Study Claims More Marriages Ending Due To Video Games

Okay, you're a super jackass, as well as a sexist. I suppose the woman has to conform to the man's narrow, singular interest, staying home day after day staring bright colors flashing at a screen, but GOD FORBID that a man have to participate as well. You suck, Josh Laddin, and your mother, as well as any sisters or female cousins you have, should be embarrassed that you put your birth name on this.

Seriously, WTF?

Back the train up here. I'm sure Josh didn't mean it that harshly. That was a little narrow minded, yes, but it is a common case he's pointed out. However, it is also true that there are a lot of men out there that neglect their spouses and children because of game. I hear it all the time over mics on CoD. Capiche, Josh?

Well said, De-Ting. You're right, and that harpy line was a bit much. And while I didn't make the point before because it wasn't related to the article, it is of course true that a guy should take as much interest in his significant other's life and hobbies as he expects in return; nowhere did I indicate that a guy should have to do nothing to please his wife. I'm not advocating anything but an equal give-and-take in any relationship.

My intent was only to point out that by only going by what the wife filing for divorce says, these statistics ignore cases in which at least some of the fault may lie with her for dismissing gaming as a waste of time instead of trying to share in his interests. While those cases may be statistically less common, they do happen. And indeed I think one of the problems with the original article is that it only shows that particular side of the research without introducing other factors or viewpoints.

I'm siding with Josh here. The article's premise seems to be "oh, the video game is ruining my marriage, it is clearly the SOLE cause of the divorce." There wasn't anything in-depth about why they played so much, just that they did and THAT is the reason these marriages failed. Give me a break.
And I disbelieve that a majority of gamers who have children and spouses are being neglecting them. As for the ones that do, you get those people in any activity or past time.
Finally, you married that person. Did you not notice that they played video games A LOT? Never struck you that, "hey, this person is going to continue the same behavior if we're married"?

1st off STFU femnazi *****. The author is simply stating that the root of video game 'addiction' is just that many couples rush into marriage without understanding each others true interests. I understand the argument could be made that one of the tenants of marriage is to grow together and sacrifice when needed. Video gaming is no longer a hobby, it has become a lifestyle.

If my wife all of a sudden started hiking every weekend it would put a huge strain on our relationship, but she wouldn't be 'addicted to hiking'. As with any lifestyle skew in a relationship, the eventual communication breakdown will lead to divorce.

I believe this was the point of the author.

Well, if you marry a harpy, it's no wonder you're going to want to put your gaming first. =D

No, but in all seriousness, I don't think it's about getting it or not getting it, and I don't really think it's about whether it's a "healthy hobby" or an "addiction". If your wife thinks you are spending too much time playing video games, and not enough time doing things she wants to do (or whatever), then it doesn't matter how much time you are actually spending. She feels it's too much. Furthermore, you either feel that she's being reasonable in her assessment or she's not. If you think she's being reasonable, maybe you should compromise and cut back your gaming. If you think she's being unreasonable, you could still try to compromise, but maybe you need to re-think the terms of your relationship or which of these two things is more important to you, your wife or your hobby (or maybe it's a pride thing).

How much is "too much" is completely determined on a person to person basis. A man could play 1 hour a day and his wife thinks it's too much, or a man could play 5 hours a day and his wife could be fine with it. It's all subjective, and in the end, no one is really right or wrong. Some people are just mismatched where it mattered to them. The only thing to prevent this is to make sure the person you marry is okay with how much time you spend on your hobbies.

I know Duke is gone but the day this site starts caring about a word as harmless as harpy, I'm out. Personally I thought it was hilarious and fit in well with the tone of the article People like troznov make me laugh and should be taken with all the seriousness that implies. This site was once a haven for intelligent gamers, we should try and keep it that way.

Ignoring all the walls of words in the comment box....

The claimed reason on a form for divorce is not a reliable indicator of the actual problem. I could write a long and pointless wall of facts, stats, and other (legitimate) case studies that focus on the same topic to point that out. Culture Shifts, Design Fallacy, the end.

LOL...Harpies. Troz, a little sensitive aren't we? No need to be offended...as long as YOU'RE not a harpy. (If you write back *****ing you prove otherwise)

I recommend googling Eurogamer's analysis of the study for a more detailed perspective on the procedure and results.

I long for the day I have a woman to spend time with rather than video games. Soon I return to the States and will begin my search for one (non-English speaking women are hard to acquire when you don't speak their language either). I've already slowed my gaming down quite a bit, I mostly only play LoL and it's easy to go for awhile without playing it at all. The only shitty thing is I leave in September....we all know the bounty of great games that is coming out in November. Now, I spend a lot of time on games as it is such an easy/convenient and fun hobby. Should I get married, the only hobby I intend to inform my wife that I need "my time" for is watching football. I can't imagine I'll stop gaming either, but I forsee my gaming time getting very scarce. Unless I get one of them women who also is into gaming. Honestly, I don't think I want that though.

Yesterday, a friend asked my "hey, why dont you go find a nice girl. Get Married, have some kids" and I replied "Hey, why dont I get rid of all my money and free time in exchange for tons of stress"

*****es gonna *****...

I'm sure that a lot of these cases stem from WoW players; the problem lies in the person, not the game. I don't play games like WoW anymore because (well, because of a whole lot of good reasons that would take far too long to list) it's too addicting and without an end, thereby making it in my mind an honest to God waste of life. Although we all enjoy video games here, to have a good life, you need balance. So spend some time with your wife, and remember, "when she's havin' the blues and ya wanna make it brighter, she needs to have a hot dicken's cider!"

:)