Video Game

Addictions
By Levi Sherrill

Statistics
Forty-one percent of people who play online video games admitted that they played computer
games as an escape from the real world. The researchers classified seven percent of these gamers
as dependent. The authors claim that the addicted gamers used video games to modify their
moods, demonstrated tolerance, and showed signs of relapse.
Hussain (2009).

The likelihood of developing video game addiction depends on the curiosity of the player, the
inclusion of a role-playing element, feeling obligated to the team members, a sense of belonging
to an online gaming community, and rewards for playing.
Hsu (2009).

Video game addiction is associated with a strong desire to seek new sensations and experiences, a
favorable view of ones intelligence, and a negative view of the gamers ability and competence in
relationships.
Zheng (2006).

Students addicted to video games have lower academic grades than their non-addicted peers.
Chiu (2004)

Statistics (continued)

High school video game addicts in China tend to have parents with an authoritarian parenting style.
Wang (2006)

In a German sample, 1.5 3.5% of teens who use the internet were found to demonstrate symptoms of
video game addiction. Video game addiction was also found to be correlated with a higher probability of
depression, anxiety, and poorer school grades.
Peukert (2010)

In a German study, just over six percent of teenagers were classified as addicted to video games. The
majority of these addicted gamers were male, came from families with lower academic achievement, and
tended to use video games as a way of coping with negative moods.
Klaus (2008)

In another German study (using a different definition of video game addiction), it was concluded that 3%
of teenage males and 0.3% of teenage females were addicted to video games.
Rehbein (2009)

In a large study of seven thousand video gamers, close to twelve percent were classified as being
addicted to video games.
Grusser (2007)

The last three studies above which claim video game addiction rates of 6%, 3%, and 12% are good
examples of how different studies using different definitions of video game addiction can lead to very
different conclusions.

News Stories
The last two slides gave a good chunk from a list of stats on video game addiction, there
are more, but there is a time limit for this presentation, and they dont even try to
contend with the messed up story here and the others ahead.
A couple in Korea known as the Kims, due to privacy laws, met in 08 via
online dating, married, and had a baby girl. Bad idea, seeing how the husband was 41 at
the time, unemployed, and living with the parents of his wife, who was 25 and also
unemployed. Even while pregnant, they spent their time at 24-hour internet cafs,
which were known for dense clouds of cigarette smoke due to the adult gamers. In
September, three months after their baby was born, they returned from a 12-hour
gaming session and called the police to report that their baby had died. The results of
the autopsy showed that the baby was born prematurely, probably due to the
aforementioned age difference between the couple, and died from malnutrition. They
admitted to feeding her rotten powdered milk and spanking her when she cried. This
neglect was in favor of their online daughter over the Korean MMOG called PRIUS, the
very game which consumed their time at those cafs, causing them to leave their baby
alone and unfed. This makes no sense seeing how they lived with the wifes parents, so
they couldve taken care of her, but they opted to be just as guilty and idiotic as their
daughter and son-in-law instead. Similar stories have, for lack of a better phrase,
played out in Brazil, China, Vietnam, and even here in the United States.

News Stories (continued)

In 07, a man named Xu Yan died in Jinzhou, China after
playing for more than two weeks persistently during the Lunar
New Year holiday.
Also in 07, a 13-year-old boy in Vietnam was accused of
robbing and murdering an 81-year-old woman and arrested,
confessing he needed money to play online games.
A boy named Shawn Woolley committed suicide due to the
game Everquest; his mom said the suicide was due to a
character in the game he called iluvyou rejecting or
betraying him; that is tragic irony at its apex.
16-year-old Gabriel Leao in Rio was hit by a bus, put in a coma
for 4 days, and died, because he was distracted by a Google
game called Ingress.

Credits
Statistics copyright
http://www.techaddiction.ca/video_game_addiction_statistics
.html
Korean story provided by
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.178897Gaming-Addiction-Leads-to-Death-of-3-Month-Old-KoreanGirl
Other stories provided by
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction#Notable
_deaths