By Lekshmy Sankar | 26-Jun-2018
A few months ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) released their newest list of classified diseases and the list included 'Gaming Disorder.' The WHO's International Classification of Diseases (ICD)describes the condition as "a pattern of persistent or recurring gaming behavior" that becomes so prevalent and persistent that it "takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities." The ICD provides trends to assist experts in identifying the condition and ultimately help the afflicted party. I think the WHO is behind the curve as certain trends within the gaming community have changed significantly. Moreover, even if the "disorder" is correct, WHO misses the positive aspects of gaming culture that stem from the culture of gaming changing from single-player immersive experiences to a multi-player social engagement.
Take Twitch, for example. Twitch is a platform where gamers can stream their gaming experience to viewers and can even engage those viewers through chat. Viewership on Twitch surpasses cable networks (but is still smaller than Netflix and YouTube) and holds viewers captive for hours - a goal that some companies can only dream of. What this shows is that we are social creatures who want to connect with each other even when we are playing video games. With Twitch, even vintage games on systems that could not connect to the internet (and therefore were highly single-player based) become social activities.
Further, the days of single-player games have changed, with many game developers no longer developing games with a single-player campaign. Titanfall shipped with no single-player campaign. Grand Theft Auto V's maker Rockstar promised single-player DLC to follow up and further the game's single-player campaign, but years later the DLC never came while Rockstar completely doubled down on the multi-player mode of the game.
My first real introduction to gaming was with the Xbox 360 (fun fact: my first job was making Xbox 360 semiconductor chips), and to me, single-player games left an emotional attachment that created an unforgettable experience in my mind. The new generation of gaming, however, no longer centers on these long campaigns with strong player emotional attachment to characters and story. Gamers today are looking for a social experience and connecting with other players in new and exciting ways. Also, many gamers take the extra step to broadcast their gaming experience with an eye toward entertaining others in the process.
As a society, everyone is looking to connect with someone, and that's what multi-player games and Twitch does. These technologies create a community that extends a sense of unity with a connected experience.
So to go back to the WHO's definition of gaming disorder, a condition that is described as "a pattern of persistent or recurring gaming behavior" that becomes so persistent and pervasive that it "takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities." - Is that a bad thing if the cost to avoid it is to miss out on potentially rewarding social experiences? How is the definition of the disorder any different from any other activity such as playing a group sport? Should playing baseball be considered a disease if the player chooses to play baseball over other life interests?
I'm not sure that gaming disorder is something to worry ourselves over. What do you think?
Your email will not be displayed in comment.
No comments yet, Be the first to comment.