Gaming philosophy and psychology

I consider myself a gamer, even though I do not spend hours weekly in gaming. I think I am fascinated by games for some reasons. Some see video games as art. However, I think that is not the reason, at least not the reason I consciously recognize. I think one of the main reasons is actually mentioned in this book - Reality is Broken. Public consensus is that video games just like cigarettes, gambling or drugs could be a form of addiction. More severely, some believes that video games induce violent or aggressive behavior.  The book however provides a different perspective of instead of blaming the game causing unnecessary addiction, why not look into the root causes why a huge population of gamers are addicted to the games. Thereby, perhaps changing the real world (that apparently does not interest those so-called addicted gamers) by tackling the root causes. 

I started my gaming life was from Playstation One era. I still remember I bought my first PSOne with the money I have earned for the first time. My first PSOne game was Final Fantasy Tactics。After several years，I bought my Playstation 2. I still remember I was still doing my PhD in University of Twente, The Netherlands. After I moved to Hong Kong, then I purchased Playstation 3, which I consider my best purchase ever!

I check on the gaming news everyday. I listen to gaming podcast every week. I can name those big games developers and celebrities.  I enjoy playing games especially role playing games. I enjoy the gaming world. And, I can't have enough. For me, gaming might be an escape from the reality (probably just like most gamers in the world). And, perhaps gaming for me is a hobby too, just like photography or collecting stamps for others. One thing for sure, I do not spend hours on gaming, because the emptiness after gaming somehow could be a bit too overwhelming. It would be nice though if I could find a job related to gaming... ...