My Name Is Jon And I'm A Gamer... News

Leave me alone, will you? Can't you see that I'm sat here in my own mess trying to get to level 60 in ? What d'you mean that I've been playing for fifty hours straight, it only seems like a couple of hours? At least it would explain why I'm surrounded by milk bottles filled with my own urine...and the smell...

Yes, it seems like the world of addiction has hit a new low with the opening of Europe's very first clinic to 'cure' videogame addiction. Based in Amsterdam, where there are sure to be several other types of addictions flowing through the veins of this 'liberal' city, the private clinic has been set up as a response to extreme (and exceptionally rare) cases of morbidly long period of game play.

Such cases generally make headlines on many of the international online news sites for a few days, like the 28-year old Korean who died of heart failure following over two days of solid Starcraft play, or the Chinese parents who are trying to sue The9 for their son's suicide following prolonged use of World of Warcraft - but surely that dwarves the vast number of drug addicts and alcoholics around the world...sensationalism in the mass media? Sounds like the title of a Media Studies essay...

The fact is that for every 'past time', including eating, there're people who just don't know (or who are able) to stop themselves. Videogames are far from a great evil, and are enjoyed by millions around the globe each and every day without harm...in fact, it could be the world's greatest problem solver? If everybody played something like LocoRoco with its hippy-like frivolity, then perhaps there wouldn't be so much conflict...

Anyway, rant over...here's to the next 50 straight hours of gaming...