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The most popular video game right now is "Fortnite."
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And why not? It's got everything people love:
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hanging out with your friend, killing your friend,
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and dancing over your friend's dead body.
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But just like every other thing that's popular,
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people have started to blame it for all their problems.
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The popular video game Fortnite
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now has more than 200 million registered players worldwide.
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The problem is, experts say it's incredibly addicting.
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NEWSMAN: Behavioral health experts
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have seen an increase in young adults seeking treatment
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for their addiction to video games.
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In fact, earlier this year, the World Health Organization
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recognized gaming disorder as a diagnosable condition.
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NEWSMAN: A British behavioral specialist says
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Fortnite addiction is like heroin.
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Okay. Fortnite is not like drugs, okay?
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There's no rock star who died from video games.
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Elvis wasn't passed out on the toilet
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with his veins full of Pac-Man.
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Right? No other form of entertainment
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gets the bad rap that video games do.
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I mean, why does 20 straight hours of Fortnite
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mean you're "addicted," but binging Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
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means you're sophisticated? Oh.
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And so what if I sometimes miss work
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because I was up all night playing Fortnite?
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I just tell my idiot boss I lost my voice--
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-like he does all the time! -(laughter)
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-(applause) -All the time!
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(laughter)
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You have one job!
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But fine, these so-called specialists
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say it's an addiction,
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and now innocent kids are paying the price.
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Some parents are so worried
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their kids are spending so much time playing the popular game,
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they're taking a drastic step and sending their kids
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-to video game rehab. -MAN: Well, this year
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the "drug of choice," as we call it, is Fortnite.
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NEWSMAN: Michael Jacobus runs Reset Summer Camp,
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a four-week program that focuses on teen tech addiction.
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MAN: When kids are at your camp,
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-is it like a detox? -Yes, absolutely.
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NEWSMAN: With no devices for a whole month,
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the camp focuses on therapy and teaching life skills,
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like cooking and laundry.
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Okay... cooking and laundry is not rehab.
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It's what makes you want to play video games in the first place.
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Okay? No kid has ever been like, "Hey, washing my filthy clothes
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is so much fun, I'll never play video games again!"
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If I wanted to cook and do laundry,
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I'd play The Sims, all right?
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And the blame keeps going, because according to some,
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Fortnite isn't just damaging kids, it's ruining marriages.
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An online UK divorce service says 200 divorce petitions
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cited Fortnite this year.
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That was the reason for the split?
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-Put the controller down. -Fortnite.
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Don't blame Fortnite for your shitty marriage, okay?
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You made your wife sit and watch you play Fortnite,
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day after day, until one day you look over and she's gone.
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Well, guess where she is now, buddy?
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She's at my house watching me play Fortnite.
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-(laughter) -Guys, Fortnite is harmless fun.
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In fact, the only place I draw a line
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is using it to train real killers.
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You can serve your country and play Fortnite?
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Well, the Stars and Stripes newspaper says yes.
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The army is forming a team of pro gamers
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to compete in tournaments as a recruitment tool.
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NEWSMAN: The plan is actually to have recruiters
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playing those games in their uniforms at tournaments
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to provoke questions about their jobs from the players.
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This is a great idea, until those dumb kids stop fighting
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and start dancing in the middle of the war right...
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and just getting shot... (grunting)
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The only way the army should use Fortnite
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is to drop it on ISIS.
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Then they'll start playing it 20 hours a day,
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and we'll have won the War on Terror.
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And that's when we really get to dance.
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Ronny Chieng, everybody!