Legal Niches

Opinion: Generation Gap Fuels Attacks on Games and Gamers

By pete_gallagher

Could videogames be causing the same reaction in older generations that Elvis did 50 years ago?

An opinion piece on Tek-9.org does a nice job of summing up a slew of recent
cringe-worthy anti-game remarks before surmising that  these attacks are, more often than not, done by older folks who may not realize all that the world of games has to offer:

The only people I can find making these ridiculous and uninformed remarks about gaming are either attention seeking whores, mp's who have no real political agenda and plucked something out of their ass or daily mail writers, oh and porn stars.

They are all of an older generation who simply don't understand the better side, the positive side of gaming and its influence both good and bad on young people today and instead of taking the time to find out, simply lash out with uninformed rhetoric that does nothing for them, save an Andy Warhol moment in the spotlight and certainly does nothing for the gaming industry.

All this negativity could cause a gamer to lash out with vitriol-laden comments against those who dare to talk badly about games.  The piece's author notes that these types of responses do little to improve an outsider's opinion of those who game:

What we should be doing is putting together smart, reasoned and logical replies and educating the older generation, as hard as that sounds and pointing out the positives of video games. Things like Childs Play which recently raised $1.7million from gamers and the gaming industry to help fight poverty in poor regions should be pointed out.

GP: While calling people "attention seeking whores" does not necessarily subscribe to the author's suggestion of playing nice, it's still a thought-provoking piece and mostly spot-on.

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on January 14, 2010 (boomark / email).