Sony CEO vows to tackle game addiction as WHO to group it as disorder

"We need to take it seriously and adopt countermeasures," Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said.

[gangsta_red]

Good guy Yoshida!

[sander9702]

It's really great to see this disease being combated at last, I've seen way to many people forget that real life exists and turn themselves over completely to gaming. Although gaming addiction isn't the only addiction out there it's still a really bad one that affects a lot of people who play games, imagine if an alcoholic proudly proclaimed themselves to be a "drinker" that's how I've seen the people who claim to be "gamers" and play games for 5+ hours a day every day.
You shouldn't let your hobby define your life, if you can't imagine a world without video-games then you have a real problem and should admit it so you can get past the problem and live a better life.

They should start by fighting the new trend of making games addictive instead of fun (Ubisoft, Activision, Battle Royale, EA, etc.).

[doughnutsfan]

5+ is okay? especially if not in the row, but 15+ is def a problem

[RauLeCreuset]

It's best not to think of it as being defined by whether one falls below or exceeds a set amount of time gaming. It's more to do with the distlruption caused to other areas of life.

[T2X]

Sorry, I disagree about it being a disease. I think of Cancer, or diabetes as a disease. This is just people engaging in something too much. The same could be said of many other things. Parents need to take a more active role in their kids lives, for one thing. If you're an adult with a job and responsibilities, if you take care of real things and choose to play a game for a few hours, I think that's ok. But I wish people would stop comparing gaming or everything anyone can over engage in to opioid addiction. Or sone such thing. They're not the same.

[DaDrunkenJester]

"We've already implemented a ratings system (to restrict players by age) and have been taking measures based on our own standards," Yoshida said.

Yes we know you're already adding extra censorship for the kids, and now you're going to treat your gamers as addicts?

Keep pumping out those great games though so I can become addicted to them. What are they going to do to combat it? Auto shut off the console after 5 hours and tell you to take a walk outside?

[AizenSosuke]

Yoshida , A titan at all fronts

[AK91]

Sony is doomed

[gamer7804]

gaming is no more a disorder or disease than any other activity done in excess. Running and any sports thet create a natural high should also be called a disorder then. It does our future generations no good by coddling them by passing any addiction off as a disorder.

[Question_Mark]

An addiction is a disorder. An addiction is when a craving for something is so strong that it affects other parts of your life negatively. Exercise can be a disorder if you do it so much that you neglect yourself or other people. It does our future generations no good to downplay and write off their problems and tell them to “suck it up”.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Honest question in terms of your comment: Is a person believing so strongly in their mind that they are the opposite sex that they develop gender dysphoria and depression to the point they feel the need to mutilate and reconstruct their bodies a disease? Or just normal?

I ask this because EVERYTHING that is us resides in the brain... Emotion, Memory, Thought, Logic, Reason, Confusion, Love, Faith, etc etc. So the thing is, if everything that is US is in the brain, how do we as humans determine what is acceptable or right, morally or ethically normal, wrong, evil or good, just of unfair...???

[rainslacker]

Gaming doesn't necessarily create a reaction in a way that is additive though. Gaming in many cases is used to compensate for other issues one may have, such as depression or social anxiety disorder. Solving the gaming addiction just means they'd find something else to cling to, unless they seek other help.

Some people are also just lazy, or have no motivation to do anything else, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have a disorder.

There are a lot of reasons why someone may play what is considered excessive, or at the expense of other things. Those other things may not always be important to a person. Like work or personal hygeine or whatever.

A disorder is a hard thing to define, and I think until there is a clinical way to define what is gaming addiction, all these efforts are wasted. Instead of trying to address the disorder, try to define it. Surely, the game industry with it's collective billions can fund research on the matter which would be unbiased, and be able to be peer reviewed by qualified psychiatrist, instead of just taking random data and feels to make what is ultimately an empty gesture that may not help at all.

[DillyDilly]

Gonna start telling people how long they can play & how much they can play etc. They are already doing the ratings system job for the ratings system with their censoring

[rainslacker]

I don't think they're going to restrict people's gaming habits. But there is nothing wrong with pointing out that someone is playing a lot. However, trying to do this as an attempt to curb gaming addiction disorder without the disorder really being defined in any clinical way, is ultimately pointless.

I think gaming to some people is a substitute to mask other problems they may be having.

