When the local news looks at "Farmville addiction"

It's not just national media figures like Dr. Phil that are looking at the supposed epidemic of "Farmville addiction." The fine folks at KDSA in Sioux Falls, South Dakota filed the above report (partial transcript here) on the 82.4 million people that are "spending real time which is part of [their] real life ... harvesting virtual crops, caring for virtual animals ... and none of it is real." (it helps if you read those quotes in the jaded, 'can-you-believe-it?' tone that the newscaster uses)

The report focuses on a single Farmville player, mother and cardiac nurse Stacy Rothstein, a self-admitted "addict" who plays the game for five hours a day. Thankfully, the addiction expert the network consults clarifies that an interest in the game turns into an addiction only if it negatively impacts the player's real life. Still, the whole piece has that overly broad, accusatory tone that often comes along when media outlets cover something they don't fully understand.

Despite this, the entire piece is worth watching just to hear the main reporter give the following anecdote at the end: "I was talking about this [game] with my wife, just how I didn't understand it, how I thought it was a little annoying, and she says 'How about the hours you've spent playing NCAA football,' and I got real quiet."