Videogames Rot Your Brain!!!

Its good to know that America is not the only coutry with stupid old farts. Meet Jack Thompson UK clone, Boris Johnson.

It's the snarl that gives the game away. It's the sobbing and the shrieking and the horrible pleading -- that's how you know your children are undergoing a sudden narcotic withdrawal. As the strobing colours die away and the screen goes black, you listen to the wail of protest from the offspring and you know that you have just turned off their drug, and you know that, to a greater or lesser extent, they are addicts.

Some children have it bad. Some are miraculously unaffected. But millions of seven- to 15-year-olds are hooked, especially boys, and it is time someone had the guts to stand up, cross the room and just say no to Nintendo. It is time to garrotte the Game Boy and paralyse the PlayStation, and it is about time, as a society, that we admitted the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males.

It was among the first acts of the Labour Government to institute a universal "literacy" hour in primary schools; and yet, in the six years following 1997, the numbers of young children who said that they didn't like reading rose from 23 per cent to 35 per cent. In spite of all our cash and effort, the surveys increasingly show that children (especially boys) regard reading as a chore, something that needs to be accomplished for the sake of passing tests, not as a joy in itself. It is a disaster, and I refuse to believe that these hypnotic little machines are innocent.

"They become like blinking lizards, motionless, absorbed, only the twitching of their hands showing they are still conscious."

We demand that teachers provide our children with reading skills; we expect the schools to fill them with a love of books; and yet at home we let them slump in front of the consoles. We get on with our hedonistic 21st-century lives while in some other room the nippers are bleeping and zapping in speechless rapture, their passive faces washed in explosions and gore. They sit for so long that their souls seem to have been sucked down the cathode ray tube.

They become like blinking lizards, motionless, absorbed, only the twitching of their hands showing they are still conscious. These machines teach them nothing. They stimulate no ratiocination, discovery or feat of memory -- though some of them may cunningly pretend to be educational. I have just watched an 11-year-old play a game that looked fairly historical, on the packet. Your average guilt-ridden parent might assume that it taught the child something about the Vikings and medieval siege warfare.

Phooey! The red soldiers robotically slaughtered the white soldiers, and then they did it again, that was it. Everything was programmed, spoon-fed, immediate -- and endlessly showering the player with undeserved praise, richly congratulating him for his bogus massacres. The more addictive these games are to the male mind, the more difficult it is to persuade boys to read books; and that is why it is no comfort that Britain has more computer games per household than any other EU country, and, even though they are wince-makingly expensive, an amazing 89 per cent of British households with children now boast a games console, with distribution right across the socio-economic groups.

Every child must have one, and what we fail to grasp is that these possessions are not so much an index of wealth as a cause of ignorance and underachievement and, yes, poverty. It hardly matters how much cash we pour into reading in schools if there is no culture of reading at home; and the consequences of this failure to read can be seen throughout the education system.

Huge numbers are still leaving primary school in a state of functional illiteracy, with 44 per cent unable either to read, write or do basic sums. By the age of 14, there are still 40 per cent whose literacy or numeracy is not up to the expected standard, and a large proportion of the effort at Further Education colleges (about 20 per cent) is devoted to remedial reading and writing. Even at university, there are now terrifying numbers of students who cannot express themselves in the kind of clear, logical English required for an essay, and in many important respects if you can't write, you can't think. The Royal Literary Fund has, in the past few years, done a wonderful job of establishing Writing Fellows at our universities, offering therapy for those who can't put their thoughts on paper; and yet the fund admits that the scale of the problem is quite beyond its abilities.

It is a shock, arriving at university, and being asked to compose an essay of a couple of thousand words, and then discovering that you can't do it; and this demoralisation is a major cause of dropping-out. It's not that the students lack the brains; the raw circuitry is better than ever. It's the software that's the problem. They have not been properly programmed, because they have not read enough. The only way to learn to write is to be forced time and again to articulate your own thoughts in your own words, and you haven't a hope of doing this if you haven't read enough to absorb the basic elements of vocabulary, grammar, rhythm, style and structure; and young males in particular won't read enough if we continually capitulate and let them fritter their lives away in front of these drivelling machines.

