Are Some Games (COUGH EA COUGH) Promoting an Addictive Culture Among Kids?
That’s right, I’m going from my last post which was very staunch in its
defence of video games in the wake of the Sandy Hook School shooting, to what
might come as a surprise but a blog warning of the addictive nature of some
games.
Addictions come in many forms. The more recognisable addictions like
smoking, alcohol and drugs are common place in the world, and other addictions
like gambling, junk-food and shopping are also fairly common in the world, even
if they are not thought of in quite the same class as the former examples.
I’m going to generalise somewhat, considering that for example I’m not
a drug addict or alcoholic.
It seems that people latch onto things like booze, junk-food,
cigarettes or drugs to escape – even for 5 minutes – from the stresses of
everyday life. Mild addictions such as someone saying they need their morning coffee to function for the day, aren’t usually
thought of as an addiction, but quite clearly is – even if it is quite mild.
Some people need that glass of wine
at the end of the day, and some people need to walk away from things just for
that 5 minute nicotine fix.
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| That's no cigar...it's a SPACE STATION...of meth. |
Some of these addictions are quite harmless and just thought of as a
part and parcel of day-to-day modern life. I’m guilty of falling into this
category as well – just ask my wife.
I’ll give you my own personal example – video games. After being at
work all day, I walk the couple of miles home, stopping off at the shop to top
up on milk and bread, and then when I get home I either help Mrs Toolbox make
the dinner, or enjoy the meal that’s waiting for me. Eventually the kids get
sent up to bed, and after settling them in and making my way downstairs (for
once the kids are up to bed, our sitting room becomes our bedroom) the wife
gets into entering her competitions, and I pull out my gaming chair, flick on
the Xbox or PS3 sit back and escape. You may know from previous blogs my
penchant for Mass Effect, but games like that, GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Gears
of War, Unchartered etc all fall into the same kind of category for me. To
escape the crappy country the British Government is determined to make for us
all (apart from the rich) I indulge myself in my games, becoming Nico Bellic or
Commander Shepard or Nathan Drake for a couple of hours before getting into
bed, watching something funny and going to sleep to start another day again.
If for whatever reason, I can’t get my fix of game playing, I do become
more ratty, more irritable and less like the cheery person I usually am from
day to day.
My wife knows this all too well. J
But it wasn’t me that I was thinking of when I thought of writing this
blog. It was our eldest son.
For his birthday, he got FIFA 13 – not unusual, he plays football for
the local youth team, he watches Sky Sports News religiously, scans the internet
for football news regularly and is a keen Football Manager and FIFA fan. He
plays them both…almost addictively. But not quite. You see, yes he’s a typical
gaming teenager, but he does well at school, he’s got a good network of
friends, is active and has gone through girls in his year like people go
through underwear. Not what most people probably think of when they think of
teenagers who play copious amounts of video games. But there is a twist in this
particular tale…
As I mentioned, we got him FIFA 13 for his birthday as we do every year
for either his birthday or Christmas, and things were normal – at first. He has
been playing online more with his mate who, admittedly comes from a more
affluent family ours. And this time around, the main thing with FIFA hasn’t
been playing the occasional online game while focussing on playing careers
offline. Oh no. It’s been playing FIFA Ultimate Team.
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| O FIFA...y u want moar muni? |
And the hatred for EA Games will begin. You see, EA Sports have always
had this particular motto which is probably familiar to most people – “It’s in
the game.” which is just a shortened version of its original motto “If it’s in
the game, it’s in the game.” basically showing off their expertise at being
able to replicate its aim of making sports games as true to life as possible.
And with the birth of the Ultimate Team in FIFA 09 it’s become a monster with
FIFA 13 and the introduction of FIFA Points, designed to make purchasing packs
(spit spit spit) easier.
Previously, our resident teenager was happy playing FIFA without the
UT, however this year things have changed. Suffice to say, that shortly after
his birthday, for Christmas we bought him some MS Points so he could play the
UT with his friend. Harmless enough we thought, and we thought that would be
that. I mean come on, A premium gold pack, costs about 100 FIFA Points, which
costs 80 MS Points, which costs about 62p. Not much harm to be done there no?
Uhhh, ya think?
You see as an adult, I understand the concept of patience, if I were to
indulge in the FIFA UT, I would play the game to raise in-game credits, to then
buy the packs for free. As a teenager with all the patience of a fruit fly,
this would take far too long, and require a bit of commitment.
So he used all of his MS Points to buy FIFA Points, to buy gold pack,
after gold pack, after gold pack. Then all would be good, he’d come downstairs
with grand proclamations of his now amazing team, one that is predominantly
Spanish, and one that is pretty awesome. Cool.
