I guess this is all suddenly newsworthy off the back of the staggering success of World of Warcraft, which recently went on sale in Europe, and sold more copies in one day than had been previously thought to be the entire European MMORPG market.
I'm a bit bemused by it really...I know from sad and bitter experience that 'WoW' is going to be exactly like all the others, a mildly diverting waste of time for just long enough to pass beyond the first 'free' month, then a tiresome repetition exercise after that, culumnating in a sudden release of frustration and quitting. You pay your money and to take your pick, but I do seem to be in the minority in not thinking 'WoW' is something wonderfully new, exciting and different. I guess a lot of it is sheer blind Blizzard-worship...clearly a company that can do no wrong in most gamer's eyes.
But back to the point...
BBC News have picked up on this long-lamented darker aspect of our online subculture: Losing yourself in online gaming - as if it's news or something. It's not, and has been a problem since computer games were invented.
More grim tales of sorrow, loss and consequence here: Everquest Daily Grind It makes for difficult reading.
I could chin-stroke at length on the nature of reality, virtual reality, online utopias and the relative merits and pitfalls of each, but really all I can add on a personal note, is that I'd like to think that at least my own all-consuming computer gaming addiction has only ever caused suffering to myself, and not anyone else around me. That really would be a poor show.
I suppose I could go 24 hours without playing a computer game, but it'd be a deliberate effort, and I doubt I could manage 48. The sad truth is that computer games have made me the man I am today, and I really wouldn't know what to do with any other kind of life. But for one reason or another, I've made my choice. It seems to be those who think they can be an hardcore gamer and a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/mother/father that seem to cause the most damage.
You can't have it all...