Is your copy of Grand Theft Childhood getting a bit lonely up there on the bookshelf?

If so, new book by psychiatrist and gamer Dr. Kourosh Dini might make a great companion piece.

Video Game Play and Addiction: A Guide for Parents addresses the controversy over game addiction, examines the impact of video games on children, and provides advice for parents who are “overwhelmed and under informed about the games their children play.”

Of his book, Dini said:

Games have lots of benefits, which unfortunately, parents aren't always aware of when the only games they're exposed to are the controversial violent ones targeted to more mature players.  Age appropriate multi-player video games can allow children to learn how other people think - a key aspect of empathy. Games can also help a child become more comfortable with new and ever progressing technology...

To be sure, there are those who play problematically. Learning how to tell the difference can be critical toward promoting healthy development.

Other topics covered include:

• Improved learning and communications skills
• Emotional and mental health
• Aggression
• Motivational and withdrawal issues
• ESRB ratings

Via: PR Web

-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen…

Last month GamePolitics broke the news that FCC commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate blamed World of Warcraft as a leading cause of college dropouts: 

You might find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction - such as World of Warcraft - which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide.

Spong now reports that Tate, an appointee of President George W. Bush, has resigned her post.

Although Tate's World of Warcraft remarks riled many in the game community, the move would seem to have more to do with the changing of the guard at the White House and less with her views on WoW.

UPDATE: We've learned from a reliable source that Tate did not resign. Actually, she was nominated by President George W. Bush for a new term but was not confirmed by the Senate, which opted not to act on her nomination. 

GameCyte has a posted an in-depth interview with Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family.

On game addiction, Walsh told GameCyte's Sean Hollister:

[At a recent conference] therapists and counselors from all over the country were saying, “We’re seeing this in our offices every week, more and more frequently,” and so I think the frequency is definitely something that’s getting people’s attention...

Where we will go with video games, compulsive video game playing, whatever the term is, where we will end up with that ten years from now, I’m not quite sure. But I think it is something we’ll have to take seriously, and the people who just pooh-pooh it and say there’s nothing to it — they haven’t talked to the parents or the spouses that I’ve been talking to in the last couple of years...

 

I would hope that we wouldn’t go after companies that produce video games because for some people it becomes a problem... With video games, there are all sorts of positive uses and applications of the product… and I think that it would be wise for the industry to acknowledge that for some people, there could be a problem, and for them to actually become part of the solution...

 

Will we have [Congressional] hearings on this in five years? I wouldn’t be surprised.

The full interview is definitely worth a look.

The tragic death of Canadian teen Brandon Crisp was easily gaming's saddest story of 2008.

In a sense, it was also one of the most frustrating stories for gamers as they watched their hobby maligned publicly, yet again. For several weeks in October and November, mainstream media reports fueled speculation that Brandon, a dedicated - perhaps even compulsive - Call of Duty 4 gamer, had been abducted by someone he met on Xbox Live.

Early on in the case there was even the highly improbable suggestion that Brandon had left home to join a professional gaming league. This was, perhaps, the modern equivalent of a 19th century child running away to join the circus.

Throughout the investigation and its aftermath, the notion that Brandon was addicted to Call of Duty 4 remained a constant theme. Not written about much, but just as likely, was the fact that Brandon was experiencing the same issues that plague many adolescents: difficulty in finding one's place and conflicts with parents.

In the end, Brandon was found dead not far from home. A coroner ruled that he likely fell from a tree soon after running away.

Now that a bit of time has passed since Brandon's death, Canadian journalist Jesse Brown takes a retrospective look at the case for his CBC Radio podcast. Unfortunately, what Brown ultimately serves up is a blanket condemnation of Call of Duty 4 multiplayer.

Brown, a non-gamer, spent time playing CoD4 and recording his impressions. In the end he was seemingly put off by the trash talk on Xbox Live. Hey, who isn't, from time to time? But there are ways to deal with XBL jerks that don't involve condemning the entire CoD4 experience, as Brown unfortunately does in his wrap-up:

Brandon Crisp played video games compulsively and Brandon Crisp died in the woods after falling from a tree. And those two things might not have anything at all to do with each other.

But as I played Call of Duty 4 late at night, crouching in a digital simulation of a snowy field and then collapsing in the leaves as a stranger somewhere in the world pushed a button and cursed in my ear, it was eerie to think that Brandon Crisp was here too, virtually killing and virtually dying thousands of times.

 

This world is a sad place and it's awful that Brandon Crisp spent so much of his time here when he had so little to spend.

What Brown doesn't get is that CoD4 may have become for Brandon a place where he could fit in, have fun and enjoy a sense of community and accomplishment.

GP: Thanks to GP reader Joseph M for the heads-up...

