Fans Love NHL GameCenter Live, But Beware of Mental Health Risks

GameCenter Live
With NHL GameCenter Live, hockey fans can watch as many as four games at once.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that affects, among other things, pleasure, cognition and motivation. When someone completes an enjoyable activity their brain naturally associates that activity with pleasure which, in turn, leads to desire. The problems with dopamine begin when a person recognizes they’re in a potentially rewarding situation but can’t control themselves, effectively eroding their own self-control and exhibiting an otherwise detrimental behavior. That explains why dopamine levels are studied in drug addicts, gamblers and food lovers who struggle with obesity.
Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.

Deficient dopamine emission is partly to blame decreased memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. It’s a major factor in ADHD, which is combatted with drugs designed to help with impulse control.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that dopamine is frequently linked to food and sex, but an understudied factor contributing to disproportionate levels of dopamine is almost certainly NHL GameCenter Live.

There’s no quantitative evidence, but GameCenter Live’s options are so plentiful that’s it’s difficult to focus on tasks throughout the day. Working overtime is nearly impossible when one knows they could be watching a game, even if it’s between two irrelevant teams. The same goes for doing the dishes, how is any reasonable fan supposed to scrub sauce off a plate when Winnipeg is playing Ottawa?

Because of the shortened season the app is available for $49.99 for unlimited out-of-market games, that’s $100 cheaper than the full price had there been a full season. You can watch on a computer, iPhone, most mobile devices, an Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3, although customers hoping to use the latter had to wait an extra week for Sony to update the app.

If you’re watching on a computer it’s possible to stream four games at once, filling each corner with a different telecast. At any given point throughout the night each section of the screen might broadcast a fight, breakaway, goal highlight, or Don Cherry’s new suit (dopamine levels will go off the charts next time he breaks out one of these on Coach’s Corner). Good luck focusing on just one.

There’s even a feature that allows you to shut off the scoreboard so it’s possible to replay a game without it being spoiled. Just make sure you have a solid Internet connection, the streaming video takes up sizable amounts of bandwidth and it’s nearly impossible to watch four free-flowing games without the intrusive buffer time.

Oh yeah, and everything’s in HD.

The only major drawback with GCL is the blackout dates. For anyone who works at night hoping to watch their team from out of town, the NHL Network just became your mortal enemy. Games broadcast on the NHL-N, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and any game being “broadcast on television in your area” are given the death knell and blocked from GameCenter Live.

But there is a health risk involved. The explosion of good vibes any hockey fan would feel upon viewing GCL might (will) be similar to the sensation of a huge with on the poker table.

Good luck with your self-control.