Video Games: Therapy Or Addiction?

If you are one of those video games aficionados currently addicted to shooter games or fighting playing games online, you are not alone. Games like "Fight Night 3" from Xbox 360 or perhaps the worldwide Xbox favorite "Halo 2", that is still making history through the fun play of both national and International audiences through online multi-gaming experiences. Not only can you start having the excitement of playing it with your brother or friend back home, if you are in the states you can play with Canada, Pakistan, China, Australia, Brazil, Puerto Rico and many other places to shout "I beat you and I will beat you again", "Wow you are really horrible, even my 10 years old brother can beat you with his eyes closed", among many other adrenaline "Who is the boss" type of rush comments to a guy thousands of miles away from you. Personally, one of the best games for Xbox 360 right now is "Fight Night 3". That is if you are into the adrenaline mode and like to sweat when things are not going the way you like in one of those Roy Jones Jr vs. Oscar De La Hoya types of matches. In that video game you can choose from over twenty plus fighters and you get to re-live old time matches along with ESPN commentators, Madison Square Garden at your back and even pre-fight weight count rumbles. It does not get any better when you see our Oscar De La Hoya being beaten in a pre-fight weight certification area, and then you live when De La Hoya hammers and beat to the punch Joe Frazier and Ali. Not sure how that comes close in our reality world, however, I believe that is of interest to any boxing fan wishing to encounter and position themselves in matches where the differences are between 40-50 pounds between opponents. One of the most realistic developments through the game is when a fighter is delivered an uppercut upon being low on stamina and has a major cut in one of the eyes. You will hear the sound of the head currently having a 4th of July explosion while seeing all the ketchup spread all over the air in slow motion before the fighter gets KO to the floor. Some make call this game exciting and others see it just to violent even for grown ups. Then there is Halo 2 still with a worldwide video games buzz. This game has been so successful that they are even in the final stages of finishing the production of the soon to be released "Halo 3". If Xbox 360 console was hard to get even four month and even five months later after launch, I can't imagine the best game ever to hit the Xbox market being re-released in a final version shortly. The beauty of this whole Xbox addiction remains through games like Halo and subsequent versions. Not only you get hooked one, two or three hours without having nothing to drink or eat, but time passes and immediately upon finishing or taking a break you think that you have only played 15 minutes. Are games like these addictive or therapeutic? In my conclusion as a gaming fan and video games addict, it is both therapeutic and addictive at the same time. It is my believe that many of us mix positive therapy and addiction as equal words with the same definitions. In all, Xbox 360 games along with their many competitors will remain a force to a billion dollar market that should never stop growing. Games like Halo and Fight Night 3 are here to stay. Have fun while you have the fortune and time to enjoy them.