# Will we ever develop a video game as addictive as cocaine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 15, 2008, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815 "2008-11-15T04:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815/21 "2008-11-18T00:05:01Z")
Cocaine? Maybe not. Heroin? [You betcha](http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155882/). 😃 In all seriousness, video game tastes are pretty subjective. And, while I can only hazard a guess, the large variety of drugs available would suggest that they are pretty subjective, too. By that reasoning, WoW could already really be the cocaine of the video game industry. It’s just some gamers prefer alcohol/nicotine/caffeine/MDMA. If you expand from video games to activities like posting-in-messages-boards-about-MSU-spartans-trains-and-geneaology, my dear father is in serious need of intervention. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815/22 "2008-11-18T02:46:22Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > People will kill for money for their next cocaine fix; I don’t see many homicides about getting money for next month’s WoW payment. I don’t think you’d see many homicides for cocaine money either if people could buy as much of it as they wanted for $15 a month. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815/23 "2008-11-18T05:28:42Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > But it’s the same with drugs. My brother finds alcohol extremely pleasurable and hates that he now has to live without it. He also loves opiates. But my wife absolutely hates alcohol and painkillers; she gets no pleasure from either of them, just a sick, dizzy feeling. This. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815/24 "2008-11-18T05:33:35Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > and games don’t alter your biochemistry. Not yet. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815/25 "2008-11-18T11:12:44Z")
I don’t think a computer game could be inherently addictive on it’s own. However, if you added some sort of biofeedback device, it might be possible. If it could tell when your pleasure centers are being stimulated and do more of whatever it is that works for that player, it could lead to something. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815/26 "2008-11-19T03:26:00Z")
No, probably not physically addictive, like crack or heroin, but there was a time when I didn’t care about my jobs, I even lost one, didn’t care about family or friends, and went deep into debt, because of a game. The game was video poker, and it was found in almost every bar and convenience store, and there were even some arcades dedicated to it in Charleston, South Carolina in the early '90’s. I broke free, but it was hell for nearly a year. SSG Schwartz [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-develop-a-video-game-as-addictive-as-cocaine/472815.md?page=1)