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NewsMajority of Compulsive Gamers Not Addicted to Games: Game De-Addiction Expert

Posted 12/01/08 at 04:06:13 PM by Pulkit Chandna

the poster boy of social isolation in video games

The exact nature of the impact that video games have on humans is a contentious issue among researchers and any possibility of a consensus seems inconceivable. It is almost like an incessant war between the myriad of video game researchers across the globe with contradictory video game studies being continuously exchanged by them instead of lead.

The founder of the Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam - Europe’s very first and sole video game de-addiction clinic - Keith Bakker has downplayed video game addiction, which he believes is immensely exaggerated. Only 10% of all compulsive gamers, according to Bakker, are actually addicted to video games, while the rest are riveted to video games as a direct result of social problems confronting them.

His postulate is remarkable in the sense that it views social isolation to be a cause of compulsive gaming in most cases rather than an effect, as is commonly perceived.

“If I continue to call gaming an addiction it takes away the element of choice these people have,” says Bakker. “It's a complete shift in my thinking and also a shift in the thinking of my clinic and the way it treats these people. In most cases of compulsive gaming, it is not addiction and in that case, the solution lies elsewhere."

Mr. Bakker’s views must have come as a huge disappointment to Hollywood stars, who have been planning to use video game addiction as a pretext for future rehab visits after having expended all other plausible excuses.

Comments: 3
TAGS: video games, violence, addiction, rehab, de-addiction, treatment, keith bakker

NewsAmazon Enters Casual Games Market by Acquiring Reflexive Entertainment

Posted 10/24/08 at 04:28:29 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Amazon has agreed to acquire casual web gaming company Reflexive Entertainment. The move marks the internet behemoth’s foray into casual gaming. Reflexive was constituted in 1997 and is stationed in Orange County, California. Reflexive is working on a game development and distribution service called Reflexive Arcade.

The Reflexive Arcade service will be restricted to only PC, Mac and web-based games. The true motivation behind this particular acquisition is not yet known. The two companies haven’t made the details of the transaction public.

Comments: 0
TAGS: games, Software, pc, video games, browser, amazon, Mac, acquisition, developer, web, casual games, reflexive entertainment, distributor

NewsProfessional Gamers Accused of Doping. Who Didn't See That Coming?

Posted 09/02/08 at 11:08:52 AM by Paul Lilly

From baseball's Mitchell Report to track star Marion Jones being stripped of her Olympic medals, the awareness of drug use in competitive sports is at an all-time high. So high, in fact, that even professional gaming can't stay ducked under the radar.

Casting aside for the moment whether or not gaming qualifies as a 'sport,' there's no debate to the amount of money being made in professional gaming. Major League Gaming gives up to $100,000 a tournament in prize money, and the other U.S. based major league, the newly minted Championship Gaming Series, has awarded as much as $500,000 in tournaments. The tally gets even higher when expanding to a global view.

And whether or not you count professional gaming as a sport, with that much money at stake, is anyone surprised that accusations of drug use have started to be thrown? According to GamePlayer, an Australian lead gaming site, some of the commonly abused substances include marijuana, amphetamines, Dexamphetamine and Methylphenidate (Ritalin), Caffeine, and FpsBrain.

In a followup to the story, GamePlayer pinged Alex Walker, the director of the Australian World Cyber Games Tournament, who readily acknowledged that players are abusing drugs in order to enhance their performance. Walker notes seeing "a number of players at national tournaments who came in "baked" purely so they could play better."

As professional gaming grows in popularity, drug use could potentially become an even bigger problem. But at the current profit margin, gaming leagues can ill afford to implement drug testing, and DailyTech notes that a strict drug enforcement policy that includes marijuana could be met with a backlash among gamers.

Thoughts on the subject? Hit the jump and let us know.

Comments: 8
TAGS: games, video games, gamers, doping

NewsImmersion Hands Over $20 Million to Microsoft in Rumble Controller Settlement

Posted 09/01/08 at 11:31:50 AM by Paul Lilly

All that experience in court looks to be paying off for Microsoft. After all, how else could you explain receiving $20.75 million from the very company whose patents you're using. Confused? Let's backtrack.

In 2002, Immersion took exception to the rumble effects in Microsoft's controllers for the Xbox and sued the Redmond giant for patent infringement. Microsoft ultimately settled with Immersion, agreeing to pay $26 million to end the litigation, but not without a clause. Before agreeing to pay the sum, Microsoft stipulated that if Sony should ever license Immersions force feedback technology for it's PS3 controllers, Immersion would have to pay a portion of the settlement.

Immersion did end up settling with Sony last year, and that's good news for Microsoft. It took some legal wrangling to get it done, but Immersion has finally agreed to pay Microsoft and make good on the clause.

"We are pleased to have reached a resolution to our legal dispute with Immersion that includes a $20.75 million payment to Microsoft," said Steve Aeschbacher, associate general counsel for Microsoft. "We are gratified that we have successfully resolved our claims under the 2003 settlement we negotiated with Immersion, which provided benefits to both companies and specific rights to Microsoft."

And Microsoft has every reason to be pleased. Legal costs aside, the payment whittles down the company's initial $26 licensing settlement to just over $5 million.

Comments: 2
TAGS: games, microsoft, legal, video games, court, controller, rumble, immersion

NewsBuoyant AMD Expects 40% Graphics Card Market Share

Posted 06/27/08 at 06:26:47 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Buoyed by the early promise of its ATI Radeon HD 4850 card, AMD expects its discrete graphics card market share to reach 40% in Q3, 2008 up from 30% at the beginning of this year. The performance-oriented HD 4850 is an absolute steal for $199 and most industry watchers expect it to tear into the market held by $200-300 card.

The launch of the HD 4850 left Nvidia with no choice but to drop the price of its GeForce 9800 GTX+ from $229 to $199. But when AMD decides to cut Radeon HD 4850’ price – a long way off – sales will get a huge boost.

Comments: 4
TAGS: gaming, graphics card, nvidia, video games, hardware, build a pc, ati radeon hd 4850, geforce 9800 gtx+

NewsNew Portable Gamers Desk

Posted 06/19/08 at 02:56:27 PM by Paul Lilly

Gamers have become quite the pampered bunch in recent years, drawing manufacturers' attention with everything from precision sensitive mice to ultra light gaming headphones. Now thanks to LapWorks, video gamers can now add an ergonomic lap-spanning gaming platform to the pantheon of peripherals aimed at increasing your fragging ability from the comfort of your couch. Weighing less than 2 pounds, the Gamers Desk purports to ease back strain by alleviating the need to hunch over your coffee table while you line up that perfect headshot in front of your swank HDTV.