Social Gaming
In week 10, we entered the very intriguing world of social gaming and discovered the many forms of sociality and player conflict that can come with it. We considered the long history of playing games and the way that people connect and communicate via gaming. At present, gaming communities are formed in many different ways and vary between networked platforms.
A real concern of gaming is the lack of physical activities that are being undertaken by children and teenagers due to the amount of time spent in their gaming world. In 2017, the world was introduced to the game Fortnight; a game where up to 100 players battle against each other on an island, and the aim is to be the last man standing.
According to The World Health Organisation, gaming is becoming quite a medical condition, explaining that the addiction of the game is leading children and teenagers to sleep deprivation, anger issues and hindering their awareness at school.
Brad Marshall from the Internet Addiction Clinic at Kidspace in Sydney explains that
“We're seeing about 60-70 per cent of the kids coming through the door reporting that Fortnite is their primary game of use… We've also seen quite a lot of anger outbursts at home.”
He further explains that the level accessibility is contributing to the addiction as the game is easily able to be downloaded by the user. When I wanted to find some more research for this blog, I typed into Google ‘Fortnite addiction’. The first page to appear lead me to a website called Game Quitters. ENOUGH SAID. This website explained that over 40 million users played it last month alone. Moreover, it was reported that a 9-year-old girl in the UK was sent to rehab for refusing to use a toilet due to being unable to pull herself away from the game. When she finally was pulled away by her parents, she attacked her parents (Gaming et al, 2018). Again, ENOUGH SAID. It’s one scary world we live in. And I can only assume it could get quite scary being within the gaming world.
When I think of gaming, it’s not really the term I’d use to describe how I used to play when I was growing up. However, the more I think about it… I did go through a bit of a gaming phase (The Sims anybody?!?!). And WOW it used to take up a lot of time. It’s only as of recently when I had to look after a young boy who was on work experience that I really got to know the world of gaming and just HOW important it can be for some. This school boy could hardly take his eyes away from his laptop (which he had bought in to play on during the ahhh… quiet times). He was fully immersed in his own little world and would only really communicate with the other player in his world. Is this normal or is social gaming becoming somewhat anything but social???
References
Gaming, R., Ones, R., Detox, 9., Rehab, T., Fundamentals, T., HobIdeas, 6., Gamers, V., Articles, B., Ones, L., Ones, R., Ones, V., Group, P., Ones, B., Rehab, T. and Presentations, L. (2018). Parents Guide to Fortnite Addiction | Game Quitters, viewed 27 January 2019 <https://gamequitters.com/parents-guide-to-fortnite-addiction/>.
















