Videogame addiction - no-one is totally immune

During the lecture, someone mentioned the concept of "addictive personalities", and how technically everyone has an "addictive personality." I agree with this to some extent, because in reality, everyone is "addicted" to something, whether it be drugs, shopping or videogames. My personal "addiction" is comic books, which I read whenever I have spare time.

On the topic of video games though, they seem to be one of those things that most people are capable of becoming addicted to regardless of age, gender or gaming acumen. In my family for example, I have a younger brother who will sometimes play games for hours until he is put to bed by my parents. As a teenager, his case is not as surprising, because his demographic is probably what many popular games are aimed at. My parents however, despite being critical of my brother's video game addiction have both shown that they are both susceptible to video game addiction themselves. My brother recently got the game Morrowind a while ago for a birthday present, but my mother seems to be the one playing it more. Dad's the same, though he mainly sticks to casual games for his iPhone like Bejeweled.

I consider myself a casual gamer, but every year whenever I get a hold of the new Madden, I always end up playing it to the point that I will defer meals until I finish whatever game I am playing. Anyone who's sat down and watched a whole game of gridiron would know that that can take a while. I've also been playing GoldenEye a lot for my assignment and I've also delayed eating until I've finished certain levels. I don't play video games that often, but it just shows that you don't necessarily need to be a regular gamer to become addicted to video games. Dopamine probably played a part of it, but it plays a big role with a number of things. Watching sad movies, listening to metal, drinking and crying all release dopamine and I don't consider myself actually addicted to any of those. The views that it is due to compulsion or psychological dependence therefore must also be taken into account. My addiction to Madden is partly due to my fandom of the NFL and my dad's addiction to casual games is probably due to his stressful work days. For others, that compulsion or dependence will come from other sources.

I reckon that if you gave senior citizens smartphones and get them to start playing casual games, a number of them will get hooked even if they've never played a video game before. Games like those are designed to be fun and if they do their job, then it shouldn't be surprising that people get hooked on them, regardless of who they are. People who criticize video game addiction but play other games such as sport or card games demonstrate that having fun doing anything can become "addictive."