Gordon Brown proposed in his Pre-Budget Report to spend

Sidepocket said:
Yada Yada

How do people make this shit up, seriously. I think almost all of C3 is 'living' proof that videogames do not rot your brain. Sure, we have the occassional retard around here, but hey, society does too! I think that I am a good example myself, seeing I'm not even from the UK, or from any other English-speaking country, and most of the UK-ers here wouldn't have guessed I was Dutch:lolTrue story!).
And, it might be a tad far-fetched, but gamers do loads of reading. Not always the sophisticated reading that this sack of poo is talking about, but reading remains reading. The amount of text in a lot of RPGs is immense, and from time to time quite well-written. And the avid gamers often spend their times on forums as well; Typing their thoughts out, reading the written thoughts of others, and reading articles like this one right here!
This guy has so little knowledge on this all, so little experience with how this stuff actually works, it's just laughable! Funny how he keeps on hammering on the same few points, rephrasing them to make it seem like he has a lot to say!

non-UK Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce you to our renowned politician, Boris Johnson. Seriously, he's actually pretty dam famous......

Over here he's seen as more of a joke (in case you didn't know all this already), although maybe not always in the bad sense - Whenever he's on Have I Got News For You, it pretty much becomes a must watch, at least for me anyway.

Amazingjanet said:
non-UK Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce you to our renowned politician, Boris Johnson. Seriously, hes actually pretty dam famous......Over here hes seen as more of a joke (in case you didnt know all this already), although maybe not always in the bad sense - Whenever hes on Have I Got News For You, it pretty much becomes a must watch, at least for me anyway.

Sorry, I am American. All I saw was a bunch of people on the short bus playing soccer. Care to explain it to me better?

Sidepocket said:

Amazingjanet said:non-UK Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce you to our renowned politician, Boris Johnson. Seriously, hes actually pretty dam famous......Over here hes seen as more of a joke (in case you didnt know all this already), although maybe not always in the bad sense - Whenever hes on Have I Got News For You, it pretty much becomes a must watch, at least for me anyway.

Sorry, I am American. All I saw was a bunch of people on the short bus playing football. Care to explain it to me better?

That is just a video of a celebrity football show that Five, a British channel, instigated which happened to include Boris Johnson.

( Edited on 06.01.2007 18:12 by Tin Can Man )

Video games don't rot your brain, I used to believe that when I was 4, but now I just think it's bull shit, because it is.

I've been gaming (on real games mind you) since I was 2 (1992) & always have been gaming for the whole of my life. There's definitely nothing wrong with my intellect, & if I say so myself, I'm probably above the average intelligence.

Casual gamers tend to be less intelligent than hardcore gamers, they've been gaming a lot less than I have, so it's either their own problem for not trying hard enough, or stupidly thinking they don't actually need an education. These kind of people play this game:

I think football is more likely to rot your brain than gaming. Football can ruin your life, whether it's through injuries, or doing "headers" on the ball (it can give you brain damage people) or even through something like you supporting a different team from your friends & them turning on you. It's a much bigger media thn video games. & it ruins more lives![/rant]

EDIT: BTW, footballers you see on TV don't seem to be too smart.

( Edited on 06.01.2007 18:28 by SuperLink )

Just a little point, remember that most of us here are not your average gamers. We're geeks. His understanding of gamers come from people who play football games and 50 cent, which unfortunately, is the large majority. I still don't think games are the cause of what he says though. I'd call that the breakdown of the British family. I personally always eat at the table with my mum and dad, but most of these football game playing chavs would be seen dead with their parents. I'd put more of the blame on music culture.

knighty said:
Just a little point, remember that most of us here are not your average gamers. Were geeks. His understanding of gamers come from people who play football games and 50 cent, which unfortunately, is the large majority. I still dont think games are the cause of what he says though. Id call that the breakdown of the British family. I personally always eat at the table with my mum and dad, but most of these football game playing chavs would be seen dead with their parents. Id put more of the blame on music culture.

