UK game industry hits back at Panorama

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 6 December, 2010

"Playing games is a hobby."

Games industry trade association TIGA has responded to Panorama's investigation into video game addiction.

In 'Addicted to Games?' Panorama "hears from youngsters who've dropped out of school and university to play games for anything up to 21 hours a day".

"TIGA has yet to see the Panorama documentary, so cannot comment on specific points raised in the show," Dr. Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said.

"However, what we can say is that there is absolutely no proven link between video games and addiction. The World Health Organisation has no official medical diagnosis of video games addiction. Playing games is a hobby and people can certainly become passionate about them. This is no different from a passion for a particular book, TV programme or sport. In addition, playing games such as Wii Sports of Xbox Kinect can improve fitness. Games can also be educational. A fifth of UK games businesses make educational or serious games."

He added: "There is a world of difference between people who claim, in the colloquial non medical sense, that they are addicted to games, music, football or a TV programme and people who are clinically addicted, in scientific parlance, to drugs or alcohol. People may claim to be addicted to something like games or football, but in most cases they are not."

In the episode, due to air tonight at 2030 GMT on BBC One, Panorama reporter Raphael Rowe meets a mother who cut off her internet connection at home because she was worried about the amount of time her 19-year-old son was spending playing computer games.

Which computer game? MMORPG World of Warcraft. Expansion Cataclysm is out at midnight tonight.

Blizzard told Panorama in a statement: "Our games are designed to be fun... but like all forms of entertainment... day-to-day life should always take precedence. World of Warcraft contains practical tools that assist players and parents in monitoring playing time."

"TIGA would welcome additional independent research in to this topic and takes this issue very seriously," Wilson continued. "As with all hobbies we advocate that video games are played in moderation, with gamers taking regular breaks. Parents and retailers should also ensure that children only play games that are age appropriate. Games are clearly marked with PEGI or BBFC age ratings to inform parents about which games are suitable for their children."

Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley has seen the Panorama documentary and spoken to the director and producer behind it, Emeke Onono.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (66) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • RobotRocker #1 1 year ago

    Broadcast Journalists Are Incompetent Fuckwits

  • Jon1292 #2 1 year ago

    As if ruining our chances at the world cup weren't enough, now they have to ruin gaming too.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/10 @ 14:03

  • TopKatt #3 1 year ago

    Fun is addictive. Ban it.

  • Essien #4 1 year ago

    I once read a book that was so engrossing I read it all night. When I finished it, it was morning.

    I was quite tired, but somehow I didn't feel like writing to the Daily Mail to say how addictive reading is.

    Perhaps because I am not an idiot.

  • Ultrasoundwave #5 1 year ago

    I love gaming and put my fair share of hours in a week, but anyone who plays videogames for 21 hours a day is fucked in the head..........its got nothing to do with the games themselves!

  • J0rdan_KZ #6 1 year ago

    What's this? Video game culture not being taken seriously again by the mass media? Who would have thought it?! :o

    (/sarcasm)
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/10 @ 14:04

  • TheBoyChris #7 1 year ago

    To be fair, if you cut through the sensationalist way it's being portrayed they DO have a point. Games are specifically being designed to keep people coming back to them and investing time/money in digital goods.

    I'm all for an open discussion at this point.

  • darkmorgado #8 1 year ago

    EDGE online has an interview with the guy presenting the programme. He admits they did not look at any positive aspects of games despite knowing they exist, they ignored social gaming, etc. The whole programme seems based around these addiction clinics that have opened up recently and the tabloid stories in NOTW.

    [link url=http://www.next-gen.biz/features/panorama-on-gaming -addiction
    ]http://ww w.next-gen.biz/features/panoram...[/link]
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/10 @ 14:06

  • StooMonster #9 1 year ago

    Apparently the kid threw a temper tantrum and kicked his sister's bedroom door in, smashed a few things up.

    Perhaps he would've done the same if his access to television (if that's what he was into) was restricted? Or football? Or girls?

    Teenager throws tantrum ≠ games are evil

    Sounds like an excuse to cover bad parenting to me, how did she let it get to the point where he was spending 20-hours a day playing WoW anyway?

  • MiniAmin #10 1 year ago

    @ TheBoyChris

    Excellent point. Some psychologists have begun to investigate the effects of achievements and other micro-rewards schemes which are deisgned to make games more compelling and perhaps addictive. Sensationalism aside, there's a valid and fascinating argument to be had about addiction and videogames.

    Which is why it's such a shame that we'll only get biased sensationalist nonsense from the popular media then.

