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Times man "hates videogames"

Just the latest in middle aged people from the "media" being thrown into the reality of living the 21st Century and unwittingly sounding like 1970s granddad faced with a colour television, this Times piece is one of the better ones.

"I hate videogames, on or offline," said Giles Whittell. "I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them.

"This is not because of anything wrong or bad about video games or heroin or teenage parents. It's not even because of game-induced homicide or web-grooming of little girls by perverts - serious problems, but statistically low-risk. It's because, compared with everything else on offer in a kid's life, video games and heroin and teenage pregnancy are a colossal waste of time."

No s**t. It's almost as if life was a barely-veiled exercise in distraction designed to keep your stupid little brain from dwelling on the fact that bothering to breathe's ultimately pointless and you're going to be dead soon, or something. Keep fighting the fight, Giles. Spend those seconds wisely.

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Patrick Garratt avatar

Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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