Introduction
Video games are arguably the most popular form of entertainment among the youth today. Generally, males play more than females, although this trend has been shifting in the last decade (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). The video game industry is an interesting topic to study since it is filled with extensive inventions and changes. However, the main reason why I am interested in the field of video game addiction is because of the huge knowledge gap that exits between what is known and what should be known. Today many stakeholders have contradictory opinions about the future of video games and their impacts on those already addicted. Literature shows that a few minorities of the players are negatively impacted by prolonged play. Studies are yet to be done on the effects of the game played, the future of video gaming addiction, and the best prescriptions for those affected. This study will describe the history of video games and video game addiction, including the current state, use that knowledge to predict the future of the problem, and prescribe the best way to handle the issue.
Literature Review
Video game addiction has become a common topic of discussion in popular culture and has drawn the attention of many researchers. Over the last two decades, there have been a lot of empirical studies comparing gaming addiction and overall habits of people compared to preceding decades, i.e. (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). This has resulted in many books, articles, and scholarly research articles being written about the topic. Some significant fields on video game addiction that scholars have had a deep interest in are as to if video game addiction is a disorder, treatment of video game addiction, and differences between online video games and regular games. The association between video game addiction and other forms of addiction, such as pornography and drug use, has also been studied widely. Some authors have also been critical of using the term addiction when describing the excessive consumption of video games.
History of Video Games and Video Games Addiction
Before the 1970s
Video games have a short history, from the early 1950s when computer scientists began to write simple codes to do simple simulations. One of the earliest video games to be created were Bertie the Brain, Nimrod, and Tennis for two (Carpenter, 2022). Spacewar, the first video game to gain a worldwide audience, was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the early 1960s. Video games failed to achieve the desired popularity in the 1960s because of the inadequacy of programmers and mainly scarcity of computer resources. However, in the following decade of the 1970s, the situation changed drastically with the development of high-level programming languages such as BASIC and C (Chatley et al., 2019). A look at the history of programming reveals that students could also share their programs with other students and developers because of the availability of a standard programming environment developed by Bell Labs. This resulted in video games being available and developed in a manner that could attract clients.
During the 1970s
Video game popularity and addiction were not the only factors in improved tools development in the 1970s. IT had evolved, and more people had access to computers people used to play games. Indeed, studies reveal that computers were ten times better in features, speed, complexity, and design at the beginning of 1970 than at the beginning of the 1960s, i.e. (Staff, 2020). This made them attract a wide usage among video gamers who spend much time using them for entertainment. The development of two popular gaming consoles, Atari and Pong, was a significant defining moment for video games. The consoles were the first to raise an alarm that some people were spending too much time gaming. This opened up an extensive market for video games, and the number of companies producing video game consoles increased from 5 to 77 between 1975 and 1977 (Wills, 2019). These manufacturers marketed and advertised themselves by promising to transport the gamers into a new world, a promise they seemed to have achieved as more people continued to be hooked.
During the 1980s
Video games continued to grow in the 1980s and have surpassed pop music as the preferred form of entertainment in the country. According to “Gaming Alexandria” (2021), the game’s revenues from video game sales tippled from $ 300 million to $900 between 1979 and 1980. Therefore, it is no surprise that the first video game case appeared in psychological and psychiatric literature in this decade. Early scholars like Soper and Miller noted that video game addiction was like any other addiction since it exhibited the same behavioral characteristics. The cognitive behavior theory treatment was advocated for treating those affected with symptoms like lack of sleep, lack of interest in activities, and low social association with peers due to video games (Curwen et al., 2018). Studies done in the 1980s have a weakness since the focus is mainly on a narrow demographic of teenage boys at the time.
During the 1990s
The ’90s saw the transition of video games from two-dimensional raster graphics to 3D graphics, thanks to continuous innovation in graphics design. This shift led to the decline of gaming arcades which were popular before, with computer games and fifth-generation gaming consoles taking over. Software applications that could handle game programming were also manufactured during this period, including DirectX, which was later integrated into Microsoft windows. Researchers in this decade studied addictive behaviors by issuing self-reported studies, and the conclusions were weak since they used the same criteria used to analyze gambling for video games. Later studies have concluded that studies carried out during this period could have analyzed video game preoccupation rather than addiction.
The 2000’s
The 2000s witnessed increased competition for dominance in the gaming industry, with Sonny’s PlayStation 2 being the market leader. Other competitors tried to push Sony out of the industry but, to date, remains the biggest seller of gaming consoles, with over 155 million consoles sold worldwide. A reason for the dominance was the PlayStation captivating games put in their system, including Grand Theft Auto and Fantasy X. Nintendo dominated handheld games before falling out after mobile game applications started to gain popularity in the mid-2000s. In this decade, studies revealed that video gaming addiction was not limited to male teenage boys alone, as games to fit other age groups and females were designed (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). Given the weaknesses of studies done prior to 2000, it is hard to compare the effects of video game addiction before and after; therefore, only articles published in this decade and after could be used.