  • WolfieZero #11 1 year ago

    Ah, another evening of shouting at the TV. I will be watching on PlayTV too making it almost ironic.

  • Phantom_Dynamite #12 1 year ago

    Oh no's gaming is bad for me I better piss off down the pub every night and get hammered then instead.

    On a serious note I have see a lot of serious addictions in my life and gaming really is not one of them.

  • ouchio #13 1 year ago

    Emeke Onono that famed and highly regarded journalist behind such classics as "KILROY: Behind the Tan" lol
    Remember when Panorama used to be highly regarded in the field of journalism?
    Not anymore it isnt, its got as much journalistic integrity as The Star.
    Tabloid propaganda ratings chasing shock horror trash can go to hell and fucking burn.
    Television and old media can also go to fucking hell and burn.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/10 @ 14:14

  • darleysam #14 1 year ago

    Go on Minkley!

  • TopKatt #15 1 year ago

    I wish I could watch it but I'm too busy trying to find all the thermos flasks in Alan Wake.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/10 @ 14:11

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #16 1 year ago

    In 'Addicted to Games?' Panorama "hears from youngsters who've dropped out of school and university to play games for anything up to 21 hours a day".

    Anyone that plays games for that length of time needs to be employed as a games tester!

  • Ducklord #17 1 year ago

    The irony is that you'll be able to watch this episode on the PS3 iPlayer.

  • SpookyTang #18 1 year ago

    I'll watch the show first before commenting on it but i know somebody very close to me who play's FFXI 12+ hours per day on his 360 and has done so for years. He freely admits that he can't stop and will be moving over to FFXIV soon enough.

  • dadrester #19 1 year ago

    <a href = "http://www.develop-online.net/ news/36517/BBC-Worldwide-Our-games-are-not-addictive&quo t;>lololol</a>

    Games published by BBC Worldwide “are absolutely not addictive”, the licensing division has said ahead of a BBC Panorama investigation into the so-called psychological hooks placed into video games.

    BBC Worldwide communications boss Phil Fleming told Develop that the firm’s games are “built to be enjoyable.”
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/10 @ 14:17

  • porkface Verified Features Editor, Eurogamer Network #20 1 year ago

    Yes, this Panorama programme does sound frightful, but I find it hugely ironic that the whole 'I've never played it but it's reprehensible' line we get is now turned on its head as everyone queues up to bash something they haven't seen yet.

    I'll be first in line for the bashing tomorrow morning though.

  • ouchio #21 1 year ago

    What about the fuckers who have clocked up 5 years worth of their lives rotting their brains away watching BBC shite like eastenders? Can we have a documentary on their "Addictions"

  • RobotRocker #22 1 year ago

    we get is now turned on its head as everyone queues up to bash something they haven't seen yet.

    The title of the documentary alone is the exact sort of dogwhistle churnalism that Dacre and Desmond defecate on their rags front pages every morning so its a pretty correct assumption.

  • Mkwone #23 1 year ago

    I think anything can be addicting, but i'd say it's down to the individual person that the source of their addiction.

  • Johnson #24 1 year ago

    >> Games published by BBC Worldwide “are absolutely not addictive”,

    Well, that's certainly true of the Wii Doctor Who game.

  • dangercopperfield #25 1 year ago

    Wow, something fanboys can all agree on, the mainstream media ain't got a clue. Of course there is gonna be freaks out there that play 20 hours a day. It's down to the individual not the industry!

  • richthebrief #26 1 year ago

    Interesting to see that the producer in the Edge article admitted they like to broadcast Panorama around an event. Which is exactly what the producer of the FIFA show denied doing on the BBC on Sunday, when he said it was simply ready to transmit so they did.

    Arseholes.

  • CaptainQuint #27 1 year ago

    Games can be as addictive as alcohol and certain drugs. FACT.

  • geeza2020 #28 1 year ago

    The title of this article in the bar at the top of my IE window says "UK Games industry hits back at Panorama MMO" Panorama MMO? That sounds like one shitty game.

  • superted1974 #29 1 year ago

    Dr Richard Wilson says "I Don't Belieeeeve it"

  • 00.00.01 #30 1 year ago

    Any chance this can be spun into a FanBoy-article? Stating that PS3-games are more addictive than XboX-games? Or vice versa ofcourse :)

  • Buztafen #31 1 year ago

    I hate people who use the word 'addicting'.

  • GamesConnoisseur #32 1 year ago

    BAN the SICK FILTH!

