I, one of the Alices (guess which) have read at least two entire books about video games, and one of them is a book called Lost In A Good Game by Dr. Pete Etchells. It’s about how games aren’t as bad as some studies, Piers Morgan, and approximately all of the newspapers say they are, plus a little bit about his own life and the role video games have played in them. How interesting!
And look, by coincidence, Dr. Etchells is going to be talking to me at EGX Rezzed 2019 about all that and more. Truly, we shall become the real psychonauts.
It’s the second Rezzed Session of the show, at 1.30pm-2.15pm on Thursday, and there’s no excuse not to be there. Here is the officially thingy about it.
RPS Prsents: The Psychology Of Game Addiction
Whether it’s stories about game violence, or their potential addictive nature, we regularly see articles in the news claiming that video games are bad for us. But what does the scientific research actually have to say about these issues? And what about the positive side to playing video games? Dr Pete Etchells, a lecturer in psychology at Bath Spa University, whose field of research is the behavioural effects of video games on the human brain, joins us for a discussion of the topic.
We’re going to be having a good auld chat about the WHO classification of gaming disorder, if gaming addiction is really a thing, the affect that games can have on our brains, what sort of research is being done… you know, the whole kit and caboodle. And there’ll be time for questions as well.
Rezzed is only a week away now, but if you haven’t got a ticket yet you can find them at the official Rezzed site. We’ve got loads of stuff happening at Rezzed that we’ve already announced, like a Developer Session on what to do after you make Final Fantasy XV, plus VidBuds Alice and Matthew are going to be streaming for three days doing The RPS Sessions.
You can check out previous Rezzed Sessions on the official EGX YouTube channel. I don’t have an example of a Session where someone interviewed a psychologist before, but here’s one on Into The Breach.
Here is a secret: Rezzed is my favourite because it’s ours — but also because it’s weirder and smaller. We also do an annual knees up at a pub nearby. I’ve been to Rezzed before I worked here and sometimes strange stuff happens like you’ll be in a pub trying to find the toilets and Tim Schafer is standing in the stairwell. And you’re like, should I ask Tim Schafer where the loos are? Maybe he’s looking for the loos too.