Although the information is sketchy, at best, an exchange on the f13.net forums suggests that some employers may be discriminating against those who play World of Warcraft:

The anonymous poster is known only as "Tale":

I met with a recruiter recently (online media industry) and in conversation I happened to mention I'd spent way too much time in the early 2000s playing online games...

He replied that employers specifically instruct him not to send them World of Warcraft players. He said there is a belief that WoW players cannot give 100% because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great, etc. I mentioned that some people have written about MMOG leadership experience as a career positive or a way to learn project management skills, and he shook his head. He has been specifically asked to avoid WoW players...

No WoW-hating companies are named. On the other hand, a firm that outright dismisses the WoW crowd de facto shrinks its global applicant pool by - what - 12 million potential employees?

They can't all be addicts.

Via: Raph Koster

On Monday GamePolitics noted that a 17-year-old boy was on trial in an Ohio courtroom for shooting his parents after they banned him from playing Halo 3.

A local Ohio newspaper is now reporting that defense attorneys are basing Daniel Petric's defense on video game addiction. According to the Chronicle-Telegram:

“Danny was very mild and meek,” said his paternal grandfather, Michael Broeckel, who [testified] that Daniel was a normal teenager, albeit one addicted to video games.

Holly Petric, Daniel’s other sister, said her brother became obsessed with video games because of a back injury which... limited his physical activity... the infection was so severe that any extreme physical activity could have caused his spine to snap, leaving him paralyzed.

“He’d just play (video games) nonstop whenever he could,” Holly Petric said.

[Daniel's friend] Jon Johnson... said he and Daniel would play video games, particularly “Halo 3,” up to 18 hours a day.

Jon said that while he liked video games, Daniel was addicted, even going so far as to push his friends to play the games when they wanted to do something else.

The case is expected to wrap up today. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has additional coverage.

UPDATE: The Chronicle-Telegram reports that Petric's attorney argued this morning that the teen's supposed obsession with Halo 3 contributed to rendering him insane at the time of the shootings:

Daniel Petric’s attorney argued this morning that his client should be found not guilty by reason of insanity for the shooting death of his mother and wounding of his father last year in part because the 17-year-old was obsessed with the video game “Halo 3.”

 

James Kersey said Daniel, who is being tried as an adult, went looking for the sci-fi video game, not his father’s 9 mm handgun on Oct. 20, 2007. The boy’s parents, Sue and Mark Petric, had taken the game away from the boy less than a month before the shootings.

Yesterday GamePolitics reported on concerns by University of Minnesota Duluth officials that compulsive World of Warcraft play was causing some students to flunk out.

Those concerns have been echoed by Federal Communications Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate (left).

The FCC commissioner commented on WoW during a speech on telecom policy and regulation delivered to the Practicing Law Institute on December 5th:

With the explosion of educational resources available online, one might think parents would be 100% pleased with the internet’s role in their children’s lives. But surveys show just the opposite: a late 2006 survey that showed 59% of parents think the internet has been a totally positive influence in their children’s lives-- down from 67% in 2004.

 

You might find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction - such as World of Warcraft - which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide.

Document Dump: Read Tate's (mostly non-game-related) speech here.

GP: Big thanks to Steve Augustino for the heads-up!

Are World and Warcraft and other MMOs leading some college students to neglect their studies?

An academic advisor at the University of Minnesota Duluth thinks so. A report in the Duluth News-Tribune cites comments from UMD's Vince Rapesh:

"I accused one of them of coming in loaded from smoking dope, he looked so bad,” Repesh said. But the student had been up all night playing a computer game.

 

During freshman orientation this year, three of the 70 students Repesh talked to in groups about computer use had been to counseling for problematic gaming, one because he was too competitive to stop.

 

“I tell parents during talks, I believe it’s one of the hidden causes for kids to fail that nobody knows about it,” he said.

These are very, very bright kids, and if you can’t get them back on track, you’ve lost a lot of potential.

Via: Our sister-site GameCulture

Yesterday on GamePolitics I wrote that watchdog group the National Institute on Media and the Family has been co-opted by the video game industry.

It wasn't the first time I've taken NIMF to task for accepting a $50,000 grant from the Entertainment Software Association, the lobbying group which represents US game publishers. Not surprisingly, NIMF took umbrage at my comments. Spokesman Darin Broton told GameCyte:

We’re never going to stop putting the [video game] retailers or the [video game] industry’s feet to the fire... You can rest assured that we’ll be talking publicly in 2009 about the issue of gaming addiction.

 

[NIMF accepted the ESA grant because] we’re working on a project to create an online tool for parents to tackle the issues of online predators, cyberbullies, etcetera. It’s not a blank check. It’s for a specific spot on the website.

 

Yes, there was hesitation [about accepting the ESA grant], and if there wasn’t hesitation, I don’t think any of us would be doing our jobs. But I think the end result of giving a parent another useful thing for them to make better decisions at home with their kids is worthwhile.