  • Amblin #33 1 year ago

    lol here comes the mob again, games are evil.

    I know let's find people with real life undiagnosed problems (like adhd?), add in the most accessable form of entertainment in the world and speculate that they are addicted to it.

    The problem for games and their respective players are that it's a heavily marketed form of entertainment, designed to hook a player into purchasing/playing a developer's product.

    Additionally, unlike fishing, stamp collecting, trainspotting etc, you can get into gaming from the comfort of your own home.

    In any population you find individuals that will take a personal interest to its extreme. Be it a hobby, a career, drugs, sex or religon there will always be extremists that take things too far. You will also have a small percentage of fantasists that will try and escape their real life issues by hiding, be it in work or in this instance gaming.

    But for the love of God please dont make them poster boys/girls for Gaming is addictive. So far gaming made kids kill people, is addictive and is evil (according to some mothers self-help groups).

    mmm let me see what's next? Daliy mail theadline: Gaming gives you Cancer???

    I get totally frustrated every time I see guff like this on tv or in the news etc. I often think it's just a way for the press to hook us in, buy their paper to listen to their opinion. infact they'd like nothing more than for us to stay hooked to their product. In that way we keep paying and they get rich.mmm I wonder if reading or listening to the news is addictive?

    Can we find anyone in the country of 60+ million that buys every paper and watches 6+ hours of news a day? let make a prgram about thier so called addiction...

  • aidey6 #34 1 year ago

    Activision will just see this as free advertising; timing it with the release of WOW expansion pack. Can you really see sales dropping off because the game is addictive. If you've had good game designers then the proof is that your game is still being played months onwards and not returned or traded in with days...

    21 hours gaming in one day is clearly a very extreme and rare case. We have lives outside of gaming, I'd be lucky to play games 21hrs a week...

  • Eraysor #35 1 year ago

    WoW has parental controls; I don't see the problem really.

  • djed #36 1 year ago

    @#4

    Your letter would not get printed as the editors would feel its readers would be confused and agitated when introduced to the concept "a book".

  • sjmlondon #37 1 year ago

    I hate to admit it but many games are hugely addictive. Many are not.

    When I look at the leaderboards on Battlefield Bad Company 2 and those players who have reached rank 50. Most of the players including myself have put in 400, 500, 600+ hours of gameplay over the last year to reach that rank. When does a hobby become an addiction and is playing online games a problem?

    However, compared to all that reality crud, boring soaps and endless hospital dramas that make up current TV output, I know I would rather be playing BFBC2 with my regular group of online mates. Also in these recession hit times, it's a relatively cheap form of entertainment.

    I would propose that gamers with a gamerscore of over 150,000 are addicted. It's depends on what else they do as to whether this is a hobby / enjoyable pastime or concern, same with someone who spends 400+ hours on certain games.

    I suppose a gaming hobby does become an addiction when it does begin to interfere with other things you should be doing and there will always be those that take it too far. At the end of the day, I suppose it is a balancing act and some people as with any addiction be it drinking, drugs or excessive gaming, some people will take things too far.

    However we don't need busy body journalists or politicans sticking their oar in to what is a very enjoyable pastime for the vast majority. Gaming that is, with an occasional dry sherry thrown in for good measure.

  • menage #38 1 year ago

    BAN FUN!

  • Collymilad #39 1 year ago

    Seriously, isn't it about time the games industry just started ignoring what the mainstream media has to say?

    They are ignorant fools who at the core have no idea about games or anything game-related, and so it devalues their opinion to the point where it becomes irrelevant.

  • FortysixterUK #40 1 year ago

    Gaming is an easy target as it has no real tangible champions to defend it.
    Gaming is still seen as niche, nerdy, childish or childlike, and a waste of time by a great many.
    Prepare to read my opinion of broadbrush storkes and probable inaccuracies.

    These folks are often ( although not always ) in my experience are of an older age demographic who cannot relate with what video games do for people who enjoy them. However, the same people often seem to have a passion for football or some other sport and enjoy alcohol and cigarettes.

    This demographic probably have no real understanding of the transitive meditative state a video game can put a person in, but I for one know that when I play a game I am "there" in the game, part of it and so enjoy it more. Transitive meditation, simple.

    A game detracts from the rigours of daily life ( early shifts, bad or overly busy days at work, imbecelic managers and their equally imbecilic decisions, in fact the humdrum of daily life ). Lets not forget a game can also be a good laugh or simply fun.

    Lots of folks can't see this and never will.

