7 ms·

So they collaborated with EA, a company so infamous for anti-consumer practices like real-money gambling for minors that they are basically synonymous with "evi

So they collaborated with EA, a company so infamous for anti-consumer practices like real-money gambling for minors that they are basically synonymous with "evil" within the gaming subculture and found out...that EA games make you happy! If you are actually interested in this topic, there are a lot of reviews including way longer periods, variables and genres. Of course, you still have to apply the same filter to sift through moral panic and game ads, but this study is even if not biased still unnecessarily limited in scope. Not a good base for a discussion IMO...

dragonwriter 5y ago
> and found out...that EA games make you happy! correlation does not indicate direction of causation; it is just as valid to conclude that happy people had more time to play games.
- bostonpete 5y ago
  And it may just be that happiness and video game playing are both correlated with something else, like having a lot of leisure time and/or a lot of discretionary spending money.
- AlphaSite 5y ago
  That’s generally how it’s been for me, the happier I am the more energy I have for habits like this, which take a non zero amount of effort to play. Conversely when I’m feeling down this is the first thing to go, I can desire to play and just sit there for hours not doing so.
  - tuatoru 5y ago
    Thank you for writing this.
robrenaud 5y ago
Do you have a summary of the research, given your interest in the topic?
- KarlKemp 5y ago
  It's notoriously difficult to study because you can't tell some 6-year old that they should become a gamer as that is what your random number generator wants them to do. But, it's also difficult to study because the effect size, whatever it direction may be, is rather small. (nobody ever agreed to a double-blind experiment proving that bullets kill, just as a point of comparison). From what I read back when it interested me, it seems suggestive of a mild negative effect. But it's hard to say because of the absolutely overwhelming effect of in the other direction: there is absolutely no doubt that eight hours or more of weekly gaming is evidence of depression for age groups 16 and up. (valid for PC/console only. Gaming on mobile phones is often more indicative of using public transport than anything else).
  - bastardoperator 5y ago
    What evidence? It would be impossible to quantify this, but I'd love to see the data that makes this assertion. I'm arguing that anything less than 8 hours a week means you're not playing enough or you don't enjoy gaming as much as others might.
  - fsloth 5y ago
    "There is absolutely no doubt that eight hours or more of weekly gaming is evidence of depression for age groups 16 and up." But is it a form of self medication or pathology? Being over 16 and gaming too much is an obvious probable pathology, but I would not see pathology as the only interpretation. I had a pretty dark time in my life during which Kerbal Space Program may well have saved my life (by taking my mind completely off the bad stuff and giving a nice boost of the positive brain transmitters).
    - AussieWog93 5y ago
      There are definitely people who escape into video games to avoid dealing with problems in the real world. Perhaps this is a good thing in the short term (your experience definitely seems to suggest this!), but anecdotally many of the long-term, heavy games-players I know (mid-20s) seem to be taking on less responsibility, investing less into themselves, their future and the people around them, and failing to live up to their potential in a noticeable way. Very similar to weed smokers, thinking about it.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
nottorp 5y ago
Yep, it would have been much more believable if they didn't involve EA's predatory titles...

dragonwriter 5y ago

> and found out...that EA games make you happy! correlation does not indicate direction of causation; it is just as valid to conclude that happy people had more time to play games.

bostonpete 5y ago
And it may just be that happiness and video game playing are both correlated with something else, like having a lot of leisure time and/or a lot of discretionary spending money.
AlphaSite 5y ago
That’s generally how it’s been for me, the happier I am the more energy I have for habits like this, which take a non zero amount of effort to play. Conversely when I’m feeling down this is the first thing to go, I can desire to play and just sit there for hours not doing so.
- tuatoru 5y ago
  Thank you for writing this.

robrenaud 5y ago

Do you have a summary of the research, given your interest in the topic?

KarlKemp 5y ago
It's notoriously difficult to study because you can't tell some 6-year old that they should become a gamer as that is what your random number generator wants them to do. But, it's also difficult to study because the effect size, whatever it direction may be, is rather small. (nobody ever agreed to a double-blind experiment proving that bullets kill, just as a point of comparison). From what I read back when it interested me, it seems suggestive of a mild negative effect. But it's hard to say because of the absolutely overwhelming effect of in the other direction: there is absolutely no doubt that eight hours or more of weekly gaming is evidence of depression for age groups 16 and up. (valid for PC/console only. Gaming on mobile phones is often more indicative of using public transport than anything else).
- bastardoperator 5y ago
  What evidence? It would be impossible to quantify this, but I'd love to see the data that makes this assertion. I'm arguing that anything less than 8 hours a week means you're not playing enough or you don't enjoy gaming as much as others might.
- fsloth 5y ago
  "There is absolutely no doubt that eight hours or more of weekly gaming is evidence of depression for age groups 16 and up." But is it a form of self medication or pathology? Being over 16 and gaming too much is an obvious probable pathology, but I would not see pathology as the only interpretation. I had a pretty dark time in my life during which Kerbal Space Program may well have saved my life (by taking my mind completely off the bad stuff and giving a nice boost of the positive brain transmitters).
  - AussieWog93 5y ago
    There are definitely people who escape into video games to avoid dealing with problems in the real world. Perhaps this is a good thing in the short term (your experience definitely seems to suggest this!), but anecdotally many of the long-term, heavy games-players I know (mid-20s) seem to be taking on less responsibility, investing less into themselves, their future and the people around them, and failing to live up to their potential in a noticeable way. Very similar to weed smokers, thinking about it.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

nottorp 5y ago

Yep, it would have been much more believable if they didn't involve EA's predatory titles...