It's not the games, since I've played more games in my short 16 year life then all of them put together! While I only live with my mum & brother, not my dad, we still usually eat together at the table. We watch TV together, but it's usually a movie or good TV program that we all watch. I never watch football, it's the most boring thing on TV, I'd rather watch Big Brother. MUCH rather infact.

I think it's disgusting that so many "kids" these days wouldn't be seen dead outsite the house with their parants.

Ok, I haven't read ANY of ANY of the posts in this thread, so I'm going to go out on a limb and assume he's referring to excessive gaming detracting from other aspects of life = bad?

If so, fair enough

SuperLink said:
I think its disgusting that so many kids these days wouldnt be seen dead outsite the house with their parants.

Anyway, the only gamers at risk of their brain rotting are those that spend three-quarters of their day on WoW or on MMORPGs.

Misfit said:
I dont know anyone like that.

spydarlee said:
sitting at home reading a lot of classic literature isn't going to do you much good if you forget to eat or sleep.

In saying that, I probably have better vocabulary & grammar than most people my age I know.

SuperLink said:
Video games dont rot your brain, I used to believe that when I was 4, but now I just think its bull shit, because it is.Ive been gaming (on real games mind you) since I was 2 (1992) & always have been gaming for the whole of my life. Theres definitely nothing wrong with my intellect, & if I say so myself, Im probably above the average intelligence.Casual gamers tend to be less intelligent than hardcore gamers, theyve been gaming a lot less than I have, so its either their own problem for not trying hard enough, or stupidly thinking they dont actually need an education. These kind of people play this game:I think football is more likely to rot your brain than gaming. Football can ruin your life, whether its through injuries, or doing headers on the ball (it can give you brain damage people) or even through something like you supporting a different team from your friends & them turning on you. Its a much bigger media thn video games. & it ruins more lives![/rant]EDIT: BTW, footballers you see on TV dont seem to be too smart.( Edited on 06.01.2007 18:28 by SuperLink )

Tin Can Man said:

Sidepocket said:

Amazingjanet said:non-UK Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce you to our renowned politician, Boris Johnson. Seriously, hes actually pretty dam famous......Over here hes seen as more of a joke (in case you didnt know all this already), although maybe not always in the bad sense - Whenever hes on Have I Got News For You, it pretty much becomes a must watch, at least for me anyway.

Sorry, I am American. All I saw was a bunch of people on the short bus playing football. Care to explain it to me better?

That is just a video of a celebrity football show that Five, a British channel, instigated which happened to include Boris Johnson.( Edited on 06.01.2007 18:12 by Tin Can Man )

I tried to find a decent vid of him from hignfy, but for some odd reason couldn't really find much.....

I like Boris Johnson. Many people don't like what they regard as 'toffs' but they like 'loveable buffoon toffs'. Boris is not actually a buffoon at all and he is well-mannered...

.. but he has not hit the nail on the head about videogames. Videogames can offer a similar sense of escapism (and community) as the cinema. Videogames are sometimes more ambitious than the cinema (and most television).

The content of certain videogames is questionable but the same is true of certain films and TV programmes who star supposedly 'respectable' actors. Videogames are less hypocritical - they don't try to excuse violence whereas TV programmes often do.

One of the reasons why so many people seem disaffected now is that they don't know how to usefully and responsibly use the freedoms that the increased liberalisation of society has brought them and their children either pick up these habits or resent them.

( Edited on 06.01.2007 21:57 by Picnic )

Anyone else think he looks like a fatter Bill Clinton with a wig on?

Why do these people always have to find something wrong with anything the youth of today enjoy? Not necessarily talking about video games, everything. Although games do get picked on a lot more than film or music. (Unfairly too)
Unfortunately these politicians know nothing about what they are talking about and the people they are trying to persuade, usually the parents, know even less and think they're right. Luckily my parents don't think games are bad for you.

EDIT: It's also unfair that he picks on young males. Obviously doesn't realise these games are so violent and addictive because they are targeted for different demographics.

