It’s 7 a.m., and mechanical engineering student Jim Dukpa has a class in an hour. After a night-long video gaming binge, Dupka chugs a couple BAWLS – a highly caffeinated beverage marketed towards gamers – and prepares for class. He repeats this routine of forgoing sleep for his love of games much too frequently, but he has no regrets about it. “It’s fun,” says Dupka. “What else am I gonna’ do?”
Just like Jim Dukpa, the number of gamers who are joining the once underground realm of video games grows each day at an astounding rate. Steadily gaining their popularity, these games are now skyrocketing – industry sales have doubled since 1996.
The frenzy of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) has caught such attention that the creators of South Park recently aired an episode where the four idolized kids, Kenny, Kyle, Cartman and Stan, each become addicted to World of Warcraft. The outcome: the four children play the game day and night, until they become obese, acne-faced “nerds.” South Park’s usual black humor is implied through the dramatization of the physical effects, behavior, and lingo of the “hard-core gamer.”
But the reality is Warcraft, an enormously successful MMORPG often abbreviated as WoW, has reached a global scale, with over 6 million subscribers worldwide. Similar to the South Park kids who changed their lifestyle, in December 2005, Charlie Park, a mechanical engineering major, was introduced to Super Smash Bros. (a multi-player fighting game), which he now plays frequently at the University Center. Ever since then, he’s been hooked on first person shooters like Sudden Attack, and racing games like Need for Speed: Underground 2.
Park admits his life has changed since becoming a gamer. “(Before games) I used to hang out with my friends,” he says. Although he insists he wouldn’t lose sleep over games, Park agrees that, “It’s a good feeling that you’re getting better at something that challenges you.” Along with Park, the University Center hosts about 15 more students who share the love for Super Smash Bros. They play it Monday through Friday, from around 8 a.m. until the University Center kicks them out late at night.
Though some may cringe at the mere idea of spending hours playing addictive video games, there are more serious health risks to consider as well. This dangerous compulsion has caused several deaths, like the South Korean man who died of heart failure after a 50-hour marathon session of StarCraft, or the 21 year old who died of an epileptic attack due to an extensive amount of time playing the popular MMORPG, EverQuest.
Others believe that one’s judgment is responsible for separating game world and reality. Arianna Cicchinelli, a political science major at UF, is one such a voice. “Games could be a stress reliever if you take them easy, but if you get addicted then it’s a waste,” says Cicchinelli. “As a college student, I think your time would be better spent studying.”
Motherly advice aside, these popular games are not always so useless. Underneath their entertaining faí_ade, many games are also mind-stimulating hobbies that require planning and skill – traits that improve over time.
Of course, there are people who don’t care for positive effects of games. For instance, Ryan Dunbar, an international affairs major at FSU, sees games more negatively. “My friend’s roommate plays WoW all day long. He never sleeps or goes to class; he’ll order food and a take a quick pause, and then go right back to the game,” says Dunbar. “I don’t understand their appeal. I think it’s a waste of time… I’d rather be having sex.”
Despite the opposing crowd, video games are quickly becoming a hot topic, competing with T.V. and movies for the eyes and ears of young people. And seeing that 53% of game players claim they will continue playing as much if not more over the next ten years, it appears the video game plague will continue to expand its horizons. In other words, if games have grabbed hold of you already, enjoy them safely; if they haven’t yet, they just might be waiting for you.
