Saving Chinese gaming addicts - Essay Example

29 March Saving Chinese Gaming addicts The advancement in technology has led to the development oftechnological games that tend to be addictive just like drugs are. In the recent times, the trend has been that these games are not played manually at home. The internet, with its vast and ever increasing modifications has provided an online platform from where gamers can compete with other gamers globally. The result has been an increase in addiction in gaming. It is said that statistics do not lie. In this case, the news are filled with stories of gamers here and there who have become addicted to the games they play and have resulted to may be selling their children or have even died while playing these games for long hours (Kosoff). According to Liu, gaming addiction in China has been identified as a psychiactric condition. As a result, some measures have been effected to aid in curbing this disorder. Various measures and means are being utilised. What medium acan be used to save Chinese online gaming addicts? The outline of this paper is as follows: gaming addiction is described, then the importance of the topic, how the medium reaches the target population, what is the target population, what gender is the medium aimed at, the advantages and disadvantages of the medium, and finally the conclusion. To complicate matters farther, research shows that games are important in improving certain skills such as making of decisions. Moreover, they are said to improve the health of an individual as they involve the usage of several motor skills. However, the sad thing about gaming is that the person becomes absorbed into the game gradually until he or she finds no meaning in other matters concerning life. Not his or her family, friends, studies, well-being, and the rest of the world as a whole. The resulting scenario is one whereby the only thing that matters is the game itself, his or her performance in the game, and how he or she can beat the stage; they are in to proceed to the next one. Hence, in the end, the gamer requires the appropriate corrective measures to beat this habit, which in the beginning was just a recreational activity but has now become an addiction. A good question to think about is why this topic is important. Why is it important to determine a way through which gaming addicts can be saved, especially in a country like China where the problem has become prevalent until the government has had to specially look at it as a special aspect that needs redress in the general population. China makes up the largest population in the world with over one billion citizens. According to research, it has been indicated that the extent to which gaming is in the general population stands at over 59 %. The highest number being among online gamers who spend so many hours online playing the games of their liking. An example of such a game is Resistance War Online (Zhao 2014). Hence, the topic is important as it avails an insight into a medium that can be used to tackle the problem of gaming addiction in China. Stories have been in the news of several users who have taken it upon themselves to solve this addiction and gone to extreme measures to do so. One being the chopping off their hands as in one story reported in the Daily Mail (Malm). However, the Chinese government has implemented a raft of measures to solve this issue, curb it, and save the gaming addicts. One of them being the establishment of rehabilitation centers more or less like the ones used to treat drug addictions. Hayoun gives an account of a rehabilitation center for internet gaming. This action by the governement of China adds more importance into the importance of the topic itself. The proposed means is to use magazines as a medium to save Chinese gaming addicts. How does this medium reach the target population? Magazines reach the target people, in this case Chinese gaming addicts through several means. One being through the internet. The other being through sale in high-end streets. Another is in stores where they can be sold along with the games themselves. They also reach the target audience through sale in supermarkets. Educational institutions such as schools, colleges, and universities may also provide magazines to the learners. Public libraries also avail the magazines to the gamers. The only question that can be asked of these means is their efficacy in availing the magazines to the gamers. Are they means that gamers can easily access or are they not? Because if the gamers cannot access these means, then the magazines offer no help to the addicted gamers. Most Chinese gamers are adolescents and teenagers. The reason being that many of them are easy to get hooked to playing one or more types of games as they are not able to exercise control in their playing of games. Many of these teenagers and adolescents are in schools, colleges, high-end estates, and in towns where the internet or hardware is available ensuring that most of the games are accessible. The crucial aspect about gaming is that the majority of gamers are male. In fact, in China they are said to make over 70%. Hence, the magazines will aim to reach male gamers and save them from the gaming addiction as they make up the largest portion of gamers. It is hoped that in the end, the reduction in the gaming addiction shall translate into the addicted gaming population and the females (Kollias 910). The thing about magazines is that they are easy to produce. Magazines do not require state of the art technologies to produce them. They are easy to compose and make up into the desired product that will be catchy and trendy to the gamers, which will provide the required crucial information to the gamers. Again, magazines are very flexible in that they can easily be manipulated to a material that is user friendly to the gamer. It must be recalled that the main aim is to save gamers from addiction. Saving them cannot be done through a material that is of no interest to them. In short, it must arouse interest in them to ensure that their attention is taken away from the game to the magazine. In addition, magazines can be provided through various platforms with the most important being the internet itself. Most of the gaming addictions occur through playing the games through the internet or in normal terms the online platform. If the magazines provide information that make sense to the addicted gamer, takes of his concentration off the game, then it goes a long way in saving him or her from the gaming addiction. Nevertheless, magazines have their own limitations. One being that they may fail to take away the attention of the online gamer from the game. The reason being that they lack the required visuals that distract the gamer away from the game. The magazines could be of a high cost, which puts off many gaming addicts. They also lack the needed graphics that function to counter gaming addiction among online Chinese gamers. It is vital to note that online gaming addiction is a psychological aspect just like any other form of addiction. In conclusion, it can be noted that apart from the rehabilitation centers set up by the Chinese government to curb online game addiction ad save addicts, magazines provide a meaningful means to save online game addicts. The advantages exceed the limitations by far. Furthermore, the target population, adolescents and teenagers is interested in reading magazines while there are several means to avail it to them. Works Cited Hayoun, M. China: Inside an Internet gaming disorder rehab center. 10 December 2014. Web. 28 March 2015. Kollias, Stefanos. Artificial Neural Networks - ICANN 2006: 16th International Conference, Athens, Greece, September 10-14, 2006, Proceedings. Heidelberg: Springer Science & Business Media, 2006. Print. Kosoff, M. A Chinese Couple Reportedly Sold Their Two Children To Fund Their Internet Gaming Addictions. 12 July 2014. Web. 28 March 2015. Liu, F. Urban Youth in China. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print. Malm, S. Chinese teenager chops off his own hand in a bid to cure his addiction to the Internet. 3 February 2015. Web. 28 March 2015. . Zhao, S. Construction of Chinese Nationalism in the Early 21st Century: Domestic Sources and International Implications. Oxon: Routledge, 2014. Print. Read More