 

I’ve actually laughed at GamePolitics, because before this, GamePolitics was a frequent critic of NIMF for being too harsh on the industry. It’s a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

I look forward to seeing what GamePolitics has to say in early 2009, and see if they still think we’re in the back pocket of the industry.

GP: I'm glad to see that my comments struck a nerve - they were meant to.

That said, I should point out that I have a great deal of respect for Dr. David Walsh and his organization. But there are certain lines which a self-proclaimed watchdog group like NIMF just shouldn't cross. And accepting money from the very industry you claim to be watching is one of those lines - maybe the biggest, brightest one of all. It's the reason why you won't find any paid video game advertising on GamePolitics, which is owned by the ECA, a game consumer advocacy group.

And while I haven't always agreed with NIMF's conclusions or its methodology, I've always believed that the organization's heart was in the right place. Over the years, David Walsh has been unfailingly respectful in his treatment of the gamer community and gaming press. As we all know, not every game critic behaves with such decency.

Beyond that, it's not a bad thing to have rational game industry watchdogs at work. When operating appropriately, groups like NIMF provide a useful checks-and-balances function. Yes, we may chafe at some of their conclusions, but sparking a dialogue about games and their potential effects on young people can't hurt.

In taking GamePolitics to task, Darin Broton indicates that NIMF will have some watchdog-worthy comments early in the new year.

We'll be watching.

FULL DISCLOSURE DEPT: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.

The Timothy Plan, a Florida investment firm which bills itself as "conservative Christian," is warning holiday-shopping parents away from what it calls the 30 "most offensive" video games.

While the usual suspects (GTA IV, Saints Row 2, Blitz the League II) make the list, there are some surprises as well, including the T-rated Bully: Scholarship Edition and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

In its game rankings, the organization displays an obvious anti-gay bias. While it evaluates titles for sex and nudity, a gay/lesbian rating is also included, meaning that a game with a gay sexual encounter might get a double whammy when compared to a game where the sex is of the straight variety. This effect, for instance, pushes Fable II onto the group's most offensive list. Along that line a report prepared by the Timothy Plan contains this rather bizarre comment:

Army of Two: Homosexual Encounters: ...Somewhat homo-erotic undertones between the two main characters are present.

WoW made it onto the dirty thirty, thanks to a high "addiction" rating as well as a high rating for alcohol use (curse you, Noggenfogger elixir!).

How the group determined the addiction rank is really quite unfathomable. WoW received a 3, for example, the worst possible rating, while Lord of the Rings Online got a 1 and Age of Conan a 2. In fact, all of the MMOs were tagged for addiction as well as some multiplayer games like Halo 3. A few games (The Darkness, Devil May Cry 4) were punished for "demonic" references.

Timothy Plan president Art Ally (left) comments:

Many, if not most, parents who buy their kids video games really don't know the extent of sex and violence imbedded in them. From drug use, prostitution, murder and mayhem to vulgar profanity and blasphemy these games have become a powerfully negative influence on our kids...

 

I believe, if parents would take a moment to look at the report we've created, their game selections would be quite different.

The group maintains a corporate "hall of shame" which includes game publishers EA, Take-Two and Microsoft. The Timothy Plan also offers to screen your portfolio to see if any of your mutual funds have investments in shameful companies.

So helpful!

Document Dump: Get the Timothy Plan's game score card here. The group's press release with holiday shopping warnings is here.

The recent, high-profile Brandon Crisp tragedy once again brought the debate over video game dependency to the forefront. But, does obsessive video game play necessarily equal addiction?

Not according to Keith Bakker (left), the founder of the Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam, Europe’s first and only clinic to treat game addiction. After running Smith & Jones for two years, Bakker has concluded that compulsive gaming is a social problem, not a psychological one.

Bakker told the BBC: 

These kids come in showing some kind of symptoms that are similar to other addictions and chemical dependencies.  But the more we work with these kids the less I believe we can call this addiction. What many of these kids need is their parents and their school teachers - this is a social problem.

Eighty per cent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication...

If I continue to call gaming an addiction it takes away the element of choice these people have.  It's a complete shift in my thinking and also a shift in the thinking of my clinic and the way it treats these people. 

In response to these observations, the clinic has altered its treatment program to help compulsive gamers develop “activity-based social and communications skills to help them rejoin society.”

Bakker feels that his clinic may no longer be needed if “parents and adults in the community took more responsibility for the habits of their children.”

Via: gamesindustry.biz

-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics correspondent Andrew Eisen typed this story with his left hand while playing Wii Tennis with his right.

Mom and Dad forgot to turn an assignment in, apparently.

While lavishly praising the video game industry in its 13th Annual Video Game Report Card, the National Institute on Media and the Family has tagged parents with an "incomplete."

Actually, the "I" grade is NIMF's cutesy way of saying, well, not much, to be honest. Here are the grades along with NIMF's commentary:

ESRB Ratings.... A The addition of ratings summaries is yet another step forward in the growing list of improvements that the ESRB has made in recent years.

