The Problems and Puzzles of Internet Gaming Abuse

Transcription

1 The Problems ad Puzzles of Iteret Gamig Abuse Peter Churchill AHS Metal Health ad Addictio Why Talk About It? Media cocers Impacted families Eormous popularity Impact o youth New ad ufamiliar How Popular are Videogames? Movies i 2008 Videogames i billio reveue 9.5 billio reveue 2008 iphoe sales 4 millio uits 2008 Portable game sales 13.4 millio uits 1

2 Summary: The Cocers Violet ad/or Crimial behaviour Log hours of play Apparet compulsive, depedet or addictive patters Summary: The Debate Is t this just a hobby? Ca a game really be a addictio? Does every poor choice eed a diagosis? What s so great about it ayway? If harm is doe, who is doig it? Is etertaimet just chagig? What are these games? Solo Play Typically a set story takig hours to complete Less etertaimet per dollar Usually the same experiece every time Whe it s over, it s over Easier to set aside Multiplayer or Team Play Typically ope eded Rage of goals/tasks More etertaimet per dollar Differet every time Competig agaist real people Co-operatig with real people Harder to set aside 2

3 Narrative Structures Liear: Evets tell oe or more set stories, with goals i a more or less prescribed order Sadbox: Characters ad story elemets ca be ecoutered i ay order, usually o large ope maps, possibly affectig optios ad outcomes Shooters 1 st Perso or 3 rd Perso Poit-of-View Typical themes may be military, police, crimial, survival, or a combiatio 4 millio pre-orders $300 millio 1 st week sales 8 millio copies i 2007 Bigger first day the biggest movie weeked ever ("Spider-Ma 3") ad the fial "Harry Potter" book's first day sales Box office dropped 27% Movies ow schedule aroud game releases Halo 3 3

4 Call of Duty 4 7 millio copies sold i oly the first 2 moths The subject of the Fifth Estate feature Top Gu, o the death of Brado Crisp Supports competitive team play for cash prizes Grad Theft Auto IV 3.6 millio copies i its first day Most reveue ever geerated by a etertaimet product i 24 hours: $310 millio $500 millio i first week sales 11 millio uits sold i first moth Life Simulators Typically cocered with balacig a variety of eeds, goals, or other variables The Sims 2: 100 millio copies sold Secod Life: a immersive, persistet social etwork world with 15 millio members 4

5 Strategy Games Typically games of large-scale military or cultural coquest, takig 3-10 hours Similar to board games like Risk or Diplomacy Tur-Based or Real-Time Role Playig Games (RPG) Creatig a whole character icludig ame, appearace, skills, occupatio, ad ethics Typically a sciece fictio or fatasy story i which the player s character turs out to be cetral to the plot as hero or villai Massively Multiplayer Olie Role Playig Games (MMORPG) World sized & Immersive Persistet & Realtime Populated primarily with players, ot AI Subscriptio Pay to Play 62% Market Share Over 10 Millio Subscribers 5

6 What would be ormal? The Public 15.3 hours/week olie 21.4 hours/week of TV (>1986 by 3 hours) Of 80 hours free per week, assume youth sped at least 30-40% with electroic etertaimet MMORPG Players 22 hours/week of play 8 hours/week of TV 60% had played 10+ hours at a time 50% say they are addicted What s the appeal? Escape Fatasy Power Sesatio Novelty Excitemet Networkig Idetity recreatio Itermittet reiforcemet Social Networkig Facebook 175 millio members MySpace 106 millio members Twitter 6 millio members Adult Fried Fider 20 millio members Ashley Madiso 3.5 millio members 6

7 The Dagers: Icidets to date 2005: Lee Seug Seop of S. Korea dies after 50 hours of Starcraft 2007: Xu Yua of Chia dies after 7 days of olie gameplay; ot the last Chiese game death 2008: A piao teacher from Miyazaki Japa murders her husbad i a olie life simulator 2008: Breda Crisp of Otario dies after ruig away from home whe cut off from Call of Duty : A 15 year old Swedish boy collapses i covulsios after 20 hours of World of Warcraft 2008: Swedes ow choose computer games over sports The Dagers Behavioural Crimial Modelig Aggressio Gridig Social Isolatio Skewed iteractio Farmig Physical Irregular heart rate Iactivity Desesitizatio Sexual Degradatio Simulatio Stalkig The Violece Debate 45 years of TV Research Watchig reiforces aggressive tedecies Childre imitate Early exposure leads to later aggressio Excessive violece icreases likelihood of aggressio Viewig alters brai chemistry & fuctio Realism icreases impact Game Idustry Studies Violet viewig aloe does ot make crimials Oly 16% of players choose M for Mature 83% of kids get permissio to buy or ret 75% of parets use paretal cotrols or restrict playig time Oly 12% of parets ever moitor play 7

