I’ve spent the last three weeks since the GDC very deeply involved working on a chapter for the book on how we physically and mentally experience games. How do our brains react to a game? What does this have to do with how a game is designed? What about that magical word, addiction?
This is a question that’s central to “addiction,” because on some level games hijack our nervous system (why can’t it be the calm system every once in a while?). Media experience has become “why you spend too much time on the internet, the exact affect of driving with cell phone, and what games physically do which allows them to seemingly addict non-addicts.”
A few weeks ago my girlfriend was shocked to learn that I had the capacity to play from sundown to sunup. Clearly she’d never played Civilization (though being a student of Political Science and a compulsive organizer, she might want to avoid it).
As penance, I thought that it might be “fun” to work on my book ’til the sun comes up.
It’s not.
On a serious note, I apologize for not posting more. Right now I’m working on the “media experience” part of the book, also known as, “How the Hell did I just spend 3 hours browsing the internet?” It’s how games, TV, books, and other media turn our gray matter into yay matter. Why does it suck us in? I’d be happy to tell you. Later. Once it’s written.
And since it’s coming along nicely… I’m going to get back to it. The rest of this post will concern itself with quotes and kitten massage.
“Most truly interesting works of creation are products of procrastination.” (Neuropsychologists somehow stand out as some of the best writers that the world has to offer — it’s uncanny)
From a Boston Newspaper of 1865, written 11 years before Bell’s telephone (I got this from RL Gregory’s book ‘Even Odder Perceptions’)
“A man about 46 years of age giving the name of Joshua Coppersmith, has been arrested in New York for attempting to extort funds from ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device which he says will convey the human voice any distance over metallic wires so that it will be heard by the listener at the other end. He calls the instrument a ‘telephone’ which is obviously intended to imitate the word ‘telegraph’ and win the confidence of those who know the success of the latter instrument without understanding the principles on which it is based. Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires as may be done with dots and dashes of Morse code, and that, were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value.
The Authorities who apprehended this criminal are to be congratulated and it is to be hoped that his punishment will be prompt and fitting, that it may serve as an example to other conscienceless schemers who enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow creatures.
Fresh from The Korea Times [Full Article Here]. Blatant copying and pasting ensues:
A Korean venture start-up has developed an inaudible sound sequence, which it claims can prevent obsessive use of online games, thus giving hope to game addicts.
Xtive on Monday said the sound sequence is based on subliminal effects.
“We incorporated messages into an acoustic sound wave telling gamers to stop playing. The messages are told 10,000 to 20,000 times per second,’’ Xtive President Yun Yun-hae said.
“Game users can’t recognize the sounds. But their subconscious is aware of them and the chances are high they will quit playing,’’ the 35-year-old Yun said. “Tests tell us the sounds work.’’
1) Game addiction (most all addiction, for that matter) is often the result of some kind of physical or mental problem; its causes are different for everyone. Hypnosis and Subliminal messages can be a valuable tool, but really only when employed by a therapist who has background info on a patient. Random messages may help or harm, and they certainly won’t just “fix” people.
2) This is the kind of technology that would be very attractive to lawmakers looking to please voters, regardless of how effective or ineffective the technology proves to be.
3) People play games in order to have fun, and many play responsibly.
a) These games represent a creative medium, and influencing such a medium with subliminal messages represents a gross infringement on the potential of the form as well as the notion that creative expression be unregulated.
b) These games represent one of the most effective forms of leisure that we know. What if it is employed without a player’s permission or knowledge? What kinds of adverse impacts would this technology have on those who just want to enjoy themselves?
4) This program will apparently make it easy for someone to, “change the messages.” Change them to what? Buy more cheesy poofs? Each mind, each subconscious, is very different. If this technology is employed, then we would need to pay close attention to its real-world effects.
If this technology works, and it can be used judiciously, then it is worth exploring. That said, I have misgivings.
There’s sooooooooo much to talk about. So many pertinent things happened at this year’s GDC that I reserve the right to blog more later. I joined game developers, academics, and gamers for a roundtable discussion on addiction. One Blizzard employee impressed me with his comments on the Burning Crusade expansion. Also at the GDC, I talked with many people on game addiction, most notably a South Korean team of independent game designers. They had impressive things to say about the state of play in South Korea, and in speaking with them it became clear that we need a much larger emphasis on understanding international gaming culture. I interviewed developers for Dark Cave Production’s upcoming documentary, gave interviews for a few TV shows, hit parties; it was a very overwhelming experience.
