| > All I said is that if video games were treated the same as drugs and alcohol they would be banned for minors. Sorry, I had possibly misinterpreted this as you not just comparing but actually suggesting treating video games similarly to alcohol and banning those to minors. My apologies if you didn't mean that. If you did - I strongly disagree. > Video games are just as addictive as alcohol, cigarettes Sorry but this is nonsense. No video game binds with receptors in the brain and cause physical dependence. Please, let's not equate gaming with substance addictions. > If you think books or hobbies are as addictive or destructive as video games that is a matter of opinion There are people who lost their friends, jobs or have other problems in their lives because of their hobbies or obsessions. I knew some hardcore anime otakus who had some personal issues - shall we ban Japanese animation and comics? But you missed the point, again. Let me reiterate: video games are retreat, not a cause. Banning them won't help the person who can't control their urges a single little bit. You would either leave them empty, concealing the issue, or they'll divert to something else. Adding games to DSM is a good idea, though. If someone has addiction and it manifests into video gaming addiction, it's easy to measure this. I could be wrong but as I get it, that's the whole point, having a concept of unhealthy obsession - not that games are something undesirable on their own. I believe you perceive video games as something special only because they're easiest thing available out there, making them the common retreat. That, plus existence of some games that specifically concentrate on abuse of the addictions (see my next point). > tracking player responses at a minute level and adapting games to maximize profits Sorry, but if I got you right - you're talking about some specific niche (or several niches) of video games, generalizing this to the whole industry. You'd probably want to complain about in-game purchases and microtransactions (or whatever else this stuff is called). Upd: Sorry for edits - I re-read my comment and did some edits to it to better clarify what I've meant. Finished editing now. |