Ask Lemmy

Why I think video gaming slowly became the most addictive entertainment media with no signs of stopping. What do lemmy users think of the subject?

Video games can be addictive time wasters, sure you can say that a gamer should just manage their time better. As someone who's played some games from the last few years on various consoles, I can say some types of games are played more then others. so..

Why are games addictive? lets first start by looking at a game pong on the the Attari. A game with just paddles disguised as lines and dots bouncing back and forth. If a person is just playing the game alone against the cpu they'l more likely get bored playing quickly. While if they play with a friend it's a more fulfilling experience and they might play it for hours. However, at some point they would move on from it but they wouldn't have to they could keep playing their pong game as newer console would release, but as the game was just lines and dots, without their friends this game we then become played less as more and more people passed it by.

How do games create a single player experience to keep people playing without their friends? Lets look at pacman, if you have a game that recreates the experience of being somewhere, where you can move an onscreen character and interact in certian situations with said characters you would then potentially have one person hooked to your game playing solo.

This would work for awhile from the nes, to the snes to the n64 generations for gaming in regards to sells. Then the next step to hook players would be to mix single player with multiplayer, if the players 'friends' are playing it then they better be playing it too. The idea was that both players would had bought the game and practiced at their own houses solo. Think games like Super Smash Bros 64, Mortal Kombat, Mario Kart 64.

The next and second to last step to addict players is with online gaming. Bonus points if a game is online but has no split screen local multiplayer. Because if your friend gets the new game then you better get it too or feel left behind. Other thing about online gaming is it can addict solo players the worst. Typically these games will have you feeling good collecting exp points and the games currency winning each match. Making you keep wanting to play it day after day back to back at its worst.

last and final step to gaming addiction is vr, or virtual reality. While its still too early to say much about vr gaming, it brings a fake reality to the game universes, that players can enteract in with their physical hands. And they can physically turn around and look around envirorments. Gaming just keeps getting more addictive in nature.