The Addiction Roundtable
I finally met the games academic Dimitri Williams. He was in charge of the discussion on game addiction, and did well. I really wasn’t expecting Blizzard to weigh in, let alone send a representative. Still, they had a stance on excessive play which was right on target. Since my note-taking skills suck, I’m going to quote from the escapist’s article on the talk:
“I’m a developer for World of Warcraft,” said “Louie,” who had until this point kept his peace. “When we made some changes [to the game] in response to [certain problems], did the changes get executed because of concern for players or because there was an element of the game that wasn’t fun?
“What we wanted to address was that if there were players [with problems] that was less of a concern [than] a direct result of a gameplay mechanic that required them to [play for long periods of time].”
I’m quoted as both “Bill†and “Frank,†Shavaun is quoted as “Jenny.†If memory serves, the quotes presented in the escapist article aren’t necessarily in the order that they were spoken.
Blizzard used their expansion as an opportunity to make their game more fun. As I understand it, they weren’t going to remove a “game mechanic,†that everyone enjoys. No gamer wants that. What’s really intriguing is that they seem to be ferreting out certain mechanics which could be problematic for everyone.
For the bottom line of fun, this could be wonderful or devastating. From what I’ve seen and heard on Blizzard’s expansion, it’s more on the wonderful side. I applaud their willingness to self-evaluate and take an active interest in their product and players. Speaking of the industry in general, they’re still playing with fire. With the game dev industry’s history of trial and error, it’s easy to envision a situation where a dev, trying to make a game “less addictive,†actually removes a game mechanic that everybody enjoys. Worse yet, they unintentionally create game mechanics which make it even harder for gamers to balance play. I guess it’s alright if a few game developers, or their players, take some hits in the name of science. Still, I can’t shake this feeling that with the grand scale of MMO games, that perhaps science should be taking the hits for science.
The People at the GDC
I met many awesome people, each doing many awesome things. Scott Rigby, who I originally criticized in this blog, struck me as a very insightful researcher. I’m looking forward to reading more of his work, and possibly even collaborating on game addiction or game violence projects. Dimitri Williams, as I mentioned, had a familiarity with games that allowed him to play an excellent devil’s advocate in the addiction talk.
Bioware = awesome. All of the Bioware people that I talked with were highly engaging conversators, and more than once I found myself intentionally misallocating DCP’s chocolate chunk cookies at their GDC booth. If I do ever work making games, I would most want to work [where there’s ready access to both bacon and ketchup flavored potato chips].
I didn’t quite work up the gusto to poke my head in front of the cameras labeled MTV or G4, but I did have the urge.
All in all, my first GDC was action-packed, and filled with intriguing people. Perhaps the most interesting were a group of four South Korean students/game developers from handmadegame, who were finalists with their game “Rooms,†at the prestigious 2007 Independent Games Festival. I was staying with my sister Kjelene during the conference, and on Wednesday I got locked out of her place for about an hour. I played Rooms. It made the lockout seriously worthwhile.
South Korean Gaming – What’s the Real Picture?
I’m not so sure, anymore. In the few minutes that I spoke with these four independent developers, I learned things about the Korean gaming landscape that I had never heard in mainstream US-speaking media. It was an amazingly fun conversation. They would understand me perfectly, then talk amongst themselves in Korean, trying to figure out how to best answer. It rocked.
Here are the basics of what I learned. Some of this comes from DCP’s documentary, and I’m really hoping that those shots come out well.
-(These first two I had heard before)Professional, even Olympic-class gaming is well-established in Korea
-Arenas will commonly attract 5000 (Sometimes many more) people for gaming competitions, which are apparently free to attend and televised widely
-Each of these game developers had a favorite pro gamer, and there were fun moments where they each tried to decide on which gamer they liked best
-In news articles, I’ve seen mention that dozens of game addiction clinics have recently popped up. After speaking with these developers, I’m not entirely sure that they’re fully functional. One of the gamers had seen a game help program in a psychology-oriented research hospital (or possibly clinic), however they hadn’t seemed to have heard about the dozens recently reported in US news. I’m left more curious than I was before.
