An airport in America has solved the age-old problem of boredom at an airport by introducing a gaming lounge.
Picture the scene: you’re in the departure lounge, there are four hours to kill before you board your flight and you need to do something to preoccupy your brain from the mind-numbing monotony of waiting.
If you happen to be at the DFW Airpot in Dallas-Fort Worth you’re in luck…
The international airport is said to be the fourth busiest airport in the world (via aircraft movements) and the twelfth busiest airport for passenger traffic, so adding a gaming lounge for passengers waiting for their flight is pure genius.
While it may have flown under the radar of the gaming community, one person was so impressed with what he saw, he took a picture and uploaded it to a Reddit thread dedicated to gaming.
According to website Carpe Diem!:
Gameway has opened the FIRST EVER video game lounge in the airport (DFW) where passengers can play on the Xbox One with only the newest and best games pre-downloaded, leather chair, noise cancelling headphones, 4K tv, and a place to charge your phone/tablet.
I can picture it now, scores of dedicated gamers flooding into DFW airport’s gaming lounge to ‘kill some time’ while they wait for their flight, only to find out later it left over an hour ago. It’s a gift and a curse, a double-edged sword if you will.
While the idea of a gaming lounge is brilliant, there’s a danger it could encourage habitual traits which are tough to break.
On June 18 addiction to video games was officially classed as a mental health condition, meaning those diagnosed with the condition could receive treatment from the NHS.
Some people find themselves particularly drawn to video games, wanting to do nothing other than play on their console, and even possibly giving up basic needs to ensure they don’t have to put down the controller.
As this problem becomes more widely recognised, the World Health Organisation (WHO) listed ‘gaming disorder’ in its International Classification of Diseases for the first time.
This addition to the list means this type of behaviour is now being considered much more seriously.
While you might find yourself turning to video games quite often, this doesn’t necessarily mean you have an addiction.
The WHO explains, those who experience the disorder give priority to gaming over other interests and activities:
The exhibit a pattern of gaming behavior (“digital-gaming” or “video-gaming”) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.
To be diagnosed with the disorder, you must ‘experience significant impairment in personal, family, social educational, occupational or other important areas of function, and have experienced this type of impairment for at least one year’.
For help, support and advice about problem gaming you can contact Video Game Addiction Help for 24/7, confidential support via their national helpline on 08000 886 686.
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