Video game addiction?

[decepticobra]

does anyone else have even a mild video game addiction?, or had one at one point?

I had one for a while, went on for about 5 years. I still do love and play games, but Im talking about a rampant addiction.

There for a while I was buying one video game a week, usually it was a PS2 game. (I now have over 100 ps2 games in my collection). It just seemed like anytime I went into a store like walmart, best buy, etc for something else I couldnt resist the urge to walk on over to the video game section and peruse their inventory.

and id look for a game i didnt have, a game i always wanted, or a good deal... and next thing I knew I was swiping my credit card at the register.

the only way i found to curb my addiction was not to invest in the current 7th generation of consoles...which i own none of.



.......yet.

[RedDirt717]

In high school I used to get into online war games, where you get an air plane or tank or any number of war vehicles and try to eliminate other teams of the like.

I played that for a summer pretty much non stop and missed football two a days because of it. After getting benched the first half of the season I decided to drop it and move on.

I play a video game of two every so often, sometimes on weekends during the summer when there is nothing better to watch on TV then baseball, poker, or shark week on discovery. I mostly just read books now, I read about a book a week.

[Karried]

I used to love playing Halo 2 Team Swat - Live ... I loved that game and could play for hours on end! But, it just sort of fizzled out when I found I didn't have enough time to do other things I needed to do, like work.. lol

Now I play RockBand with the kids but that's about it ...

[so1rfan]

Video game addiction would be those World of Warcraft players that let it totally eclipse their real life.

I have played many video games in my day and have owned many systems. I also stopped with the next-gen systems (although we do own a Wii) because of a couple of reasons, cost being one of them. Not only the system but the games themselves.

But the main reason I stopped is I can no longer play for more than fifteen minutes due to severe arthritis. My hands don't quite work that well anymore, I had to give up golf also.

[MsDarkstar]

I play World of Warcraft but I don't let it consume me. I've played it since launch, and really enjoy it but I do go out & do other things lol.

[venture]

Warcraft? Addictive? NEVER!

Granted to some its just a video game, if you get into raiding then it develops into more than that as you start getting to know people - especially those that live near you and such.

[DaveSkater]

We own a ps3, xbox360, wii, xbox, ps2, PSP, DS and DSi, and several thousands of dollars worth of games (also a couple of tricked out PC's with all the good stuff).

I'd rather go skate the bowls! That's my addiction!

[MadMonk]

I used to play strategy games, shooters and flight sims on the PC, but lately I just play Rock Band on the XBox 360 with the kids.

[mugofbeer]

I have an addition to this ***** site! I don't play video games for the express reason that I know I will become addicted to them like I was pinball in college.

[PennyQuilts]

I've had three different guardian ad litem kids over the years that were so addicted to video games that they refused to go to school and would get violent when their parents tried to take the games away. I'm serious - they each went months without going to school until they finally just refused, outright. They would stay up all night playing games and then refuse to get up in the morning. Parents would go to work and the kids would go back to bed or just refuse to get up, at all. All three of these kids (and they didn't have any connection to each other) destroyed their parents' computer in fits of rage when they lost their video games as discipline - and that is just one thing they had in common. They destroyed lots of things. The police were called to drag their butts out of bed on more than one occasion - not that I think that is necessarily a good idea. Not surprisingly, none of them had good interpersonal skills. All three were middle school age - two boys and a girl. The girl ended up going to a place where there was gaming going on face to face and the interaction really helped her to kick her addiction. The boys had a harder time. I'd drag my kids to Montana or somewhere and put them to work on a pig ranch, if need be. This was one addiction that I had a heck of a time getting even the therapists to address. I suspect it will become more accepted as a true addiction in the future. I personally think that with young kids, it does some weird wiring in their brain circuitry.

[Karried]

How ridiculous. Some people should never ever be allowed to have children.

[PennyQuilts]

I said their "parents'" computers but actually, two of the three had gone through a divorce in the past two years and had let junior/juniorette slide on school for months out of guilt and being overwhelmed with the changes and financial hits they'd taken as a result. Just when parents need to make sure the kids have structure (after thier lives are turned upside down in a divorce), so many parents throw out all the rules and want to be their child's firend since they are feeling guilty and are competing with their ex for the child's affection. I generally tell the parents that they are suffering from temporary insanity.

[Thunder]

The final system that I've ever was addicted to play on was N64. They did not last long since Sony came out with their PS to attack the N64. I still hold a grudge against Sony and refuse to play any of their PS's.

Anything before N64, I had and played. I have never touch a Cube, xBox, or anything else after the N64/Playstation sensation.

