Am I addicted to video games?

[Pikaville]

Basically I find myself getting very agitated and bored most of the time unless im playing something.

The only time I watch TV is really to watch Anime or 2 and a 1/2 men.

Id say Ive played 600-800 games in my life time.

I have a list written down but I have to put it somewheres on the internets and ill make a link for those interested.(It only contains FINISHED games there are a few I either didnt like or was to crap at the time to finish)

Ive owned every major console since the nes and my collection of games(which starts at the sega saturn/ps1 era cuz my stupid parents threw out my nes/snes as well as my megadrive)is absoloutely huge.

I recently got a modded original x box with every nes,snes,megadrive/genesis,gameboy and arcade game ever on it.......and my list of completed games is growing.

 

[Teran]

Well... everyone has a passion in life, right?

 

[Pikaville]

Well I play alot of guitar too.Id say thats my true passion....kinda.

But I really cant get enough gaming.Weirdly enough its the only thing that gets me REALLY angry too.

I never get angry at people etc only games.

I mean if I finish a game I have to 100% complete it after that.Then I have to play a new game,I cant not be playing or in the middle of playing a game.I just love them!

I mean I actually blew my girlfriends offer of free house (and we all know what she was thinking) the other day so I could spend 3 hours getting my 3rd set of master materia in FF7.
........Am I crazy?

 

[Proverbs]

Well, I don't support premarital sex or drunkenness, so I'd say you made the right choice!

However, yeah, I would call your 'hobby' a bit extreme. I don't really play video games outside of smash. But I have been studying a little bit into addiction recently and how it works neurologically. They do mention how video games work into it, and once I get a bit more information I'll post here about it to see if that helps you out at all.

 

[Overload]

Please post pictures of your collection.

 

[Minato]

Sounds like you're addicted.
The first step is just to admit it...

I'm also surprised by how much time you have on your hands.
600-800 games is a lot.

What I mean is, I'm surprised you wrote a whole list of all the games you've completed.

 

[GoldShadow]

I mean I actually blew my girlfriends offer of free house and a bottle or vodka(and we all know what she was thinking) the other day so I could spend 3 hours getting my 3rd set of master materia in FF7.

I passed up drunken sex for ff7........Am I crazy?

You need to check yourself into a meeting of Gamers Anonymous. Not even kidding.

 

[Teran]

You need to check yourself into a meeting of Gamers Anonymous. Not even kidding.

It's ok son, we've found you some help.

 

[Proverbs]

^That's amazing. Where in the world did you find that?

 

[wh1te5had0w]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tg3RPJzIPw

there are others with your problem

 

[Skrah]

Maybe you need something else to fill your time. It might be hard at first but stop gaming alltogether for a week or so. Maybe a month if you can bear it. Then after that month is up just play a game, but moderately.

Sign up for classes, either to play an instrument, learn a language, or a sport. Anything to fill your time.

 

[kigbariom]

I can't believe you watch 2 and 1/2 Men...

Other than that, an addiction to games is better than most things you can get addicted to these days. I've passed doing something fun on almost every occasion because of video games.
Read comic strips, like Calvin and Hobbes, those will keep you busy.

 

[DtJ Jungle]

LOL that was my thought about 2 and 1/2 men


I used to be like you. My whole childhood was video games. I seriously like never went outside.

 

[slave1]

Other than that, an addiction to games is better than most things you can get addicted to these days. I've passed doing something fun on almost every occasion because of video games.
Read comic strips, like Calvin and Hobbes, those will keep you busy.

no its not. an addiction is an addiction. he is cutting himself off from the world. seriously 600-800 games. i think i have played like 12 in my life time. maybe 20.

start working out. pay more attention to school. go cold turkey for a month. or even just a few weeks. sure i play halo way too much but i cant play that game 24-7. i get tired of it after a few hours.

yeah your addicted

 

[Proverbs]

no its not. an addiction is an addiction. he is cutting himself off from the world. seriously 600-800 games. i think i have played like 12 in my life time. maybe 20.

start working out. pay more attention to school. go cold turkey for a month. or even just a few weeks. sure i play halo way too much but i cant play that game 24-7. i get tired of it after a few hours.

yeah your addicted

Agreed. Seriously. How do you have the time for 600-800 games? I don't even know. Like slave1, I've only played maybe 20 games or something.

