Addictive Games - Good or Bad for You?
What are addictive games?
How do you tell which games are addicting? What is the
difference between addictive games and engaging games? Or are these the same thing?
We do know that anything taken to extremes is dangerous -
even good things; like eating.
Addictive games are dangerous when they do not lead to
positive behavior - it may be just plain, neutral, harmless, waste-of-time
games.
Addicting Games and Their Effects
Harmless? Addicting games can be harmless? I don't think
so. Even if the game does not reinforce negative behaviors such as violence
and aggression, it reinforces the practice of improper use of time.
Addictive games usually consume hours and hours of the
players day. Since we usually have to sacrifice the time to do other or more
important things, playing these games reinforces the habit of time wasting
and non-production.
Addictive Games - The Problem
Game creators seem to deliberately create addictive
games. It is a competition out there in the game creation world. The more
addictive your game is the more it sells.
Many people do not find anything wrong with being
addicted to a game. However, this is bad. It demonstrates a lack of self
control, a powerlessness to controlling personal behavior.
This is definitely bad for kids, and the result of
uncontrollable gaming is usually poor academic performance, negative
behaviors, among other things.
A Warning
If you are a kid, you should think about this habit. You
cannot spend the rest of your life or the better part of your life just
following a game addiction. It may not get you into prison, but will not get
you anywhere, either.
Parents should regulate the use of addictive or addicting
games. If there is no way to regulate the playing of these games, they
should be avoided.
However, if you
get hooked on games such as
Bookworm from PopCap Games you know (at least) there is something
really positive about this addiction. One way to
un-hook yourself from a game session is to determine before you start how
much time or how many rounds you will play. Pledge to yourself and stick
with it.
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