Video Game Addiction Effects

The Adverse Effects of Video Game Addiction: Revealing the Bad Side of a Lovable Form of Entertainment According to the NPD Group, formerly known as National Purchase Diary, 34 million dedicated gamers spend an average of 44 hours a week playing video games. This is a tremendously large amount of time being spent in a world that is artificial. Video game addiction has been the main topic of controversies recently due to its colossal footprint on the young generation. Video game addiction has many adverse effects, some of them being financial burdens, sociopathy, and various health issues. Firstly, people who play video games are shown to have less social skills than people who don’t. In an experiment by the US National Library of Medicine,

But, the truth is, video games cause a huge strain on gamers’ wallets. Popular game titles cost more than $65. In a study conducted by IGN, formerly known as Imagine Game Network, average gamers spend more than $700 every year, “$341 on console titles, $233 on PC games and another $140 for accessories.” These are just the normal, average gamers. Staunch gamers, on the other hand, may spend more than $900 every year on games. Since average gamers are teenagers working in part-time, low- wage jobs, $900 every year becomes a preposterous amount to spend (Kohler). In addition to the already huge price, video games also have downloadable content, which forces people to invest even more on the game. Downloadable contents are packages that a gamer may choose to buy in order to unlock side- missions, skins, costumes, or equipment that will be included in the original game after purchase p/ 9 m. According to Wired.com, “a $90 price tag at GameStop would be unthinkable. So [Capcom, a game publisher] sells the game for $60, then forces gamers to pay more to unlock more content.” Putting a big price on a game when someone first plans to purchase it would make the customer hesitate before putting the money down on the table. So, game developers put a relatively cheap price on the game, and then make the game impossible to beat unless there is some in-game microtransaction. This is the most unthinkable way that game developers milk their customers of their money. After reading about these extremely detrimental threats that endanger gamers’ lives, one will see the need to prevent video game addiction from happening. Gamers need to stop ruining their life, their bodies, and their savings account. Gamers may go bankrupt, find joy in talking to a person or even be bedridden for months. An hour or two a day of gaming is okay, but if this number increases, so will the negative effects that come with