But let's give you the serious benefit of the doubt. If you're 25 and started playing games at 5 years old (once again, I'm really giving you the benefit of the doubt because I don't know if you did begin then, or if you're that old) that means you've completed at least 600 games within 20 years. Let's take a look at this, that's 30 games a year. Considering it takes at least like 20 hours to beat one game (you might disagree, but it will even out if you think about RPGs that take 60 hours or so--it'll average out to 20 in the end, in my opinion). That's at least 600 hours a year. Now think about how many days that is. That's 25 days. Nearly a whole month (24/7) you spent playing video games. That's a HUGE chunk of your time. That's about 1/12 of your life since you were five years old gone due to playing video games. And I'm only assuming from the fact that you're here that those hours are even higher considering you play Smash, too, which is only counted once (or three times, depending on which games you played). That's pretty concerning.

Sorry about the tough love, but you really do need to broaden your horizons, man. Like, I couldn't even play games that long--especially by myself. I'd feel like I'd need to go read a book or something x_x;;

Anyway, again, sorry if that was harsh, but you really need to turn some things around. Try not playing video games for a week. If you can't, you've got a problem.

 

[Pikaville]

600-800 in my life time.Just remember this is a figure of games Ive played not nescessarily finished.

When I was a kid id never go out Id just sit at home playing games ALL DAY!For the past few years its been between 10-30 games a year.4 years back I found the bargain of the century which entailed over 100 PS2 games for 20 euro! Ive made my way through most of them now.

Nowadays its not as bad.Except I just have this urge in the back of my head saying "buy and play a new game you know you want to"

I discovered women,booze,weed and the fact that im devilishly attractive and that made me cut down alot.
I may have made it sound worse than it actually is though.I still go out with my friends/girlfriend alot at the weekends.During the week I work from 7am-6pm,and play games/guitar till like 2 or 3 then sleep till 6.30.

My parents also buy and play alot of video games so I yoink them when their done.

Oh and I have gone a week before without playing anything.BTW for those interested im 21.

 

[Teran]

^That's amazing. Where in the world did you find that?

I searched for the AA logo and had my way with it

 

[Che_Lab]

You need to lay off the games and smoke some crack man.

 

[SuperBowser]

A good general rule is if you're asking yourself if you are doing X too much you probably are.

 

[Scott!]

During the week I work from 7am-6pm,and play games/guitar till like 2 or 3 then sleep till 6.30.

How in the world can you go on 3-4 hours of sleep a night all week? I mean, once or twice a week is okay, though not great. But that's crazy. And yes, you are addicted. 600-800 games? That's a swing of 200 games in your estimate. I don't think I've even played 200 games. I've owned far less than half that. That's just so much. I'm actually impressed more than anything.

 

[KayLo!]

I would say you're addicted. That's..... way too many games, imo.

But I'm not a hardcore gamer; I'm really big into getting out a lot and experiencing life as much as you can.

The fact that you're skimping that much on sleep on a regular basis is also a problem. Definitely not healthy.

 

[POKE40]

lol...
now... how long do you play video games? O:

 

[Proverbs]

600-800 in my life time.Just remember this is a figure of games Ive played not nescessarily finished.

Eh, the OP made it sound like you finished all of them <.<;;

 

[Pikaville]

Here's one for you.

I finished Devil may cry 1,2 and 3 in less than 24 hours.I havent played 4 because I hear its crap.

Sorry Ive been workin like mad and havent had time to post here.

 

[DtJ Jungle]

I actually used to be this way from when i was like 3 (I could dial up on teh interwebz then hehehe) until I was about 12. Then I realized there's **** outside. I still play vidjo games alot but not nearly like I did then. You may phase out of it.

 

[drcossack]

LOL that was my thought about 2 and 1/2 men


I used to be like you. My whole childhood was video games. I seriously like never went outside.

Heh, I was somewhat like that, though I have bad allergies to seasonal stuff, so I had an excuse.

