Yes playing games can be addictive depending on the game. But more curiously I wonder if game collecting can be an addiction? I think it's more of a compulsive thing.
addictions come with compulsions heh.
idk how collecting would be so much addiction, other than psychological, unless it's kinda like gambling? sure, you might NEVER PLAY THE GAME you just bought, but if you blind buy primarily, instead of looking at reviews, then it's kinda a gamble. "did i just waste my cash on a crap shoot or did i uncover a gem" is a fun game to play, could be considered a gamble.
but i don't think so haha. other than any other thing which can be psychologically addicting, but then, i think it depends on the methods on how someone buys it, then you would sort it in a 'type' of addiction, rather than simply 'collecting'
or we're (orderly) hoarders!
Pretty much.
I've collected games for about 8 years and I still don't really see it as being addictive. Despite creating a lot of cool memories while in the hunt, it's really not the game hunting that I enjoy so much. More so it's the idea that I didn't have this item, and now I do. Or maybe I might not be able to have this item, and now I do have it. I'm a bit frugal and penny pinching by nature, so actually the process of game collecting is somewhat psychologically painful to me. I spend a lot of time researching and looking into the information about games that are out there. Mostly I enjoy the discovery aspect of game collecting, and then the procurement.
i love the hunt, but it gets me out of the house when otherwise, i probably would close myself in other than for work. it's much more relaxing to drive around to thrift stores and pawn shops, than, say, grocery shopping as well. so there's definitely a positive benefit to me being a collector. otherwise, i would literally never have outside contact with people other than customers and coworkers, and that's pretty dangerous. sure, i doubt gamestop employees care about their chats with me that much, but there again, i did make a friend through that, and employment. so -shrug- who knows.
the discovery is an added bonus. the "aha" moment, like when my eyes glanced over a black-label copy of sonic generations, that "FUCKIN FINALLY!" moment... i only ever see it GH, so i was pretty excited to FINALLY get to own (and play!) the game. it's pretty good (dare say act 1 has the same problem as the genesis sonics tho... too fast, while being zoomed in too much, but i might just be sitting too close to a 48" tv, that might be my issue, lmao)
i know it's not an addiction for me, tho, because i have addictions. i'm addicted to cigarettes (there was a time where i wasn't, those days are long gone), i'm addicted to the internet, i have an eating disorder that comes with compulsions and weird actions/habits that consume my mind even when i'm supposed to be, say, working. eating disorders are also addictions... psychologists are working on what makes an ED, and all they can draw is "restrictive eating disorders derive from reward/punishment sections of the brain"... there's a TED talk about it, it's fascinating, and unnerving to hear my thought process displayed 'to the public'.
but when i see a game i really want, but don't have the cash for (without cutting into my rent and other bills) i don't just fucking buy it anyway. i curse its existence at that moment, i get upset, but i can walk away. i've never been late because "just one more pawn shop...", none of that. of course, i think someone could be addicted (they work, only because it means more games, they fall into shoplifting games when they CAN'T afford it, etc etc) but i think it'd be relatively rare. i DO blind-buy however (it's way more fun than looking over reviews... i look at reviews later, usually after playing), but that's a matter of personal tastes. being spoiled on games ruined gaming for me, so i just stopped. i enjoy games in all flavours a lot more without it, but i'm really susceptible to peer pressure, so that's why.
Anything consumed in excess can become an addition; therefore, gaming by itself is not an addiction.
This is a pretty silly topic anyways; according to the topic creator only certain kind of activities are defined as "addiction" by his standards.
Excuse me. I made the argument of something totally useless, is not the same as something useful. You can't compare playing a guitar, learning a skill, or self improvement to sitting in a dark basement playing video games alone. You're improving yourself by doing those activities, and they don't have deadly side effects for some. I defined it the way I saw, instead of semantics. You can define it whatever way you want.
That is very opinionated and subjective though. And biased. Video games improve your hand eye coordination, your peripheral vision, you have to read in most RPGs thus helping your vocabulary, your finger dexterity to a certain extent. they help you to meet new friends online. Some games help you get exercise. Streaming on twitch or YouTube can make you money, pay bills, you can make millions off of gaming if you become big enough. Sure its a rarity but so is becoming a guitarist for a popular band. Guitar doesn't improve anything. What does guitar do? It gets people to watch you and like you and In very rare cases can make you money but really learning to play guitar doesn't do anything to benefit you mentally other than maybe the thrill factor or pleasure you get from it like video game. It doesn't educate you. You wont use it in most work settings. You perceive that as a skill but cant anything be considered a skill?
This whole thread is filled with vague terms that have loose meanings. Words like "Skill" or "addiction" are subjective. Anything can be a skill and anything can be an addiction. Depends what you consider to be a threshold for skill and addiction. Wrapping a sandwich in plastic wrap could be a skill. Petting a dog could be an addiction if done excessively in variations of 9 hours a day hurting the dog or your hand. In general its best not to put these labels on things. As said before video game is a hobby more or less but it can be addictive to some. 
