Addictive nature of Video Games  

I'm glad to hear that it had no adverse effect on your schooling. Staying up extremely late playing video games is something I got caught up in as well, going to school extremely tired is no fun at all!

What video game was it by the way? One of the worst for addiction seems to be World of Warcraft as well as a lot of the other MMORPG games that are becoming more and more popular with thousands or even millions of subscribers!

I think that MMORPG games are really addicting. I am a gamer but I try to control myself as much as I can. I have heard of people failing in school, not being able to graduate, etc just because they got hooked to gaming online. Somehow, I think it really depends on the person on how he could control this urge to play. I feel that if you make gaming a reward for you after you've done your homework/job, then it would be better, at least you have accomplished something. Try to control the urge by doing something else, or better yet, do school stuff first before playing. Set your number of hours per day and don't exceed it. :)

Yes, MMORPG games are one of the most addicting games due to the style of the game. You are always challenged to get better equipment, level up further and so on. It's quite a competitive nature as well that appeals to a lot of players and gets them hooked.

Setting it as a reward is a nice idea. I was never able to successfully implement that in my earlier years of schooling but since this is my last year I have committed to completely stopping playing online games. I have successfully pulled this off so far and I have WAY more time for schoolwork now! :D

That is a really interesting view on it. I never considered it that way. I can't say I ever made any real connections with players in-game but it was most likely due to the community that was inherent within the game. Most of the clans were all real life friends getting together.

I definitely can relate to the escapism that you mentioned however. And I agree with the bad rep, their is a lot of hate in the media about video games and now parents perceive it as a bad influence when generally, it is the kids themselves with the problem. Not the video game causing it.

im glad you agree. The bad rep with games leading to violence and sexual acts and other things generally considered bad with society, is really a problem of psyche, most of those kids already have that capacity and the themes in the games just trigger that inside them. Parents need to see when these things start in their kids and if they are becoming more agressive or whatever, they need to have talks with their kids, or remove those games from them until they reach an age that they can understand the difference between what is happening in the games and what is appropriate in real life.
As far as relationships with people in games. I find this to be completely healthy, which some people dont think it is. Friendship is friendship no matter how you meet them. If you meet someone through a game, it is just like going to a convention and meeting someone there, you are both there because you share the same interests and hobbies, so obviously the entrance into the friendship is quite easy. I even know a few people that met inside the game i mentioned and started dating a year later and got married, even had a second wedding inside the game, which i thought was a little wierd, but thats just me.
My overall theme here is just keep everything in context when playing games and everything will be fine. Make sure that you keep in mind that its in a game.

That is good to hear. Performing schoolwork and other important activities before playing is the best method to avoid the interference of games with real life in my opinion.

That is true that the games do not force you to play them, however, the nature of addictive products is that they provide an incentive for the user to come back and play. Once the user is hooked, they find it very hard to resist, just like smokers.

Haha, I remember the good old days when I used to play my PS1 and Super Nintendo. Ah, those were the days! :D

Yes, multiplayer online play seems to be the culprit for increasing addiction rates, the more interactivity with other users the funner it seems to be in some cases.

Some of the MMO games really leech a fair bit of money out of the user over time. Off the top of my head, WoW was more then $15 dollars every month. It may seem like very little, but overtime it definitely does add up! It's almost like having a totally new bill to play.

I have never bought games in bulk before, I might have to try it. I can imagine you would get very nice discounts. I have also started to buy games online through a program called Steam, I find it far more convenient then buying hard copies of the games.

I am a member of a game called Adventure Quest, I've not upgraded. i think it's only five dollars to upgrade, but over time it will become more. I think they get ya real good on the upgrades for online games. I was going to mention this before, but I wasn't sure what region you are in. Go to cheapassgamer.com, they have video game deals for different stores.

Wal*mart.com has a game bundle deal, and amazon you can get some games and a gift card so it's like you're buying one game with another game free... I think you have to wait to use the gift card until after you have bought the other game and received it...

on Amazon, if you earn gc's online you can add the total of the gc to a part of the site, and that way you can keep saving them up.

Other then that, there is a local game store here that hubby and I go to, the old owner would always give us a good deal... not sure about the new guy as we've not been to the store since the owner's changed hands.