I've played games since I was 3 years old, and I'm not addicted. I don't spend as much time playing them as I used to, but I don't have the time to either.

600-800 games though? Yikes. I think I'm in the range of 230 played+owned, and even that's probably too high an estimate - the bulk of my personal collection is NES, SNES, and Genesis/Game Gear (guessing combined total of those systems is about 130.) Out of those 200 some games, I play maybe 15-25.

 

[urdailywater]

Maybe you can be the next gen Angry Video Game Nerd.

There would be nothing bad about that.

 

[AquaTech]

The only time I watch TV is really to watch Anime or 2 and a 1/2 men.

I'm not sure if you're addicted or not, but I would recommend 30 more minutes of video games a day to combat your perverse 2 and a Half Men addiction!

 

[Pikaville]

Oh jesus I just bought Oblivion with expansions.......God help me!

But hey I actually went a week without playing anything.

Plus I decided to start doing weights and sit/pressups etc again so every time I want to play I may just do some excercise.

 

[Lythium]

Here's one for you.

I finished Devil may cry 1,2 and 3 in less than 24 hours.I havent played 4 because I hear its crap.

Sorry Ive been workin like mad and havent had time to post here.

That's impressive to say the least. And DMC4 is really good. The reason that most people don't like it probably stems from the fact that you play as Nero, instead of Dante.

If you have other interests, (I believe you mentioned guitar) why don't you explore those some more? Make friends. Have a jam session or something. Form a gamer cover band. No, but really. Play less, do more.

 

[Crimson King]

600-800 in my life time.Just remember this is a figure of games Ive played not nescessarily finished.

When I was a kid id never go out Id just sit at home playing games ALL DAY!For the past few years its been between 10-30 games a year.4 years back I found the bargain of the century which entailed over 100 PS2 games for 20 euro! Ive made my way through most of them now.

Nowadays its not as bad.Except I just have this urge in the back of my head saying "buy and play a new game you know you want to"

I discovered women,booze,weed and the fact that im devilishly attractive and that made me cut down alot.
I may have made it sound worse than it actually is though.I still go out with my friends/girlfriend alot at the weekends.During the week I work from 7am-6pm,and play games/guitar till like 2 or 3 then sleep till 6.30.

My parents also buy and play alot of video games so I yoink them when their done.

Oh and I have gone a week before without playing anything.BTW for those interested im 21.

This is called making excuses. Addicts do this all the time. "I'm not an alcoholic; I just drink with friends! I am my own best friend..." Stuff like that is what causes you to spiral out of control.

The true test? Don't play games for a week. I have gone at least a month without playing games, with ease, and I am sure most non-addicted people can too, but try a week. Nothing computer or console related. No handhelds, no browser games, no cell phone games, nothing like that. Tell us how that goes.

 

[KAOSTAR]

I use to play video games an extreme amount. The majority of my time was spent playing only finding time to do other things by compensating sleep for gaming. I didnt mind because gaming was what gave me my competitive edge and always wanted to complete things [100%, being the best, etc] above and beyond the best of my ability.

I stopped playing to win and sold my cube, 64, dreamcast, playstation, and xbox for something slightly more casual. I bought a DS and a PSP. I stopped playing, and realized that my grades went down, I wasnt as aggressive in sports or in general and then began settling into "chill mode."

Midway thru my freshman year in college I picked up melee for the second time. Of course, like everyone else I thought I was the best but was only a casual which in the competitive archives of smash, is less than a noob.

Now a year later I cant get enough melee, and I play to get better. I play for fun. I play because I dont want to do anything else.

I think Im addicted....

and I couldnt be happier

 

[PCyph]

I seriously feel for you man,

when I played CAL for counterstrike 1.6 I maintained a social life by playing 11 till 4 or 5 on many school nights and stayed up all night when I didn't have anything to do the next morning.

Once I got into cal-i I started not sleeping then going to school and sleeping all through classes.

It can defiantly be unhealthy.

 

[Pikaville]

Well I went a week and a half and then started playing Oblivion.

Sweet delicious Oblivion.....

 

[KAOSTAR]

Its over 9000!

Good **** on goin that week tho.