Addictions in Computer Gaming

Tyra Banks Show Kills World of Warcraft: Will One Man Give Up His Addiction?

February 11, 2007 by Lisa A. Mason


Someone Should Tell Tyra You Can Play Without the CDs
If you have not seen the recent clip from Tyra Banks' hit daytime talk-show where she helps a young woman confront her fiance about his addictive game play, then you might want to check it out so you know what I'm talking about here.

First, I have to say that I love Tyra. I'm not really a TV fan so I don't watch her show religiously or anything but I've always been a big fan of her. I really like the way she keeps things real and tries to be a great role-model for all
women out there. That being said, she really let me down
on this one.

Let's explain upfront that the focus of this show was not on video games, MMORPGs or World of Warcraft. The focus of the show was helping people confront their loved ones about a problem. This woman had a problem and she went on Tyra's show to confront her fiance and recent father of her newborn baby.

The fact that the show mentioned World of Warcraft leads one to take notice of how incredibly large WoW has now become and shortly after the episode of Tyra's show aired, clips of this segment were all over the internet, featured on sites like You-Tube and link-posted on forums all over cyberspace. It spread like a bad plague, haunting us all because although our minds told us not to look, curiosity won and we watched the stupid clip anyway.

To fill you in for those that missed it, here's the basis of the story. Girl goes on Tyra and says soon-to-be-husband ignores her and their new baby girl to play World of Warcraft all day. Girl says she's asked him to stop and spend time with her and baby and he refuses. Girl says she's threatened to leave him if he doesn't stop his addictive behavior. He stays up all night playing and even sleeps on the couch before waking up to play again before work. Next comes the real clincher when she proclaims that he left her in the hospital in labor to go home and play for a few hours before coming back to deliver their child.

By this point, every non-gamer in the audience is either hating this guy or thinking he's some kind of freak and every gamer is well, probably not watching the Tyra Banks show in the first place.