    Western culture is simply not enlightened enough to appreciate all the medias out there and their values ( unlike, for instance, Japan ) and never will.

    So, enjoy what you enjoy, and let others enjoy what they enjoy, and wait for a week or so of bad press after this TV program gets aired.

    Remember games are not addicitve, it is the personality of the person playing the game that has that addicition flaw ( or strength ), make your own mind up.

  • 8bitMofo #41 1 year ago

    I've seen grown men put in daily 8-hour shifts watching trains ffs, now there's a problem.

  • Cosmopolitan #42 1 year ago

    46-er got it right.

  • potter73 #43 1 year ago

    Everything has the ability to be addictive, alchohol, cigarettes, shopping, televsion.....hell, lets ban everything.

    What a stupid bloody comment by Panorama (mind you I would expect nothing less, after they detroyed our chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup - tits!)

  • riceNpea #44 1 year ago

    i'm not addicted to games but if anyone tried to stop me playing i would rip their fucking throat out and shit down the hole in their neck. a measured response i think you'll agree
    Edited by 2 at 07/12/10 @ 00:16

  • epiazk #45 1 year ago

    As a total wow addict (I remember from beta, mages - my main - INITIALLY having invisibility before it was removed), I support panorama for the purposes of a class action law suit, hopefully one that will give me lots of money...mohahaha...

    I'm also a smoker and want them to pay me as well.

    (Joking ofc but I am addicted to both -.- )

  • dadrester #46 1 year ago

    tell you what... wanking is addictive AND it makes you go blind!!!!!

  • lordofthedunce #47 1 year ago

    Sounds like a good opportunity for parents to blame their child's behaviour on something other than themselves.

  • hiddenranbir #48 1 year ago

    It is possible to become addicted to anything, depends on the individual. So this response is equally silly.

  • Murton #49 1 year ago

    Have just googled Wilson to find out exactly what he's a doctor of but couldn't find him, it clearly isn't medicine or any of the sciences if he truly believes that the Wii or Kinect can improve fitness, in fact a medical team proved quite conclusively a couple of years ago that the Wii doesn't even maintain fitness unless the player uses handweights and the same is true of Kinect, making the games less of a fitness tool and more of an encouragement or enabling factor, which is what the fitness-games crowd really should be talking about rather than making false claims about their software actually improving physical fitness.

    Also "there is no proven link between video games and addiction" sorry Rich, but that's not quite true. I'll give you that there's little to no research that's specific to video games but addition to the internet is documented as far back as the 90s as a recognised condition in the US, TV addiction is documented even further back and globally. Scientifically it could be inferred that any video games would be more addictive than either of these because of the interactive element, but even then there's medically recognised addictions to things like the feeling of control over others, competition and approval that video games are more than capable of providing.

    Seems that every time TIGA wades into any debate it does so armed with only half of the story, someone should really explain to them that a balanced argument is much more effective than merely selecting pieces of facts to support your argument while conveniently forgetting key details.

  • Stompy #50 1 year ago

    Many of the comments here betray a knee-jerk reaction similar to the one we fear the Panorama 'doc' is going to exemplify.

    1) The media did not lose England the World Cup. It's probably just Russia paying more for it in bribes.

    2) Games are not an easy target anymore. Crazies go after anything they don't like no matter how impossible the task: there are politicians who go after things like adult entertainment and Harry Potter, two monolithic industries that generate obscene amounts of money.

    3) It's not exactly a damning indictment on the media when journalists notice people who appear to be addicted to videogames being pointed out by other people that say they used to be addicted to videogames leading to the journalist asking "are people addicted to videogames?" There are enough gamers saying that there is a small or large element of addiction in playing games that makes it a reasonable question without there being a massive conspiracy to take Call of Duty away from us and replace it with mandatory military service. (Although, to be fair, until you died and failed to respawn you might not notice much of a difference).

  • secombe #51 1 year ago

    Funny how there is never any serious discussion on the banning of alcohol (a proven cause of death, violence, illness etc etc etc) yet the addiction to games / violence in games arguments come up time and time again, despite the fact that there is very little scientific data or evidence to support it.

  • levitate #52 1 year ago

    At least computer/video games don't have hooligans like some other 'games' that Russia will host in 2018.

  • Xboxfanuk #53 1 year ago

    Blizzard is basically a drug dealer aren't they..lol

  • makeamazing #54 1 year ago

    Well just saw Panorama, and to be honest the answers he was being given from industry were pretty clear and concise, but it looked like he didnt want to listen for his report.

