Image credit: International Business Times.
A new report claims that 100 million individuals in China have some form of video-game addiction, and classifies symptoms of the addiction (such as poor self control, irrational dependence on games, etc.) as a form of “brain damage,” because even sociologists are trolling for click-bait headlines.
The study was run by the Chinese research firms Enfodesk and Eguan, and some 67.5 percent of gamers admitted to knowing someone whose personality fit the “brain damaged” profile, although only .02% admitted to being brain damaged themselves. This study’s conclusion may be a bit hasty, but the information they gathered is still worth a read, as Tech In Asia reports:
The survey revealed a high concentration of these gaming addicts reside in China’s northeastern provinces, a region that accounted for 29.7 percent of the afflicted population. Henan province made up 17.2 percent, while Shanghai-adjacent Fujian took 12.9 percent. The remaining 40.2 percent were spread across the rest of the country.
Men were affected 30 percent more than women, as would be expected.
Whether 100 million people are actually addicted to video games—and whether that constitutes a form of “brain damage” and some kind of lack of mental capacity—is certainly far from decided, but China does have a massive number of gamers. The endless brain-dead hordes are eagerly awaiting the legal arrival of the XBox this fall.