@GP:

I'm sure you have no shortage of stories or story ideas, but I'd be interested in learning if there might be any kind of eventual follow-up on this piece regarding this station or their chosen expert source.

With regard to your comments and previous story on a professional being dropped in blind on a story, perhaps it would be like a journalist being shown a story write-up and an associated photo and being asked to immediately, without time to research, verify the story was not plagiarized and the photo was not altered.

Myself, I used to be big into television news and used to catch Dateline and other news shows pretty regularly, and stuff like this would be main fare for me. However, recently I've found my life's a lot better with my TV being reduced to an average of about an hour a day. There's not much I'm interested in watching, and I really could care less about watching every little thing just because it gets hyped or advertised. I'm an adult; I can research television listings and news stories on my own.

Perhaps local news stations feel threatened that they are becoming less relevant and think marginalizing gaming and the internet as competition might improve their lot in the entertainment and information arenas?

I wonder, do these people abide by the same "only half-hour of fun a day" rule they preach about? If they do, it's no wonder they're nuts. I would go crazy if I had such little time to unwind, too.

Horrible anti-gaming bias.

We could make this same argument for virtually any form of entertainment or social interaction.

I spend 8 and a half hours a day at work but if i spend more than half a hour a night doing something fun I'm addicted? Anybody got something tall I can perhaps jump off of?

---

in all seriousness, the title of that news story should've been "Hey, your past time isn't valid/ your idea of fun is wrong"

Or: "watch more tv"

I only have a couple friends where I live. Most of my friends have moved away after finishing college, whereas I some how got trapped in this God forsaken city.

I recently got sucked into the Halo 3 commotion. I bought the game purely for its multi-player component. 3-4 weeks ago, my best friend claimed he thinks the Halo series is not worth the purchase. Thankfully, the rest of his friends (and mine) purchase copiesd and he's changed his tune and been gaming with us for a solid week now (1-2 hours a night, which is all the gaming I have time for now).

What has multi-player gaming given me? Since us guys don't like to chatter on the telephone, Halo 3 (with microphones) has given us all a chance to hang out together once again, despite our geographical locations.

I think the article makes a wonderful point: at some point in time, people thought children who read for several hours a day (for leisure) were unhealthy. The same was said later of radio, TV, comics, etc...

The overly stated point that video games are the new evil (addiction, causes violence, downfall of our society, etc ad nauseum) is indeed an old trend resurfacing once again. Personally, I think video games will be as widely accepted as books.

What I look forward to is what possible new form of technology will replace video games as the new evil....*cough*holodecks*cough. =)

"Like other addictions, it gives you that immediate feedback, like a drug, but without the need to socialize, its something people do by themselves for hours on end and limits their social activities, where their activities consist of isolated activities by themselves."


UUUUUUmmmmm........you have to SOCIALIZE in order to do drugs? And when did you NOT interact with other people in an MMO?

@E Zachary Knight: Yeah, you'll never see TV be attacked by a TV station. Biting the hand that feeds is what that is. On top of that, it's what all the critical old people and politicians do, sit for hours watching it, so really won't see anything like that.

Then again, we've not seen the video game manufacturers/distributors screw the creators out of royalties due to them like television. Perhaps this writer's strike will bring about a mass exodus from television to gaming? Gotta do something with the big box in the living room.

"like a drug," they say.

Except video games are images on a screen, and drugs are chemicals you put in your body that eventually KILL you.

Nice comparison. Idiots.

i agree with that it's anti-gaming bias...

also don't think that it's a new thing; because a lot of Americans (children+adults) watch A LOT -hours and hours/day- of television...

i'll bet that there's a strong 'lobby' or whatever from entertainment companies that don't want public awareness ovf the effects that hours and hours of TV have on people (especially since entertainment companies control public awareness)...

but people should be able to decide for themselves what to do w/ their time... think it's the same argument as 'activists' who hate on McDonalds...

- - -

but i also agree with the psychologist for the case of a kid who'se maybe 11 or 12 years old who's totally hooked -if this 11 or 12 year-old was still able to manage his/her other parts of life and responsibilities, then of course there's no concern...

(also helping an 11 or 12 year-old manage his/her time is called "parenting")

but, i still think it's the same as McDonalds... Big-Macs and McWhatever-else aren't drugs like heroin -or maybe they can be for someone that doesn't have the inner-strength to stop eating Big-Macs... if there is an 11 or 12 year-old that's eating Big-Macs every day -it is a parents roll to put limits on Big Mac consumption...

