The Harmful Effects of Video Game Addiction
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(Video games are growing in popularity. Pixabay. Free images.) |
The Popularity of Video Games Is Increasing
Ryan van Cleave, a former World of Warcraft (WoW) player, tells how he was so engrossed in the game that he neglected his family and his job, missed sleep, and even thought about committing suicide. Speaking of his former time as a WoW gamer, van Cleave wrote:
"Playing WoW makes me feel godlike. I have ultimate control and can do what I want with few real repercussions. The real world makes me feel impotent … – the littlest hitch in daily living feels profoundly disempowering." (Lush)
(Read more about van Cleave below.)
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Popular since the 1990s, Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have gained billions of dollars of revenue. In the year 2016, World of Warcraft alone had a revenue of $9.23 billion (Leack). And, in 2016, World of Warcraft had 5.5 million subscribers, but that number is slowly decreasing as people look for alternative ways of entertaining themselves. But, in spite of its decline, World of Warcraft is still holding millions of people captive and other MMORPGs are gaining much revenue around the world.
There is a website called thegamerwidows.com, which was set up for the lonely spouses of gamers, who are engrossed in electronic gaming. If their gamer spouses leave World of Warcraft, sadly, it's likely that they will take up gaming in other platforms, unless they find true hope. (See the end of this article for more about true hope).
The global market for electronic games (nonphysical games) is very popular and it is growing each year. It includes games for PC, tablets, smartphones, and consoles. Multiple billions of dollars are raked in by the electronic game industry each year. Newzoo reported in April of 2017 that it was estimated that the "The Global Games Market Will Reach $108.9 Billion in 2017 With Mobile Taking 42%". (McDonald).
Video games can be like drugs.
Like an addictive substance, such as a narcotic, video games continue to attract millions of people. A number of years after narcotics were popular for many Americans, technology progressed to the point where video games came out that drew crowds of young adults, teens, and children. Many now are addicted to games such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Crossfire.
According to the article by The Verge titled, "If 'World of Warcraft' is a drug, Blizzard is a cruel drug dealer," a user of World of Warcraft, named Monkkicks, wrote this statement on the World of Warcraft forums:
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(Video game controllers. Pixabay. Free images.) |
"Hi i play wow every day usually for 8 hours. I do not enjoy it, but i still play it. i don't even know why. [...]
i want to be able to play less but i just can't do it. all the people i have met in wow stopped playing or play less than what i do.
what keeps me drawing me back to this game? why am i addicted? does anyone know a good way to cut back on wow? or anything to get my mind off the game?
thanks for reading..." (Sottek)
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Ryan van Cleave, a former World of Warcraft (WoW) player, tells how he was so engrossed in the game that he neglected his family and his job, missed sleep, and even thought about committing suicide. Speaking of his former time as a WoW gamer, van Cleave wrote: