Online video games = time and life sucking. For hours, your entire body except for your hands are moving. Your face is only about three inches from the monitor, and your eyes blink only once every half a minute if you're lucky. Your back and neck get so sore that they're numb. Circulation in your body has ceased to function normally, and your brain has stopped working for so long that you've virtually become a zombie. What's worse--your homework is lying right next to your possessed hand and has been neglected for hours. Do you know how to stop this?
First of all, playing online games is okay. It helps take your mind off of that horrible load of work and most of the time, it's free. They're there when you need them, and it's easy to forget about them since they don't haunt you from your desktop. However, make sure you know what games to pick. Some games take longer than others. If you want a really quick game or if you don't have much patience, pick one that won't last too long. If you know you'll need more than just one game, pick a longer game or a short hard game that you know will keep you busy for a considerate amount of time.
The trick isn't to find these video games but to STOP playing these games. It may sound easy but if you ask around anyone that has played an addictive online game, they can tell you they have spent hours on the game. So to warn you now, there are links at the bottom of the page full of online video games; if you think you might not have the power to stop yourself if you started playing, DON'T click on any of the links. But if you're a brave soul or have great control, go ahead, click on the links.
So here's the main tip -- don't play if you know you have a lot of work to do or if you have no procrastinaion self-control. Only a rainy day during one of your vacations or on a weekend where you have almost no homework or social activities to engage yourself in should jump into the evil realm of online video game playing. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you cheated and went beyond that step, then set a high score or a level to beat. Once you've reached that high score or beat a certain level, stop playing immediately. Remember, a lot of these games ask you to click on the screen or it waits for you to make a move before it lets you proceed to the next level. Thus, you can technically leave the game running on your computer and you can go do others things.
If setting a high score or level to beat doesn't stop you from continuous play, make yourself get up and take a walk. Once again, you can just leave the game running on your computer if you can't bear to part with it. During this walk, you can purposely bump into friends. Not only will socializing help make you forget your game playing, you may actually forget about the game sitting on your computer screen. Better yet, your friends can make you feel guilty by nagging you about wasting your time with the games or by telling you how much they have done.
Leaving the video game on your screen just made you play it more, huh? Well, then click that horrible "x" in the upper right hand corner before you leave your computer every single time, even when you have to go on a bathroom break. Make it a habit to exit the screen EVERY SINGLE TIME you step away from your computer. In this way, you may just give up playing since you don't want to play through all of the same levels again.
If none of these steps work, you need to disconnect yourself from the Internet. Uninstalling all your browsers may also work. Overall, online video game playing can prove to help you survive this stressful world. But sometimes, it may lead to even more stress when you realize you've wasted most of your time accomplishing nothing but setting a high score that no one else will see. Good luck...and I guess happy game playing.
These are indications that you should immediately stop your online video game playing:
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You can feel your breath quicken or your heart beat is increasing. Stop immediatley. This is not good for your health and is obviously not helping you with stress.
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Your vision is blurry when you look away from your monitor. Test by covering each eye and look at something from at least seven feet away.
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Your muscles are starting to cramp.
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Your fingertips are cold from too much game playing.
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When you finally do take a bathroom break, you run to the toilet so quickly that you almost hit a wall. Holding it in is not healthy and is also an indication that your mind is so occupied with game playing that your bodily needs are being ignored.
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When you take a bathroom break, you see the game playing on the bathroom stall door.
When you know you're addicted to online video games (long term, meaning more than one time of online video game playing):
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You do nothing but online video gaming on your computer.
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Your homepage is a page full of online video games.
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Your favorites have more than three links to online video games.
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Everytime you get bored or feel the need to procrastinate, you go to an online video game site.
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You've played so many of these online video games that you've looked to typing in "games" into the Google search box.
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You're skipping classes, meals, meetings, or sleeping times to play these games.
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You ignore friends or family when they try to talk to you while you're playing.
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When you do talk to your friends or family, you look glazed over and your brain can only think of video games.
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You don't dream in your sleep--you're playing video games.
Here are some links to test your self control:
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http://www.orisinal.com - Original games made by a great man. These games come with pretty graphics and relaxing music.
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http://www.popcap.com - Contains not so relaxing games. Try out Word Shark to see how fast you can type or Insaniquarium to see how well you can keep your fish alive.
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http://www.pogo.com - Some classic games such as backgammon, solitaire, chess, and checkers with casino games on the side.
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http://games.yahoo.com - Card, board, tile, and arcade games. You can play with others on the net and compete with them! There are All-Star game rooms where you are ranked against others! (Requires a Yahoo! account. It doesn't take much to sign up with Yahoo!.)
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http://zone.msn.com - Some games here are the same as the ones in Yahoo!. Also requires an account. This website also has trial games (requires payment after a certain number of games), or you can purchase CD-Rom games.
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http://spikything.com/games/kickups - Keep this soccer ball off the grass or the game will insult you!
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http://www.newgrounds.com - Mature video games. May contain violence and offensive material. However, most definitely take up a lot of time.
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http://www.bored.com - These games should keep you playing for a while. Ironically, some of them get so annoying that you get bored playing them becase you don't have the patience to pass some of the levels.
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http://www.nstorm.com - Elf Bowling. Seasonal video game for those who want take their stress out on elves.
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http://www.shockwave.com/sw/home - You'll need the Macromedia Shockwave plug-in to play these games. If you're not sure if you have it or not, just try opening it and see if you can play. If not, then you don't have shockwave! (I suggest you download it; shockwave games and movies are the way to go for procrastination.)
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http://www.segmation.com/SegPlayChoose.shtml - Frustrated with papers? Then paint...by numbers! You can "recreate" famous paintings with just a click of a mouse button!
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http://www.electrotank.com/MiniGolf/purchase.asp - Mini Golfing! Sounds stupid to you, huh? I challenge you to a game right now! Come on, you know you can't avoid a challenge...
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http://www.ebaumsworld.com/games.shtml - More original games, some more addictive than others. A few of these are definitely for 18+ and may offend some people.
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http://www.xqsite.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PostWrap&file=index&page=indexwrap.html - For all of you addicted to DDR, here's something you can play even during class or while you're doing homework in the computer lab.
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http://www.elephant.org/ - If you have never played a mud - it is a whole new level of online gaming (everquest for free - but text only). Especially when you can just chat instead of gaming as well. Muds are extra evil.