ESRB Ratings Education.... A  We commend the ESRB for intensifying efforts to help parents understand the video game ratings. The ESRB has become the entertainment industry leader in educating retailers and parents about the rating system.

Retailer Ratings Enforcement.... B+  The 80 percent enforcement rate shows significant progress with still some room for improvement.

Gaming Console Manufacturers.... A  Parental controls, timing devices and parent education efforts are all major
improvements giving parents more tools to supervise game play.

Parental Involvement.... Incomplete  The focus of this year’s report card is providing parents with the information they need. All segments of the industry have made significant improvements in recent years. Parents now have more information and tools than ever before. However, the constant changes present new challenges. Parents need to pay more attention to the amount of time and the types of games their kids play. The parent guide section in this report card is intended to motivate and equip parents to do this.

GP: We can't argue with the grades assigned to the game industry categories by NIMF, and the industry must certainly be pleased. There was a time, and not so long ago, that the ESA and ESRB dreaded this day as NIMF head David Walsh and Sen. Joe Lieberman would step to a Capitol Hill podium and deliver their annual video game beatdown, er, report card.

As to the incomplete for parents, it's meaningless, since NIMF has no way to measure it.

We must also say that the process would be far more coherent if NIMF maintained the same grading categories from year to year. The 2007 version, for example (which was far less complementary to the industry), included grades for "Retailer Policies," (broken down by National, Specialty and Rental) and "The Gaming Industry."

The 2005 version absolutely savaged the industry and included grades for "Ratings Accuracy," "Arcade Survey," and "Industry's 10-year cumulative grade." 

In addition to the grades, the report card contains about 30 pages of material regarding topics such as game addiction and a section on aggression research by Prof. Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University.

Finally, NIMF's unfortunate decision to accept game industry funding clouds their grading effort. Inevitably, there are those who will say that the one-time watchdog has become a lapdog.

You may or may not buy into the idea that game addiction exists, but doctors at southern Italy's Lecce Hospital (note to self: don't get sick in Lecce) recently diagnosed a 13-year-old boy with "PlayStation addiction."

Then again, the news is coming through the filter of a politician. As reported by Ananova:

At first doctors... thought Lorenzo Amato was suffering from a stroke or a severe brain disorder.

The teenager couldn't speak and didn't seem to understand anything going on around him. Then doctors discovered he'd just finished a marathon session on his new Playstation.

Local politician Antonio Buccoliero, who spoke to the doctors, said: "They eventually managed to take care of him once they understood that this was a strange kind of mental detachment connected to his Playstation."

The boy supposedly told his father to get rid of the PlayStation, saying, "If I even think about it I want to throw up."

The Vietnam News Service reports that the nation's first clinic for addicted gamers has been opened in Ho Chi Minh City.

All 50 current "patients" at the facility are 13-18 years old. The rehab program lasts eight weeks. From the VNS article:

Though the first game only appeared in Viet Nam four years ago, there are six million people playing them, mostly aged 13 – 18.

Huynh Hong Hiep head of training at the Southern Youth Centre – a centre for sport and culture that has set up the rehabilitation facility – says many parents complain they are unable to drag their children away from the computer.

The "treatment" works by developing their personalities through involvement in social work and other activities like music, painting, dancing, and sports, he says.

Swedish News service The Local reports that a 15-year-old gamer from western Sweden went into convulsions on Sunday after a 24-hour WoW binge.

According to the report the boy and some friends were playing the new Wrath of the Lich King expansion. The 15-year-old's father described the scene:

They played all day and all night. Maybe they got a few hours of sleep. They ate a little food and breakfast at their computers. [When the boy went into convulsions] we were terrified and called rescue services...

Doctors said that sleep deprivation and lack of food likely contributed to the collapse of the boy, who is expected to recover fully.

Not unexpectedly, the mainstream press is linking the episode to game addiction. Britain's The Times quotes child psychiatrist Dr. Richard Graham: 

Some of my clients will discuss playing games for 14 to 16 hours a day at times without breaks and for those the consequences are potentially very severe. The problem with World of Warcraft is the degree it can impact and create a socially withdrawn figure who may be connecting with people in the game and is largely dropping out of education, social opportunities.

 

One young man described vividly to me a sense that having achieved very high success in the game, when he switched off he felt downgraded.

Gamers and the video game industry were cheered earlier this year by the release of Grand Theft Childhood. The book, written by a pair of Harvard researchers, Cheryl Olson and Laurence Kutner, basically said that fears about the effects of games on children are largely overblown (see: Researchers's New Book Cuts Through the Negative Hype About Video Game Violence). In fact, the book was so well-received in the game community that the authors were invited to present at PAX 08 in Seattle.