    I mean there are over what 6 million + gamers in the uk, and he found about 3 and then waffled on about Korea...

    Oh and anyone found it strange that the biggest game they go for is WOW, on the eve of its release, sounds like another World Cup timing fiasco to cause as much trouble as possible.

    Ironically this is a show on the BBC, where the BBC make free DR Who games and have just announced they are selling lots of IPs to any game company that is interested... i am so sick of the amazing double standards they seem to be pushing these days.

  • GoingPostal13 #55 1 year ago

    Appauling sensationalist tripe - that's all I have to say really.

  • Hypercube #56 1 year ago

    To be fair, if you cut through the sensationalist way it's being portrayed they DO have a point. Games are specifically being designed to keep people coming back to them and investing time/money in digital goods.

    You mean like television series, on subscription channels? Or comics, where you have to pay to see what happens next? Or series of books, or films, or pretty much any bloody thing where it's a business transaction.

    Have you ever heard of business models? Most people who sell things are trying to get you to pay for more of them.

  • DoomedSeraph #57 1 year ago

    I can't even dignify this as "alarmist bullshit" ... it's just a ratings grabber. Gaming is a hobby, simple as.
    Gaming is no more addictive than reading, sport, tv, painting etc. I guarantee you that watching foot...ball is more of a problem to youths and the economy (as nearly all clubs operate in debt, whereas games companies actually contribute positively) not to mention the "addiction" involved in football! How many people waist their time watching 90 minutes of garbage,spouting anti-social chants and generally numbing their minds compared to those gaming socially and stimulating their imaginations with story and character driven plot lines?

    You can imagine the foam I'm churning here... ignorant fucking mass media retards. They havn't even tried to report a balanced social documentary or a scientific argument... It's just garbage for those ADDICTED to TV.

    Fuckwand

  • DoomedSeraph #58 1 year ago

    PS - I'm going to try not to watch it in objection to said "ratings grabbing". But if that begins to make me feel ignorant I might just have to give him his +1 in order to justify myself. We shall see.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/10 @ 22:29

  • ShiroBen #59 1 year ago

    Aaaargh MUST stop reading these bloody irritating articles but COME ON PEOPLE TAKE RESPONSIBLITY FOR YOURSELVES. Gaming is in NO WAY a physical addiction. If you are 'addicted' to games then the problem is YOU. Not the games. Stop blaming others, grow up, and take ownership of your own damn problems.

  • WMain00 #60 1 year ago

    Totally rubbish non-report made by someone who seems to have performed little to no study into the topic (surprise surprise). In effect, this was a slow news week for panorama, so they felt the need to stir up a storm. The title of the show may as well have been "games are bad and evil and addictive because my editor told me so."

    Poor poor show BBC. We should organise a complaint frankly.

  • Lusterpurge #61 1 year ago

    Any hobby can be addicting to the point that it negatively affects your life. I don't see why gaming is any different. The whole "videogames can't be addicting" line is complete bullshit.

  • Nephirion #62 1 year ago

    smoking crack is a hobby

  • geeza2020 #63 1 year ago

    "- compared to those gaming socially and stimulating their imaginations with story and character driven plot lines?"

    you can't be talking about the same videogames I've been playing all these years; story and character drive plot lines HA! But I'm just being picky ;-)

  • SAMagic #64 1 year ago

    @cheekybyname : It's nothing too nauseating. It's critical of games and seems to be fine with certain assumptions and generating some hysteria on the subject, but it's nothing like the dung we saw on the Titschmarsh show. Borderline investigative journalism. The worst is the low, ominous, creepy music they play as they cut to the home of the 'addicts' (guys who are playing WOW or COD for 20 hours a day).

  • natureboy #65 1 year ago

    Like everything in life moderation is key. Parents with young kids should buy the system and game system and the games and should say to the child when and when not to play the games. This is what my mum did for us during the SNES era. Once an adult, it is up to the induvidual. As an adult, i don't play a smuch games as i used to during my SNES days but i still play know and again. The media always label games as bad and corrupt when it is not always the case

  • Tweetiti #66 1 year ago

    To Secombe: "Funny how there is never any serious discussion on the banning of alcohol (a proven cause of death, violence, illness etc etc etc) yet the addiction to games / violence in games arguments come up time and time again, despite the fact that there is very little scientific data or evidence to support it."
    Have you noticed how twice during Panorama they claim that ALcohol is actually better than videogames? Once tJoe claims getting smashed is a cure to playing and the second time they find it weird that Koreans prefer to play than going out for a drink on a Friday night.