Since Japan is the kingdom of video games, how are the "game wasters" viewed?
A while ago, the World Health Organization announced that it defined "gaming disorder" as a mental illness, causing an uproar among the international gamer community. Although there are many misunderstandings and ambiguities in this definition, a group of people who love games are suddenly advertised as neurotics, which is probably unacceptable to anyone. So what do people think of Japan, the country of games next door to us? AbemaTV aired such an episode for us earlier this month.
AbemaTV is a Japanese network television station that usually has some very unexpected and wonderful content (of course, not the kind of "wonderful" you think). AbemaTV often invites celebrities to the show as guests and talks about social phenomena and events. Unlike the attitude of the Japanese mainstream media to "belittle" the game, they are more objective and in the direction of discussion when commenting.
Shintaro Asai 24,Student desu
After the introduction of the topic from the beginning of the show, the program team introduced a "online game waster" to the guests - 24-year-old college student Shintaro Sakurai. This is a teenager addicted to FPS online games who has lived with his father since his mother died five years ago. The camera then shifts to the energy drink stored in his refrigerator. Shintaro says that functional drinks alone can no longer meet his daily 20-hour game needs, and he even bought caffeine tablets from overseas (which are not legal drugs in the United States, and the caffeine content of these tablets in formal channels may not be as good as some espresso coffee) to refresh. He usually eats only cheap convenience foods in order to save time as much as possible to play games.
The computer in this messy room is the ecology of many "online game wasters"
Shintaro bought caffeine tablets from overseas, plus functional drinks to keep him playing games
Shintaro said that in his six years in junior high school and high school, he spent 2 million yen (about 116,000 yuan) playing online games, all of which came from his parents. However, he also said that when he talked to his father, his father did not reject his ideas and lifestyle too much.
Shintaro said that if he can't play the game well, he will feel that his life is even more worthless, because in his view, reality is the second world, and the game is his real world. He enjoys the feeling of adventure in the game world with his online friends.
Addicted to online games because "enjoy the adventure with your peers"
The program team later interviewed the director of higuchi at the Kurihama Medical Institute, who said that he believed that most children were addicted to games and families for a large reason. For example, parents divorce, death, family discord, etc. occupy most of the situations, so children can only play games alone to solve their troubles.
Dean Higuchi said that although the children who play many online games seem to be not good at communicating with people, because the game requires a team cooperation relationship, their communication and communication skills are very good. As long as there is a proper opportunity, they are happy to talk.
Higuchi believes that most of the teenagers with heavy Internet addiction are caused by family reasons
AbemaTV did not begin to criticize the game immediately as mainstream media did, but instead broadcast an interview with Detonation Gaming, a Japanese professional esports team, for the guests. Team CEO Nobuyuki Umezaki said from the perspective of an esports player that there was no harm in the game itself, and he thought it was a competitive sport.
Esports player Nobuyuki Umezaki believes that "there is no harm in the game itself"
Then there's Ceros, a 10-year-old member of the team, who says that as a pro, all the practice is spent in the game, and whenever you feel tired, you will go to rest. Ceros said that "no one plays games until death", although in fact we have seen many sudden deaths in the news at home and abroad. Of course, for professional players, rest is also part of the practice, only a good state can play a good performance. This has nothing to do with addiction and addiction at all.
Japanese esports player Ceros is obviously naïve to think that no one will lose their lives in order to play the game
Just after this series of shows, the guests began to explore this topic. Among the guests were also people who played games, and even some people were once addicted to games. For example, kaoru Oshima, a writer who appeared as a guest this time, said that he once had a day of indulging in games. Kaoru Oshima said that she was also playing more than 20 hours a day. 3-4 hours are spent resting, except for the time for eating, bathing and going to the toilet.
Guest Kaoru Oshima talks about her experience as a game waster when she was young
The program talks about the WHO definition of "game addiction": 1. Can't stop the urge to play 2. Putting the game at the top of the line 3. Keep playing the game even if something goes wrong4. The relationship between individuals and families, society, school, work, etc. has created huge problems5. Lasts for at least one year (earlier in infancy).
Basis for WHO certification of "online game addiction"
Dean Higuchi said in his opinion: "In the era when games do not have the Internet, there is generally a goal of 'passing through', so there will be no too serious addiction. With the popularity of the Internet and the increase in the number of games that need to be played over the Internet, the number of online game addicts has gradually increased. ”
Although the original intention of the WHO is to define the disease of the situation of physical health damage caused by addiction to video games, so that the corresponding medical institutions can deal with it (such as including the medical security system of various countries). But I believe that in the context of information inequality, many authorities, mainstream media and "experts" will use this as a basis for "taking things out of context".
In this episode of AbemaTV, the host also naturally mentions the opposition of the game industry to this definition. In fact, in some ways, this is because of some misunderstandings caused by the unequal information between the two sides (especially in Japan, where many people lack common sense to a very outrageous degree), and I believe that most players are not happy to be labeled "patient" by another organization, especially an authoritative organization.
The rebuttal of the player group also appeared in this symposium
The host also cited some other things that young people may be addicted to and love, such as cars or motorcycles, and the industry will make adjustments to increase the safety of vehicles, etc., which the game industry can learn from (such as health game announcements?). ）。
There are no inflammatory topics or speeches throughout the show, nor any content that spreads terror. The guests and moderators discussed the advantages of online games and games, such as socializing and bringing fun, and of course, they also discussed with medical experts and guests how players should pay attention to health.
Therefore, whether the player group is ostracized by certain groups or not, there are still people who are willing to communicate and understand.