Virtual Farm Games Absorb Real Money, Real Lives
August 27, 2010
By: Josh Lowensohn
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20014817-248.html?tag=topStories2
Many people save their extra money on vacations and other luxuries. Now gaining popularity, people are starting to spend their money on keeping their online games alive by buying “crops” in virtual farming games. Besides spending money on frivolous online games, these games are also highly addictive, where people tend to “play” anywhere for at least once a day to hours at a time. While this may seem fun at first, it has now become an obsession. For example, last year it was reported that social games generated more than $725 million in solely the USA, and it is projected that three times this figure is expected in 2011.
These games, such as Farmville, are free to play, yet they count on people getting addicted and spending on money to enhance their farms. While Farmville ran the online gaming market in 2009, a new game called Mojo, which is available only through the iPhone and iPad, is beginning to make a pretty penny. The most anyone has spent on Mojo thus far is $12,000. This article discusses whether this new fad is a hobby or addiction. In my opinion, this is frightening and somewhat repulsive. Although it could be argued in spending money on games is reasonable (if someone has the money to spend, who is to say what they spend it on?), however the amount of time people spend playing these games is obscene. I know people who upon getting on a computer automatically log in to check their Farmville. I think Farmville is just one example that shows what America’s culture is turning into.
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