【经济学人】游戏成瘾究竟是不是一种病？

Video game makers must address worries about addictiveness

电子游戏开发商必须化解人们对游戏成瘾的担忧

【导读】18年6月18日，在世界卫生组织（WHO）发布的第11版《国际疾病分类》（ICD-11）中，加入了“游戏成瘾”概念中的“游戏障碍”，并列为精神疾病。即，对游戏的自控力低下，愈发将游戏优先于其他兴趣和日常活动之前，即便会有负面情况也依然会持续进行游戏或增加玩游戏的时间。

No business would welcome being compared to Big Tobacco or gambling. Yet that is what is happening to makers of video games. For years parents have casually complained that their offspring are “addicted” to their PlayStations and smartphones. Today, however, ever more doctors are using the term literally.

没有一家企业会乐见自己被比作大型烟草公司或博彩公司。然而，这正是电子游戏制造商正在面临的问题。多年来，家长们总是抱怨他们的孩子对游戏机和智能手机“上瘾”。然而时至今日，越来越多的医生开始使用游戏成瘾这一术语。

gambling

n. 赌博；打赌；赌钱

v. “gamble”的现在分词

网络 戒赌；投机；赌局

On January 1st “gaming disorder”—in which games are played compulsively, despite causing harm—gains recognition from the World Health Organisation (WHO), as the newest edition of its diagnostic manual comes into force.

今年1月1日，随着最新版疾病诊断手册的正式生效，“游戏成瘾”（尽管游戏带来了负面后果，但人们仍沉迷于其中）作为一种疾病得到了世界卫生组织的承认。

compulsively

adv. 自讨(苦吃)

网络 强迫地；强制性地；强制地

A few months ago China, the world’s biggest gaming market, announced new rules limiting children to just a single hour of play a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and none the rest of the week.

几个月前，全球最大的游戏市场中国发布了一项新规，限制儿童在周五、周六和周日每天只能玩一个小时的游戏，其余时间都不能玩。

Western politicians worry publicly about some games’ similarity to gambling. Clinics are sprouting around the world, promising to cure patients of their habit in the same way they might cure them of an addiction to alcohol or cocaine 可卡因.

对于游戏与赌博之间的相似性，西方政客也曾公开表示担忧。世界各地治疗游戏成瘾的诊所如雨后春笋般涌现，承诺用戒除酒瘾或毒瘾的方法来帮助患者戒除网瘾。

Are games really addictive? Psychologists are split. The case for the defence is that this is just another moral panic. Killjoys of yore issued similarly dire warnings about television, rock ’n’ roll, jazz, comic books, novels and even crossword puzzles.

游戏真的会让人上瘾吗？心理学家对此意见不一。反对者的理由是，这不过是另一场道德恐慌。曾经也有人对电视、摇滚乐、爵士乐、漫画书、小说甚至填字游戏发出了类似的可怕警告。

split

n. 分歧；分裂；分离；划分

v. 使分裂（成不同的派别）；分开；分担；分摊

网络 斯普利特；分割；劈开
panic

adj. 恐慌的；(恐慌心理)没来由的；过度的；牧人之神的

n. 惊恐；恐慌；人心惶惶的局面；惶恐不安

v. 惊慌失措

网络 使恐慌；恐惧；惊惶

As the newest form of mass media, gaming is merely 仅仅；只不过 enduring its own time in the stocks before it eventually ceases to be controversial. Furthermore, defenders argue, the criteria used to diagnose gaming addiction are too loose. Obsessive gaming, they suggest, is as likely to be a symptom (of depression, say) as a disorder in its own right.

作为大众媒体的最新形式，电子游戏在未来一段时间仍将面临争议。此外，反对者认为，用于诊断游戏成瘾的标准过于宽松。他们认为，沉迷于游戏本身既可能是一种疾病，也可能是一种症状（比如抑郁症的症状）。

enduring

adj. 持久的；耐久的

v. “endure”的现在分词

网络 不朽的；永久的；持续的

The prosecution retorts that, unlike rock bands or novelists, games developers have both the motive and the means to engineer their products to make them irresistible. The motive arises from a business-model shift.