I think petting a dog to much would be a compulsive disorder, than an addiction. The brain has a mental disorder, not an actual addiction.
Hmm.. maybe you're right. They weren't actually my values as you can see i'm also a gamer. But i'll say this gaming has had more tragedies than success stories at the end of the day. You don't learn anything playing video games (Except maybe the seasoned jrpg gamer), nor gain skills in the real world that will help you succeed socially or emotionally. Gaming as a hobby was an escape it always was.
I've made no conclusions btw.
i would argue against the idea gaming doesn't... teach you anything. like i just said above, had it not been for gaming (and collecting by extension) i wouldn't ever really socialise offline. i go to gamestop, and if it's a dead hour, i can have a nice chat with the people behind the counter about games they play and whatnot. i can bond with people who also game, by mutual hobby. finding, say, other people who draw, in the wild, is not as easy as finding gamers. i may not divulge my preferences (weeb jrpgs) but i can hold a convo with someone else's interests over mine, so it works. it's whatever.
yes, it's an escape, but as are film... any art form, that's the point. books are also an escape, the classic escape. that's why fantasy books are almost always first on the chopping block of totalitarian regimes that are fond of book burning... well, after anti-authoritarian novels and dystopian sci-fis and religious texts. but when it comes to fiction exclusively, they come high in the tiers of "shit to be banned".
and also, gaming definitely fucking helped me. i learnt to read SOLELY to be able to read pokemon blue... i was lost and confused, so i buckled up and took to reading... i was 7.
i was playing final fantasy 13 last night... i last played it when i was 17, and now i am far better at playing it... not a hard game, but back then, the paradigm shifts and such were extremely hard for me to grasp. again, certified learning disorder here, low IQ. strategy games in general have done nothing but help my critical thinking skills. playing pokemon competitively, when i was 14, got me to get back on track in maths. it might be 'basic maths', but the calculation that goes into pokemon metagame isn't the easiest thing. (animal crossing taught me how to type, as well, oddly enough. WAY better than those shitty typing games on school computers could ever do... and was way, way more rewarding, too, in-game)
and arguably, playing games with other languages (japanese, russian) has sparked my interest in learning other languages, as well. which isn't the smoothest of sailing, but then, i'm trying to learn one of the harder languages in the world to learn (russian... i mean, go look up grammar rules of russian, it'll put your ass on the floor lmao).
the worth of gaming, to you, may be very little. and that means you're fortunate. but how many people have been inspired by gaming, and gaming alone, to go learn programming languages? to take up art? to take up reading, or learning another language (primarily, i imagine, japanese)? are those not worthwhile skills? maybe drawing, not so much, but learning another language (programming or human)? that's incredibly useful. how many people took up repairing hardware and building hardware thanks to YLOD/RROD, or NES 72-pin failures, or simply to build a gaming PC... that's fucking worthwhile shit.
and minecraft is a creativity-building tool, for sure. even some schools use minecraft now, to help teach.
i've also heard of people getting jobs in management due to their ability to lead guilds in games like world of warcraft.
if it wasn't for games, i doubt i'd be reading at the level i do now, my critical thinking and strategic planning would be in a deficit, quick wits and making fast decisions would be a wreck... and then the socialisation aspects, too.
i think you're undercutting the 'worth' of video games a lot.
a lot. and also, of course you hear about the reports of all the bad shit--what's new in the world? bad shit = drama = views = money. people loooove drama. of course you only hear about the dramatic deaths. but how many success stories ACTUALLY get out in the world? probably very few. other than big shots like pewdiepie, but the other stories that may not lead to big monetary gain probably don't get out. not enough drama there. no way to spark outrage... for more views, for more money. who cares about a kid learning to read to play pokemon blue? no one. who cares about some guy in RoK dying because he played games for 3 days straight? a lot of people, because a lot of people are dramawhores and "how could someone do that?!" because we have a severe lack of education about mental health (and addiction by extension) in the first world... east or west, wherever you go.
either way, i also think you're undercutting the value of playing guitar (as you wrote above) or drawing... those skills might not develop to make money, but there's ample amounts of evidence that mastering a skill will boost self-esteem and self-worth, especially in teenagers. it is the act of creating and doing something and having something to show for your time and effort that creates self esteem. so, yeah, you're undervaluing a lot of things that don't make a lot of sense to undervalue in psychology. all to play this devil advocate game... on a premise you're really don't seem educated enough about to play DA over.
and this is coming from someone who does stand by the notion gaming -can- be addicting... to a point of debilitation, but simply isn't the case for the majority, and does think that those who are neck-deep in addiction to games (or the internet) should receive help to turn their addiction back into a hobby.
