It’s a well-viewed phenomenon that video games have gone mainstream. Not only are more people playing video games of all varieties, but there has been more spent on the video game industry than ever before, as it continues to grow. Games represent some of the most interactive media we can indulge in.

They are great for hand-eye coordination, and have even been proven to enhance your eyesight by straining your eyes to focus and process more information than usual. They are an excellent educational tool because of their ability to hold focus, and games such as Dance Dance Revolution will, with a simple two minute song, make you burn off that Big Mac you indulged in for lunch. With the ensuing popularity of the internet, they are even now an amazing social outlet that makes meeting people who live outside of your town possible. I now personally can boast of having more friends who live out of state than live in, but I’ve only met a hand-full of them in person. The best part? I like them for their personalities, not how attractive they are or for what they can do for me. In our current self-centered view of the world, Americans especially should be encouraging a medium that rewards people for being nice, courteous players instead of anorexia-suffering wannabe super-models bent on stepping all over each other to get to the top of the corporate ladder.

As with most things, video games in and of themselves do have a negative side, mainly their addictive quality. As an ex-addict myself, I can tell you what it’s like.

It starts off pretty simple. You have some extra time off from your job or schoolwork, so you fill it with games instead of movies or TV or your preferred hobby of choice. Video game addicts have a variety of reasons to become addicted, from the social aspects they may not experience in real life to the need to win above all else. Whatever the reason, eventually you stop having interest in the game itself, but continue to play. I’ve experienced this with several games: Everquest, Star Wars Galaxies, and, most recently, Battlefield 2. In each addiction I’ve realized that I’m a social addict. I kept playing those games long after they got boring or otherwise tedious since I had friends there, something I was lacking greatly at the time in my real life as a student. Luckily for me, I’ve never become bad enough to need an intervention or something like that. In the case of Star Wars Galaxies, it was a great change to the game after I had wasted a month playing ten hours a day doing the same boring thing over and over to get the most powerful character that got me to finally quit. For Battlefield 2, it was finding a new tournament that playing another game that most of my friends went to.

Now that I’m a little bit busier than I was, I’m no addict. I couldn’t be and keep up the schedule I now have. In a way I’m glad, since I know that video games are the only thing I can become addicted to. However, I miss my friends, and I have to say if you’re going to be addicted to something, friends are far better than beer.

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