( Edited on 07.01.2007 13:24 by Kangaroo_Kid )

Spydarlee, if I could give stars yet, you would get one.

I'm going to go through a quick version of my life as a gamer:

I was introduced to computers at the tender age of just under half a year old. My mum and dad used to play Bombjack on the ZX80 until silly o'clock with me lying in my moses basket on the breakfast bar watching them I guess, my mum has told me I used to like the music and it kept me quiet until my next feed.

Skipping forward 3 years or so, my dad gave me his ZX80 and some software he wrote in BASIC to teach me to recognise letters, spell very basic words, and it gave me rewards for doing so. I even learned how to LOAD "" software on it. I never went to nursery/kindergarten you see, and I'm grateful for that.

Moving on to my... 6th or 7th birthday, 48k Spectrum! Awesome! I moved away from very simple programming to playing games on my TV! There were some Game & Watch galleries between, and other electronic LCD games too.

I got a Spectrum +3 somewhere between.

The Christmas after I turned 8, I got a Spectrum 128k/+2/+3 and I loved my parents for that. Floppy disks to save my games and programs onto! Also a little quicker loading times for software. Sweet!

My next computer was an Amiga 500, the deluxe package with Pushover and some of the Dizzy Collection. DPaint 2. I later got DPaint 3 and an AU editing package, forgot what the name was. DPaint, this audio editing application, the new workbench in hand, I had to have AMOS! My dad, God rest his soul, bought it for me. I started making some games for the Amiga, distributing them amongst my friends, who got into game development (I use that term lightly).

The NES, Master System and Game Boy came next, which at first I was dissapointed with. I was used to computers. However, I was addicted to the Nintendo games, not so much the Sega. Then I played The Legend of Zelda... I was hooked on adventure games after that. Shortly after (not sure how shortly) came Ys.

By now I had almost abandoned my computers making games, due to the consoles and playing them. I sort of wished I hadn't now. I still got my CRASH and YS (Your Sinclair) and read my dads Sinclair User.

It goes on, SNES, Mega Drive, was it the Lynx? Or something... The Mega-CD, Saturn (which was rehomed after a couple of months), Amiga 1200, Amiga CD-32, N64, Dreamcast (which was stolen), Playstation 1 (Thrill Kill!), Playstation 2 (Ico! ), Gamecube, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, NDS... Wii. There were other systems and game type things like the Bar Code Battler and the like too.

I was bullied at school, a lot. I'm sure some of the rest of you did too. Hell C3 is a mixed community, I'd guess there are those who were and are bullied for something or other, stay in, get bored, get into gaming because of the visual euphoria, etc rather than reading, using your imagination, etc. Then there are the bullies who lost their friends for going that bit too far and started taking out their frustrations playing games.

There are sociological and psychological problems that can be related to games, or even blamed on games. But as some of you may be aware, it's not the games that cause it, it's society, home relationships, stress of exams or work. I have some conditions that make me go blank or just totally forget things at times. I panic when I go out on my own and suffer from bad anxiety. I mumble a lot and stutter. I have quite a few things wrong with me. Anyways...

Misfit said:
Yada yada.
Anyway, the only gamers at risk of their brain rotting are those that spend three-quarters of their day on WoW or on MMORPGs.

I love RPG and MMORPG games. I've played a lot of them. Waking up, having coffee, having a smoke, brushing my teeth, going to the toilet, then pretty much sitting on EverQuest 2 for the rest of the day. I did that for about 4 months. The only negative thing that came of that was I got a bad back. I could sit there in my alter egos world. Socialising, telling stories, listening, being a shoulder for people with real problems, have a laugh, help out, you know the drill. I am a roleplayer, and I'm proud. I never really caught up with my friends from other games level and experience wise because I was too busy playing the goat and dicking around. Sure I was the damage dealer and I'd deal damage, but between fights I'd have a laugh. For those of you who have never ever played an MMORPG in the fear of the community and people they attract, don't be scared, give them a go you might be surprised.

