Don’t laugh at me, but I just recently got into Pokemon, the platinum version – I know I’m about ten years late. And ironically, just as I was at the peak of my engagement with the game, the addiction lecture rolled around. I was so into Pokemon that I actually left during the second half of that Addiction lecture so I can go home and play Pokemon. I wouldn’t consider myself addicted but depending on how one defines ‘problematic’ use then I admit there are aspects of my gaming habits that are slightly problematic. One of the things that define problematic use of games is the negative effects gaming can have on other aspects of our lives due to neglect from excessive gaming. If I want to be dramatic and push it a little then I would say I qualify in that category as lately I have been neglecting more important areas of my life such as my academic progress in favour of catching em’ all. But the other criteria of problematic use assure me that I am not “addicted”. Another condition for problematic use is the inability for one to stop and walk away from the games. Well I don’t have that problem because I’ve never tried.
I recognise how addiction discourse has been overhyped to the point that mainstream media proclaims that addiction to videogames leads to dementia.... in children. It is very difficult to conduct a non biased study in this area and studies are often mistaken in giving causation instead of correlation to findings. However, from personal experience, I do believe that players can get a little obsessed with games. I think an aspect of games that really gets you thinking about games even when you are not playing it is the fact that the narratives of games are not fixed and you have agency to alter it. Unlike other media forms such as books and films, we do not ruminate over how we are going to advance the narrative. In this way I believe games toy with our minds because we are constantly trying to figure out things, we are always negotiating our experiences and we always want to catch em’ all.
When I was little my first gameboy colour game was Pokemon Blue, I played that game almost every day. at the age of 7 or 8 I played over 300 hours into that pokemon game. I caught them all and it was the first game I ever beat 100%
ReplyDeletesome people may have said that's obsessive, but I would say it is more of a passion. That experience of playing games was when I truly considered myself a 'gamer'
Pokemon Blue changed my life. Is that sad?