Great gamer myths

Videogamers like thumping soundtracks to everything
It gets a bit boring after a while, doesn't it? Again, I'd urge those who think this to look at the videogames themselves and, well, listen to them? It just doesn't stack up, and it's not right to pin the cultural music choices of a given generation to one medium that doesn't even tend to exploit them very much. Plus: isn't it the responsibility of every generation to have music that their parents don't like?

Videogames cause the videogame generation to be violent
Nope. That'd be bad parenting, bad role models, and the usual pot pourri of contributory factors that must frustrate a 24-hour news channel looking for something simple to plug a gap with.

There's never been a proven link between videogames and crime, and never will be. And this is a lazy, generational thing that comes about every ten years or so anyway. In the 80s, it was video nasties. In the 90s, it was the likes of Natural Born Killers. And now it's games. Still, having a handy scapegoat does mean society doesn't have to look for real answers that are likely to be a great deal scarier...

Videogames have turned a generation in anti-social loners
No they haven't, and stop being silly.

Videogames, if anything, increasingly encourage people to play together, crossing age and gender divides. At Christmas, six or seven people were squeezed into my front room to play Wii games, for instance, ranging from a four year up to a pensioner. And everyone took part. That never used to happen with Scrabble 20 years ago. The kids in the street regularly gather together for a gaming session too.

Again, all this clouds a more sinister, more real reason, that fear in society is at a point where parents are scared to let their kids out. How about dealing with that, rather than wheeling out another Professor or snob to tell us how bad the "videogame generation" is?

Videogames are all aggressive and violent
Oh shut up. Take a look on the shelves of the game shop, and tell us how many have age restrictions on them. Not many, right? That's because a small proportion are violent, and the rest take in everything from board games, movie tie-ins, cookbooks, puzzle titles, silly little fun games and even, now, books on a cartridge. While some continue to dismiss the videogame generation, it's actually said generation - the older of whom are now in their 30s, remember - that are trying to do something about the problems in society.

These are just some of the lazy, common myths perpetrated about a generation that, ultimately, is very technically aware, and always has been. It's annoying to see how easily the term "videogame generation" gets banded around negatively with little thought of whether there's any substance to it. Sure, it's a generation with problems, as all generations have.

But let's actually talk about the problems, rather than making silly excuses and inventing scapegoats that simply don't hold much water?