Monday, July 27, 1998
Video games lure doom, addiction
ADDICTION: Playing to relax can be unhealthy, time-consuming
habit
I’d still be playing a video game if I didn’t have to write this
article and do my homework. Instead of sleeping, I’d be sucking in
the radiation from my computer, enjoying a game of StarCraft. The
explosive warfare volleying back and forth on my screen between two
warring factions has been my warmth and comfort during the wee
hours of many cold, city nights.
Looking back into my past, I can see many years of wasted life
just being stranded in front of the tube. Pac Man held me up for
about one year of dot-chomping addiction. Years flew by in ignorant
arcade bliss, and then Nintendo landed. Suddenly, I was overcome,
and Mario became my best friend. I became obese! I played till my
eyes watered. I needed glasses by the end of the sixth grade. Has
this happened to you? If so, you know the power of video game
addiction. If not, be glad that you aren’t glued to a glowing
screen.
Over the years, I did kick my habit. I played volleyball for
over six years, basketball for three years, football for one and
roller hockey for one. Since starting sports, I lost weight and
didn’t find it too compelling to play video games. Volleyball for
the first three years couldn’t save me completely though. My
girlfriend broke up with me, and instantly the warmth of the
computer screen became my security blanket. I played Doom. If you
don’t know what Doom is, it’s a first-person perspective game where
you shoot aliens. Morning, noon and night I found myself playing to
get away. With a headset and blanket over my head and monitor, I
had a virtual reality game going. I could challenge friends over my
spiffy $300 14.4 modem. The addiction had come back stronger, and I
was taking it in like binge drinking. Soon I knew the game like my
own house. Thank God it was summer.
High school brought me back to sport-playing sanity. Ever since
I stopped playing Doom, the addiction hasn’t been as strong. You
could say I’ve become a casual drinker of gaming (except I don’t
drink). In fact, I’ve been playing FIFA 98, a soccer game that
encouraged me to try it out in real life. I also bought Final
Fantasy VII, a role-playing adventure game with a great
end-of-the-world storyline that brought me to tears two weeks ago.
I’m really not addicted!
Even though you’d probably attribute it only to computer geeks,
an addiction such as mine isn’t really that unusual. Truthfully,
the video game industry is geared toward all males in my age
bracket.
You know the players are mainly male because of the beautiful
packaging they sell these games in. Have you seen Tomb Raider? How
about the ads in some magazines? Marketing for video games often
includes large-breasted women wearing tight blouses. Lara Croft is
so popular that she made it onto Time magazine! On the other hand,
they’re definitely not catering to the female audience unless you
count all the Barbie games that I find inferior to your average,
male-oriented video game. Fortunately, that is beginning to
change.
Battling all over the country are people playing multi-player
video games. These are games one plays by hooking up to the
Internet and challenging other people. Similar to the chat room
phenomenon, the Internet gaming fad is "Godzilla" big. On a
weekday, Battle.net (a multi-player gaming establishment owned by
Blizzard Entertainment), has nearly 15,075 users, 4,435 matches and
3,549 chat rooms going on simultaneously.
People from New York are pounding on Texans. A Californian is
pulverizing somebody from Sweden! These numbers are indicative of
the business they have 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even in
the middle of the night the numbers are still over half of what I
quoted. My friend Ilya goes to Powell Library and plays StarCraft
addictively instead of getting his degree. Ilya, please stop
blowing up other people’s tanks and eat something!
If one asks a gamer why he or she plays, their answer shouldn’t
surprise you. When times are rough, some people eat, or in this
case, they play video games. Stress can be relieved by doing
something a person enjoys – such as playing a video game.
A lot of people play games such as Quake or Doom because
shooting at things helps release their anger and aggression. My
friend used to punch walls and trees till he bled, but Doom really
keeps him sedated. Some people play games because there isn’t
anything else to do. One can’t always play basketball in the rain
or at the office. Maybe even the sexual content of games has
something to do with it. There are some guys (and gals) out there
who check out Lara Croft in Tomb Raider with their fancy
3D-accelerated computer systems (I’m jealous) and just stare at her
(evil grin).
For many, the introduction of playing on the Internet has
brought about tournaments that often have cash prizes for being the
best. People compete with each other, eliminating the weak and
mindless until the strong and cunning battle it out for the
pinnacle of video game greatness.
Video games were solely for personal glory and fame until
American Micro Devices, a microprocessor company, changed
everything by creating the Professional Gamer’s League (PGL).
Because of the PGL, players are now making money. The PGL’s
inaugural contest this year was given enormous media coverage. Big
names like IBM and Microsoft were sponsors, and the winners
suddenly became advertising icons with one guy named "Deep Blue,"
similar to IBM’s chess playing phenom that beat Gary Kasparov.
USC dorms used to have a $1,000 prize for the best player in
Command and Conquer, a game of modern military warfare. Battle.net
recently awarded the top StarCraft ladder players thousands of
dollars for being the best in space warfare. The addiction is even
more attractive with money involved.
Never think for a minute that video gaming doesn’t have bad
consequences. One may notice weight gain on the participants if
they’re heavily addicted. This is from sitting a little too long. I
developed a slight case of carpal tunnel syndrome from using the
keyboard too much. One could easily find pain in my fingers and
wrists from one too many keystrokes. Sitting too close to the
screen might hurt your eyes and earn you prescription glasses in
the near future. Unfortunately, some can’t even play video games
because of epilepsy and the seizures which result from seeing
flashing images.
Not only physical, but psychological effects are even exhibited.
Previously in the Daily Bruin Classifieds, a psychological study
searched for people who would play video games for hundreds of
dollars in compensation. My favorite syndrome of video game playing
is what I call Directionally Unexpected Movement Bending, or DUMB
for short. It occurs when people are playing a jet simulator and
they’re leaning the way they’re pressing the buttons to make their
plane go. It’s hilarious (grin).
Video games are great in moderation. Now that I’m done with this
article, I can play soccer on my computer. USA vs. Iran – I know I
can win and advance to the World Cup – really!Yan isn’t addicted to
video games, but to his mathematics of computation major. Friends
describe him as "That boy is whacked" and "There’s no help for this
lad." Know where these lines come from? E-mail him at
meyan@ucla.edu.