Violent games are generally action packed & Manufacturers of such games insist that their games Improve coordination, reflexes, and skills ! A point which educational games manufacturers disagree with. Violent games can hold children & even adults, spellbound in amazement. For many, computer games are usually fun and relaxing. But for some, games can become consuming and addicting, taking away from day to day activities and social behavior. This can lead to them sitting on the computer for hours and hours sometimes leading to neck problems and eye damage.

Globally, there have been recorded deaths caused directly by exhaustion from playing games for excessive periods of time. There have also been deaths of gamers and/or others related to playing of video games.

Computer Game Addiction : Cases directly by exhaustion from playing games for excessive periods of time

United States

• In February 2002, a Louisiana woman sued Nintendo because her son died after suffering seizures caused by playing Nintendo 64 for eight hours a day, six days a week. Nintendo denied any responsibility.
• In August 2004, Troy Victorino and three accomplices entered a home on Telford Lane in Deltona, FL and tortured and murdered Erin Belanger and 5 other people who were in the home at the time of the attack. Victorino’s motive for the attack was to retrieve his Xbox, which Belanger had failed to return after evicting Victorino from the home prior to the attack.
• Press reports in November 2005 state that Gregg J. Kleinmark, 24, plead “guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter”. He “left fraternal twins Drew and Bryn Kleinmark unattended in a bathtub for 30 minutes, in order to go three rooms away and play on his Game Boy Advance” while “in the mean time, the two ten-months old kids drowned”.
• A New Mexico woman named Rebecca Colleen Christie was convicted of second degree murder and child abandonment, and sentenced to 25 years in prison, for allowing her 3 and a half-year-old daughter to die of malnutrition and dehydration while occupied with chatting and playing World of Warcraft online.
• Tyrone Spellman, 27, of Philadelphia, was convicted of third-degree murder for killing his 17-month old daughter in a rage over a broken Xbox.
• Ohio teen Daniel Petric shot his parents, killing his mother, after they took away his copy of Halo 3 in October 2007. In a sentencing hearing after the teen was found guilty of aggravated murder, the judge said, “I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever.”  On 16 June 2009, Petric was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.
• In Jacksonville, Florida, Alexandra Tobias pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shaking her baby to death. She told investigators that the baby boy’s crying had interrupted her while she was playing a Facebook game called FarmVille. She was sentenced in December 2010.
• In November 2010 in South Philadelphia, Kendall Anderson, 16, killed his mother for taking away his PlayStation by hitting her 20 times with a claw hammer while she slept.

Canada

• Brandon Crisp, an Ontario 15-year-old, ran away from home on Thanksgiving Monday in 2008 after his parents took away his Xbox 360 due to falling grades and excessive play of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He was last seen alive on a bicycle trail. His body was found 3 weeks later, about three miles away, by a party of hunters. An autopsy determined that he died when he fell from a tree

Some experts believe that violent games are a means of interaction between children. It can be a release of violence and aggression which they may have within them. While many believe these games make children oriented towards violence. Some also believe these games make kids uncompassionate and insensitive towards death.

Game Addiction-Some signs to watch out for.

• Is your child playing computer games most of the time and for long periods?
• Doesn’t like to play outdoor games like before?
• You make him get up but he/she comes back to the PC? plays instead of doing homework?
• School report shows & teachers begin to complain.
• Do you struggle to keep up with your schoolwork and/or professional responsibilities?
• Have you ever taken a “sick day” to play your favorite game?
• Do you lie to others about your video game use? Have you ever been criticized by someone close to you for spending too much time playing video games?
• Get restless if they can’t play? When you’re not playing video games, do you feel angry or depressed? Do you spend your time wishing you could be playing your favorite game?
• Do you get so engrossed in video games that you neglect to eat, sleep or shower?
• Do you suffer from backaches, dry eyes or headaches after playing video games? Have you been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome?

If the answer is “yes” to most of these questions, your child may be playing video games excessively and limits should be placed. The best way to help avoid addiction is to take breaks and set time limits allotted for playing. Most children cannot set their own limits so it is up to the parents to set restrictions and take notice of how much their child plays such games. It’s important to find a professional who has experience in this particular area. Since this particular addiction has only been in the spotlight for a short time, many mental health professionals are unaware of the extent of the problem.

So what is the best way to keep the situation under control? Banning materials is definitely not the answer. People who are addicted to video games know that their gaming is causing strain on relationships, yet they feel powerless to change their behavior.

Probably the most important aspect to take note of is:

To Avoid disadvantages of Computer Game Addiction ” Parents Must Take Responsibility”.