In The Habit

So, a report that aired on the BBC about "video game addicts" is basically bullshit, right? I didn't see it, but that's what everyone seems to be saying. Of course, "everyone" would get their panties in a bunch any time it's implied that video games are anything less than a perfect, virtuous and ideal use of one hundred percent of your time. That's why John Walker's RPS piece, being fairly measured, is my favorite response to the documentary.

Of course, even the largest and noblest of media outlets can't resist a sensational angle, which is why the "games addiction" phenomenon can be so exciting to folks like the BBC. In the '90s, it was all about "internet addiction", remember? However, it's more than sensationalism that makes the angle a little problematic. It's that video games are here getting stuck into a larger social problem: The psychiatrizing (allow me to use a made-up word) of everything, and the excessive abuse of clinical terms to explain away coping difficulties or to compartmentalize larger life problems into their own individual symptoms and syndromes.

Think about how many times you've used clinical terms over the past few years. You're addicted to True Blood; you're "a little OCD" about doing your dishes, you're "depressed" about your sports team losing, you're "having a panic attack" about running late to work. Of course, in the vast majority of cases, you are not actually. You're exaggerating. Maybe because every other nightly news ad is a prescription drug commercial, making the idea of widespread disease frighteningly normal. Maybe because your world is so crowded with the noise of social media and awareness of mass culture that you feel you need to use hyperbole to be heard.

Who knows. But when we talk about "addiction" to non-chemical things, there's a very significant difference between "a person is unable to stop repeating a behavior because they suffer extreme emotional and/or physical stress when they try" and "a person refuses to stop repeating a behavior and denies it is harming them." The former is addiction. The latter is someone who's just failing to develop as a human.

The type of people in this documentary, people who play 20 hours a day of WoW until their relatives become concerned, are not addicts. They're just losers. And if they didn't have WoW, they'd probably be doing something else to the unhealthy exclusion of all else.

That being said, I continue to be alarmed by some gamers' refusal to even examine their play habits. Defensively, they claim, "would people be complaining if I read books for 20 hours a day? What about film buffs who spend all their time on movies?" People would probably be complaining, yes. But guess what: Game designers create compulsion loops on purpose. They want you to feel invested in goals and satisfied by achieving them. That's not inherently harmful, but maybe it is to vulnerable people?

News flash: The metric of an online game's success is how many hours people are spending playing. Engagement metrics are how projects get funded and remain commercially viable. It is in the designer's best interest to make sure you stay playing, that you keep coming back. Again, that's not to say "people are designing addiction" or "making games people will want to return to and enjoy for long periods is wrong." It's just to say that it's irresponsible to ignore this fact, if you want to have a reasoned say in any "addiction" conversation.

So maybe "game addiction" is an of-yet unsubstantiated concept. But those defensive gamers aren't doing anyone any favors by vehemently rationalizing the fact they push buttons all day to the exclusion of all else. They just make normal gamers look bad.

People die in Chinese internet cafes, of exhaustion or starvation, bottles of pee under their desk. What's going on there? We're going to have to have good answers to these questions as games become a bigger and bigger part of society, so I hope auto-apologists develop an interest in being ready.

[Since people complained in comments: I should probably clarify that I am not categorizing psychological addiction as people who are losers that just don't do anything else with their lives.

I'm saying that psychological addiction is an actual problem, not just people who don't see anything better to do with themselves than play video games and refuse to try. There are plenty of people who have legitimate psychological dependencies on games or other behaviors.

But let's look closely at the issue instead of just calling someone with no life an "addict." The over-diagnosing of American society leads a lot of people to complain that they are "addicts" as an excuse to make a developmental failure or laziness into a real problem. A large number of people would rather claim they have a "condition" than deal with life; it's like when people are dangerously obese in the absence of a medical cause and, shrugging, blame their genes without addressing their diet.

the thing i'm saying here is that psychological addiction to games is likely to be a genuine issue that is not able to be correctly examined because of all the people who use clinical addiction as an excuse for their failure to nurture an emotional life, and because of all the people who are so defensive about their focus on games that they don't want to look at or talk about the issue. if you are an addict or have known one, as i have, this is what should offend you, the aimless firing of the word into an important discussion.]