8 What is Addictio ayway? Fuctioal MRI studies show Process Addictios are experieced similarly to substace abuse or trauma Process Addictios stimulate the Pleasure Pathway Pleasure Decay ca occur with ay form of repeated stimulatio Adolescet brai developmet is impacted by how the hours of adolescece are spet CAGE behavioural criteria suggest some geeral similarities with substace abuse CAGE Cut dow: Have you ever felt you should Cut dow o your playig? Aoyed: Have people Aoyed you by criticizig your playig? Guilty: Have you ever felt bad or Guilty about your playig? Eye opeer: Have you ever started playig first thig i the morig? The Psychology Debate Normal or Familiar Normal Adolescet Behaviour: Explore Idetity Expel Eergy Idividuate from Family Life problems Relatioships Satisfactio Abormal or New Delays/Distorts Normal Developmet Diagosable Coditio Features similar to gamblig or por addictios Depressio/OCD New Features Better desiged for abuse tha earlier etertaimets 8

9 The Psychology Debate: Gamblig Most proposed diagostic criteria ad treatmet methodology mimic Gamblig models Actio versus Escape Diagosis ad Treatmet are profitable idustries too Eve Gamblig is classed as a Impulse Cotrol Disorder, ot Abuse or Depedecy Distrustig the Frezy Multiple lawsuits seek to prosecute game ad music producers for tee violece Game marketers themselves call products Addictive as Crack Hours of ay activity are oly oe variable i assessig Depedece, Abuse, or Addictio what are the Life Areas impacted? Vilifyig games is temptig, but it polarizes debate Game Over Treatmet cetres for videogame or olie addictios ow exist i: Swede Uited States Frace Australia Uited Kigdom Germay Japa Caada I additio, atioal health authorities i most Europea atios have ow classified videogame addictio as a legitimate treatmet cocer 9

10 The Idustry Respose from the Etertaimet Software Associatio Just a hobby for most Crack ads Coservatio of More profitable tha scree time movies Ratigs protect Ratigs protect cosumers compaies Positive aspects of Next, the Olympics gamig Social coectio Narrative developmet Fie motor skills Blame Games Gi Craze: Every ewer, cheaper, faster or more powerful recreatio fosters hysteria at regular itervals The Devil Made Me: Pealties & tragedies reduce owership Magic Bullets: Whe the wrog perso meets the wrog product Parets: Everythig is blamed o them evetually Peers: Good kids, bad frieds Big Gamig: Game idustry is a powerful lobby, with strog PR ad huge profits Rat Race: Game desig is based o Itermittet Reiforcemet Algorithms borrowed from VLTs Ucotrolled: Games are either illegal or cotrolled New Program: Gamers are the ew orm, but it seems the wired geeratio thiks ad relates differetly What we do t kow What is safe or ormal? What is the real prevalece of problem use? What is the actual average persoal or social cost? Does the Prize Moey fatasy really matter? New problems eed ew (ot re-cycled) criteria Where is the rigorous research? Fuctioal MRI studies 10

11 What should we do? Protective Factors Paretal Moitorig: Alert to ratigs & hours Social Skills: Frieds, ot frezy Pro-social activities used: Get out of the house Pro-social activities available: Expad optios Grades: Watch reports Risk Factors Age: Do t rush the ratigs Peer Risk Behaviour: Have them over Family Addictio History: Talk about risks Family Discord: Address what they re escapig from School Discoectio: Where do they fid success? Warig Label We ve chose to treat game cosoles, computers, ad the Iteret as like the TV or the telephoe, rather tha like the liquor & medicie cabiets, despite kowig that ease of access is a major hazard i adolescet use. 11