Addicted!

I will be the first to admit that computer games are super addictive. Mark will be the second to admit that I'm a good authority on computer game addiction. After recently downloading a game from my childhood -- Warlords II -- to make me happy he watched in growing helpless, bewildered annoyance as I all but ignored food, TV and the time so that I could conquer the planet.

And while I argue that people have gone to more extreme lengths for less worthy causes (I conquered the world after all!), I will concede that I was perhaps just a tad too obsessive. It was just so difficult to tear myself away to eat dinner when eight other "nations" were trying to kill my mighty armies.

I returned to my normal self after I had won, although Mark is still recovering from the wild, obsessed person he saw tapping away at the computer for hours on end.

So when I read this story which was sent to me by a friend, I got really shaken up.

Not only is it a really grizzly affair, but it is very, very unfortunate.

To summarise, a Korean couple let their baby starve while they were playing an online fantasy computer game.

And yes, I suspect like most people, my first reaction was outrage at the stupidity of these parents. In their testimony they revealed that they would feed the baby, put her to bed and then leave the house for ten hours to play at an internet cafe. You don't have to be a genius to work out that this is a moronic thing to do. I'd like to think that at some point (maybe when your baby starts weighing less than your joystick) a maternal instinct would kick in to clue you in about feeding times. Or maybe, just maybe, you should realise that you are responsible for a human life and read a book or two.

But then since I don't have kids and I can't really vouch for what kind of parent I would be, I decided to stay objective. According to the story, both the man and woman were really shocked by what happened, they had never had criminal convictions before, claimed that they were never taught how to look after a baby and that they were addicted to the computer game.

The ignorance excuse is ridiculous. If they didn't know how to look after their baby they should have taken steps to learn. And while learning they should have also brushed up on how babies are made, considering that the woman is currently pregnant. Sad. I know.

What really struck me though is that this is a monumental case in how computer game addiction is viewed. Alcohol and drug addiction is seen as a horrible infliction (though self-caused) and, as a result, a lot of responsibility is taken away from the addict. What this case will be asking is: should game addiction be seen in the same light? Is it possible to be that addicted to a game?

I'd like to think that while my temporary two-day addiction made me act a little loony it didn't steal my sense of responsibility, butthen again I only played for two days.

In the end I'm not going to be the person to cast the first stone. I just think it's really, really sad.

P.S.

I know that the picture probably doesn't suit the tone of this piece, but how could I resist?