Friday, December 9, 2011

Addictive Nature of Video Games

Alec Baldwin had to cut through a mob of news crews Tuesday night. They were at JFK after hearing the star was removed from his original flight from Los Angeles to New York. "It cost us about 45 minutes," one passenger told reporters at the airport.
American Airlines claims Baldwin refused to power down his cell phone when asked, and says the star then became enraged, slamming the bathroom door and calling the flight crew foul names. "And we found out it was Mr. Baldwin," another passenger told media at JFK.
Airport police Sgt. Belinda Nettles said officers did not respond to the incident, the Associate Press reported.
So why this latest entry into the stars-behaving-badly file? A Baldwin spokesman said the actor loves playing the game "Words with Friends" on his smart phone so much, he'd leave a plane for it. It's similar to Scrabble, with a function that allows you to swap text messages with your opponents as you play.
"It's completely interactive," explained game design student Nicole Thayer, a senior at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt.
At Champlain, game design is a popular major. The students call cell phone applications a huge area for growth in the entertainment industry, partially because a lot of people seem almost addicted to the games. "It's possible there was a big distraction factor," MFA student Coby Brownell speculated about the Baldwin incident. "Where you get so absorbed in whatever you're doing, you lose track of time quickly."
"It felt kind of silly of him, honestly," Thayer said of Baldwin.
The "30 Rock" star remembered the plane was just sitting at the gate while he played his game. But the airline indicated there's simply no excuse for causing a commotion. The star's spokesman alleged American Airlines selectively enforced the rules, claiming other passengers managed to get away with using their phones to spread the word about how Baldwin got in trouble.

Read more: http://www.wptz.com/news/29945580/detail.html#ixzz1g3KGH2GX


Watch the video http://www.wptz.com/news/29945580/detail.html

Learn more about Game Design at Champlain College 
Learn more about Champlain College

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