Nasadus
Premium
- 2,109
- Netherlands
- Nasadus-NL
- Nasadus
Games intrude on real-world lives
Alex Murdoch in Brisbane
JANUARY 14, 2005
THE internet game playing revolution has been touted as a whole new world of social interaction between players around the globe, but it may have been at the of real-world relationships.
Griffith University Cyber Studies lecturer Jason Nelson said some people become so immersed in their artificial worlds they completely ignore their partners, family and friends.
"I met a 23-year-old woman carrying a baby on train (in the United States) and she was leaving her husband because he was basically addicted to online gaming," he said.
"She said he would literally just ignore them and he was spending all of his money on actually doing online gaming and eventually she just got of it."
Australian Counselling Association president Phillip Armstrong said more and more people were coming into his practice, and those of colleagues, to address rifts caused by excessive game playing.
"It certainly gets brought up a lot more in relationship issues now than it ever has been before," he said.
"I have a lot more parents now seeing me about their kids - they're having to negotiate contracts with the computers or consoles and we're actually now seeing the same problem with adults."
Mr Armstrong said the biggest problem with the PC, Sony's Playstation 2, Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo Game Cube games was their ability to addict players. "It's something I would never have seen 10 years ago as a counsellor, and it's only going to get worse," he said.
Online gaming allows console and computer owners the chance to play and talk with friends and strangers anywhere in the world, via broadband internet.
One of the advantages of the online phenomena, or disadvantages depending on your perspective, is a player's ability to hook up at any time of the day or night and be assured of an abundance of like-minded competitors or allies.
Mr Nelson said while Xbox and PlayStation 2 had a huge following and could be classed as addictive, they were no where near as all-consuming as some PC games.
He said one prime example was the game Everquest, where people built up the strength and weaponry of their online personas by finding treasures and battling enemies.
"They actually sell them on eBay," Mr Nelson said. "Some of these characters, which are just digital characters that you can use on the online gaming, they go for thousands of dollars.
"So for some people it's really been a strong source of their time and has really captured their identity." Mr Nelson said it was not uncommon for some people to stay online for 10-12 hours per day.
Mr Armstrong said these players were often building up intimate relationships with complete strangers without even realising it.
"They're developing not so much a sexual but it certainly is an intimate relationship when they're spending more hours on a computer or console talking to someone than they do with their own partner," he said.
"And that's when it starts to have an impact on relationships."
Mr Armstrong said often players had no idea how addicted they had begun until confronted with reality by a third party.
"Always the last person you listen to is your partner, because they're nagging and you feel they've got an agenda ... and therefore they're not going to be objective," he said.
He said another adult tactic was to approach people asking for their views on the matter until they found someone with the same view.
"Then they just throw it in your face to justify it," Mr Armstrong said.
"It then becomes a case of 'So and so is doing it - everybody's doing it, so what's your problem?'."
Mr Armstrong said sometimes it took a counsellor stepping in to make the partner wake up to themselves. But Mr Nelson said the gaming revolution was here to stay and would only get more realistic as virtual reality technology became readily available.
He said, however, the news was not all bad. Mr Nelson said the gaming technology had a wide variety of applications including medical therapy, rehabilitation and research and development.
"It's one of those things where it's almost like the technology is moving too fast for us to really be able to grasp and understand the implications," he said.
"One thing we need to ask ourselves though, is 'Is communicating in cyberspace any less real that talking to friends and family face-to-face'."
Mr Armstrong agreed gaming was now entrenched in modern society.
He said the only solution was for couples and parents to set boundaries, such as time limits, and to agree to stick to them.
"It may only be an hour once or twice a week and a bit more time on the weekend, we negotiate that, and also what are you going to give back to your partner in return," he said.
Mr Armstrong said the non-gaming partner had to be rewarded for their continued forbearance.
"Regardless of the outcome, if one partner thinks there is a problem it means there is a problem - and it has to be dealt with before it becomes a relationship breaker," he said.
One parent had a different and final solution in mind. A recent classified add in Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper offered an Xbox console complete with Halo 2 (the biggest selling current Xbox game), five other games, a year's subscription to Xbox live and some controllers.
The entire package, valued at several hundred dollars, was for sale for $25 "as punishment to a naughty child".