-Korea has shifted to a MMO-centric model, because piracy of PC games has become so rampant that there’s little profit in selling anything else. As a result, there are knock-offs of any and every successful game, with new MMOs being conceived and developed at every turn. Leading the pack are Lineage II, Warcraft, and other Korean MMO games, which I regrettably cannot remember the English pronunciation for. I’m not sure, but I think that one of those games was a dancing MMO called Audition.
-Like the USA, some youth understand “game addiction†differently than their parents. Admittedly, it might be because some kids have problems, but there’s something else. Games (especially mixed with the notion of addiction) are unique, and damned new. It’s not really anyone’s fault if they just don’t get it yet. It’s certainly not a gamer’s fault if they don’t get addiction. It’s a multi-disciplinary field loaded with vested interests and researchers that can only get published in single-discipline academic journals.
This was a very cool interview. The interview that I did for DCP’s documentary Gamer Chronicles gets more into game violence, addiction, and the general gaming landscape. Overall, it’s probably going to be a lot more engaging than my bullet points.
Overall, the Korean developers agreed that some players really do have problems with excessive play. They also agreed with the thought that Korea and the English-speaking countries (e.g. the USA, Canada, the UK) are major centers for the growth for gamer culture. If we’re going to learn to help the gamers that play too much, then it makes sense to learn together. I’m not just talking about cooperation between Korea and the USA. There are elements inside game addiction that deal with the human body; they impact gamers of any nationality. Understanding addiction benefits everyone.
The GDC was a very emotional experience for me. I grew up on games, and I have a deep respect for the potential of the form. At the same time, I’ve played like a crackhead more than once. Still, a hundred different developers acknowledged and validated my work on addiction. It was overwhelming, and I’m still not sure that I’ve wrapped my mind around everything that happened.
My weblog experienced major software and server problems in the last day. Most of the major bugs have been fixed, though expect minor updates throughout the day.
Edit: Most of the fundamental stuff is working. Let me know if you want to see something in particular.
One of the problems with using the word “addictive,†is that it isn’t descriptive. Addiction can mean so many different things, even to a trained medical professional. Every real drug: meth, cocaine, heroin, etc., works differently. Just ask Ecstasy Mouse. These games attract players by presenting us with a combination of many factors. We know about some of these factors because we’ve seen them before, in these other addictions. Some of them, I think, are brand spanking new.
What about physical activity and nutrition? If you sit for 10 hours a day, for a year or two, could this then possibly alter the way that your body works? Could you get used to sitting? When a game chains you to the computer, as happens when a raid guild starts working on new content, your diet can also suffer. I’ve had some really specific experiences, myself. These, and conversations with other long-time gamers have lead me to suspect that excessive couch potatory may make physical activity less appealing. This is a topic that I’ve been actively interested in for about a year and a half. This last month, though, I saw a Chiropractor for the first time in my life. He said, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody your age with a back that was this bad. You have the back of a 40 year old.†I just turned 25.
So I wanted to ask, especially the gamers out there: have you had any similar experiences? Do you, personally, think that sitting for long periods might make people more inclined to recline?
So, right. Here’s my official announcement. I’ve teamed up with Shavaun Scott to write a book on game addiction. She’s a therapist of 20 years, and has been on TV a few times talking about different kinds of online addictions. I’m an addict of 10 years, and I’ve spent the last 2 or 3 years researching game addiction. The book is going to talk about 1) What the hell is going on, and 2) How to help yourself or someone else to recover. We haven’t found a publisher, and we’re not doing this because theres loads of money in it. We’re doing this because we’ve had very serious experiences with excessive gaming, and because it’s something that everyone needs to understand sooner rather than later, whether they’re parents, therapists, researchers, gamers, or your everyday average Joe.
The people around me know that I’ve really taken a liking to television’s Craig Ferguson. This is a funny, funny man. Clearly a fake Scottish accent, but we’ll forgive him that. Since the start of the new year I’ve been having some bad experiences with gaming: endlessly grinding in World of Warcraft and playing Civ 4 for 19 hours straight. Certainly not the worst ever, but I tend to be hard on myself since I’m trying to write a book on “game addiction.†I originally watched this clip when it aired, over a week ago. It inspired me to refocus, and to write the earlier post, “Does it have to be cold turkey?”Â
Still, Craig says it better. I’m very serious, this video starts out slowly, but is worth watching.
