I've come back to haunt you, Lo Pan! And other goodies.

Here's an editorial from Grimwell Online, originally written in French and translated into English. It's an interesting look into gaming from a European perspective.
Check it out>>

It also uses that remark I made after my DiGRA presentation a few years ago in the Netherlands, which was quoted by Reuters the next day, which ended up in lots of languages I wish I spoke (like Hungarian). The one where I say games are no more addictive than work or school. It didn't seem that revolutionary at the time, but was it really? People seem to have glommed onto it... either agreeing wholeheartedly (mostly experienced gamers) or with shock and appall, with the idea "how could you compare apples and oranges." I still believe that as a society, we (a la Bourdieu) distinguish high and low culture activities. There is a definite cultural capital in various activities like participating in social institutions like community centres (which vary in definition) or school and work (again, varies in definition), but what we find productive and acceptable, is the readiness in conversion to symbolic capital ($$$$). Notice that people really pay attention when gamers go professional and start earning half a million dollars a year and marrying supermodels, and experiencing similar pathologies as the Hollywood types of celebs (but the superstar actor lifestyle, which chronically leads to divorce, drug use, adultery is fascinating at best, lauded on Entertainment Tonight at best)...

Causation... much different from correlation. I could talk forever, but class awaits. I've been scanning pop-intellectual books like Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel," along with Thomas Friedman's "The world is flat" (the book made it on the Jon Stewart show 2 nights ago!)
I totter off to class leaving you with this thought: history ain't over, folks. We're not at the 'other end' of it.