Tuesday 3 November 2009

I Aint Going Back To Rehab.. No, No, No

It's time to admit you have a problem...

A rehab clinic in Somerset has now opened its doors to people with serious gaming addictions.

The center will adapt its Minnesota Method Twelve-Step program, which it normally uses to treat people addicted to drugs, drink and gambling, to treat gamers that exhibit similar behaviour.

Patients at the clinic will take part in group therapy, video sessions and therapeutic tasks including vacuuming and washing up.

According to The Telegraph: “Sufferers spend days at a time glued to their computer screens - going without food, sleep, or any social interaction. As a result they suffer malnutrition, relationship-breakdown and postural problems.”

Brian Dudley, the center’s chief executive told the The Telegraph that he believed between five to ten per cent of the nation know someone addicted to an online game.

Dudley believes that the rise and rise of online games such as World of Warcraft, which requires players to invest large amounts of time to progress, has triggered this new addiction.

With the recent release of Borderlands, there are sure to be bleary-eyed, pale-skinned addicts across the country that don’t know what day it is. If this sounds like you, contact the center now.

[mobiletone]

19 comments:

  1. I was suffering from some serious withdrawal symptons with the death of my PS3.....

    BUT NO MORE!!!!

    FOR I AM AWESOME AND 3 DAYS,2 SCREWDRIVERS AND 1 HEATGUN LATER...

    IT IS ALIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. Nice 1 John! - just don't leave it unattended (sounds like a dodgy repair job to me!) What will you be playing to celebrate!?

    @Tone - at times in my life when I've been "between jobs" I've been gaming a bit more than is healthy. It's lucky that I have a job actually otherwise I think I'd be a proper couch potato!

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  3. "Sufferers spend days at a time glued to their computer screens". Actually that sounds a lot like my job!

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  4. @Reakt

    Dodgy - of course not >:)

    Going to FINALLY! try and sample official Uncharted2 multplayer!

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  5. how'd you do it Sketch? i'm guessing from the heatgun it was some loose soldering issue?

    share your awesome YLoD fix with us.

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  6. @Tone

    Stripped the entire ps3 down to just the motherboard and subjected the cpu and gpu (warmed up on the surrounding board first) to 360C of Heatgun for around 7-8minutes - purely on the assumption it was a solder connection issue.

    There was one small hiccup with the blu-ray drive (wouldn't reallign) so i had to open that up aswell, take out the drive motor and reset all the gears manually - but all in all a rather simple operation! (if scary as anything t be cracking open a £400 piece of precious console kit).

    If you ever hear of anyone having this issue, or if any of you lot have this problem I can send you all the relevant videos/info that I used to get it back up and runnng =)

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  7. Tone & Sketchys l33t Workshop

    :)

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  8. I fixed my bruvs Mk1 Sony Walkman when I was a nipper, when I put it back together I had about 10 screws left over. It worked though.

    Tone & Sketch are most awesome l33t engine ears.

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  9. if it aint broke, pull it to bits to find out why :D

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  10. haven't played Borderlands in 3 days, getting the shakes real bad, bad man, must. kill. more...

    damn you James May and your amusing tv programs!!

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  11. I wanna play borderlands..but alas i still have the problem of limited spare funds!!!!

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  12. Expecting to be branded a heretic, but I have to say that I'm finding Borderlands to be more adictive than Uncharted 2. That may be because I'm halfway through my third run in Uncharted, but not certain even the first run was as much fun.

    As an aside, 'tone, without spoiling anything, did you have any trouble getting the prostetic leg? I stand in the spot it looks like it should be, but can't see it anywhere. Is it meant to be lying on the floor?

    Looking forward to getting home and continuing my hunting. Pity I'm only a level 13 soldier, or I'd offer to accompany you in your hunting.

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  13. @John - I'm impressed! Way to save yourself a lot of money!

    @Muggle - Are you playing Uncharted 2 on Crushing difficulty now then? I started off on Hard, which is actually tricky enough in places! 86% through my first run (and less than 40 treasures found :( )

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  14. @reakt - Hi. Yes, and now have 78 treasures found. I did my first on Normal, not realising it wouldn't unlock Crushing. I won't spoil any of it for you, but the ending seemed plenty difficult on Hard. Felt much easier on Normal. I am dreading doing it on Crushing! Think I am on stage 13 at the moment. And the location of some of the treasures.. sheesh, Naughty Dog really went to town on them - especially the Strange Relic.

    Anyway, gogogo... 86% means only 14% left :)

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  15. @ mugglemind - feel free to add me (psn mobiletone) and i'll jump into a co-op in Borderlands with you, i'm currently a Lv28 Tempest or Flyfly (Siren), depends what mood i'm in :D hey, you want to come along for the ride feel free, nothing better than an afternoon hunting Skags or Rakks, yeeehhaaaaaaw!

    the leg, from what i remember is near some rocks just laying about, though the Skags/explosions may move it? it's not the easiest thing to spot. hunt around the area. i'm collecting 'adult interest' mags for a guy in new haven that's hidden them around the town from his missus. needed a mission break after a large boss battle lasting a couple of hours!this is one funny and twisted game.

    Borderlands definately has that addictive quality, always after a few more XP, i've got some very nice weapons and skills now.

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  16. @'tone - thanks. Will add you tonight.

    Some parts of the game can be a pain (though fun). While looking for a certain NPC, I realised I was having more trouble than I could handle, so decided it would be prudent to retreat (read "Bugger! Ruuuuun!"). However, I found that NPCs had respawned in the area behind me too. And my respawn point? That was swarming with enemies that had been chasing me as I died. Several respawns later, I had no ammo, and no chance! Fortunately, it was about 3am, so I decided to call it a night. Thankfully, when I checked this morning, it made me spawn by the entrance to the area (which is safe - for now).

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  17. @ muggle - haha i hate when that happens, i got pinned down in an underground bandit base while looking for some 'keys' i figured seeing as i was on a winning streak the fact the mission was a few levels about my own would be no problem.

    oh how i was wrong! trapped, eventually ran out of ammo, NPCs blocked my escape and advancement, royally boned, cost me a small fortune in re-spawns. i went back after i'd leveled up some and sorted my weapon load-out for close combat and totally ruined them. revenge, best served with incendary ammunition! i think i enjoyed their screams of 'it burns, it burns' a bit too much -haha- :D

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  18. @'tone - sounds lik the same place I was, as I was after a key. Tried the final part of that quest last night. Apparently, it is a level 17 quest, and my character (and all his weaponry) is at level 16. The NPC wiped the floor with me.

    Am hoping when I play tonight, I respawn at the start area, as by the time I reach him, I should be an easy level 17, and might actually be able to hurt him!

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