I kept telling myself that I could learn to manage my play, but it just wasn’t the case. I realized that each attempt was an almost involuntary play at getting more game time. The same thing happens in the mind of a recovering alcoholic. Craig remembers when he heard about the new 100-something calorie Guinness. He thought, “I should go on a diet!†I hear about an honor system revamp and think, “I should get a high warlord dagger!†If you really have a certifiable problem, then the consequences are pushed to the back of your mind. You’re don’t think about the bitchy adolescents, the painful grinds or seeing sunlight at 6am after a 22 hour gaming session – you’ve got a thinking problem, and your brain is desperately trying to convince you to play.
Don’t think that I’m anti-game. I’m not. Gaming isn’t the same thing as ingesting or injecting drugs. Games can and often are used to self-medicate, yes, but they’re fundamentally a form of entertainment and expression. We need people with the vision to create alternate realities, like in games; otherwise we’ll always be living in the same boring world. Games, books and movies inspire people. They’re a driving force in struggles against racism, hunger, poverty, and other ills that arise naturally in the human condition.
And, of course, addiction is one of those problems. I don’t think that we can blame the people making the game (unless, of course, we’re talking about Rockstar Games – those guy are bastards). And I don’t think that we can blame the form. Games might be all about sex and violence now, but they’re bound to progress. Just look at the movie and television industries. The big culprit here is a lack of understanding. Society in general has a bad understanding of both games and addiction. We don’t get games, so we fear them. We have this perception that addiction is a lack of morality, and easily cured by a stint in rehab. Like Craig said, that’s horseshit. I’m sorry if I offend, but it’s the blunt and honest truth. I’ll pull the expert card – addiction is a complex mix of factors, and it’s different for everyone. Sobriety isn’t just about a month or two in rehab. Sobriety is a lifelong affair.
People recovering from an addiction need something. Get away from the computer if you can. If, like me, you’re stuck spending all day writing a groundbreaking and insightful book about videogame addiction, then use your familiarity with computers to your advantage. Personally, I’ve actually started using the gym down the street. Since I am tied to my computer, however, I chose to transform it into an exercise machine. This last week I downloaded 8 minute abs (an excellent program). I’ve also grabbed language learning CDs, books on tape, and movies that I’ve been putting off for ages. Michel Thomas has my favorite language learning CDs for French, Italian, German and Spanish – I’m not as fond of Pimselur or Ultimate for language learning. Rosetta Stone can be helpful, but personally I could only use it after I was at least a little familiar with a language. There are also all kinds of relaxation, hypnotherapy, and self-help materials out there. If gaming really doesn’t work for you, then take my advice; there’s a whole world of other options out there. You can start to pursue them right now.
More than any of it, if you really do have a problem, then find support. Like I say in the cold turkey post, and Craig Ferguson says in the above movie, recovery is a lifelong process. A bad recovery program will say, “well done, off you go!†Finding a consistent friend works, and it doesn’t cost a thing.
There’s sooooooooo much to talk about. So many pertinent things happened at this year’s GDC that I reserve the right to blog more later. I joined game developers, academics, and gamers for a roundtable discussion on addiction. One Blizzard employee impressed me with his comments on the Burning Crusade expansion. Also at the GDC, I talked with many people on game addiction, most notably a South Korean team of independent game designers. They had impressive things to say about the state of play in South Korea, and in speaking with them it became clear that we need a much larger emphasis on understanding international gaming culture. I interviewed developers for Dark Cave Production’s upcoming documentary, gave interviews for a few TV shows, hit parties; it was a very overwhelming experience.
What about physical activity and nutrition? If you sit for 10 hours a day, for a year or two, could this then possibly alter the way that your body works? Could you get used to sitting? When a game chains you to the computer, as happens when a raid guild starts working on new content, your diet can also suffer. I’ve had some really specific experiences, myself. These, and conversations with other long-time gamers have lead me to suspect that excessive couch potatory may make physical activity less appealing. This is a topic that I’ve been actively interested in for about a year and a half. This last month, though, I saw a Chiropractor for the first time in my life. He said, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody your age with a back that was this bad. You have the back of a 40 year old.†I just turned 25.