Then it happened. The addiction to opening these packs began. He would
get itchy. He would get bored. He would get the urge to get more packs. So he’d
sell his entire team, to get in game credits, to spend on more packs, then when
he found that he had no players left he’d look at his wad of cash. He got quite
a bit of cash for his birthday from various family members you see. And what at
first was going to be so he could go into town with his mates, or treat himself
to some treats, become something far more insidious.
“Mum, can you buy me some more MS Points for the
Xbox, I need them for my Ultimate Team?” he’d enquire.
“But you already had a load of points, and what
happened to your Spanish-y team?” she would enquire back. “You were only talking
about how glad you were yesterday!”
“Yeah, I sold them to get more packs, I wanted a
change.” He’d reply, quite bluntly.
“Are you sure this is how you want to spend your
birthday money?” she probed, trying to make sure that it was definitely what
was wanted.
“Yeah, it’s only a bit though, I mean I still got
loads to go to town with!” he’d answer, immediately, he’d obviously thought it
all through.
“Ok then, how much do you want to spend?” she’d ask…
It would continue. We thought, sod it, it’s close to Christmas, and his
prezzie pile is looking quite small, let’s get him some points for Christmas as
well! Oh how we regret that decision, and regret the initial decision to help
him get his first pack.
You see, just after Christmas he basically did exactly what he did
before Christmas – but with a Spanish team. And then he found out that there
was an Ultimate Team “Happy Hour” where packs were cheaper or some shit. And
the tell-tale signs of addiction game to the fore. He’d gone through his points
like a hot knife through butter, and then had sold off all his players in a bid
to get more packs. And when we told him that, no we wouldn’t let him spend his
money on such a load of old bollocks the withdrawal symptoms began.
The sad face. The sulky posture. The zombie-like shuffling. The groans.
The slumping. And the flopping. To anyone who didn’t know, they’d have thought
his puppy had just been hit by a car. To us, we knew it was for one thing and
one thing only.
We succumbed. L
OK FINE! If you want to waste your money on these bloody packs, then do
it. And he did, and he did. Until enough was enough.
A few days later and after having spent the equivalent of about £100 in
game on fucking packs we stopped it all. Cut him off cold turkey from the
fucking packs. And it started all over again. The sad face. The sulky posture.
The zombie-like shuffling. The groans. The slumping. And the flopping. Only
this time we persevered.
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| Apt. |
Then we had the ultimate stereotypical addict catch-phrase. “I know
that if I get one more lot of points, it’ll be different this time.” How that sentence
alone inspired me to write this you’ll never know. It rings of “I just need one
more fix/drink/cigarette/snort/etc and then I’ll sort myself out.”
But we persevered. And the reaction from the boy was most telling. Not
even a month after being given the game for his birthday, he told us he wants
to sell it. In previous years, many a happy hour had been spent plying his
trade, becoming a formidable FIFA player, enjoying playing the game, navigating
the transfer windows, overcoming challenges of playing higher division clubs,
playing the game for what it always was. And now, he feels that he needs to get
rid of the game to avoid the temptation of the packs. The normal game offers no
replay value for him anymore, and he’s now trying to get into other games…but
things just don’t quite seem right with him still.
(As a side point, check out almost any EA Game now, almost all of them
have little micro-transactions in them, from FIFA to The Sims 3 to Mass Effect
to Star Wars: The Old Republic.)
So let me sum up. Basically, the example above of the boy who
zombiefied himself due to not being able to get his “fix” of FIFA Points, is quite
extreme. Look at myself as an example instead. I’m in my mid-twenties, I love
to game and I get a bit shitty if I don’t sometimes. BUT I’m a father of 4, I’m
in full-time work as a Civil Servant in the MoD and I’m part of a happy family.
I’m not a recluse, I’m not massively overweight (OK I’m a bit chunky but not
that bad!), I don’t have awkward social skills and I do have friends that don’t
just exist on the screen in-front of me. Basically, let your kids play, let
them have their fun, because God knows that if I knew that by my mid-twenties I’d
be in the position I’m in now, I’d have made the most of every minute of gaming
that wasn’t interrupted by a crying toddler or a moody-hungry teenager.
I just hope that in 16 years time (when my youngest will be old enough
to go to University or work or whatever) I’ll still be a happy gamer with more
actual time to game. Either that, or I’ll be in my 40’s enjoying things like
Midsomer Murders and waiting to die.
TTFN!
Toolbox 24
