Gaming addiction playwright ‘astounded’ by men’s gaming habits
Lewis Denby April 23, 2012 - 2:16 pmNews: A stage play about videogame addiction showed this weekend, and its writer says she is “astounded” by “adult men going crazy over videogames”.
Men go crazy about videogames! And women, too. Both women and men. That’s according to a playwright who, this weekend, unveiled her stage production about videogame addiction.
The show, entitled Game Over, only ran for a single day. But its writer, Twana Bond-Jones, said she was inspired by a larger issue.
Videogame addiction, that is. She first read about it in 2010, after which she researched it on YouTube. “I was astounded when I saw all the YouTube videos of adult men going crazy over the vide games and with my own husband willing to spend $50 and upward of $60 on one videogame,” Bond-Jones told al.com. $50 and upward of $60! At the same time!
“I just realised it was bigger than the 1980s Atari,” she added, “and it made me believe or feel that men, they view it as an investment and really cherish the gaming consoles.”
But! “I spoke to a woman the other day and she said she was addicted to PlayStation 3,” she said. Incredibly, the gals are at it as well.
“I think [videogame addiction] really takes away from time that could be spent with your partner and the time that’s needed to have a successful marriage today,” she said.
Of course, “videogame addiction” is a controversial term, mainly because many convincing reports on the matter have concluded that no such thing exists.
Compulsive game playing can certainly be a problem, of course, but there’s no clinical recognition of gaming addiction, mainly because this compulsive playing doesn’t tend to meet the criteria of what is considered an addiction.
It’s interesting, of course, and worth talking about. Whether the play was any good or not is another matter. Frankly, the website doesn’t make it look amazing…
