Korean Addiction and....

Today's lecture on 'censorship in video games' was very interesting (as all the other lectures....haha ^^). Kevin's lecture- not forgetting to underline again his help of such easily understandable examples of various, complex ideas and academic concepts- provided a trigger for me to recall the importance of various audience-reception models of media such as the hypodermic model or the 'uses and gratification model.' Moreover the emphasis on 'hypodermic model' and the quotes of the infamous Jack Thompson (iI will NOT be like him! lol) was comprehensive enough. On the other hand I had to partly agree that such 'passive media effect' of video games can HARM people in other ways.

While Thompson was a 'hilarious' figure in arguing that the Virginia Tech murder was heavily influenced by gun-shooting game (i.e. Counter Strike)- simulating or rehearsing violence via virtual world- it may be a minor aspect but while I was doing a research on a video-game essay few years ago, I actually included the reference (via a CNN or ABC interview I recall) that mates of Cho Seung-Hui- the 'protagonist' or the murderer of the massacre- have in fact witnessed him playing the popular first-shooter game Counter Strike occasionally. It 'may' have supported him to 'rehearse' his prodigious plan (just like what Thompson argues) but this is could also be implied as an assumption because we don't (at least myself) specifically know how his socio-phsycological status was. I must criticise Thompson's rather rash argument in which states 'it is because of the VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES' - Even Kevin evinced in the lecture with the help of statistic evidence that the violence have not decreased for the past decades in Western countries.

What I am concerned more about is the so-called 'addiction' of certain games.

Well, I am from Korea- a country known to be equipped with the most developed 'IT' in the world, i.e.) the fastest internet/3G/4G connection speed or the most internet users in the world in regards to the users:population ratio. As many of you guys be well aware, multiplayer(online) gaming is huge in Korea. One of the best examples can be explored through Blizzard's real-time stretagy game, Starcraft- We even have the so-called 'gaming channels' on Cable-TV that broadcasts battles of pro-gamers 24/7. The emergence and subsequent popularity of 'Pro-gamers' are obviously influential here and I can assure you with confidence that in general, Koreans are the best Starcraft players (or even Warcraft perhaps) in the world. (I personally don't feel too proud though...^^;;).

This is just a mere example of many facets that how some (or perhaps majority? haha.) Korean people take games 'serious.' However, the problem lies here. After all 'pro-gamers' such as the 'king' Lim Yo-Han(ID: SlayerS_BoxeR) or 'Genius Terran' Lee Yoon-Yeol(ID: oGsNaDa) are deemed as massive celebrities in Korea.- They even get paid considerably more than popular Rugby players here in NZ.

A lot of 'ordinary' people in Internet cafes (PC Bang) now passionately plays Starcraft to immitate their role-models' fast-hands skills and unique stretagies- this becomes a great addiction even based on my experience(and my 'gamer' friend Phil Kang..lol ^^)- People watch the pro-gamers' clips on Youtube '12/7' and immitate/ play it out the rest '12/7,' hence accumulating to 24/7. By watching their play, we get to think- Are they real humans just like us? they are GODS!!- a great motivation to become like them.

Hence an extreme addiction are somewhat inevitable- which is a big fascinating problem. Unfortunately I occasionally saw Korean news that reported 'young men' dying while playing Starcraft due to dehydration, having excessive amount of smoke or not eating anything because he was so 'immersed' to the game. In my opinion, while video game violence is a major discourse, 'addiction or perhaps an 'excessive immersion, is another seriousness. Frankly, I have a lot to say about 'gaming in Korea- and its gamers' but I just want to ostensibly touch on this 'addictive' aspect of the video games that potentially influences an individual(s). After all, what I want to convey is that genrally speaking, 'addiction' to a game is also serious as 'effect of violence' in video games. ^^