James Delahunty
7 Jan 2007 6:30
Boris Johnson, an outspoken Tory MP has once again managed to pick the right topic to draw optimal attention to himself. The man, who once referred to U.S. President George W. Bush as "a cross-eyed Texan warmonger" and Tony Blair as "a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet", has picked a new topic for headlines; videogames. He says it is time to "garotte the Game Boy and paralyze the PlayStation".
Specifically, he is blaming video games for falling literacy rates among today's youths. "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," he said. "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."
He cites falling interest in reading among children and the numbers of students in University without adequate writing skills. "I refuse to believe that these hypnotic little machines are innocent," he said. He went on to mention figures that put Britain as having the highest number of computer games per household, and that 89% of homes with children have a gaming console.
"These possessions are not so much an index of wealth as a cause of ignorance and underachievement and, yes, poverty," he continued. "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."
Source:
GamesIndustry.biz