Where Politics And Video Games Collide

@ DragonBomber

There is definitely a change that occurs in people's brains when they're playing games and I wouldn't be surprised if it was someday discovered that a similar change occurs in people's brains when they're playing competitive sports or just goofing around with friends. The thing is, though, that you can't drop a scanning device onto somebody's head, have their coach give them a "good luck" pat on the ass and send them into the football field. You can sit someone down in front of a game, drop some tech onto their heads and say, "play!" and then compare that to the reading of somebody who's addicted to, I don't know, eating grape nuts cereal. Or a homicidal maniac. Or a happy home maker. Or currently jumping up and down. Or sleeping. Or considering the long-term social implications of a society that rewards people who crotch-punch their neighbors. Or whatever. The brain is a big 'ole ball of wtf? even to people who study the brain.

Sorry for the long paragraph :)

My thing is the comparison of "gaming addiction" to something like alcoholism or another physically addictive substance. Sure, some people are going to be compulsive gamers and some people will even game themselves to death. You want to know the culprit, though? It's not how games effect the body.

The population of the US is much, much higher then the population of South Korea but South Korea produces a much higher percentage of people who've gamed themselves to death. Either there's something phsycialy different in South Koreans that makes them susceptible to "game addiction," or there's some aspect of their society that makes games so attractive and so consuming that people play without regard to their personal safety.

"Game addiction" is going to take hold on a person who finds more happiness in a game then they do in real life. Think about those crazy WoW or EQ addicts. The really nutty ones. Do you think that they had a fulfilling personal life?