Persistent Gaming or Computer Game Addiction?
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios


Defined Tag: Computer Game Addiction.

There is much debate as to whether computer game addiction is an addiction atall, in the same terms whereby other addictions such as to alcohol and drugs, etc, are concerned; but whatever the status of it as definition it is fair to say that some people are prone to behaving as if their computer games were an addiction and, as such, this would have to be considered a problem. In fact there are many ways in which a person might appear to become ‘addicted’ to their computing activities; workaholics who use a computer might be considered to be among this group, then there are those who appear addicted to surfing the internet, or online forums, or gambling, or any number of other online or computing activities. The ‘addiction’ or ‘addictive behaviour’ is in the person and not in the medium itself; there is nothing inherently addictive about computer games, any more than there is in any other activity.

Computer games are designed to be played, and many of them take a long time to finish. Much like a film, the game occurs within a ‘storyline’ which carries the player along, at once engaging with the problems and challenges of the present moment but also aware of what has been already achieved within the game and an anticipation of goals ahead. As an example, if a television station were to run every episode of a ‘cliff-hanger’ series back to back over a period of days, there is likely to be a small number of people who would be unable to pull themselves away from watching it in its entirety. Similarly, there are those who find it difficult to pull themselves away from the ongoing excitement and adventure of a well designed game and to voluntarily withdraw themselves from it is very hard.

With high speed internet connections such as broadband and ADSL now commonly available, the online computer game has gained in popularity and use. On the one hand there are the ‘turn’ or ‘round’ based games which pitch players against each other, either individually or in teams, for specified periods or until specified goals are achieved: current, popular examples are games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, and Counterstrike. Players of such games will play over and over again in order to build a reputation which, in itself, often bestows a level of ‘kudos’ or ‘street cred’ which is considered desirable by gamers. The other main form of online games is the MMORPG, or Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game, which are, as the name implies, vast game scenarios which exist in real time and never end. Both forms seem to encourage persistent use and, possibly, computer game addiction.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.