Wastes, Game Addiction and Who Could have Predicted Grydscaen Would Get it Right [Guest Post by Natsuya Uesugi]

Welcome, one and all, to today’s guest post. Later today, we havea  book spotlight for Natsuya Uesugi‘s latest offering, grydscaen:dark. Before that though, we have a guest post form the man himself!

 

Wastes, Game Addiction and Who Could have Predicted Grydscaen Would Get it Right

Natsuya Uesugi

The World Health Organization on Monday classified a new disorder called Internet Gaming Disorder for the DSM-5. This classification is not a full disorder but something that should be evaluated. Internet Gaming Disorder is something the American Psychiatric Association classifies as needing further study. The DSM-5 states that Internet Gaming Disorder is most common among 12 to 20 year old males and is more prevalent in Asia than in the United States or Europe. The disorder is classified as mild, moderate or severe and includes impact on the person’s overall functioning.

The grydscaen series mentions the “Wastes” as game addicts who play games all hours of the day jacked in and that it severely impairs their lives. The Wastes as a group are part of the Packrats and are addicted to games and take the psi inducer drug neurocyne to enhance their gaming activity. Addicted to the endorphins the games produce, gridscan gaming or otherwise known as network gaming is a way of life that is defined by rules and logic that makes the Waste’s world something that consumes their every waking moment.

The diagnostic criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder includes the following:

• Preoccupation or obsession with Internet games
• Withdrawal symptoms when not playing Internet games
• A tolerance for gaming meaning more time is needed to spend playing
• An attempt to quit or curb gaming that was not successful
• Loss of interest in other hobbies or activities
• Overuse of gaming even as it affected their lives negatively
• Lying about Internet gaming usage
• Internet gaming is used to relieve anxiety or guilt as an escape
• The person has lost or put at risk opportunities or relationships due to Internet games
• Impairment or distress in personal, family, social, educational or occupational functioning

Sounds like a Waste from grydscaen to me.

I find it interesting that the grydscaen scifi cyberpunk series predicted exactly what the World Health Organization categorized as a game addiction years ago when the series started. This classification and its use in grydscaen has opened the door for the disorder to be a real thing and not just a scifi trope.

The book grydscaen: tribute has the story “Simulatrix” about an online game that becomes a deadly pastime and involves the cross over from the gridscan virtual reality world to reality and how the character  Blue becomes obsessed with the Simulatrix Social Media parent game INAX Simulation of which Simulatrix is the virtual reality-based offshoot of strategy and first person shooter war game used by the military. The virtual avatar and game icon Omnibus Darklight which hosts the Darklight virtual game makes a statement how far a player will go to play the virtual reality game and the game Silence in later grydscaen volumes actually kills players the higher the level you achieve. The game Senso Indulgence which is talked about in the story “Riuho Dejarre (School)” from grydsacen: tribute is a game that Riuho steals from the tech and ware game store Synch.

Virtual gaming, tech and ware and the Hack nightclub where hackers go to score and jack in surfing the gridscan  and indulging in their craft on hardline terminals is a core past time in the grydscaen series. In SImulatrix alone the pastime becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse where players indulge in the virtual reality view using a psi synch device and later crosses over into VR reality where players use real weapons in a #D virtual space to live out their fantasy.

With the advances in VR technology that are just beginning to come to life in 2018, we can see the virtual world of the gridscan in its infancy in today’s world. What grydscaen does for gaming is bring it front and center and Wastes like Naito and Shine are just living out their drug induced game fueled dreams in the gridscan.

We will have to see what the World Health Organization’s research reveals on Internet Gaming Addiction but as tournaments play out and young gamers look up to their favorite players and leagues and online gaming and the phenomenon of gaming tournaments grow exponentially elevating gaming to a league sport that needs to garner just as much respect as say Basketball or Baseball, the grydscaen world is slowly taking shape around us in its infant form.

Soon Internet Gaming Addiction and the way of life of Wastes in grydscaen will collide in the near future. Will you be on the right side of history? Hackers Unite. Hack Till You’re Dead! As the Wastes in grydscaen say “All Hail the Packrat Code.” Live to Game. Game is Life!