Not everyone in the field agrees with Olson and Kutner, however. Dr. Jerald Block, an Oregon psychiatrist and professor, works with patients suffering from video game addiction. He also happens to be a longtime reader of GamePolitics. Block's review of Grand Theft Childhood appears in November's Psychiatric Times, where he criticizes Olson and Kutner's perspective on game addiction:

The authors report being consulted by the mother of a 22-year-old man who is “addicted” to video gaming. The authors conclude, “Clearly, the young man had some major problems. The obsessive video game play was much more likely a symptom than the root cause.” Kutner and Olson do not seem to understand that while the computer use can often be a symptom of other disorders, it can also be a serious, self-perpetuating problem in its own right. The computer use is often an early defense against despair, but it can also socially isolate, perpetuate false feelings of power, and socially de-skill people; it can become its own source of pain and isolation...

Block also touches on the Shawn Woolley case:

In another example, the authors discuss, by name, a man who shot and killed himself in front of his computer. They dismiss the event on the basis of a magazine article that reported on it. They write, “It’s much more likely that his obsessive video game playing was a reflection of his other, more profound problems... and not the root cause of his suicide.” Having discussed the suicide with the man’s mother at several conferences, I found Kutner and Olson’s synopsis disturbingly trite and inaccu-rate. Moreover, the ethical breach of publishing the man’s name and speculating as to his diagnosis from afar was disturbing...

In a just-released statement the parents of Brandon Crisp say that they plan to create a foundation to help unpriveleged children have the opportunity to play sports.

Although it was known that the Crisps would release a statement today, the focus of the proposed foundation is a bit of a surprise. Some believed that the family would target video game addiction, which was initially blamed for Brandon's disappearance by his parents. The oft-repeated game addiction theme gathered much traction in the Canadian media as well.

The 15-year-old gamer will be buried on Friday.

The full text of the Crisp family's statement follows:

The story of our son's disappearance and tragic outcome has touched the hearts of families throughout our community and across our Country.

 

We are so very proud to have parented such a wonderful, caring and beautiful son who has touched so many hearts.

We take great comfort in our time of grief, knowing that his story has and will continue to have a profound impact on parents and children alike, that more time will be made by families to share precious time together. Life and love should never be taken for granted.

 

To honor Brandon's name we will be creating a foundation to support under privileged children throughout our community and across Canada to play minor sports they may not otherwise be able to afford. An interim donation account has been set up with the CIBC as the Brandon Crisp Trust Account, Donations can be made at any CIBC branch across Canada.

 

The support we have had from so many has been completely overwhelming and has made an everlasting impression on our family. 

This week China's Health Ministry recognized Internet addiction as an official disorder. 

It didn't take long for a convicted murder to take notice and attempt to exploit the new policy.

As reported by the Shanghai Daily, 22-year-old Hu Ange, on Death Row for poisoning his parents, is claiming that his online gaming addiction made him criminally insane:

The [appeals] court heard [that] Hu was addicted to the online game Legend. His parents gave him 50,000 yuan (US$7,353) to support his seafood business in March 2007, but he spent it all on the online game. Legend is an online game where players can buy virtual weapons and equipment with real money.

The report said Hu bought 20 packs of tetramine on July 14, 2007, and poisoned his father Hu Ming the next morning. His father was saved after emergency treatment. Hu Ange then bought 45 more packs of tetramine on July 20 and mixed them with beef on July 24. Both his parents were poisoned after eating the beef at lunch. Hu Ange's mother asked him to call for help but he stayed in his room to play Legend, the report said.

The Times Online explains the Chinese government's assessment of those who suffer from Internet addiction:

According to Chinese estimates, about 10 per cent of young users suffer from addiction and of those about 70 per cent are male. Dr Tao says that the condition is often merely a symptom of deeper psychological problems. Almost all child addicts have behavioural problems, which are then aggravated by their addiction. Before they came to the internet, they may have turned to crime or drugs to cope with their feelings of alienation, he said. Some were suicidal.

Toronto TV station CP-24 is reporting that missing gamer Brandon Crisp has been found dead.

From the report: 

Police have found the body of missing Barrie-area boy Brandon Crisp... He was found on Fifth Line in the Barrie area...

 

A massive search was underway for the teen in Shanty Bay on the Oro Medonte Rail Trail, just outside of Barrie, since his disappearance on Thanksgiving Day.

 

Last week, a second witness confirmed seeing Crisp on the trail the night he disappeared.

CTV spoke with Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie Police: 

At this point we believe it to be Brandon, and we're still obviously in the early stages of our investigation, It's not confirmed because nothing's confirmed until we have pathology, but we believe it to be Brandon... [Brandon's parents are] obviously distraught by the information.

On the Facebook group Where is Brandon Crisp? some posters are saying that Brandon's body was discovered by hunters, but that is unconfirmed by police at this point. The London Free Press also reports that Brandon was found by hunters.

