Forthcoming!
Click on the cover
for the Unplugged
Reading Group Guide
Visit the 48-hour Book Launch Campaign page to find out how to get hundreds of dollars of FREE bonuses just for picking up a copy of UNPLUGGED on June 2 or June 3! And as a special "Thank you!" for giving UNPLUGGED a chance during this limited-time offer, you'll be entered in a drawing for 1 of 12 special bonus giveaway packages (most are valued at over $100).
I want to know more.
Take me to the Campaign page NOW!
unplugged blog
Ryan G. Van Cleave, Ph.D.
Amazon.com best-selling author
This site is no longer being maintained as of April 2011.
Please visit the new, updated website at
www.unpluggedthebook.com
Enjoy a short clip of Ryan's interview on The Lynne Russell Radio Show!
Here is my interview on Grinding to Valhalla: Interviewing the Gamer with a Thousand Faces , a video game & book website.
Here is my interview on video game addiction with the Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
Here is my 20-minute Skype video interview on gaming culture and addiction with OurBlook.
Listen to hour 1 of Ryan's 3-hour interview with George Noory on "Coast to Coast"
Ryan's Interview on Fox 13 News
Ryan's Interview on ABC 7 News
Ryan's Interview on Milwaukee's WTMJ
Get the UNPLUGGED media kit.
(Just click on the icon below)
UNPLUGGED media kit
The Official UNPLUGGED Book Trailer
Industry Facts
1. U.S. computer and video game software sales grew 22.9 percent in 2008 to $11.7 billion – more than quadrupling industry software sales since 1996.
2. Sixty-eight percent of American households play computer or video games.
3. The average game player is 35 years old and has been playing games for 12 years.
4. The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 39 years old.
5. Forty percent of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (34 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent).
6. Thirty-seven percent of heads of households play games on a wireless device, such as a cell phone or PDA, up from 20 percent in 2002.
7. In 2009, 25 percent of Americans over the age of 50 play video games, an increase from nine percent in 1999.
8. Sixty-three percent of parents believe games are a positive part of their children’s lives.
Source: Entertainment Software Association (www.theesa.com)
Source: www.acagemic.com
Symptoms of Video Game Addiction/Warning Signs
Psychological Symptoms
Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while playing the game(s).
Inability to stop playing the game(s).
Craving more and more time to play the game(s).
Decreased time spent with family and friends
Neglecting important responsibilities in order to play the game(s).
Feeling empty, depressed, irritable/angry when not playing the game(s).
May become uncharacteristically aggressive when prevented from playing the game(s).
Lying to parents about how much time is spent playing the game(s).
Decreased performance at school or work.
Physical Symptoms
Sore fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, or back.
Dry eyes
Headaches
Eating irregularities, such as skipping meals
Failure to attend to personal hygiene
Sleep disturbances, change in sleep pattern
Source: Sean C. Terry, Psy.D., CADC
"In-game advertising on next-generation gaming systems is expected to grow to $852 million by 2011, fueled largely by connectivity enhancements in the consoles."
Source: ClickZ - Aug. 2007
"Space Invaders proved so addictive that it not only inaugurated an entire video game paradigm, it caused a nationwide coin shortage in Japan."
—Chris Green
“The three things I remember most clearly?
The Challenger Explosion. 9/11. My first video game.”
–Ryan G. Van Cleave
"Video games are one step before a whole other virtual universe."
—Vin Diesel
"You know you’re a serious World of Warcraft player when the game starts interfering with your life. You know you’re an addict when your life
starts interfering with the game."
—Anonymous
"Computer games don’t affect kids, I mean if Pac-Man affected us kids,
we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills,
and listening to repetitive music."
—Gareth Owen
Video game addiction has become such a
serious issue in China that parents are
sending their children to deprogramming
camps.
BBC documentary on video game addiction
Stephen Colbert discusses "Avatar Blues"
Action News 6 Piece on Video Game Addiction
CBS "Early Show" report with Dr. Ashton on Video Game Addiction
Here's a BBC video entitled "Breaking Video Game Addiction in Vietnam"
(I can't get the video go to play on this website yet, but I'm working on it)
The Guild: "Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?" Song
(talk about targeted marketing!)
The Onion: Warcaft Sequel Lets You Play a Character Playing Warcraft
(warning: this is a spoof)
A lifelong video gamer who was born in Neenah, WI, and grew up in Chicago, Dr. Ryan G. Van Cleave has taught writing at Clemson University, Eckerd College, Florida State University, George Washington University, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as at prisons, community centers, and urban at-risk youth facilities.
