Sound Off: Do You Think Games Can Be Too Addicting?

There’s an interesting article I found on Digg that may either explain our obsessive video gaming or make us completely furious.  I’m part of the second camp.  According to a study published in the journal Psychological Science, gamers will game until the day they die.  Apparently this is what makes the industry “turnover-proof”.  Developers are fully aware of this and are doing the best they can to capitalize on our weakness, says the article.  But what’s most infuriating is this completely slanderous statement:

A study published in the May issue of the journal Psychological Science found that nearly 1 in 10 youths who play video games behaved in ways that were similar to other addictive disorders, such as compulsive gambling. These behaviors include skipping chores, lying to parents and even stealing money to support their gaming habits.

Excessive gaming has become a particularly severe problem in Asian countries, where a number of gaming-related deaths have been reported. In 2005, a 28-year old South Korean man died of exhaustion after playing computer games at an Internet café non-stop for close to 50 hours. A state survey released by the South Korean government revealed that an estimated 2.4 percent of the population aged 9 to 39 may be addicted to gaming .

So now gamers are liers, cheats and stealers.  I don’t know about the rest of my fellow gamers but I sure as hell do not like being called a lier or a stealer.  It’s unprofessional and un-called for to say that gaming could be a psychological addiction.  Yes, there may be cases where gaming is done to unhealthy extremes, but for the most part gaming is  no different from the music, movie, or any other entertainment industry.  You  shouldn’t blame video games as a problem much in the same way that you don’t blame excessive music or movies as a problem.  So here’s my question to all the readers out there.  Do you think gaming is too addicting?  Why or why not?  What can be done to help alleviate these sorts of allegations towards gaming out there?  Feel free to respond in the comments section below!