[decepticobra]

The final system that I've ever was addicted to play on was N64. They did not last long since Sony came out with their PS to attack the N64. I still hold a grudge against Sony and refuse to play any of their PS's.

Anything before N64, I had and played. I have never touch a Cube, xBox, or anything else after the N64/Playstation sensation.

You have your history mixed up. The PS came out in 1995, the N64 came out in 1996.

The history you speak of actually occured when Sony was in the process of developing a CD add-on peripheral for the Super NES. Nintendo feared Sony's involvement in the video game business and dumped their partnership on developing the CD drive and went to Philips instead to develop the drive. The CD drive never came into fruition though.However, Sony felt scorned by this decision and declared to strike vengeance against Nintendo by coming out with their first salvo: The Playstation.

The N64 was indeed a great system, but developers saw it was easier, and cheaper to develop games for the PS than N64, so most of the developers hopped on Sony's boat instead, and thats where Nintendo suffered. Most of the best games for the N64 were developed by Nintendo, Rareware and Midway..which sadly wasnt enough support.

[Thunder]

Ahh, okay. All I remember was seeing N64 then PS. lol

Yeah, I don't think Sony and Microsoft should've ever gotten into this industry. I'd prefer it was left alone for Nintendo. They all want a piece of the money out there.

[MadMonk]

I went from an old N64 to an XBox and now the XBox360. I was a bit concerned when I read reviews that said they were very unreliable, constantly breaking down, etc., but my 360 has been rock solid. I did have to replace the DVD drive in the original XBox once and purchased a replacement online for $20. I still have it and it works fine too.

I think the 360 will be the last system I buy for a while.

[decepticobra]

Ive got both PS2 and XBOX and although I do favor PS2 a bit more I honestly try to like my XBOX too, but the damn thing has a mind of its own whenever it wants to decide which discs it wants to read and which ones it doesnt. I maintain my discs meticulously clean, and it still gives me problems.

I swapped out my used xbox for another used xbox at gamestop, and it doesnt have too much of that issue, but still does every now and then.

The console is friggin huge! It looks like a 400lb robotic gorilla left a poopie in my living room. Sony has released a slim version of every console they made but im afraid the xbox could use a redesigned slim version as well. Having a built-in hard drive is nice since I dont need to buy memory cards, but Id rather buy memory cards for it if they only made a slimmer version..and one that can read discs every time i pop one in it.

[MadMonk]

Ive got both PS2 and XBOX and although I do favor PS2 a bit more I honestly try to like my XBOX too, but the damn thing has a mind of its own whenever it wants to decide which discs it wants to read and which ones it doesnt. I maintain my discs meticulously clean, and it still gives me problems.

That was the reason I replaced the dvd drive. The replacement has worked perfectly (knock on wood). I really don't know why I keep the old XBox though. Nearly all my XBox games play fine on the 360.

[nik4411]

Ahh, okay. All I remember was seeing N64 then PS. lol

Yeah, I don't think Sony and Microsoft should've ever gotten into this industry. I'd prefer it was left alone for Nintendo. They all want a piece of the money out there.

Personally I feel that would have been terrible! Playstation and PS2 had so many classic games.

[decepticobra]

Personally I feel that would have been terrible! Playstation and PS2 had so many classic games.

yup! psone gave us grand theft auto, metal gear solid, final fantasy VII & VIII, gran turismo, resident evil and silent hill.

-nuff said.

[Lord Helmet]

I collect classics (Atari etc) and play all the modern stuff. I'm usually too busy during the week, but weekends I spend quite a bit of time with my Xbox 360. Wife plays too. We actually had to get a second system so we could each play

[decepticobra]

I collect classics (Atari etc) and play all the modern stuff. I'm usually too busy during the week, but weekends I spend quite a bit of time with my Xbox 360. Wife plays too. We actually had to get a second system so we could each play

atari 2600 can be addictive. just hooking it up and playing it throws you into a world of nostalgia and the easy to understand gameplay switches on the addiction.

theres so many programmers out there that are designing their own homebrew games for the atari 2600 even to this very day. they attempt to compress as much as they can into the system. minimalism is a blessed thing.

[Bunty]

How ridiculous. Some people should never ever be allowed to have children.

I know. So I didn't!

[decepticobra]

anyone played red dead redemption yet? is it worth all the hype its been getting?

[Euphoria]

I was addicted to EQ at one point. Finally quit when I realized that it wasn't fun anymore unless I was drunk and playing. Then I played WoW for a while...and by a while I mean from release to this Jan. Had a bunch of "RL" stuff come up, let my account lapse, and haven't touched it since.

Funny how much time I have on my hands now that I don't feel the need to raid 20 hours a week.