This weeks lecture on game addiction hit close to home with me. I've often described myself as a game addicted. Me and my cousin are notorious for locking ourselves up in a room for a ridiculously long amount of time. No exercise, no sunlight, and if you gotta go toilet you might aswell come back with a packet of grainwaves and a 2 litre chocolate primo. A new/rented game only adds to the ridiculousness of the situation. I pretty much tick all the boxes when it comes to the stereotype of a 'gaming addict'. After the lecture I decided to take a look at my current state of addiction and reflect on why I do these things?





At first I blamed my pride as a gamer. I find it downright embarrasing to have played a game and not finished it. If someone asks me if I've played a game that I haven't finished I just say I haven't played it. Also the pride of showing of your platinum trophies to anyone and everyone, sorta like my horse is bigger than yours, is something in its own right. Its all about game cred



But then I began to look at all the things I've sacrificed to achieve this level of gaming cred. During my game stints nutrition and exercise are the first things to go out the window. I feel physically worn out from the starvation + sleep deprivation + atrophy that hits my body. My 'real' social life also takes quite a hit. I'm known in my circle for being the guy who prefers a quite night in with my ps3 playing games and watching Jud Apatow movies to the point of being made insane instead of hitting margies. Is my engagement with gaming problematic? Or is it just another case of people 'othering' and marginalizing anything and everything not similar to themselves.