The media obsession with demonising computer games

A new version of the computer role playing game 'World of Warcraft' was released yesterday with a large fanfare and plenty of publicity, but as usual when it comes to computer games, the media couldn't help but have a pop about the apparent 'damaging effects' of computer games.

World of Warcraft, I should make clear, is not my cup of tea. I do own an X-box 360 and a Nintendo Wii (and I was keen enough to order them for launch day), but I do not have the time for the games along the style of World of Warcraft which requires making virtual and cyber friends in make believe worlds and spending hours every day online in order to gain credits. However, if someone does have this amount of spare time, if they really want to do this rather harmless thing in their own homes, I cannot see that it is dangerous or worthy of ridicule.

Yet the press yesterday spent hours debating the worthiness of such games, why "geeks" found pleasure in such activities and also suggested that it was damaging to the physical and mental health of the players, with a range of experts and professors brought on to further make the point that computer games are so damaging.

Anyone would have thought that a new gun had gone on general release of that a new 80% proof alcohol was on the shelves.

To my mind it serves to further underline that the press still denigrate anything they do not understand, and being a "gamer" is certainly not something most people under the age of 40 really get.

Computer games can be good for kids says research

A survey has shown that playing computer games can sharpen up a child's mind, can improve classroom behaviour and improve their maths skills.

It might shut up those people who constantly want to have a pop at the computer games industry or those who play games regularly. And with recent evidence showing that regularly playing on a Nintendo Wii can be beneficial in both keeping you fit, helping you lose wight and sharpening up reflexes, perhaps the rather outmoded view that all computer games are bad might just go away.

The first signs that Sony realise the PS3 is a flop

After months of hailing the success of the Playstation 3, despite poor sales showing it to be selling less than half the number of XBox 360's and barely a fifth of the number of Nintendo Wii's sold, Sony is showing signs that it cannot keep the facade of a "great success" going, and have announced a new cheaper and much slimmed down version of the PS3.

Losing some of its more advanced functions, the ability to play Playstation 2 games and removing some connection points to be able to reduce the price to less than £300 might win a handful more sales, but the console is still considerably more expensive than the XBox 360 and £120 more than a Nintendo Wii.

I won't be trading in my Wii or XBox for one, that's for sure.

Are computer games really the problem ?

Keith Vaz, as some regular readers of this blog will know, is not my favourite politician. He seems to be the very model of a publicity seeking vain political who is quick to tell us what is going wrong but short on any ideas that offer solutions other than banging on about things that appeal to the Daily Mail readership, but actually, in truth offer no real solution. Witness also that these words apply to David Cameron.

A few months ago Keith Vaz achieved his weekly 15 minutes of fame by claiming that computer games are behind today's street violence and gun culture. At the time I highlighted what utter crap he spoke on the subject, but now David Cameron is saying much the same as Keith Vaz. His latest solution to the gun culture includes this from today ;

"(David Cameron will) call for ... for the media, music companies and computer game manufacturers to show true social responsibility".

You get it ? It's nothing to do with policies, alienation, a lack of policing, poor parenting skills, a lack of money for youth offending teams, indeed nothing really to do with politicians at all. it is all down to Record companies to and computer game manufacturers.

It's too glib and easy a line to blame tings associated with youth culture. but the statistics do not back up Mr Cameron's views. For example, sales of computer games systems and violent computer games are just as high in rural areas as they are run down inner city areas. If this is the case and they are the cause of gun crime, why are there no stories of shootings and gang crime amongst teenagers in rural villages. Yes, we know that rural villages have their problems with youths, but it is on a different level. Surely this tells us there are other factors involved that make inner city estate different from rural towns and villages.

As someone brought up with computers, who plays what David Cameron would describe as "dangerous" computer games, I tire of being told that these are going to turn me in to a psychopath.

Gun crime in this country will need radical solutions and a lot of money poured in to dealing with it. Attacking the computer games industry, one of this countries biggest exports, is not the solution.