The Jon Lennin Xperience: A Short Story Of Video Game Addiction

It’s easy to see the appeal of the video game. They allow us to do things that most people would never have the chance to experience, or something that’s flat out impossible. From the roar of a massive v-12 engine in a Ferrari, screaming down a straight at 230 miles per hour, to the rat-tat-tat of a heavy machine gun, complete with the imagined scent of cordite and powdery, obliterated dry wall, or even directing stalwart troops across a decimated sci-fi battlefield, there’s nothing quite like the visceral experience of a well-made video game. I’ve plummeted feet-first through Earth’s fiery atmosphere in a vessel no bigger than a phone booth with blue and purple iridescent plasma-bolts

The videogame addiction may seem funny or ridiculous, but in reality it is a dangerous obsession that truly exposes several needs that have yet to be addressed within the afflicted. Addiction is a damaging problem, and the impact of varying sorts of addictions, such as illegal and

The film Second Skin provided a large coverage of the effects of massive multiplayer online games on the players and the people around them. This film was used to shed light on what actually occurs in a gamers’ life and their perspective on their “hobby”. The point that jumped out the most would be the fact that excessive gaming can be as addictive as drugs and as a result can have mental and social repercussions. The fact is that online gamers find it difficult to draw the fine line when a game is for passing time and when it officially becomes a problem.

The use of video games has become a norm for many people and families. They may be used to relax after a long day of work, or as a way for the family to all participate in something together. Many people view video games as just another form of entertainment, but could they actually be more?

Video Games have taken over the world. They have many uses like training pilots and doctors at home, teaching kids and just to have fun. All this started with pong the pixeled tennis game but there is a dark side to video games like addiction and suicide are all influenced by video games.

Video Games cause social isolation, for example a 15 year old boy in Sweden pass out after playing World of Warcraft for 24 hours straight, he passed out because he started experiencing social withdrawal, the kid was lacking contact with other humans, and his body’s response to the problem was to pass out. On an extreme level, Ruya Cunningham, a college student spent twenty hours a week playing video games, she eventually “dropped out of school, stopped exercising, and even stopped bathing” (Marcovitz 70). Later on, Ruya Cunningham developed depression, but she kept playing video games because she was addicted to the game. When people are addicted to a game, there is a spiraling vortex sucking the gamer away from society and from sanity. As a consequence of playing violent video games, many teen gamers struggle with real world relationships, this is because they form close virtual relationships with people they meet online. A man in Wisconsin has formed a tremendously close relationship with a group of guys he plays online with, he discusses politics with them and they send each other Christmas gifts even though they do not know each other (Marcovitz 70-72). Video games can also affect the players mental and their physiological state.

Video games are just like sports, they get our heart pumping, minds racing and you get pumped up like an actual sport. Video games are just like sports with the competitiveness and the skill it makes video games, in fact, a sport. There are now stadiums packed with fans and gaming stars, cropping up in England, Poland, and Germany. Gaming also has its injuries just like

The controversial topic of video game addiction is what I have decided to focus my multi-genre research project on. Although a multitude of people do not even know of the existence of such a problem in today's society, I can assure you that this is becoming an increasingly greater problem effecting people around the world of all ages. Through my multi-genre project, I intend on proving the uselessness and detrimental qualities of playing video games, and I am going to explore some healthy alternatives to such a problematic habit.

Video games have been argued about for decades. Some people have argued that video games are linked to violence. However, new research shows that video games can be used for therapeutic purposes, exercise, stress relievers, positive interactive learning, hand eye coordination, and different types of patient treatment for people all around the world.

The biological aspect of video game addiction is still quite unclear. Research is suggesting that gambling can elevate the levels of dopamine and video gaming can fall into this same category. However, addiction lies further than basic chemistry. There is a psychological factor at play as well. The fantasy of online role playing lures players into a virtual world and become anyone they choose. Fat can be skinny, ugly can be beautiful, unpopular becomes king. Domination becomes their new reality. Their fantasy world can become real and make them better (Rauh, 2006).

Many young children and teenagers have heard their mother’s incessant plead to get away from the screen and to go outside or pick up a book for once instead. The urge to play “just one more level” before starting that homework or doing those chores can be quite distracting. But are video games really as awful as Mom exclaims or as brutal as those TV ads depict? It turns out that video games can have a strong impact on participants’ lives in both positive as well as negative ways.

Video games are addictive. It makes its users forget themselves and their surroundings, including their loved ones. What makes people addicted to video games is the fact that video games are constantly rewarding people for every little in-game act they do when playing the game. For instance, one gains virtual currency or skill points for every point, rebounds, blocks, and steals one records in the game NBA 2K. Another example, one gains money and reputation points every time one finish a mission in the game Grand Theft Auto. The constant rewards are a type of positive reinforcement that people do not easily receive in real life and this makes people want to keep playing the games over and over again: “The addition of a stimulus [will] increase the probability that a behavior will be repeated” (Grison 212). In this instance, the addition of a stimulus is the rewards (virtual currency or reputation points) that video games give to its users and the behavior that is expected to be repeated is the act of playing that video games. In an article for the video-game-addiction.org, Meghan Vivo, the Content & Media Relations Director at Elements Behavioral Health,

whether its dunking on your dad in NBA 2k14 or running that perfect play in Madden 13 you have a sense of joy. In Minecraft building to your hearts content, without the hindrance of real life and gravity. Several psychologist use violent video games as outlets for patients with anger problems. Video games are also a social outlet for people that may not otherwise interact with new people. MMOs (massively multiplayer online) connects you with people not just from across town, but across the planet. Socially awkward people find it easier to start by typing in a chat box ("How Video Game Addiction Treatment Centers Can Help Compulsive Gamers.")(."Why Video Games Are So Addictive.") Next they work up to game and voice chat. Then they can become a part of a party and Skype with the people they are playing with. Joining parties and being active in the game community gives them a sense of friendship, family and belonging. This can be good in theory, however, if this is the only way you can feel these emotions then is it too

For this reason, a lot of research has been done on the consequences of online gaming, however, there are only a few longitudinal studies that mainly focus on the excessive online gamers. Lemmens, Valkenburg and Peter (2011), for example, researched whether psychosocial factors such as loneliness and a low self-esteem were a cause or a consequence of pathological online gaming. Their first main finding was that lower psychosocial well-being was an antecedent of pathological gaming. Specifically, declined social competence, increased loneliness and lower self-esteem predicted an increase in pathological gaming six months later. The second main finding was a complementary relation between loneliness and pathological gaming, indicating that loneliness is both a cause and a consequence. Nevertheless, the authors say it is important that we do not overstate the dangers of playing computer and video games, as this study also indicated that adolescents’ time spent playing video games was not related to their psychosocial well-being. Therefore, playing games does not decrease well-being, nor does lower well-being necessarily lead to increased use of games. (Lemmens, Valkenburg,& Peter,

Video games have become America's children's most fun activity to play. The children like playing the video games so much because the games are addicting trying to get higher than last time or last longer or get to the end of the game or level it's so crazy. I say it's addicting because you always want to do better or you want to do better than everyone els. There's an online were you can play with others you don't know. Sometimes they go against each other and when they lose so they get really mad and defensive.