Some kids are more prone to addiction than others, and based on this report in TechNewsWorld, it's the players most in need of positive reinforcement who are more prone. The reward systems built into videogames are what make them so addictive, the article cites psychologists as saying – for example when the game tells a player he's done a good job. AOL Games recently conducted a study that found … [Read more...] about Latest on ‘game addiction’
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Game addiction & escapism
"Unable to pass tough university entrance exams and under intense pressure from his parents to study harder, 20-year-old Kim Myung gradually retreated to the one place where he could still feel invincible," reports the Washington Post. That's online alternate-reality games, it adds, not saying which one Kim was into (he gained 10 pounds over four months of subsisting on a bowl of instant noodles a … [Read more...] about Game addiction & escapism
‘Neopets addiction’ ok for your kid?
Before one even looks at Neopets.com's numbers it's clearly a phenomenon: designed by a young British couple who love animals, art, and writing software code, marketed by an American who based its business model on the teachings of Scientology and trademarked the phrase "immersive advertising," and acquired by Viacom last June for $160 million. Then there are those user numbers, 25 million members … [Read more...] about ‘Neopets addiction’ ok for your kid?
‘Net addiction’: More ‘patients’
Some mental-health professionals are calling it "Internet addiction disorder," others are calling it a fad. Whatever, it's increasingly in the news. Citing Dr. Hilarie Cash's practice in Redmond, Wash., the New York Times reports that she and other specialists treating this problem (e.g., Dr. Kimberly Young in Bradford, Pa., and Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack in Belmont, Mass.) - which skeptics like … [Read more...] about ‘Net addiction’: More ‘patients’
‘Videogame addiction’ in Korea
The addiction question is a perennial, most recently raised again by the Associated Press in Seoul. There appear to be downsides to being "the world's most wired country," in which 70% of the population has broadband Net access. Korea is where a 28-year-old cybercafe gamer died after nearly 50 straight hours of playing the multiplayer online game Starcraft (see our coverage) and where 27-year-old … [Read more...] about ‘Videogame addiction’ in Korea