Fantastic job Christina, especially when the "journalists" had clearly made up their minds before the cameras even began to roll.

It's sad how a topic that could be quite informative was so butchered by that news cast. The people they were talking to had some thought provoking comments that were continually interrupted and dismissed.

Christina was definitely the highlight in that segment. She did great!

Makes you wonder how long before lawyers use the "addiction case" they used against the Cigarette Industry and apply it to the Video Game industry. Is there a difference between a game developer who purposely makes a game addictive and the way the tobacco companies make their product? In the end its up to the consumer to take responsiblity for how they use the product, but most lawyers don't see it that way, they will see the consumer as a victim of a billion dollar industry. Why do we have lawyers again?

Brisk - probably worth noting that there is a pretty big difference between tobacco addiction and video game "addiction." One is a physical addiction - a chemical dependency that your body adapts to. The other is either A) a nonsense argument put forth by people who don't understand video games (if I were to play video games four hours a day, I'd be considered addictive, but if I watched TV four hours a day I'd be considered below the national average? Bullshit politics FTW) OR B) a disease only affecting those with serious social disorders to begin with.

Your comments are always appreciated sir, but for once I think we're going to have to agree to disagree: imo, video game addiction is a vastly different topic than tobacco addiction.

Jim, you and I both know there is a particular infamous lawyer from Florida, whose name I won't mention as it draws him to conversations like this like an insulting moth to flame who would be apt to adopt Brisk's position if he thought it would work... of course, if he gets disbarred he won't be able to use it.

But yes, the agenda was amply clear from the setup. There was a certain point of view that the station wanted to get across, and that is unfortunate.

As a final digression, is it just me, or does the still image of Christina above from that video remind anyone else a little of Olivia Munn?

Jim,
I agree with you that video game addiction is different from tobacco addiction. I was just raising the idea of slimy lawyers trying to do what they did to the Tabacco Company and apply it to the Video Game industry and what case they would try to make.
And I totally agree with the double standard you mentioned about TV watching vs. video game playing.

Cool beans sir. Sometimes meaning gets a little lost in the shuffle on this ol' series of tubes. Thanks for the clarification!

I agree with you all.

Good job to Christina, I don't know if I'd have the patience to deal with those reporters who clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

@ Jim
Thanks for the post, sweetie! I had fun doing the show even though the reporters came across as negitive people. I had science guy on my side though. Dude owns an Atari 2600 still with 60 games. That rules!

@ MC
Thanks for the Olivia comparison. She's hot.

@ Brent

I had to play nice or they won't invite me back again.

It's unfortunate that the only testimony we heard from the mother whose son committed suicide was that he started playing games, then quit his job, then committed suicide. There's not nearly enough information present to pass any sort of judgment as to the cause of this individual's suicide. In fact, I would speculate that video games, at most, were simply the object of this person's addiction. There could potentially be a correlation, but I highly doubt video games caused his suicide.

One point I found very interesting was near the end, the woman on the phone, Liz, asked Mark, the assistant professor if his knowledge of video games helps him as a parent to be mindful of his child's involvement in video games. I think the key here is that Mark is an educated parent, and is aware of dangers that could come from a physical obsession. How many parents truly understand the potential for physical addiction in the form of excessive video game playing?

I'd also like to applaud Christina and Mark for their cool heads and excellent retorts- I know I wouldn't have been able to hold my tongue in a situation like that.