AAP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your thoughts?
Alex Murdoch in Brisbane
JANUARY 14, 2005
THE internet game playing revolution has been touted as a whole new world of social interaction between players around the globe, but it may have been at the of real-world relationships.
Griffith University Cyber Studies lecturer Jason Nelson said some people become so immersed in their artificial worlds they completely ignore their partners, family and friends.
"I met a 23-year-old woman carrying a baby on train (in the United States) and she was leaving her husband because he was basically addicted to online gaming," he said.
"She said he would literally just ignore them and he was spending all of his money on actually doing online gaming and eventually she just got of it."
Australian Counselling Association president Phillip Armstrong said more and more people were coming into his practice, and those of colleagues, to address rifts caused by excessive game playing.
"It certainly gets brought up a lot more in relationship issues now than it ever has been before," he said.
"I have a lot more parents now seeing me about their kids - they're having to negotiate contracts with the computers or consoles and we're actually now seeing the same problem with adults."
Mr Armstrong said the biggest problem with the PC, Sony's Playstation 2, Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo Game Cube games was their ability to addict players. "It's something I would never have seen 10 years ago as a counsellor, and it's only going to get worse," he said.
Online gaming allows console and computer owners the chance to play and talk with friends and strangers anywhere in the world, via broadband internet.
One of the advantages of the online phenomena, or disadvantages depending on your perspective, is a player's ability to hook up at any time of the day or night and be assured of an abundance of like-minded competitors or allies.
Mr Nelson said while Xbox and PlayStation 2 had a huge following and could be classed as addictive, they were no where near as all-consuming as some PC games.
He said one prime example was the game Everquest, where people built up the strength and weaponry of their online personas by finding treasures and battling enemies.
"They actually sell them on eBay," Mr Nelson said. "Some of these characters, which are just digital characters that you can use on the online gaming, they go for thousands of dollars.
"So for some people it's really been a strong source of their time and has really captured their identity." Mr Nelson said it was not uncommon for some people to stay online for 10-12 hours per day.
Mr Armstrong said these players were often building up intimate relationships with complete strangers without even realising it.
"They're developing not so much a sexual but it certainly is an intimate relationship when they're spending more hours on a computer or console talking to someone than they do with their own partner," he said.
"And that's when it starts to have an impact on relationships."
Mr Armstrong said often players had no idea how addicted they had begun until confronted with reality by a third party.
"Always the last person you listen to is your partner, because they're nagging and you feel they've got an agenda ... and therefore they're not going to be objective," he said.
He said another adult tactic was to approach people asking for their views on the matter until they found someone with the same view.
"Then they just throw it in your face to justify it," Mr Armstrong said.
"It then becomes a case of 'So and so is doing it - everybody's doing it, so what's your problem?'."
Mr Armstrong said sometimes it took a counsellor stepping in to make the partner wake up to themselves. But Mr Nelson said the gaming revolution was here to stay and would only get more realistic as virtual reality technology became readily available.
He said, however, the news was not all bad. Mr Nelson said the gaming technology had a wide variety of applications including medical therapy, rehabilitation and research and development.
"It's one of those things where it's almost like the technology is moving too fast for us to really be able to grasp and understand the implications," he said.
"One thing we need to ask ourselves though, is 'Is communicating in cyberspace any less real that talking to friends and family face-to-face'."
Mr Armstrong agreed gaming was now entrenched in modern society.
He said the only solution was for couples and parents to set boundaries, such as time limits, and to agree to stick to them.
"It may only be an hour once or twice a week and a bit more time on the weekend, we negotiate that, and also what are you going to give back to your partner in return," he said.
Mr Armstrong said the non-gaming partner had to be rewarded for their continued forbearance.
"Regardless of the outcome, if one partner thinks there is a problem it means there is a problem - and it has to be dealt with before it becomes a relationship breaker," he said.
One parent had a different and final solution in mind. A recent classified add in Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper offered an Xbox console complete with Halo 2 (the biggest selling current Xbox game), five other games, a year's subscription to Xbox live and some controllers.
The entire package, valued at several hundred dollars, was for sale for $25 "as punishment to a naughty child".
AAP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your thoughts?
So , I need to practice staying away from GTP for a while.