Assassins creed II - SKIDROW [Full ISO/ Full RiP]

THIS GAME HAS 2 RELEASES :

1> SKIDROW FULL ISO  [6.6 GB]
2> FULL RiP - GLoBE     [2.7 GB]

 
Betrayed by the ruling families of Italy, a young man embarks upon an epic quest for vengeance. To eradicate corruption and restore his family's honor, he will study the secrets of an ancient Codex, written by Altair. To his allies, he will become a force for change - fighting for freedom and justice. To his enemies, he will become a dark knight - dedicated to the destruction of the tyrants abusing the people of Italy. His name is Ezio Auditore di Firenze. He is an Assassin.

System Requirements

Minimum Configuration:
SUPPORTED OS: Windows® XP (32-64 bits) /Windows Vista®(32-64 bits) /Windows 7® (32-64 bits)
Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ
RAM: 1.5 GB Windows® XP / 2 GB Windows Vista® - Windows 7®
Video Card: 256 MB DirectX® 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list)
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 –compliant sound card
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0
DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller

* This product does not support Windows® 98/ME/2000/NT

Full Version( ~ 6.6GB )

Password= dlgames4free.blogspot.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Rip: ( ~ 2.7GB )

Whats Ripped? : Nothing! Only other languages apart from English are ripped !

Instructions:
1. Download and install Ubisoft 

Password  = dlgames4free.blogspot.com

• 3% RECOVERY RECORD ADDED TO ALL FILES 

Aura 2 : The sacred Rings

Aura 2 : The sacred Rings

• Publisher: The Adventure Company
• Developer: Streko-Graphics
• Release Date: March 7, 2007
• Genre: Adventure

About This Game

Since ancient times, a clan of Keepers has guarded a collection of sacred rings that, when united with several hidden artifacts, grant the holder infinite power and immortality. When a rival clan, led by Durad, makes known their intention to obtain this power for an evil purpose, the Keepers send their prized student to uncover the artifacts and deliver them, along with the rings, to Grift, the Old Master. Umang's journey leads to the portal of a world unknown even to the powerful keepers. In this adventure game, the portal transports Umang to Manula Valley where h discovers that this world was once inhabited by the Keepers, hundreds of years ago, until it was taken from them by Durad and his clan. Umang's arrival in Manula Valley is just one more step in a plot manipulated by Durad to bring Umang and the rings one step closer to evil. He must now outwit Durad's powerful forces to complete his quest and return the sacred rings to his clan.

Aura 2 : The sacred Rings – MediaFiles

DOWNLOAD

Aura 2 : The sacred Rings

Aura 2 : The sacred Rings

• Publisher: The Adventure Company
• Developer: Streko-Graphics
• Release Date: March 7, 2007
• Genre: Adventure

About This Game

Since ancient times, a clan of Keepers has guarded a collection of sacred rings that, when united with several hidden artifacts, grant the holder infinite power and immortality. When a rival clan, led by Durad, makes known their intention to obtain this power for an evil purpose, the Keepers send their prized student to uncover the artifacts and deliver them, along with the rings, to Grift, the Old Master. Umang's journey leads to the portal of a world unknown even to the powerful keepers. In this adventure game, the portal transports Umang to Manula Valley where h discovers that this world was once inhabited by the Keepers, hundreds of years ago, until it was taken from them by Durad and his clan. Umang's arrival in Manula Valley is just one more step in a plot manipulated by Durad to bring Umang and the rings one step closer to evil. He must now outwit Durad's powerful forces to complete his quest and return the sacred rings to his clan.

Aura 2 : The sacred Rings – MediaFiles

DOWNLOAD

A milestone in the Laser Orgy 500

Awhile back, I mentioned the Laser Orgy 500, a battle royal put together by the Phoenix that lets users vote in randomly generated matchups between hundreds of video games. It's fun and incredibly addictive. If you haven't voted in the LO500 yet, you should start voting now.

This week, the paper ran a special selection of the current top 50 games, which includes short write-ups from several writers, including Garrett Martin, Chris Dahlen, Maddy Myers, Ryan Stewart, and myself. And it's not a bad list.

As with the entries I wrote for 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die (which makes a great Christmas gift!), I found real value in revisiting these games and trying to come up with something new to say about them. For instance, I hope my story about Mortal Kombat II isn't just funny, but says something true about the nature of arcade competition.

People like to complain about best-of lists, I know. What's great about the LO500 is that if you don't like it, you have the power to change it. What are you waiting for? Give it a shot!

(And also check out the slideshow of videogame characters invading Boston.)