Latest on 'game addiction'

Some kids are more prone to addiction than others, and based on this report in TechNewsWorld, it's the players most in need of positive reinforcement who are more prone. The reward systems built into videogames are what make them so addictive, the article cites psychologists as saying – for example when the game tells a player he's done a good job. AOL Games recently conducted a study that found 10% of 14-to-55-year-old gamers surveyed admitted they'd become addicted; about 4% "actually hide their gaming use from family and friends"; 33% admit to having missed a favorite TV show due to their gaming habit, 19% have skipped a meal, and 25% have played games "all night until the sun came up." If people think online games are a grownup thing, there is evidence to the contrary: "45% of 'heavy gamers' are under 18 (and "heavy gamers" only account for 3% of the overall gaming community)," found a recent NPD Group survey cited by ArsTechnica.com. "The much broader 'avid console gamers' are one-third kids." Another kind of tech addition, "Internet Addiction Disorder," is explained by anthropologist Stephen Juan at the University of Sydney in TheRegister.com.