The 2010s
Many studies on the effects of video games were conducted in the period between 2010 and 2020. Irrespective of whether the person is addicted to the video games or not, studies in this period reveal that for a tiny minority who are hooked to video games, there are inevitable negative consequences, i.e. (Mathews et al., 2019; Nielsen & Kardefelt-Winther 2018). Stockdale and Coyne (2018) discovered common side effects of excessive video game addiction as suicidal thoughts, sexual idealization, rape mentality, anti-social behavior, poor overall health, and pornography addiction. Over 50 studies done during the 2010s found a likelihood for a person who is a game addict to have an anxiety disorder, panic attacks, dementia, school disorder, and attention deficit disorder. The clinical intervention was found to have a mitigating effect on the negative impacts caused by video game addiction (Stockdale & Coyne, 2018). However, going into 2020, the studies had not yet revealed the percentage of regular video game players who exhibited negative symptoms.
Present State of Video Game Addiction
Recent technological advancement has made video games the most preferred leisure activity, especially among teens. Farchakh et al. (2020), in their study, concluded that children spend an average of eight hours playing video games. One main reason why video games have become very popular is that, like drugs, they release dopamine, the feel-good hormone, when a person beats a particular level. Mathews et al. (2019) compare video game addiction to gambling addiction, saying that the two bring the same behavioral effects to the person addicted. Despite the topic attracting massive attention from both popular culture and scholars, many are still yet to agree whether video gaming addiction can be classified as a disorder or not. Indeed, two central bodies entrusted with doing such classification, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the World Health Organization, disagree on the issue. The World Health Organization intended to add video gaming disorder to its list of diseases (Mylona et al., 2020). However, APA is yet to classify video game addiction as a disorder, issuing a guideline that the field requires further study.
This Studies Original Contribution
Prediction of the Future State of Video Game Addiction
The history and current state of video game addiction gives a clear idea where things will be in the coming years. The video game industry is expected to grow and become more sophisticated in the coming years. Newzoo’s Global Market Report (2021) predicts that the video gaming industry revenue is likely to hit $ 218.7 billion by 2024, with a sustained annual increase of 8%. If this projection is true, then the number of people addicted to video games will be higher. This will open up opportunities for data-driven studies as the data to choose from will be adequate. It will also offer scholars a chance to conduct more detailed studies to confirm if there is true video game addiction or if people are just addicted. If there is addiction, research will also have to be done to find the causes of this addiction. Psychiatrists will also have to be trained to handle people experiencing unique challenges associated with video game addiction. This study predicts that more scholars will discover video game addiction as a disorder and propose a mitigation procedure for those affected.
Prescription for Video Game Addiction
The literature and history of video games could be used to derive actual set of actions for stakeholders to use which is the main purpose of this study. A look at the history, current, and future state of video game addiction brings several insights that the stakeholders must know and apply. First, data has revealed that record keeping is essential in knowing and understanding the problem. As part of an ethical community, manufacturers of video games should be encouraged to monitor the number of hours a user spends playing, have a daily time limit and share the anonymous data of the players. Secondly, clinical experts must do robust, honest assessments of those affected and not confuse Video Game addiction with gambling or drug addiction. Third, relevant stakeholders should focus on lay emphasis on prevention and prevention treatment research. The responsibility for preventing video game addiction should not be left to manufacturers alone but should also include researchers and clinicians (Griffiths & Pontes, 2019). More studies on how to prevent video game addiction must be conducted to help the manufacturers.
The demographic most affected by video games are male children between 8 and 14 years. However, improvement to video game graphics and overall experience has made people of different ages and genders a part of the gaming community (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). Initially, the parent’s role was mitigation measures toward controlling video game addiction. This method is now outdated, and scholars should seek to devise new mitigation measures to control addicts who are adults. Other effects associated with video game addiction are the objectification of people and increased violence displayed in the scenes. In the past, various regulative and legislative authorities have been keen to ensure these scenes are removed. However, popular games today still depict these scenes. Therefore, all people who game should be warned about not replicating the things they see in video games in their real lives. Lastly, video games, addicted or not, need to be informed that too much time on the gaming screens is harmful to their eyes, and this information should be made available to all.
Conclusion
Based on the history of video games and addiction in the past, one can conclude that video games continue to get better and more addictive to people, and thus mitigation measures are necessary. While many scholars have differing opinions as to what the effects of excessive video games are, it is clear that mitigations must be done even with limited knowledge. As literature has revealed, all gamers should be warned about the effects of gaming addiction. It is important for further study to be done to see if excessive video gaming could bring a positive impact on a person’s life.
References
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