[DillyDilly]

Or gaming is just a hobby ? I bet if this was a Microsoft CEO saying this this site would be attacking said CEO

[rainslacker]

I think someone from MS made comment about it recently didn't they? This is really a issue that isn't about console preference, so i don't personally take sides in that way. I just think when it comes to psychological disorders, that it should actually be classified as a disorder, or an addiction, it's root causes determined, and then potential courses of therapy laid out in a best practices scenario before everyone starts throwing their hat into the ring. When it comes to things of this nature, everyone just jumping to their own conclusion about the best way to handle it doesn't achieve anything, and I feel it can do more harm than good. I also think that a lot of these kinds of addictions or disorders are due to other more serious problems a person may have, as gaming fills some need that the person isn't getting elsewhere, and the most common thing that gaming may fill a void of is depression....a well documented physical and mental disorder, with real ways to treat it depending on the kind of depression it is.

[Prince-Ali]

LOOOL!!! Im soooooo glad i've come back to this article to go through this thread! Because people like you are sooo quick to draw when all you need to do is STFU and try to look at something BEYOND yourself and see where the logic lies... lool but no. now you've shot yourself in the foot! Below i have linked you to a literal article on Microsoft saying the exact same thing because who is against the idea of helping people with serious problems except a fool.. but of course you guys are SOO obsessed with this Sony censors games now they're gonna stop us playing our games SJW agenda! NONSENSE you look like a foool now!

https://n4g.com/news/226667...

[Platformgamer]

every excess can create a disorder, that's true, but if for gaming addiction he intend like playing for 6 hours straight on a free day, he's wrong.
btw i don't like this CEO, not at all, he ruins the yoshida surname

[jeki]

In the near future all forms of entertainment will be heavily regulated (controlled) by the federal government. The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act and the WHO designation is only the beginning.

Considering that a Republican wrote the Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act, and Donald Trump will sign it in to law, it's hard to blame this on SJWs.

Gamers used to unite against these things, now they scream their heads off about new game stores and 'soy boys'.

[P_Bomb]

Sounds like the WHO was doing this regardless. I expect some “of course we support a healthy lifestyle” lip service from content providers, but realistically you can’t expect them to spearhead some omnipotent omniscient initiative any more than the Grey Goose CEO can stop Uncle Larry from drinking every weekend. My business is none of their business.

Methinks soapboxers might focus more on the loot box gambling argument and marketing than the games themselves, which already have ratings. It used to be kids with heavy metal t-shirts turning teachers’ heads, now it’ll be the Fortnite ones lol. No more Destiny ads on Doritos as it doubles down on the sedentary high calorie low nutrition lifestyle. Some angle like that. Who the heck knows. I don’t know.

On the consumer’s side of the fence, maybe Doc will finally give Jimmy that THC prescription to help him sleep after his flash sale bender, lol. Let the battle begin.

[ElementX]

Coming soon from Sony, a message that pops up every couple hours telling you to go outside.

[Razzer]

"Coming soon from Sony"

Oh.....I guess expect the same popup message from Microsoft since they said they need to "do more" as well?

All they should really do is give more tools to parents, if possible. I don't need a nanny.

[spambot0815]

more of a statement that should be done by EA, Activison or Tencent CEOs but ok.

[Gwiz]

Weird isn't it?lol

[Exvalos]

Sony need to stop trying to be the parent

[Crakface]

Watch tv all day, no one bats an eye.

[Thundercat77]

While I am ok with this, the truth is that gaming is not the problem, becoming an addict of gaming is the effect of the real problem which I see no one addressing it.

The root of the problem lies in parenting, the values the person has, the physiological and spiritual problems inside that person, the environment and many other life stuff.

This problem will not be solved simply because is not being directed at the root of it. Our society likes to deal with the effects of the problem but not with the root cause of the problem.

[Smokehouse]

Thank you! Now Sony can automatically turn off our ps4s after an hour. Maybe 5-6 hours a week? We must ration the playtimes to attack this severe disorder head on. Sony and the scientists say so and thy will be done.

[Cobra951]

Oh, so it's official? I knew they were going to decide this weekend (whether to classify game addiction as a disorder), and the weekend is halfway gone. So, yeah.

From long personal experience, it can become at least an obsession; and it can have a negative impact on your life.

[Bismarn]

They're already tackling it; they released Days Gone which you'll only want to play for 15 minutes max.I'm glad they're taking this issue seriously.