游戏成瘾论的支持者则认为，与摇滚乐队或小说家不同，游戏开发者既有动机也有手段来设计他们的产品，使其令人无法抗拒。其动机源于商业模式的转变。

prosecution

n. 诉讼；原告；实施；从事

网络 起诉；检举；实行
retort

n. 反驳；回嘴；报复；【化】干馏釜

v. 反驳；照样报复；反责；反击

网络 曲颈瓶；蒸馏罐；反驳语

irresistible

adj. 不可遏止的；无法抵制的；极诱人的；忍不住想要的

网络 不可抵抗的；不可抗拒的；无法抗拒

In the old days games were bought for a one-off, upfront cost. These days, many use a “freemium” model, in which the game is free and money is made from purchases of in-game goods. That ties playtime directly to revenue.

在过去，玩家只需一次性购买游戏。如今，许多游戏都采用“免费增值”模式，即游戏免费，而通过内购盈利。这使得游戏时长与收入直接挂钩。

The means is a combination of psychological theory and data that helps games-makers maximise that playtime. Psychologists already know quite a lot about the sorts of things that animals, including humans, find rewarding (thanks to a long line of experiments, stretching back decades to those conducted on rats and pigeons by B.F. Skinner).

游戏开发者采用的手段是将心理学理论和数据结合起来，从而使游戏市场最大化。心理学家已经对包括人类在内的动物获得成就感的方式有了相当多的了解（这要归功于一系列的实验，最早可追溯至几十年前B.F.斯金纳对老鼠和鸽子所做的一系列实验）。

Smartphones and modern consoles use their permanent internet connections to funnel gameplay data back to developers. That allows products to be constantly fine-tuned and tweaked to boost spending. The industry is even beginning to use the argot of the gambling business. The biggest spenders are known as “whales”—a term that originated in casinos.

智能手机和现代游戏平台利用互联网连接的特性将游戏数据反馈给开发者。于是，开发者可以不断地对产品进行微调，以刺激玩家进行消费。游戏行业甚至开始使用赌博业的黑话。花钱最多的玩家被称为“鲸鱼”——这一黑话起源于赌场。

permanent

adj. 永久性；一直；坚持；不变的

n. 恒齿；永久齿；电烫发；积和式

网络 永久的；持久的；固定的

funnel

n. 漏斗；（蒸汽机车或轮船上的）烟囱

v. （使）流经狭窄空间

网络 浮游炮；漏斗云；漏斗形

casino

n. (公园等处的)凉棚；(可跳舞；赌博的)夜总会；(意大利的)小别墅

网络 娱乐场；博彩；赌场与游乐场

While psychologists argue the finer points of what exactly counts as addiction, and whether gaming’s design tricks cross the line, the industry should recognise that, in the real world, it has a problem, and that problem is growing. Now that gaming addiction comes with an official WHO code, diagnoses will become more common.

虽然心理学家争论着，到底什么才是真正的上瘾，以及游戏的设计技巧是否越界，但游戏行业应该认识到，在现实世界中，它存在一个问题，而且这个问题正日益严峻。游戏成瘾既然已经得到世界卫生组织的认可，越来越多的游戏成瘾患者也将被诊断。

Clinics are already reporting booming business, as lockdowns have given gamers more time to spend with their hobby. The regulatory climate for tech is getting chillier. And being lumped in the public mind, fairly or not, with gambling and tobacco will not do the industry any favours.

疫情导致的封锁让玩家有了更多时间去玩游戏，诊所的生意也开始红火起来。科技行业的监管环境将会日趋严格。无论公平与否，在公众心目中与赌博和烟草混为一谈，都不会给游戏行业带来任何好处。