For tomorrow’s class I will be presenting on the issue of internet addiction with a focus on addiction to online games. If you have a chance, please check out the following links prior to the presentation (or after if you don’t have a chance before!). The video in particular is a bit long (1hr 30) but it is really interesting all the way through so I highly recommend it.
“I Kept Playing: The Cost of My Gaming Addiction” (Kotaku article)
Jonathan Blow: Video Games and the Human Condition (exploring the development, features, and ethics of addictive games) (video – can start around 5:00 unless you want to learn some interesting facts about parasitic infection of ants)
Cow Clicker – a satirical take on the addictive cell phone game model (website/game)
Additional links:
“In Real Life” – Anthony Rosner – World of Warcraft Addiction Self-Documentary (short video)
For those that have Netflix, I also recommend the documentary “Web Junkies”, which examines the “boot camp” approach to treating youth who are thought to be suffering from video game addiction in China. It demonstrates both the apparent severity of the addiction but also raises questions about the real causes of the problem and what the best way might be to address it.
I look forward to our class discussion tomorrow!
Laura
Check out the UBC VideoGame Course