The author (or co-author) of eighteen books, Dr. Van Cleave lives in Sarasota, FL where he works as a freelance writer, a writing coach, a digital addiction & recovery consultant, and a professor of liberal arts at the Ringling College of Art + Design. He also serves as Executive Director & Publisher of C&R Press , a non-profit literary organization based in Chattanooga, TN.
What's being said about Unplugged & Dr. Van Cleave's Video Game Addiction Awareness Campaign?
Find out here!
• Video game addiction is a topic that merits more serious consideration than it's currently receiving. Van Cleave is on the right track here.
—Senator Ernest Hollings (South Carolina)
• Technology has over-run us in the era of the video game. Parents must circle quickly to prevent their children disappearing into virtual worlds from which many will not return. Unplugged is an important warning about the treacherous nature of any kind of addiction and about the possibilities of self destruction that are inherent when one is absent from one’s own life.
—Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple
• God bless what you're doing to save our children. I wish you the best.
—Tom Joyner, host of "The Tom Joyner Morning Show"
• Video game addiction is a real and growing problem that few seem willing to address. I’m glad Ryan Van Cleave has been willing to tell his story and hope it helps many young men avoid similar patterns.
—Kurt Bruner, co-author of Playstation Nation
• This book is a must-read for parents and children alike. Brilliant and potentially lifesaving!
—Todd James Pierce, author of Newsworld
• I celebrate the courage it takes to write a book like this. Unplugged is an unflinching and unforgettable book. This powerful tale showcases the lure of the digital world with keen intensity and passionate clarity—a sobering and haunting wake-up call for the Net Generation.
—Virgil Suárez, author of Spared Angola: Memories from a Cuban-American Childhood
• Finally! A book that addresses this growing issue in America. Unplugged speaks to a situation I’ve seen far too often, with too little made of until now. This book should be required reading in every high school across the nation.
—Robert Opitz, high school band director (Atlanta)
• Thank you for blazing new ground by writing a book on gaming addiction that desperately needed to be written.
—Bradley Dorrance, author of ExGamer.net
Latest News on Video Game Addiction
& Related Topics
"Are VIdeo Games Really More Than Drugs?" (Belfast Telegraph)
"The Neuroscience of Internet Addiction" (Big Think.com)
"Digital Tricks to Tame an Internet Addicton" (Washington Post)
"Killed by a Video Game"
"Kids are Learning Computer Skills Before Life Skills"
"Video Games and Violence: Are Studies Biased?" (Science 2.0)
"Video Game Industry's Public Enemy #1" (LATimes.com)
"Morality: Do Your Worst, Virtually" (newscientist.com)
"All You Need To Know About This Week's Violent Video Game Case In The U.S. Supreme Court" (kotaku)
"University Adds Videogames to Library as Study Materials" (The Escapist)
"Supreme Court case takes aim at violent video games" (Boston Pilot)
"Combat Robots Strike Again" (technology + games)
"Games industry responds to Panorama addiction show" (CVG)
"DOD Launches Casual Gaming Website"
Information for Parents of Gamers
Study: Video game addiction in teens can lead to other problems
"Teens and Screens: An Addictive Combination" (The Vancouver Sun"
"'Play Again': When Digital Kids Play IRL" (Mother Nature Network)
"Internet addiction rising in teens"
ParentFurther.com
"Teen Video Game Addiction Requires Careful Intervention from Parents" (NY Daily News)
"Video Games Addiction: A look at what addiction really is, and how to deal with it" (WhatTheyPlay.com)
"Video Game Addiction Tips to Tame the Kid Who's Hooked" (MotherNature.com)
"Violent Media Can Desensitize the Minds of Young Males" (Medline Plus)
"Tourists in a Digital Landscape" (The Daily Advocate)
"A Parent's Guide to the Media" (LA Times)
"Social attention for computer game addiction" (Letter--Korea JoonGang Daily)
"A new study links teens who text hundreds of times a day with risky behaviors" (wsbt.com)
Articles on Video Game Addiction
"Addicted Gamer Sues Game-Maker, Says He is ‘Unable to Function’" (Wired)
"10 Mind-blowing Facebook Games Statistics" (AllFacebook.com)
"Internet addiction: a 21st century epidemic?" (scholarly paper)
"The Darker Side of the Internet" (BioMed Central)
"Casually Hardcore" (MoreIntelligentLife.com)
"Baby Killed After Interuppting Mom's Facebook Time" ksl.com)
"The Evil Posed by Computers Games" (S. Korean newspaper)
"Is Video Game Addiction a Serious Mental Disorder?"
