[xells]

this is the email i got back from them

Hi Marc,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly and apologies for the delay in responding.

Basically we've been reading lots of reports in the press lately about an organisation in Holland which aims to help hardcore gamers overcome what they call ‘cyber addiction’ – a controversial condition which has divided the scientific community and enraged many hardcore gamers (some overconfident commentators tell horror stories of too much gaming being linked to everything from drug addiction to real-world violence!)

However, many gamer blogs and chat-rooms are claiming that this is all rubbish – gamers simply play because they want to - and that there’s no difference between playing a game for 8 hours a day and, say, fishing for the same amount of time, or gardening or whatever (bad examples, but you get my drift, right?) And so what we were hoping to do was assemble some of these pundits from both sides of the argument and try to prove or disprove once and for all whether or not gaming addiction actually exists as a real condition, hence we need hardcore gamers as case studies.

Is this something you or anyone you know might want to be involved in? Either way – it would be great to chat some more about your own experiences and opinions on this. You can get me on the number below (or email me a number and I’ll call you back).