Carlos L.

Albert High School

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW Online Game Addiction

Online games incorporate with networked a virtual environment where there may be thousands

of multiple geographically distributed users involved who potentially interact with each other

using a virtual persona, called an avatar, in real time. Armed with the above characteristics,

online games possess high attraction to individuals using the internet for social stimulation (Loet

al., 2005) and has therefore become a main channel for players to anonymously and instantly

communicate, share experience, socialize, and eventually form virtual communities ( Ang et

al.,2007).Young (1998b) pointed out that it is not the Internet itself butrather the Internet’s

applications that are potentially addictive. Moreover, as the number of online gamers has

grown, more and more adults have engaged in playing online game. Game playing is no longer

exclusively the domain of adolescents (Wood et al., 2004). Internet addiction incorporates a

variety of internet behaviors, one of which is online gaming. This has prompted some to

examine online gaming from the perspective of internet addiction (Ng & Wiemer-Hastings,2005).

Given the suspected association between online games and game addiction, theoretically it

makes sense to explore the option of creating a subcategory of internet addiction ,namely

internet game addiction or online game addiction. Therefore, this study focuses on investigating

the possible causes of internet game addiction.

Psychological Factor

These researches we study about the psychological factor, whether that is factor to the online

game addiction among students. Unlike with substance abuse, the biological aspect of

videogame addiction is uncertain. Research suggests gambling elevates dopamine, but there's

more to addiction than brain chemistry (Rooij, Online video game addiction: identification of
 Carlos L. Albert High School
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addicted,2010). The addict suffers from a psychological component to the addiction. Online

gaming allows a person to escape the real world and change the perception of self-worth (Rooij,

Online video game addiction: identification of addicted, 2010). An online gaming addiction is not

that far from drug addiction. Both are searching for a way to make they feel better. The lure of a

fantasy world is especially pertinent to online role-playing games. These are games in which a

player assumes the role of a fictional character and interacts with other players in a virtual

world. An intelligent child who is unpopular at school can feel dominant in the game. The virtual

life becomes more appealing than real life. Too much gaming may seem relatively harmless

compared with the dangers of a drug overdose, but experts say video game addiction can ruin

lives. Children who play four to five hours per day have no time for socializing, doing homework

or playing sports leaving little time for normal social development. According to Lan Ying

Huang, by playing the online game features online gamer participants may view the games as

source of providing diversion and filling time. “The biggest risk factor for pathological video

game use seems to be playing games to escape from daily life,” said Joe Hilgard, lead author of

the study and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Missouri.

“Individuals who play games to get away from their lives or to pretend to be other people seem

to be those most at-risk for becoming part of a vicious cycle. These gamers avoid their problems

by playing games, which in turn interferes with their lives because they’re so busy playing

games (Peterset al, 2007). Internet addiction gives the gamer to the unique psychological

properties which is the users increase their use of these internet services, the utility they gain

from each usage does not diminish, leading not only to self-destructive addiction but also to

social ills. When a problem, playing video games can interfere with real-life obligations such as

work, and players can end up lying about playing video games. The study found that
 Carlos L. Albert High School
Brixton Hill, Barangay Santol, Quezon City
Email add: [email protected]
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“problematic” video game use can have similar effects as other addictive activities, such as

abusing alcohol (Inwon Kang,2011).

Technological Factor

In last decade, online games have gained increased popularity. Approximately, 20 million

people play online game worldwide (Hill, 2011). And the numbers continuously increase. Today,

online game becomes an addiction to people which is lead bad habit. There are various games

that conquer the top game online. The list of the games always changes every single year.

Nowadays, the World of Warcraft conquer the list by obtain 12,000,000 of online gamers.

According to Simon Hill, developer and publisher always put the best effort on graphic factor to

improve the acceptance of the online gamers. This factor were put the World of Warcraft to

the top of the chart. People keep following the updated version of a game to make them

following the trend. Publisher and developer consider this factor as their opportunity to increase

the popularity. The reward systems in online game like reaching a high level in the game,

obtaining new weapons may also encourage gamers to play online (Choi, Lee, Choi, & Kim,

2007). Even the people think online game might provide some benefits, too obsesses to online

game will lead to serious problems. According to the Choi, Lee, Choi, & Kim, factor that

influence the addiction is task and reward interdependency. This happen because the online

gamers attract to the game task and reward. There are many task and reward from different

types of games. All the tasks and rewards will affect the fun, flow and performance of online

gamers. The level of task and reward will directly influence the online gamers perception either

will lead to bad performance or good performance. The authors state that the interaction effects

between the task and reward-interdependency conditions on player perceptions and

performance. The increases of this addiction happen due to the technologies. Technologies
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tend to innovate overtime. Addictions to interactive technologies such as online game have
been called ‘technological addictions’ (Griffiths, 1995, 1996). The increasing numbers of online
gamers show that this addiction is related to the technology. This happen because technology
advance day by day. Technologies were used to bring benefit to the people but many people
abuse the technology by turn it to the bad way. Therefore, technologies itself bring bad influence
to the people. The innovation of technology slowly encourages people to more attract to the
online game. The high definition video and high quality sound of a game become major
attraction to the gamers especially online gamers. Besides that, playing a game with online
friends becomes more interesting to the people than playing alone. The causalities of the
technology revolution will en dup to serious symptom.

Role of Media

Games addiction shows the bad effect among the people nowadays. Addiction to the internet
shares some of negative aspects of substance addiction and has been shown to lead to
consequences such as failing school, family and relationship problem (Brian. D. NG, M.S &
Peter. W. H, 2005). It can make the people who has addicted will feel that the games can
provide opportunities for achievement, freedom and even a connection to the players. Those

benefits trumped a shallow sense of fun, which doesn’t keep gamers as interested (online
gamers anonymous, 2008). The role of media in advertising the games also make more cause
why the games addicted will be more interested with those games. In 2005, advertiser spent$80
million to reach game players, this spending is expected to top $400 by 2009 (Park Associate
2006). Incidental advertising processing, states of unconscious learning, and retentive exposure
effects remain hotly debated topics in advertising and marketing literature(Janiszewaki, 1993;
McQuarrie and Mick 2003; Shapiro, MacInnis and Heckler, 1997; Zajonc,1980). People often do
not actively involve or process the majority of the ads in their immediate environments (Bauer
and Greyser 1968; Webb and Ray 1979), but those ads can cause changes in people's
subconscious minds (Hawkins and Hoch 1992; Krugman 1981), because most learning,
emotional reactions, and thought generation take place beyond awareness(Coulter 2007).
Balasubramanian, Karrh, and Patwardhan (2006) are developing a model framework on the
effects of the product (or brand) placement (both on TV/in movies and computer games), which
summarizes the relevant state of research. According to Wood. R. T.

A, (2008), media hype about video game “addiction” may lead some concerned relatives to

define perfectly “normal” behaviour as problematic. Its basic consideration is that the impact of

in game advertising depends upon the respective processing type, which in turn is affected by
stimuli-based and individual-level variables (Mau.G, Silberer.G, Constien.C, 2013). The fact
some of people play video games excessively is not dispute, but defining the point at which the
behaviour becomes problematic is far from clear
Carlos L. Albert High School
Brixton Hill, Barangay Santol, Quezon City
Email add: [email protected]
Tel # 715-84-79