BBC`s panorama - videogame addiction ? - part 1 / 2

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The BBC1s panorama takes a lood at videogame and thier effects of people. are they additive or should people realise that its just a bit of fun

[MUSIC PLAYING]

So a newer Q story in
half an hour, Andy Serkis

takes on the role of a
taxi driver who snaps.

But first, Panorama on
BBC One and BBC One HD.

Hello I'm Jeremy Vine.

And this is Panorama.

[INDISTINCT RADIO COMMUNICATION]

To some, they're
just a bit of fun.

[EXPLOSION]

Good kill.

Good kill

To others, they're a
threat to our well-being.

This is dangerous.

This is dangerous
tool in our house.

24 million people in
Britain play computer games.

But how many become addicted?

I would never inflict
this game on anyone.

This game is just a disease.

We reveal the hidden devices
in the games designed

to keep us wanting more.

I think people don't necessarily
understand how powerful

some game mechanics can be.

[THEME MUSIC]

Half of all Britain's homes
now have at least one computer

games console in them.

The industry employs around
30,000 people in this country,

and we are widely acknowledged
to have some of the best games

designers on the planet.

World of Warcraft, the most
popular online game ever,

launches its latest edition
at midnight tonight.

And with Christmas past
the power at its peak,

Rafael Rowe has
been investigating

the controversial subject
of computer game addiction.

[VOCALIZING]

I'm at a premier of a major
blockbuster opening in London.

But the stars here and
not Hollywood actors.

They're virtual characters
in a computer game.

I just can't believe
how many people

are here just to buy a game.

It's now 10 past 11:00 at night.

And most of these people,
if not all of these people,

have come here to buy
a copy of StarCraft.

This queue has gone
back from Oxford Street

right around the corner
to the end of this road.

In the past five
years, computer gaming

has exploded in popularity.

I love playing video games.

I play games every day.

I've been waiting for this
game for a very long time.

We spend more than 3
billion a year on gaming--

more than we spend
on film or music.

And gaming has shed
its nerdy image

to become an essential
part of youth culture.

As a parent, I often
wonder what effect

it will have on my children.

It's an immersive, interactive,
cinematic experience.

But is it too much for
some people to handle?

[GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS]

In Nottingham, Joe Staley
has enjoyed computer games

since he was a small child.

But then he bought an Xbox.

I just seem to spend more
and more time playing.

It started with
Grand Theft Auto IV.

Moved on to--

I think it was Call
of Duty 4 which

was the new one at the time.

Call of Duty is the
best-selling game in Britain.

It allows players
to fight battles

against each other
over the internet.

There he is.

Get him.

I wouldn't move from my bed.

Because my controller
would be on my side table,

I'd turn it on, play, then
realize it was about 3:00

in the afternoon.

It could be up to a full 12
hours or more, or overnight.

When did you first notice
that you had a problem?

When I stopped going to
lectures, run out of money,

and had friends ringing
me up, telling me

that I was playing too much.

I realized that he was
addicted before he did.

He would eat, sleep,
and play games.

And so generally
being a social person

just went out the
window, and gaming just

became his occupation,
I suppose you could say,

like, it's what he did.

Why do you think you were
addicted to this game?

And what do you
mean by "addicted?"

I couldn't physically pull
myself away from the console.

I could go two or three
days without sleep,

just because I was
playing a game.

And that, to me, sounds
like an addiction.

His habit cost him dearly.

He's been thrown
out of university,

and left thousands of pounds in
debt, partly from buying games.

[EXHALING]

[AMBIENT MUSIC PLAYING]

It's a fate 20-year-old
Leo, not his real name,

is trying to avoid.

Three years ago, he
bought World of Warcraft.

Easy.

It started off being
addictive because there

were a lot of stuff I wanted
to do at the maximum level.

So I would spend as
many hours as I could,

until I finally got to level 70.

[CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING]

With more than 12
million players globally,

World of Warcraft is one of
the most successful computer

games ever made.

Players can explore its mythical
world for a monthly fee.

You substitute the real
world for this world.

I mean, two years I've been
playing 12 hours of the day

online for two years, if you
want to look at it that way.

It was fun while you're playing.

But then when you think
about the derogatory effect

it's having on your
life, then obviously,

you don't feel so good.

His university
work is suffering.

He's lost contact
with his friends

and damaged his relationship
with his family.

I would never inflict
this game on anyone.

This game is just a disease.

It's just horrible.

It's very hard to
explain properly.

Really, it's one of those things
you really have to experience.

He's now decided
to go cold turkey

and stop playing the game.

I mean, I'm really
trying not to, you know?

I'm doing a lot things
that I otherwise

wouldn't have done to fill
up time and to motivate me.

[ELECTRONIC BLIPPING]

Aw, man.

This is really hard.

This is Pong, the first
commercially successful home

video game.

7, nil.

Games have come a long
way since the '70s.

