Game Over!

All About Us
Kyla Wilson

Terry Zheng

Ben Van Lengerich

What We're All About!
How the addiction of video games can lead to death by the players who are involved by the game.

Introduction
In today’s fast growing society, technology is becoming part of our everyday lives. We cannot go anywhere without having some piece of technology with us. It’s our safety line; it is attached to our hips at all times. With teenagers there are some things that they literally cannot live without; cell phone, computer and video games. Without these, sometimes they believe that their lives are over. The world of video gaming is a very exciting and scary world all in one neat little tie. For younger children, video games are actually a learning device to help them learn their ABC and 123, but when it comes to teenagers it can get somewhat dangerous and frightening. There have been reported cases of teenagers getting so involved in video gaming that it leads to death and crime. When people get involved in books, they must finish that particular book before anything else happens. Same goes for video games. One couple felt their child in the bath tub, unattended and continued to play the game and the child ended up dead. Although technology is a great part of life and it helps us get many task completed, it can sometimes take over us and maybe control they way we think and live.



History of Video Games
The first interactive "video" games were so basic in nature, they hardly resembled anything like today's games of PS3s and Xbox 360s. Video games started out simple and required the enormous computers of the past to run them. As technology improved and various ideas from multiple people converged, the foundation for today's high-tech video game was laid.




 * 1952 - First documented computer game, Noughts and Crosses, is created by A. S. Douglas for his doctoral dissertation. A big Cambridge computer runs this tic-tac-toe game.


 * 1958- The first American, engineer William A. Higginbotham, created an interactive computer game called Tennis for Two. It was located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, for entertaining guests.


 * 1962- Steven Russell from MIT created a game that runs on a massive PDP-1 computer, called Spacewar!.


 * 1968- Ralph H. Baer created a "Television Gaming and Training Apparatus." He applied a patent for it and in 1973 is granted. Company Magnavox buys patent.


 * 1971- The first coin operated arcade game, created by Nolan Bushnell, is called Computer Space. It was placed in bars and the game was found to be too hard. Computer Space was deemed a failure.


 * 1972- Nolan Bushnell created a more successful arcade game Pong.


 * 1972- The first home game console Odyssey has arrived, created by Ralph Baer of Magnavox.


 * 1975- The first home version of Pong is created by Atari (company). Pong becomes a big success. Consequently, Atari expands into both the arcade and home console business, and becomes very successful.


 * 1976- The first controversy with video game violence occurs. Arcade game Death Race is under the spot light.


 * 1980- The combined effort of American company, Midway, and Japan's Namco introduces Pac-Man. Pac-Man is a huge success


 * 1981- The first video game related death occurs. A late teen suffers a heart attack from playing game Berzerk. Next year, another teen suffers a heart attack playing the same game.


 * 1980s-1990s - The advancement of home computers and additional home consoles creates a huge venue for video games. Video games are now an impactful part of society.

General Issues of Video Games
There are various social aspects of video games:


 * The Good



Video games can provide a great medium for entertainment and stress relief. When games are played and mastered, they can be a boost to a person's self-confidence and self-esteem, especially children and teens, during their periods of social depression. Also, studies have shown that video games improve one's hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Parents and seniors can also use video games as a fun way to bond with their kids. The most positive aspect of video games, with recent innovations in online gaming, means teamwork, cooperation and problem-solving skills are highly utilized.


 * The Bad



One of the most negative aspects of video games argued is violence. Critics argue that the violence in video games (e.g. fighting, shooting games) can lead to an increased aggression of its players. Though, because of conflicting studies, definite conclusions cannot be made. However, video game addiction is definite. Many players, especially children and teen, can become addicted to video games. Addicted players develop introverted tendencies, and neglect schoolwork, family and physical activities. Other issues within video games are gender and racial stereotypes. Argues have been made that women in video games are generally represented in a sexist way, being portrayed by unrealistic, oversexed characteristics. Racial stereotypes are also criticized. There are arguments made that white characters often are portrayed as heroes, while the majority of the time, non-white characters are villains.