UPDATE: The Facebook group has been removed by its moderator, apparently over hurtful remarks being posted.

UPDATE 2: Police are now saying that they don't suspect foul play. CTV quotes Ontario Provincial Police Const. George Silvestri:

Our indication is, at this time, no foul play suspected, but of course we have to examine every possibility... There's absolutely no fear for any residents of Oro-Medonte. This is a safe community.

Maclean's, a weekly news magazine in Canada, has published a lengthy article on the Brandon Crisp disappearance.

What Happened to Brandon? zeroes on Brandon's supposed addiction to Call of Duty 4:

The police are still searching the nearby fields, but the large-scale volunteer search that has been going on in recent weeks is over. Hopes that Brandon might be comfortably hiding out in one of the expensive summer homes on Lake Simcoe are all but dead. The question hangs heavier than ever: what happened to Brandon Crisp? His parents have ideas and they all centre on the video game and the growing fear that Brandon's addiction might prove fatal...

 

But what confounds everyone involved in this case, from the police to his parents, is that beyond his devotion to Call of Duty, he showed no outward signs of trouble. "He was a teenager who had a problem, but he wasn't a problem teenager," says Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie police...

Among others, Maclean's also spoke with Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family:

I don't think [video game companies] want to touch addiction with a 10-foot pole. It raises all sorts of liability issues for them. And my interpretation is that their strategy is to ignore it and hope it will go away. If you talk to front-line counsellors in places like universities they'll tell you that this is a huge issue. The way people are viewing this is changing quickly.

ECA president Hal Halpin is quoted from a prior interview with the Washington Times:

What we're really talking about here is media addiction, but unfortunately we're not even talking about that. The issue has been politicized down to games, to the exclusion of all other media, including movies, music and television. It seems disingenuous on its face.

Over at The Escapist, Andy Chalk has a rant about the Maclean's piece:

The most recent example of the "games made him do it" coverage appeared in this week's edition of Maclean's magazine... What the hell? ...The boy's father has proclaimed his belief for some time now that Brandon's gaming habits had something to do with his disappearance, although actual evidence to that effect - beyond the fact that he ran away from home after a fight over the Xbox - is scant...

 

Brandon Crisp's disappearance highlights one of the biggest problems facing the gaming industry today: Not that videogames are or aren't the greatest scourge faced by civilization since Elvis, but that they're consistently presented as such, to one degree or another, by the mainstream media...

GP: Meanwhile, Brandon remains missing. He has been gone for 23 days. CanWest is now reporting comments from Barrie Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Goodbrand which seem to indicate that the investigation may be moving away from Brandon's gaming:

[Brandon's Xbox 360 is] still being analyzed a little further, but at this point we have no reason to believe there is any connection to date between the Xbox and his disappearance.

FULL DISCLOSURE DEPT: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.

As of tomorrow, Brandon Crisp will be missing for three weeks.

Police in his hometown of Barrie, Ontario have issued a video alert for the 15-year-old gamer after a search and a roadblock over the weekend apparently failed to locate Brandon.

After more than two weeks of hunting for Brandon Crisp, police in Barrie, Canada are calling off their ground search efforts.

Law enforcement spokesman Sgt. Dave Goodbrand told the CanWest News Service:

We've exhausted our search in the area. We're going to look through our tips and make a determination of where else to look... We didn't find [Brandon] and that means there's a potential likelihood that he's hiding out. We don't want to assume anything at this point because he could be anywhere.

No foul play has been suspected yet. He just basically vanished.

As police continue to review more than a thousand tips received from the public, they are also awaiting the results of a forensic examination of Brandon's Xbox 360. According to reports, Microsoft Canada is cooperating fully in the investigation.

Meanwhile, CTV technology columnist Kris Abel offered an opinion on what the game console might reveal to investigators:

While Brandon may have gamed with some individuals through Xbox Live, you can't really communicate with other people or share information in the way one can through a social networking website like Facebook.

You can talk over a headset with other gamers [during games], but there's no privacy. All the other players can hear. It's possible to send voice messages through Xbox to a specific user. One can also send text messages, but it's difficult to do. Such messages are generally of the "let's game at 7 o'clock" variety, Abel said. If someone in Brandon's situation did meet a predator online, they would likely have communicated privately over regular online channels where it would be much easier, he said.

"Now, one reason they're going through his Xbox is because it has a detailed record of every player he ever played against and every player he may have sent messages to," Abel said.

"And of course every account has information on it in terms of address. So that's why they may be going through that with a comb."

When Brandon Crisp stormed out of his house on October 13th following a family argument, he must have seemed like so many other teenagers. It's a simple fact of life: 15-year-olds occasionally have stormy relationships with their parents. But, upon leaving, Brandon's life took a uniquely disturbing turn.

Two weeks later the young man remains missing. No one has seen or heard from him - at least, no one who's talking about it. Intensive search efforts by police and local volunteers have failed to locate the slightly built gamer.