The National Media
Museum in Bradford

is a good place to come if
you want to see how far.

These photos, exhibited
here, show what

a powerful form of
entertainment they've become.

Basically, I've filmed
people through the screen

on very high-resolution video
and captured their expressions

as they played video
games or watched TV.

Robbie Cooper has
spent the last seven

years taking these pictures.

What was the difference
between those

that we're playing computer
games, PC games, and those

that were watching television.

The videogame pulls
people in much quicker.

That kid over there, he cries
when he plays videogames,

because he doesn't blink.

He is so engrossed in what
he is doing that he literally

loses the blink reflex,
and he just starts crying.

I've seen some of these
expressions on my boy's face

when he plays.

Like these kids,
he's not addicted.

But I sometimes wonder
how much is too much.

Stories of computer game
addiction and nothing new.

But it isn't recognized
as a medical condition.

And some argue it's a
product of media hysteria.

In the early 1900s, we were
worried about the waltz.

In the 1950s, we were worrying
about the demonizing of society

by rock and roll.

Now it's games.

Ian Livingston's company makes
the Lara Croft Tomb Raider

series.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

You can say people get
addicted to football

or they get addicted
to the internet.

They used to say that people
were addicted to television.

There are people
out there who do

say that they've become
addicted to games.

They probably might have
addictive personalities.

They might be
"addicted," inverted

commas, to some of the other
entertainment experiences.

But there's no formal
published medical evidence

saying that games are addictive
anywhere in the world.

He's right to a point.

But there are growing
calls from some

in the international
scientific community

to have gaming addiction
formally recognized.

The World Health Organization
has described addiction

to some games as
a serious threat

to the mental health
of young Europeans.

But the industry body Ukie
says research shows games

boost intelligence,
reduce stress, and are

valuable learning tools--

something passive media, like
TV, would do well to emulate.

Playing video games
and participating

in interactive entertainment is
a much more beneficial activity

than them participating
in a passive medium.

Actually, there are many,
many positive things

that can derive from that.

When Alison Dando's
son Chris started

refusing to go to school,
she had no idea why.

Initially, we didn't connect
it to the computer game playing

at the start, because
it was just something

that every boy did.

And particularly, a
lot of the boys that we

knew and friends of ours.

Yeah, we had the internet.

Yeah, both the children had
computers in their bedroom.

But there was nothing that
particularly alarmed us.

Chris had been playing World
of Warcraft through the night.

It brought you
into another world.

Like, you could be
what you wanted to be.

You were a warrior.

You were a shaman.

You were a mage.

You get out the best weapon.

It was like I've
got to stay at home.

I've got to do this.

He was playing for
up to 20 hours a day.

I remember, there
was one point where

I think our actual
internet just went down.

And I started sweating,
and I actually

started shaking, just
because I couldn't play it.

Once I understood that
this game was online,

I was saying, right, OK.

Well, the answer to it is
we cut off the internet.

That's it.

And the response was just
an outpouring of violence.

He just went berserk.

I put on a boot, I kicked
a hole in my sister's door.

I just smashed
anything I could see.

It was really scary.

It got to the point
where my dad almost had

to pin me down on the ground.

That was the point where we
started to really understand,

from a parental point of
view, gosh, this is dangerous.

This is a dangerous
tool in our house.

One of Britain's leading
child psychiatrists

says he's treating a growing
number of cases like Chris.

I do think this
is something that

needs national recognition.

In many ways, this can
be an invisible problem,

because a young person
is not necessarily

creating any immediate alarm.

They'll be quietly tapping away
at a keyboard in their room,

and there is no immediate risk
to them that would be apparent.

66% of five to 16-year-olds
have their own console.

Could this be a hidden
problem building up

in homes across the country?

I went to meet a world authority
on the psychological impact

of computer games.

The good news is that, for
the vast majority of people,

videogames is something that's
very positive in their life.

But we have to take on board
that there is a growing

literature that suggests for
a small, but significant,

minority, things like gaming
can be potentially problematic.

My research has
consistently shown

people seem to display
the signs and symptoms you

get with all the more
traditional addictions.

He says there isn't enough
research to be certain

how serious the problem is.

People put money into alcohol
and tobacco addiction,

maybe even into
gambling addiction.

But in gaming addiction,
it seems so new,

people don't see it as an
important research area

to look into.

The little research
that has been done

suggest it's online games
that cause the most concern.

In the UK, we still play
mostly console games.

But that's changing.

Within five years, the
government wants all of us

to have broadband
internet access.

One inspiration for this
plan is South Korea,

the country with the world's
most developed internet

network.

85% here have fast
broadband, and more than half

play online games.

But the government says
it's created addicts.

I've come to see
what we can learn.

At first glance, our
digital future looks bright.

Even here on the underground,
not only can they

make telephone calls.

They can connect on the
internet and play online games.

Korea's broadband revolution
will help their economy

grow by 6% this year.

But it's come at a price.