Wow, I read that interview article. I'm very disappointed I did. What's funny is she pulls the 40% figure out of thin air, as her own speculation. Then she says she wants them to put warning labels on MMORPGs like cigarettes have, and admits that she would like the companies to change thier products.
Dr. Orzack: I think there needs to be warning labels on MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, similar to warning labels on cigarettes. People should know that these games are potentially harmful. I'm sure the game industry will be up in arms over it, but that's what I'd like to see happen. I don't think we have a right to make Blizzard or other game companies change their products, but that may be what this comes to, down the road.
The article screams BS to me, It takes the responsibility off the player and determines them as mentally ill. I think it's sick and wrong.
There's no doubt that the games are addicting. So is playing sports, jogging, or lifting weights. Hell I found multiplication table flash cards addicting when I was young. We should put a warning label on those before more people become engineers!
Ya, like, I used to never go out and now when I stay inside without fresh air for too long I feel cramped and uncomfortable! OMG ADDICTION TO OUTSIDE. D:
I don't see anything wrong with warning labels, and more importantly, I find the implication that the gaming industry in particular would not want such a thing amusing: Are they not the only entertainment industry branch with a voluntary rating system?
Yes, and yet the rating system was applied to the industry by itself, not forced down by law - at least in England two years ago, you could still legally sell rated games to younger people. Maybe things have changed since then, but it remains that they didn't wait for the law to crack down but made the rating system themselves.
Don't games have warnings that they may be addicting to some people? I know the old nintendo and super nintendo games came with them. Did they stop? >.>