Our Issue
The issues of video games listed above are subjective, as shown by the titles "Good" and "Bad". Many people may or may not agree with the points of view presented above. Consequently, our issue of video games was chosen based on its neutrality; death relating to video games. We will discuss only case studies where video games are the clear and definite reason for or cause of death (e.g. body failure and exhaustion from playing video games for a prolonged period of time).



Definition
To look at the problems with our issue one must first confine with the main causes of these tragic and unreasonable deaths resulting from video games. While playing your favorite games can seem like a harmless way to spend your leisure time, this behavior can sometimes lead into a serious video game addiction. In recent times it has occurred that the popularity of video games has lead to an increase in the number people spending hours in front of a television or computer screen.

Since online gaming comes usually comes with chat rooms and voice communication through headsets gamers can become involved in a virtual gaming community. Due to this online gaming has become far more addictive than traditional video games. Most problematic for online gaming is that it can be played endlessly compared to the limited standard video games. Therefore the gamers will never get bored as the outcome always depends on the other player’s decisions versus a set plot. It has been reported that people suffering from such a condition have in some cases lost their job, ended romantic relationships or long lasting friendships. The exact causes for video game addiction are unknown, however it seems to be more popular with young males and it also might have a cultural background (Asian countries have most reported incidents).

The addiction to Video Games is a less physical addiction such as a drug or alcohol addiction buts its rather mental similar to excessive gambling. On average 10 hours per day are spent in front of a screen playing video games, whereby the gamers usually fit their lifestyle to their favorite game and become defensive when confronted about their lifestyle and addictive habits.

Simple Rules to test whether you are an addict:

Do you struggle to keep up with school work or professional work responsibilities?

Have you ever missed a day for the reason of playing your favorite video game?

Have you ever been confronted on the your amount of time spent playing video games? Do you lie to others about your amount of video game use?

Do you prefer playing your video game over friendships or spending time with your family?

You find the only way to relax is by playing your favorite video games?

Do you refuse to eat, sleep, or shower just to have more time playing video games?

Unfortunately this behavior issue with mostly young males is difficult to change. This is mainly due to the fact that it is a rather new field for psychologists and it is hard to find true experts for video game addiction therapy. Many health professionals are still unaware of the extent of the problem. The most surprising thing might however seem that in most cases the gamer is aware of his or her addiction and has been unsuccessful in trying to quit playing.

Case Studies
There are several studies that talk about the existence of syndromes that classify for video game addicts. A Stanford University of Medicine Study done in 2008 suggests men are more prevalent than women when it comes to video game addiction when the game evolves around territorial power and control. It has shown that the male’s part of the brain that creates reward feelings is more active compared to a female’s brain and male video game players therefore become naturally more easily addicted to video games. A Canadian national survey revealed that 92% of kids age 2-17 play video games regularly.

There has been several incidents reported from all over the world, however mainly from Asian countries, where binge-playing of video games has led to deaths:

- In November 2001, 21-year-old American Shawn Wooley committed suicide after what his mother claimed was an addiction to EverQuest. Woolley's mother stated, "I think the way the game is written is that when you first start playing it, it is fun, and you make great accomplishments. And then the further you get into it, the higher level you get, the longer you have to stay on it to move onward, and then it isn't fun anymore. But by then you're addicted, and you can't leave it."

-On May 24, 2005, the four-month-old daughter of a South Korean couple died of suffocation after being left unattended for five hours while her parents played World of Warcraft at an Internet Cafe.

-In August 2005, 28-year-old South Korea Lee Seung Deop died after playing Starcraft for 50 hours straight.

-In September 2007, a Chinese man in Guang Zhuo, China, died after playing Internet video games for three consecutive days in an Internet cafe.

-On the 13th of October of 2008 15-years old Brandon Crisp from Barrie, Ontario, Canada ran away from home on his mountain bike after his parents confiscated his XBox 360 because of his exhaustive online play of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. His body was found on November 5th 2008 by some local fox hunters.

-A 27 year-old Taiwanese man collapsed after playing computer games for 32 hours non-stop.

-During China's week-long National Day holiday last month, a young girl died after playing World of Warcraft for several consecutive days.

-Nov 17th 2008, A 15-year-old boy from western Sweden collapsed and went into convulsions on Sunday afternoon after playing the World of Warcraft computer game for 20 hours straight.