hobby or three or I'd die of boredom. Maybe that is the only thing holding me back from world domination.
Needless to say he's not at uni anymore.
Always in moderation.
I never asked for this!
There's six billion people in the world. Name any hobby or activity, you can bet there's at least one person out there who does it so much they neglect personal relationships, sleeping, showering, eating.
Nose-picking.
"Sorry, John, I just can't come out to the strip club tonight.. I've got treasure to find."
I hate Mr. Tanqueray soooo much.
the old poke and plunder
Yeah, I know. It's not like these things are going to kill him. At least not as quickly or in the same way as alcohol or meth or heroine or whatever.
All it said was "The rehab trip taught him how to communicate better with his family. He still plays videogames."
That was it. Did he learn to balance the real world with videogames? Does he play a reasonable number of hours during the day? Does he prioritize family/friends over his gaming?
Gaming is a hobby. Doing heroine or something isn't. Gaming doesn't have to be bad if you do it. What's important is how much a person does it and how much of a priority it is for them. The episode wasn't clear on whether he changed at all after 'rehab,' besides 'communicating better.'
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
This episode is actually kind of old. I think it was the first one I saw of the show, and we've been watching it since it first aired (my wife watches it every week, I just catch bits and pieces when I'm putting up the laundry usually).
Anyway, what I liked about it was the fact that they showed it wasn't that video games are evil super addictive hellspawn, it was just a way for him to escape from the real world and hide from his problems. I think the guy was playing it up a little bit for the cameras, though. God I hope he was.
And I think that 24 hour gaming thing was nothing but DDR. That's what it showed him playing at the start of it and at the end, anyway. Say what you want, at least the guy is in shape.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/clips-tyra-banks-talk-wow-addiction-232135.php
the guy actually says he got into the game so he could distance himself from his new baby because of "the whole sids thing."
ITS A NEWBORN FUCKING BABY NOT A HOUSECAT.
Anyways though, I found that MMOs can be almost sinister in their replacement of a social life.
What annoys me is that more than a few of the people who were trying (and rightfully so) to call bullshit on the way I was living my life during that period are now putting 50-60 hours into WoW on a weekly basis and scoffing when I suggest it might be a bit much.
My rules shortly after EQ lost it's luster became- If I'm putting more time into a game than I am into either education or work, then something is seriously fucked up.
You can't prove that. A kitten might burst out of its chest like some cuddly furred version of a xenomorph.
I didn't even like the game. Hated 90% of the characters, the storyline, the whole point of the game, in fact.
And it still took up pretty much all of my non-work, non-sleeping life (and stopped me getting my typical 10 hours in of the latter :evil: ). That's addiction for you.
In my defence, I hadn't got 'into' a game properly for a while, and I had nothing else to do this month. The Kotor games were the real kickers. Played them during two exam periods while in uni.
I have been left this week with an odd sense of... emptiness. I have nothing to do between 7:00 and midnight...
I canceled my account 7 years ago.
Having said that, living 30 seconds from about 50 pubs probably helped too. Do I wait for computer to boot or just go to the pub? Decisions...
Uhhhhh... I don't think... I don't think you're thinking of nose picking.
its still addicting... :winky:
10 hours of sleep? Do you think maybe you are addicted to sleeping? Christ...