Last night, just prior to the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the BBC premiered the latest episode of its Panorama series that focused on the addictive potential that lies in videogames.
The episode is a half hour in length and investigates gamers in England and South Korea who have become addicted to games, playing anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a day. Games put into the spotlight of the piece include the Call of Duty series, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and other MMOs.
Representatives from Eidos Interactive defend the potential of games being addictive while Blizzard offers a statement late in the story. The focus leans more on the ability of games with online multiplayer to suck a minority percentage of the gaming public in and cause them to shut away the outside world.
For anyone who doesn’t live in the UK and wants to see the episode themselves, the BBC has posted it to YouTube. You can find both Part One and Two of the episode below.
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