After studying 391 gamers, 86% male, Dr John Charlton of the University of Bolton and Ian Danforth of Whitman College, U.S.A. have concluded that gaming addiction is not dissimilar to the complex disorder Aspergers, a variety of high functioning autism.

A psychologist at the University of Bolton has shown in a study investigating levels of gaming addiction that Internet computer gaming is potentially damaging for players' work, home and social life, but 10% less widespread as previously indicated.

A recent case of suicide by a boy addicted to Internet games has increased the public's concern over the issue of Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). Xiao Yi, a 13-year-old from Tianjin, committed suicide thinking that he would meet his friends from cyber space after he died. He jumped from the top of a 24-storey high-rise, Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.

Psychologists and psychiatrists estimate that even before the new wave of gaming consoles hits the stores, one in eight players already suffers from some kind of video game dependency. Stories of neglected toddlers, sleep deprevation, suicide and marriages crumbling are not out of the ordinary anymore as more and more people are becoming victims of America's newest social scourge ... video game addiction.