Gaming compared to drugs...

[LiamH]

UK Therapist: Two Hours of Gaming is Equivalent to a Line of Cocaine

 

These scientists have no idea what they are talking about

 

Although I found this quite fun.

 

Overall gaming time 5,340 hours ( ref xfire )

 

2 hours equal 1 line: 5340 / 2 = 2,670

 

~10 lines = 1gram of coke. ( ref )

 

so 2,670 / 10 = 267

 

$60 for a average gram of cocane ( ref )

 

267 * 60 = $16,020

 

Live rates at 2011.03.15 11:59:00 UTC

16,020.00 USD = 10,009.03 GBP

 

What a saving!

[aerospacemango]

Good savings.....

 

But what happens if you're doing 2 hours of gaming AND a line of coke?!!!

[LiamH]

I am now quite ashamed that i spent over 222 days on computer games eek!, its spread over at least 10 years however

[gavins38]

Wow... Isn't it great that they've finally found the root cause of all the problems in society! As an avid gamer it's only going to be a matter of time before I get fat/go braindead/go on a killing spree/die.

[sonofsanta]

This bloke has been making this random and wildly unproven claim for about a year now, wittering on in the hopes someone will give him some attention. An excellent, excellent dissection of him and his idiocy @ Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the Amiga Power of our times.

[localzuk]

Love it. Maybe I should go to gaming anonymous, and get clean...

[Haptic]

I am to gaming what Charlie 'Warlord' Sheen is to drugs.

 

Winning

[pete]

So he's the UK's therapist version of Jack Thompson? Only with less professional vetting?

[sonofsanta]

So he's the UK's therapist version of Jack Thompson? Only with less professional vetting?

 

Kind of exaggerated in every way except suntan - more ridiculous, less noticed, less evidence for absurd claims, more desperation to be taken seriously... maybe not that last one.

 

For all of Mr Thompson's ridiculousness, at least violence in gaming is an issue that should be studied more. Gaming being equivalent to a physical addiction to a narcotic substance doesn't even have a kernel of worth to it. It's like claiming that an hour spent outdoors is the equivlant of being a horse for 15 minutes or something daft, because both involve fresh air.

[X-13]

It's like claiming that an hour spent outdoors is the equivlant of being a horse for 15 minutes or something daft, because both involve fresh air.

 

You mean it isn't!!

 

Aww, man... I've been mislead all these years.

 

 

[note]I'm guessing you mean "being on a horse"[/note]

[sonofsanta]

You mean it isn't!!

 

Aww, man... I've been mislead all these years.

 

 

[note]I'm guessing you mean "being on a horse"[/note]

 

No, I meant to say it as I did, that's how stupid the claim is. To quote a comment made on the article I linked above, "cocaine and gaming, absolutely, positively, 100% definitely do not have the same effects on the brain". They're not even close to being similar.

[LiamH]

I do find the video game / violence thing quite stupid.

 

they argue that all the people who have committed these awful crimes any gamer would know was wrong play GTA, it's as pointless as pointing out they all have eaten white bread, most people have.

[X-13]

No, I meant to say it as I did, that's how stupid the claim is.

 

'Tis a stupid claim, indeed.

 

 

I've said for years that all these kids that go crazy and attack people are the type that would do it without the gaming influence.

 

The games may even redirect the aggression they have because it's a way of hurting people without hurting people... If you get what I mean.

 

 

New claim: Violent games make people less violent.

 

It's totally true. I have proof, but you can't see it. I know a guy, who knows a guy, who has a kid, whose best friend plays GTA and isn't violent.

[korifugi]

Ogods - someone else spouting garbage about gaming being bad, and violent games being "murder trainers" etc, etc.

 

I happen to like the fact I can go postal on a game if I want - kinda reduces stress and helps me relax. I also like 'nicer' games with a more positive element. It's entertainment, thats all - I enjoy playing games but I also enjoy taking the dog for a walk round the park with my girlfriend on a nice day. What does that mean then? Going for long walks means I'm likely to actively tresspass? Then steal to feed my 'walking' habit???

 

Utter trash.

 

 

That said - I am going to pick up a t-shirt that says "Video games made me do it", then smile at people.

[sonofsanta]

New claim: Violent games make people less violent.

 

It's totally true. I have proof, but you can't see it. I know a guy, who knows a guy, who has a kid, whose best friend plays GTA and isn't violent.

