Video Game Addiction

The first article I chose to read was by Sharon Dickman titled "Video Game Addiction". Sharon writes that not only kids but adults as well will play a lot of video games because the fun of playing is linked to fulfilling their basic psychological needs. She also goes on to quote Richard M. Ryan, a motivational psychologist, when he says "We think there's a deeper theory than the fun of playing". So it appears there's a division of people who think that people play just for fun and the others think they play because of some deeper psychological reasons. Researchers believe that some video games can actually enhance psychological wellness for a short period of time. The team of researchers at the University of Rochester decided to look at the underlying motives and satisfactions that can spark a gamers interests and sustain them during play, instead of researching the actual games themselves which has been done. They found that not all games are equal in the fact that they can keep players coming back because they don't satisfy the basic psychological needs. As a gamer I can relate. Some games I play just don't interest me that much so I play them once and never pick them back up. Still others I play for the first time and I find it very difficult to pull myself away from them. I think that its a combination of the individual and the game that makes certain games addicting for certain people. Just because one game is addicting for me doesn't necessarily mean it will be for someone else.