(feel like a bigger dumb-ass than when i started writing)

I am socalizing R-Tard, I'm logged on to an MMORPG with people from all over the world and getting xp with my party using teamspeak.

Like I said, everyone over the age of 50 thinks Gamers are Sadistic Murderers.

"Like a drug." Good. GOD.

This is just SAD.

I think the problem is that they interpret desire to do something as an addiction. I'm an avid RPG gamer, and often times when I'm playing a game, I'll say, "Oh, I'll quit at the next save point." I get there and go, "Well, I'll play a bit further to see what's ahead." I play for a bit more and go, "Well, I'm already this far, so I'll go ahead and go to the NEXT save point and THEN I'll quit."

The difference between this and an addiction is the need for something. If the power went out twenty minutes after I saved, I would go, "Aw man, that sucks...well, I should go to sleep or something anyway." An addicted person would flip out, scream, cry...you get the idea. They've lost what they feel they need. That is addiction, not just enjoying something and being really into it.

That said, I have to admit I don't like MMORPGs for the simple reason that I've had friends that would play say, WoW, and I'd never see them again, both online or in real life. They'd stay in their rooms, door closed, and not even come out and say hi when someone stopped by. That's not really an addiction, but it's not healthy. The game isn't also free of blame either. I'm not saying "It's the game's fault the games are evil ban them!" That's stupid. But MMORPGs have no real "ending" to speak of, making them inherently unfulfilling. That way people are compelled to continue, unlike a console game with an ending that when you beat it you can say, "Well, done with this one."

I also realize that this not having a real ending thing is actually a necessity for the MMORPG to be functional in a business sense, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Anyway, I've dragged this out for far too long, so I'll shut up now.

"Like other addictions, it gives you that immediate feedback, like a drug, but without the need to socialize, "

so, if i was addicted to a deadly drug, that would be better because i would socialize with my dealer and other druggies?

@Bobo

that may be the single greatest line EVER! :-D

"Yo' Home dog, can you hook me up a bit with that Halo 3 For realz? Imma spend all night hittin up dat' shit. Helps me unwind and shit. My sis' says I'z addicted, but I can stop anytime I want, chea, anytime I want..."

Yeah, drugs and games are an EXCELLENT comparison... Right...

Stupid bint. Get your facts straight. Her kind of prejudice makes me cringe.

You can't really get anything done in 30 min to an hour in WoW.

This is why I hate sweeps, everything gets overly sensational on the news.

"I do see a lot of teenagers in therapy, parents come in and say, I don’t know what to do they go to bed, I come in at midnight and the laptop is back out."

this is sad, beacuse these parents dont have any control over what there kids are doing or even playing..... cant just they turn off the PC or take away the power cord, or even "take away the laptop" i mean come on do some parenting for god sake.....

That has to be the calmest anti-game stance I've ever seen. It's not like Jack Thompson, where he's sounds like he'll explode at any given second. Why can't people be more level-headed, like them?

Even though I am not an online gamer, I can see many things that i can say

most of it is what GP has already said...what should playing videogames for more than 30 minutes ever be considered as an addiction???

When there are so many other things like movies, sport, TV that go for much more longer...

Also I love videogames, online or offline.

Also I am from Australia so you have a friend in me too I talk to many people on my email about videogaming issues...

Bobo-good one!

Wow, most astoundedly retarded anti-mmo argument i've seen in ages.

anyone who does play mmo's knows the exact opposite is true.


as a result of mmo's I now have ffriends close enough to meet them with no misgivings whatsoever in the USA. denmark, belguim, france, oman, italy and eygypt.

it's painfully obvious that anyone saying mmo's are antisocial do not have the faintest clue what they are talking about...

Heh I sleep longer than I play games, I guess I am addictined to sleep.

There is nothing wrong with playing video games for 30 minutes or an hour

If the kid played for 30 mins it would suck since the kid would get bearly anything done and porbabry rush though the levels.

I found playing with friends is better than talking to them over the phone or MSN.

There's no more "informative" left in the news now. Just the "entertainment" and "persuasive" qualities. Unless it's the sports and weather, because scoreboards and numbers never lie (unless it's in the extended forecast).

*Watches the Wii News Channel attack TV*