Video Game Addiction Is Dumb
Take a look at the video below. What do you think? (I think it is a genuine case, not acting.)
This is a perfect example of why Luke Maciak has said that video game addition makes a mockery of real suffering addicts.
It is so obvious that the people around him do not understand his problem at all. He is obviously repressing into his video games because he has so little love in his life! He obviously does not love his parents at all (any idiot can see that), which is quite understandable because they divorced when he was 12, a very tender early stage of his development. It is said that he contemplated suicide at 14, but I have no comments about that. What pushed him to do so was not shown.
His best friend is a really pretty girl, and by the way he looks at her, you can see that he really likes her. At one point she did say he asked her out, but she rejected him on the grounds that he will not give her the attention since he will just go back to playing games. WTF is that all about!? She’s either being selfish, or just don’t feel that way about him. I’m inclined to think it’s the former.
During the intervention, his mother told him that she loved him very much bla-bla-bla… Of course it begs the question: if she did love him, why did she move away from him so as to further her own career? Earlier in his life, she already made the decision to abandon him anyway. (Another selfish idiot.) Why regret now? A boy growing up without his mother, with the knowledge that she knowingly left him for her career. Yup, nothing can go wrong there! 
Both his mother and best friend gave him ultimatums at the end of the intervention, something which I really do not agree with if you’re truly trying to help. When you back a person into a corner, he/she will definitely fight back, simply because there’s no other way to go! You can see that he didn’t care if his mother cut off all his finances, but when the girl told him she will cease all communication between them, only then he willingly went for his so-called “rehabilitation”, a 42-day camp in the outdoors.
That, to me, is pretty obvious he really likes her, maybe even loves her. Of course, if I was him, when this is all over, I’ll just dump her and find a more intelligent girl.
Of course, after the “rehabilitation”, when he gets back, he still plays games. Thus, calling this an addiction would be on par with sending a drug addict to a rehabilitation clinic, only for him to come back and still take drugs, albeit occasionally now. 
This is what was meant by making a mockery of people suffering through real addictions. Obviously, the problem here isn’t the video games. During the intervention, he looks and speaks as normal a guy his age can be. I think the problem is that the people around him do not reciprocate his love towards them. Coupled with his early traumatic childhood, I am not surprised that he repressed into his games and found that the only thing he could control was his in-game avatars.
The problem, as I see it, is:
- Parent’s divorced at 12.
- Mother left him to further her career or studies.
- Teased by “best friend”.
The problem, as the others see it, is:
- Excessive video games.
They’re probably Jack Thompson supporters.
One more thing, playing DDR for 24 hours to get into the Guinness Book Of Records is actually a nice achievable goal. It is definitely not a problem. It’s actually quite amazing and he should be praised for it! A great feat of stamina, requiring physical and mental endurance. If I were to attempt that, I would probably get super-tired after a few hours, but get super-bored after just 1 hour. There’s so much more wierd and stupid things that people do to get into that book, things which will make you say, “That guy has serious mental issues to be doing that.”
Oh, and let’s not forget about his Shinobi triumph. Makes me wanna fire up my genesis emulator and play. Lucky me, I will not need to spend 8 hours to beat the final boss. Hooray for save states!
I do consider myself really lucky to have wonderful parents who, although they do not join me in my gaming, did not consider my gaming behaviour a threat. (However, my mum has played wii sports, so the tide may be turning..) I also have a wonderful fiancée who not only understands my hobby, but feeds it as well! Who do you think bought me Fallout 3? 
