by Daniel Cloud

Created on: April 09, 2011

The electronic entertainment of video gaming has risen from the days of mere arcade games and Atari, to a worldwide phenomenon of popular entertainment. For many kids and adults alike, gaming has become the most popular medium of entertainment beating out TV and movies. Interactive electronic media like video games have created a new recreational addiction in today's society.

The allure of video games lies in the interactive fun of the games. Rather than watching a movie, you can take control of a character and in essence, make your own movie. If you are playing the latest video games for Xbox 360, PS3, the Wii, and the PC, then you are well aware of the realism of video games. The games of today are so interactive, the mind gets lost in the reality of the game. A hypnotic state is actually reached when you are pulled into a video game's creative world.

The addictiveness of a game is directly related to that hypnotic state you achieve while playing. This is not referring to clinical hypnosis, but the way in which a video gamer is so drawn into the world of the game, that time passes by without the player even realizing it.

Blame can be thrown around like a wet sponge, and debated to no end. Die hard gamers who play games, particularly MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role-playing games) have been known to spend days glued to the screen. World of Warcraft is probably the most popular example. The game has spawned it's own detox clinic for addiction.

Whether you take that clinic seriously or not is up to your thoughts. If you take a normal awake, 16 hour day, with 8 hours of sleep, and apply how much you are playing a game, then you may find a problem. If you spent 12 hours playing a game, or even longer using caffeinated beverages to stay awake, then one would venture to say you are addicted. An alcoholic that drinks for 12 hours a day is addicted, although to a drug substance. Addiction is addiction, no matter the culprit.

So who is at fault for becoming addicted to a video game? The blame lies on the industry and the person. The video game industry has expanded into a realm that purposely markets to gamers to, in essence, fall into an addictive trap. The gamer, however, is also at fault for a lack of self-discipline. An avid gamer cannot blame Blizzard, the creator of WoW for their addiction to the game. Blizzard can be blamed for creating a game that takes a significant amount of time to advance.

A gamer's advancement toward beating or mastering a game, is his or her choice. There is a sun outside, and a real world to explore. Whether a gamer decides to spend life in a fantasy world or the real world is up to them. Just like the alcoholic cannot just blame the brewery, the addicted gamer cannot just blame the video game company.

Moderation, in its best definition, is the self-discipline to know when to stop a certain activity. If you play games for a few hours and quit to experience the real world, then you have learned to moderate your favorite recreational activity, which is gaming.

A player that gets sucked in has the option to accept and realize at any time they are wasting hours of their life in a fantasy world. No one is connected to a world of video games like a tube from "The Matrix" movie trilogy. You have the option to turn it off at any time. If you are so addicted that you lose sleep, miss life, and experience a game as your real world, then it may be time for some professional help.

Remember, no one forces you to play World of Warcraft for 12 hours. It is, you, the gamer who decides 12 hours of dedication to WoW is necessary. Living life in the real world or the dream world of video games is completely dependent on the individual.

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