"Is It Just Us, Or Are Kids Getting Really Stupid?" (www.phillymag.com)
"Is Video Game Addiction a Mental Disorder?" MSNBC
"Video Games: The Addiction" (The Observer)
"Mind Over Machine" (Science News)
"Teen Kills Mom Over PC Game Addiction, Commits Suicide " (Donga.com)
"The HIerarchy of Internet Needs" (Flowtown.com)
"Explain the Internet to a 19th century Street Urchin" (graphic)
"The Face of Facebook" (The New Yorker)
"Tom Chatfield: 7 Ways Games Reward the Brain" (Ted)
"Strange New Ways To Combat Your Internet Addiction!"
"The Big Turn Off"
"How Video Games Are Infiltrating—and Improving—Every Part of Our Lives "
Blogs on Video Games & Video Game Addiction
Unplugged
Video Game Researcher
Think, Feel, Play
Treatment Centers
Treatment Options
"Recent innovations in video game addiction research and theory" (Global Media Journal)
Adirondack Leadership Expeditions (NY)
Bayside Marin (San Rafael, CA)
Echo (Malibu, CA)
reSTART (Fall City, WA)
Smith & Jones (Amsterdam)
Featured Hot Stories
"The Consquences of an Intense
National Sport" (Korea IT Times)
"On a Hunt for What Makes Gamers Keep Gaming" (New York Times)
"Is Technology Addiction Destroying Teenagers?"
"Do Video Games Fuel Mental Health Problems?" (Fox News)
"6 Children Removed from Fayette. Co. Home" (CBS)
"Virgin, Electronic Arts bring bets to video games" (The Vancouver Sun)
Ryan giving a reading & signing at Borders in Sarasota, FL.
Ryan giving a reading of UNPLUGGED as a manuscript-in-progress at Art Center-Sarasota in October 2009.
Ryan giving a reading & signing at BEA 2010 in New York City.
Ryan and Carlton Fisk at the "Fisk & Friends Celebrity Golf Classic"
Ryan and John Updike after a reading in Tallahassee, FL.
Ryan and Wynton Marsalis in Thomasville, GA.
T-shirts Ryan saw during his campus visits in 2009.
Would you like Dr. Van Cleave to speak with your class, group, or organization? Use the contact link above to get directly in touch with him!
Forthcoming 2010 Video Game Addiction Awareness Events
Oct 10 9:30 pm Radio Interview Morning Sickness Show
Oct 13 1 pm Radio Interview Cyberhood Watch Radio
Oct 21-23 "Video Game Addiction: The New Epidemic?" Chicago, IL
Oct 21-23 "The Age of 'Friending': The Past, Present, and Future
of Social Networking" Chicago, IL
Nov 11 Video Game Addiction presentation MAHEC/Asheville, NC
2011 Events
Jan 21 Video Game/Internet Addiction Workshop Baltimore, MD
July 16 OLGA/OLGAnon World Services, Inc Conference Tampa, FL
Dr. Van Cleave is available for class
visits, conference presentations, workshops,
interviews, and one-on-one or gorup consultations.
Use the contact form to send him your specific request.
(Please include a phone number and email address.)
To learn more about Dr. Van Cleave, please visit
www.ryangvancleave.com .
For literary, film, foreign,
or other rights for Unplugged,
please contact Claire Gerus .
God bless what you're doing to save our children.
—Tom Joyner
Residential Treatment Centers
Check out "The Dangers of Digital Detoxing"
on The Daily Beast, which prominently features Unplugged
Check outthis Alternet.org article on energy drinks which references Unplugged
UNPLUGGED: MY JOURNEY INTO THE DARK WORLD OF VIDEO GAME ADDICTION
If it doesn't play when you hit "play," try hitting the play/pause button
a few times--that seems
to do the trick!
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: Health Communications
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0757313620
ISBN-13: 978-0757313622
Price: $14.95 US
Van Cleave is on the right track here.
Unplugged is an important warning about the treacherous nature of any kind of addiction and about the possibilities of self destruction that are inherent when one is absent from one’s own life.
—Alice Walker
