Addicted to Games? BBC1 now
Discussion
garyhun said:
Can't comment as I've never spent 20 hours in the pub 
I've tried, failed, but I've tried.The thing that annoys me is that they say "They would stay in and not go to pubs / night clubs" When in another story they would paint the horror of going to said pub / night club.
There is no denying people get hooked on it, but the story they are putting across is that pretty much everybody who games is hooked and has no social life...
theboyfold said:
Nice and balanced journalism though, typical Panarama tosh if you ask me. It's a shame when kids get hooked on games, but they are painting gaming as evil and not as good as going to the pub / club...
Agreed. I thought it might be interesting, but it wasn't at all. It was basically one of those 'documentaries' where they decided ahead of time what their conclusion was going to be and then interviewed people which backed it up. They also did the classic 'martin bashir' of interviewing someone who happened to express a different view and then IN THE VOICEOVER they belittle/cast doubt on their comments. (i.e. the documentary maker always has the 'final word' as it's done in the edit and no oppertunity for the interviewee to respond.)The bottom line is that people get addicted to all kinds of things from drugs/alcohol/sex to games/tv/licking wallpaper. But generally speaking people who get addicted like this are predisposed to addiction and if it wasn't one thing then it would be another. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with playing games for most 'normal' people.
garyhun said:
f
k me! Some people so addicted they are playing for 20 hours a day.
Dudes, get a life!
Yeh! what a waste of 4 hours! k me! Some people so addicted they are playing for 20 hours a day.Dudes, get a life!
must admit, since GT5 came out I cant put it down
not played games consoles for years before this, I can see how they get addicted...
trouble is my eyesight is not what it used and they're really hurting, still cant put it down though
Edited by Pvapour on Tuesday 7th December 08:52
mrmr96 said:
theboyfold said:
Nice and balanced journalism though, typical Panarama tosh if you ask me. It's a shame when kids get hooked on games, but they are painting gaming as evil and not as good as going to the pub / club...
Agreed. I thought it might be interesting, but it wasn't at all. It was basically one of those 'documentaries' where they decided ahead of time what their conclusion was going to be and then interviewed people which backed it up. They also did the classic 'martin bashir' of interviewing someone who happened to express a different view and then IN THE VOICEOVER they belittle/cast doubt on their comments. (i.e. the documentary maker always has the 'final word' as it's done in the edit and no oppertunity for the interviewee to respond.)The bottom line is that people get addicted to all kinds of things from drugs/alcohol/sex to games/tv/licking wallpaper. But generally speaking people who get addicted like this are predisposed to addiction and if it wasn't one thing then it would be another. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with playing games for most 'normal' people.
Your last point that I've stuck in bold is an interesting one. I was having a chat with somebody who has also recently been to Japan and spent time in the main area of Tokyo where gaming is a way of life for many many people. The thing is there it's not seen as a geeky / nerdy thing, just a thing that some people enjoy. With the Japanese, when they get into something, they go at it with everything they have, as they aren't ashamed to admit they enjoy something out of the 'mainstream'. Therein lies my issue with the show last night, it painted gaming as something that is wrong and shouldn't be enjoyed, to me that's a very very backward looking point of view.
News in general and TV in particular is not interested in "the norm". The norm is dull, boring and uninteresting. It wants to report the bizzare, then exceptional and the freakish.
Even once sober programmes like "Panorama" have degenerated into this "dumbed down" style of reporting. I don't expect anything balanced or intelligent regarding current affairs on BBC 1 anymore. If you are lucky, you might get a bit of intelligent reporting on BBC 4 or (more likely) Radio 4.
I watched the programme last night and agree that it over exaggerated the dangers - although, to be fair, the final conclusion was that games were OK except for a small minority.
I wonder how much it cost to send the reporter all the way to Korea so they could have a ten minute segment on Korea's "problem"?
Even once sober programmes like "Panorama" have degenerated into this "dumbed down" style of reporting. I don't expect anything balanced or intelligent regarding current affairs on BBC 1 anymore. If you are lucky, you might get a bit of intelligent reporting on BBC 4 or (more likely) Radio 4.
I watched the programme last night and agree that it over exaggerated the dangers - although, to be fair, the final conclusion was that games were OK except for a small minority.
I wonder how much it cost to send the reporter all the way to Korea so they could have a ten minute segment on Korea's "problem"?
Edited by Eric Mc on Tuesday 7th December 10:50
theboyfold said:
...Therein lies my issue with the show last night, it painted gaming as something that is wrong and shouldn't be enjoyed, to me that's a very very backward looking point of view.
The media have been doing this for 30 years. The majority of gamers are and always have been their 20s (gaming magazine readership has always been heavily weighted towards the 20+ age range) but TV companies just could not grasp that fact. Instead they would aim their attempts at capturing the gaming market at childrens TV.
Even now it's as common as coffee, the media still struggle to the idea that gaming is simply a fun way to pass some time. The Daily Mail seems to run a regular story about how "games are bad... mmmkay", presumably on slow news days.
Remember Manhunt being blamed for some kids murder? The papers loved that one despite it being such nonsense that the judge disregarded it.
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