With my rant over, I'd just like to say, I'm missing a few literacy skills due to having a pap attention and wild imagination during lessons at school. I'm not working now, not that I can and it can't be helped yet. Yet I have hundreds of friends from around the world and I have decent grammar, spelling and punctuation. I have a daughter and a wonderful wife. There's nothing more I could want apart from to be well enough to work again.

My conclusion, based on my experiences, is that games aren't bad. In it's infancy the gaming scene was innocent. I grew up when the gamers were just getting their fingers broken in. In the 24 years I've been on this planet, the gaming industry has changed so much, matured if you like, that the higher powers see this as a demoralisation on students who has access to modern day games. Parents should be more careful and take notice of the PEGI ratings (can't remember off the top of my head what they're called in the US or other parts of the world) but can't be to blame. Marketing strategies are meant to suck in the teenage lad to the 18+ games. It's how it is. It's like in the 80's, my sister used to sneak into the cinema to see films she shouldn't.

Like Spydarlee said, gaming contributes to hand-to-eye coordination. Big Brain Academy? Brain Age? 2 of the most entertaining games I have ever bought that benefits you so much. My memory has actually increased.

I guess I have gaming and computers to thank for this. I have nothing more to say than most "games don't rot brains". Not the ones I play anyways.

(SIDENOTE: It took me 62 minutes to write this up and post it)

I wasn't allowed anything more than the odd PC demo until I was 9, and then I had to buy my own N64. In retrospect I think my parents were right to do it really, I used to read an awful lot for someone of my age which really does give you an advantage at that age.

Its proven that games improve your coordination, spatial awareness and reaction skills. For a government that keeps emphasizing the importance of skills and on the job training I think thats pretty important.

GR781 said:
Sorry but hes basically right- if your kids spend their entire free time playing videogames instead of reading, they will be less literate. Its just true. Boris Johnson has recently started acting like a bit of a buffoon, hes going for some sort of media personality image, but hes a very clever guy. Im fairly sure we already had a topic about this somewhere, didnt we?

But that entirely depends on the game you're playing, but even then, more action based games have reading in them, like RE4 (the files/letters/notes you pick up).

Even then games have their own advantages as already mentioned - they can develop co-ordination, spatial awareness, reaction skills, even decision making/quick thinking, and games that involve puzzles (whether it be full on puzzle games or simply stuff like the puzzles in a zelda dungeon) and so on.

A bit off-topic, but I just realised... The guy's called Johnson?...o.O;

GR781 said:
Sorry but hes basically right- if your kids spend their entire free time playing videogames instead of reading, they will be less literate. Its just true.

RobTheBuilder said:
Its proven that games improve your coordination, spatial awareness and reaction skills. For a government that keeps emphasizing the importance of skills and on the job training I think thats pretty important.

Faust said:
A bit off-topic, but I just realised... The guys called Johnson?...o.O;

To an extent he's right. For some kids, videogames are like a drug - I look back at myself and think what a complete twerp I was. All I ever wanted to do was play videogames when I was younger, I hardly ever played sport, I hated music, never read a book at home; I just hated everything bar videogames.

Still, I was in top set English at school, and still achieve A grades in English all the time, so I wouldn't say they 'rot your brain'.

Robsy said:
To an extent hes right. For some kids, videogames are like a drug - I look back at myself and think what a complete twerp I was. All I ever wanted to do was play videogames when I was younger, I hardly ever played sport, I hated music, never read a book at home; I just hated everything bar videogames.Still, I was in top set English at school, and still achieve A grades in English all the time, so I wouldnt say they rot your brain.

I don't hate music, as I'm a drummer, but I don't listen to it very often at all, & I don't like sport except Skateboarding & skiing . I don't usually read either, as I said before, except if it's for English or revision of course. I also like reading Harry Potter.

GR781 said:
Sorry but reading text in videogames is hardly akin to reading a book, thats absolute crap. Reading literature is important, if you dont do that at all your literacy will be poorer.

EVER. Unless it's the new Harry Potter, or for English reasons.

( Edited on 07.01.2007 18:48 by SuperLink )