 

Actually... violent crime levels in the US have been falling steadily since the 1970s, when videogames were first available in the home. So your statement made in jest is a far more sensible claim than 90% of what is reported in the media.

 

Recent ridiculous claim (by Fox News, of course) was that the game Bulletstorm caused you to go out and rape people, because when you kill people in the game, it sometimes makes a sex-based pun about their manner of death (e.g. gang bang for killing two or more people with a grenade, or similar). Videogames + sex jokes = INSTANT SEX OFFENDER, apparently.

 

Frankly, it's an unwinnable debate because those with the agenda will determinedly stick their fingers in their ears and chant "LA LA LA LA LA" any time you try and posit a reasonable argument. Easy way to deal with it is to just wait, as in a few years gamers will be in the majority and then this rubbish won't sell to the audience anymore, and it will quietly go away.

[korifugi]

...was that the game Bulletstorm caused you to go out and rape people, because when you kill people in the game, it sometimes makes a sex-based pun about their manner of death...

 

It's not just games that are blamed for the evils in the world though, music (rap mainly - which, while I can't stand it I don't have a problem with), films, and even tabletop roleplay (not that kind of roleplay you dirty minded people, you!) have all been blamed.

 

Apparently because I play D&D - I'm a satanist who is in training to cast 'real' spells.

 

Some of these people who make the claims really need their heads looking at.

[featured_spectre]

I have 8000 hours over 10 years

[penfold]

It's just another excuse that children are turning out bad. It's always blaming Films, Games, music....How many times have people mentioned parents? It's an easy scapegoat and far less effort than getting parents to raise their children properly.

[dhicks]

It's always blaming Films, Games, music....

 

Interestingly-(ish), I happened accross a TV programme last night that had a family test out 40-odd years of consumer technology, with last night being the final episode, the 90s. The setup was that every day they'd be updated by another year's worth of consumer electronics, and by the time they got to the 90s they were getting games consoles with games like Mortal Kombat. The programme had a quick section of clips from the mid-90s showing parlimentry debates about violent computer games, concerned parents, the full works. Then they shipped the family a box of "violent" computer games with a parental advisory note attached pointing out that the parents might want to make sure the games were suitible for their 12-year-old children to play. The parents took one look at the games, with their cartoon-like violent gameplay, laughed and said they didn't really think it would be a problem.

[sonofsanta]

Interestingly-(ish), I happened accross a TV programme last night that had a family test out 40-odd years of consumer technology, with last night being the final episode, the 90s. The setup was that every day they'd be updated by another year's worth of consumer electronics, and by the time they got to the 90s they were getting games consoles with games like Mortal Kombat. The programme had a quick section of clips from the mid-90s showing parlimentry debates about violent computer games, concerned parents, the full works. Then they shipped the family a box of "violent" computer games with a parental advisory note attached pointing out that the parents might want to make sure the games were suitible for their 12-year-old children to play. The parents took one look at the games, with their cartoon-like violent gameplay, laughed and said they didn't really think it would be a problem.

 

Electric Dreams off of BBC4? That was brilliant, especially when they got their first Speccy/BBC (can't remember which they picked) and instantly the living room became the sole province of the male members of the family, as they sat and coded in rubbishy little programs out of magazines

[El_Nombre]

What the HELL sort of whack-assed games is he playing where two hours of it is like taking cocaine??? And where can I get them??

 

(Not that I've taken cocaine to have any frame of reference, but I've played many whack-assed games you see.)

 

Sweet lord what a twit.

[bondbill2k2]

I await a charlie brooker comment on this

[CAM]

What the HELL sort of whack-assed games is he playing where two hours of it is like taking cocaine??? And where can I get them??

 

(Not that I've taken cocaine to have any frame of reference, but I've played many whack-assed games you see.)

 

Sweet lord what a twit.

 

Maybe he is mistaking it for the dust on the boxes.

[X-13]

Actually... violent crime levels in the US have been falling steadily since the 1970s, when videogames were first available in the home. So your statement made in jest is a far more sensible claim than 90% of what is reported in the media.

 

 

Who said I was joking?

 

That's pretty much been my view on gaming since I was old enough to form logical conclusions based on available data.

[SmellyLlama]

Good savings.....

 

But what happens if you're doing 2 hours of gaming AND a line of coke?!!!

 

The gaming only seems like 25 minutes and your really really good.