At this point the best hope of tracing Brandon may lie with a forensic analysis of his Xbox 360 hard drive as well as server logs for Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service.

Brandon's distraught parents have largely focused on the role of online gaming in his life, a role which they say had become pervasive. His father, Steve Crisp, has at various points blamed game addiction, Call of Duty 4, and online game tournaments.

But let's put all of that aside for a moment and analyze the possibilities:

The star of a Canadian reality TV show has joined in the search for missing Xbox Live gamer Brandon Crisp.

As reported by the Vancouver Sun, Terry Grant, who stars in Mantracker, arrived at the seach location on Friday evening. Barrie Police Dept. spokesman Sgt. Dave Goodbrand commented:

He has followed the story for a number of days and he has come to assist with the volunteer party.

Meanwhile, Simcoe.com has these remarks from Grant:

Search and rescue is what I’ve done for 12 years. I thought it’s a worthwhile cause to come out here and see if I can help organize some of the volunteers and give a little bit of guidance where necessary... This [search operation] is huge. The volunteers who are organizing this are doing an awesome job. They are going above and beyond here.

A Wikipedia entry for the Mantracker program summarizes its format:

Two people take off into the bush with a map, a compass and a head start. The tracker is on horseback, armed with a local guide and an arsenal of forensic skills. The prey have 36 hours to reach a finish line some 40 kilometers away without getting caught. How they escape is up to them.

Brandon is reportedly a fan of the show.

Despite yesterday's massive search effort, Brandon Crisp remains missing. The 15-year-old gamer disappeared after a family dispute on October 13th.

The Vancouver Sun reports that Microsoft Canada has chipped in $25,000, raising the reward fund total to $50,000. Brandon's parents told police that the young man left home after an argument over what they described as his obsessive play of Call of Duty 4 on Xbox Live.

A Barrie P.D. spokesman said that Microsoft was cooperating fully with the investigation: 

Microsoft said they would do anything they can to expedite the process to find Brandon," said Sgt. Dave Goodbrand, spokesman for the Barrie police.

Brandon's parents say he was obsessed with playing an online game called Call of Duty 4 on his Xbox and police have been working with Microsoft to track down the Internet addresses of everyone who interacted with the 15-year-old before he disappeared. There are concerns he may have gone to meet someone he met online.

Barrie P.D. says that it has received more than a thousand tips that need follow-up. Psychics and even the newly-disbarred Jack Thompson have offered advice. From the Sun:

Miami lawyer Jack Thompson called Barrie police offering his help. Thompson, whose cases have included a youth who committed murder by re-enacting scenes from video games, said a young person addicted to video games can be traumatized if forced to go cold turkey.

"It's a psychological and physiological condition," said Thompson. "These are tough things to have the kid go cold turkey."

Barrie P.D. has established a tip line for information concerning Brandon's whereabouts: 705-725-7025 ext. 2160

For all GP coverage on the Brandon Crisp case click here.

UPDATE: Steve Crisp, Brandon's father, is urging Microsoft to expedite the process of extracting contact information from the hard drive of the missing boy's Xbox 360, reports CTV. Mr. Crisp made this plea:

The key to finding my son lies in this XBox hard drive. Please, if you can speed up the process of handing this information over to our police, it could mean a big difference in our son's safe return. There are a lot of red tape and legal issues I know that Microsoft probably has, and the police probably have.

CTV has posted video interviews with Steve Crisp as well as with Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie P.D.

Canada's National Post reports that a $10,000 reward has been offered in the Brandon Crisp case. The teen went missing 10 days ago following a family dispute.

As GamePolitics has reported, Brandon's parents maintain that he was addicted to Call of Duty 4 and they have linked his game play to his disappearance. The local police department seems to be adopting that theory as well. The Ottowa Citizen today quotes Barrie P.D. Sgt. Dave Goodbrand:

Every day gets more and more concerning for his safety, especially with no contact. We're not getting any contact from his (computer) user accounts and his video-game accounts. And that's concerning because he was so addicted and he left home because of that.

Probably correctly, the police doubt that Brandon would log in under a new account:

From my understanding, he has worked so hard to build his [in-game] credibility, and if you start a new profile, you have to start at the bottom.

GP: Anyone with information concerning Brandon Crisp's whereabouts is requested to contact the Barrie P.D.

All week, GamePolitics has been tracking the search for Brandon Crisp. The 15-year-old Canadian gamer disappeared on October 13th after a dispute with his family which led to the confiscation of his Xbox 360 by his father, Steve.

Mr. Crisp has expressed fears that Brandon's "addiction" to Call of Duty 4 may be somehow connected to the boy's disappearance.

