Comments on: Why are computer games so addictive?

By: YohanP

YohanP — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:05:56 +0000

tip for those damned egyptians in total war: gang-bang them. 3 or 4 preatorian or legionary cohorts to swallow them up. sure it’l take a cohort down with them but isnt making sure some chariots dont violate your forces from behind in mid-battle worth it?

By: camerhil

camerhil — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:12:42 +0000

I don’t kow why, but I never ended up playing Starcraft. It’s the Simpsons Syndrome. There are episodes that everyone else has seen ten million times, but you’ve never seen once, and your friends always react with deep outrage when it crops up in conversation. “What do you MEAN you haven’t seen the one where Homer turns into a donut?! Are you inSANE???”

It’s the same with Starcraft. Every person I spoke to said it was the best game ever. Even people who hadn’t actually played it and had no interest in computers. From what you’ve said, I reckon it was a good thing I didn’t go near it, because it would have stolen valuable years of my life which I could have wasted in other ways.

By: Maarten

Maarten — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:30:56 +0000

I have 2 words for you guys…
Starcraft…
…Broodwar

it ate up about 9 years of my life and it was, believe it or not, totally worth it.
Just seeing perfection on screen burst open in a bloody mess.. Thank you Zerglings…

By: Samuel

Samuel — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:25:40 +0000

I know that this is cliché, but the original Halo. I don’t know why, but it sucks me back in over and over. I actually spent two weeks with reoccurring dreams of violence and grenades. The only detail I recall is that there was a big scene in a mess hall that was unlike any of the gameplay environments. I have had *flashbacks* to this dream.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:54:22 +0000

I recently had to do a presentation with other people for a small group class i took at the local community college. We picked video game addiction. I so wish I had stumbled across your site then, I would have loved to do a short snippet about your recovery efforts.

lol.

By: nigel plimpton

nigel plimpton — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:04:04 +0000

I never understood a word that chick was singing, but I must admit…I always sort of lip-synced along with it. It was very soothing…perfect for deep, strategic contemplation.

“Glooriaaaatoh….yuns fo-daaaayooh….”

By: Tim Cameron

Tim Cameron — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:15:53 +0000

I had exactly the same thing with Rome. Everything about that game was geared to destroy months of your life. I think the killer is that an evening spent preparing for a couple of big battles feels very satisfying, but the sum total of that evening’s work will only bring you about 1% closer to finishing the actual game.

The only reason I stopped playing Rome was because I declared war on the senate way too early, and then looked on in abject horror as ten thousand million Scipii armies sprung out of nowhere and starting raping and pillaging all the towns that I had spent weeks and weeks of my life building up.

I couldn’t bear to play the game out to its grim conclusion. Before I was brought to my knees and urinated on, I uninstalled the game and tried to pretend that it had never existed.

I still hum the theme tunes to myself, though. “Saaa-lutaaaarus…..”

By: nigel plimpton

nigel plimpton — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:35:54 +0000

Though it surely wasn’t the best game I ever played, Rome: Total War had the tendency to eat up hours of my time. I had never pulled so many consecutive all-nighters until that point.

I would find myself musing over strategy during English class to thwart those persistent Egyptians…

By: Tim Cameron

Tim Cameron — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:17:55 +0000

I suspect your urge might stem from a specific event in your early life; possibly an event such as deciding that you really liked beating the shit out of people.

No charge.

By: OminousOat

OminousOat — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:22:58 +0000

Violence indeed, it may sound terrifying, but when I don’t play video games for a while I tend to dream about beating the shit out of people. In my defense, it’s always self defense.