GamePolitics put that question to Dr. Jerald Block, an Oregon psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of Internet porn and online gaming addicts. While Dr. Block would not comment directly about the case, he offered his view on how the removal of a game system or PC might affect a hardcore gamer:

I caution against abruptly "cutting off" people from their compulsive computer use without much thought and preparation.  I often see extreme anger results, directed at oneself or the surrounding world.  When you think about it, it makes sense:  The computer (or gaming console) helps a person who is struggling with emotions (1) metabolize those emotions virtually without acting on them in the Real, (2) chew up time so they do not have the hours to act out in Real life, and (3) provides companionship...even if it is simulated or via Virtual relationships. 

 

When you cut the cord, you destroy the way someone is dealing with their emotions, you give them 30+ more hours [per week] to occupy, and you kill off their major source of relationships.  Is it any surprise anger often results?
 
Often the anger is directed at oneself with statements like, "What a waste I have made of my life" or "What do I have to show for the hours I spent in WoW, Civ, etc."  It can lead to suicide attempts or other pathology, like drug use.  Or, the anger can turn external:  "We all live in fantasy worlds, brutal places fabricated and controlled by others.  I'll be damned if I'll let them take away my world, where I am powerful, without first stripping away their fantasies and illusions."  This is what I believe happened at Columbine.

As GamePolitics reported on Monday, Brandon Crisp, a 15-year-old Canadian gamer, went missing more than a week ago and has not been located.

According to this morning's Toronto Star, Brandon's parents have expressed to police that they believe his disappearance may be related to what they term an "addiction" to the popular, online-playable FPS Call of Duty 4. Brandon's father, Steve Crisp is quoted as saying:

I'm worried he has met someone online through this game. It could be organized crime or someone involved in Internet gambling. Pedophiles can stalk kids through these games.

While it is certainly true that there are documented cases of sexual predators using online video games to locate young victims, Steve Crisp's speculation regarding organized crime or Internet gambling seems a bit far-fetched. Perhaps understandable, though, given the stress which he is under. Certainly, one would expect that the local police are working with Xbox Live to examine any messages between Brandon and other players. They are probably examining his PC as well.

Also unclear is the exact CoD game that Brandon was supposedly addicted to. The Star report includes these passages:

[Brandon] left home following a dispute with his parents over the Xbox online war game, Call of Duty 4, which he spent countless hours and days playing over the last 18 months...

 

"He has a good heart," Steve said of his son, who was a straight-A student until his obsession with gaming started in 2006. The boy purchased Call of Duty with Christmas money and Steve subscribed to Xbox online at his son's urging.

Call of Duty 4, however, was not released until November 5 of last year. Previous games in the series were released for Xbox 360, so, given the stressful circumstances, it's an understandable mistatement.

Anyone with information on Brandon's whereabouts is urged to contact the Barrie Police Department. A Facebook group, Where is Brandon Crisp? has over 5,600 members so far.

GP: A reporter from the Globe and Mail asked me yesterday whether the gaming community, using online resources, might be helping in the search for Brandon. It's very possible.

What do you think, GP readers? How would you look for Brandon?

As we mentioned, Dr. Phil aired a segment on game addiction yesterday. Some of the guests on the show have made their impressions available.

Wendy Kays, author of Game Widow, writes on her blog:

Now that the Dr. Phil Show has aired, I’m legally free to blog about the experience... The contracts I signed before going on the show made it very clear that Dr. Phil is not a licensed mental health or counseling professional anywhere... Those contracts also made it clear that if Dr. Phil messed me up worse than I already am, or I’m pissed about how he twisted my words or manipulated/used me, I can’t sue...

 

But I think the most important thing to point out... is the way pre-existing mental health and substance abuse issues for abusing gamers [were] purposely glossed over, if not completely omitted...

 

Do I think Dr. Phil is evil, and out to take down the game industry or villanize players? No. I think he’s a showman. I think he did the quintessential show on “game addiction” because his viewers are concerned about game abuse.

In a frank podcast at ExGamer.net, Brad talks about his suicide attempt, which was revealed on the Dr. Phil episode. Finally, Canada.com offers Dr. Phil's comments at the end of the program:

I'm not saying that computer gamers are bad and I play games on the computer myself sometimes. But I'm saying like everything else it has to be something you do with balance and moderation.

We've mentioned in recent weeks that Dr. Phil was planning to air a show focused on game addiction, and today is the day.

From the Dr. Phil website:

Computer games are supposed to be fun, but when a hobby turns into an obsession, virtual fantasy worlds can ruin lives and wreck marriages...

It looks as though Dr. Phil's guests will include Liz Woolley, whose son Sean killed himself while playing Everquest. Liz has been an occasional visitor to GamePolitics over the years.

We're expecting that Wendy Kays, wife of SOCOM lead designer Graham Kays may be on the show as well. Finally, Brad from ExGamer.net, another GP visitor, will be a guest.

GP: Thanks to GamePolitics reader Gamer137 for the reminder!