That no senior politician plays video games and it is one of the reasons they suck.

[JohnMcCainsDeathStare]

Something that has made me think and this is almost certainly a generational thing since Millenials and younger Gen Xers have grown up with them is that I bet most politicians don't play video game or indeed know what they are.

I think they are very important, they help problem-solving and thinking on your own, that is the simple ones like Pacman and Mario Bros. Not to mention strategy and First Person Shooters helping with tactings and in some case, working with other people. (I miss LAN parties and the huge rucks we'd have playing WarCraft 3).

But also the classics like Civilization and Alpha Centuri - remarkably sophisticated games that actually have you care about the outcome and your people, even if they are defined by lines of code. There are still quotes for Alpha Century that hit me in the feels. Not to mention a good Role Playing Game - Zelda still a good one after 30 years.

So what I'm saying is that a lack of playfullness and a lack of gaming makes politicians that are bad at being humans and bad at empathy? Unless it is mindgames shit gaming that totally sucks and is no fun at all unless you are a garbage human?

PS I know this should be in Gaming but you could stow a corpse in there and no-one would know for a week.

Anyone who thinks all gamers are "knuckle draggers" or "weirdos" should check out the amazing work Special Effects do.

Then have a rethink.

Good point, events like Games Done Quick raise millions for charity every year. But yeh knuckle dragging weirdos.

Also companies like Rockstar, TT Games, Jagex employ thousands in the UK.

Aye, and they pay peanuts!
People are always desperate to work in the gaming industry, so they sign up for mediocre remuneration packages. The real money in computing is financial systems, where the pay is excellent... because the work can be quite dull and certainly isn't as whizzy as a kewl gaming company that have a console in the canteen...

Nah, you're ok. I have a real life and I'd hope that those in Government do too

You mean like the posting on MN type of real life? Score

Well it only took me seconds, whereas a game goes on for quite a bit longer.

"Well it only took me seconds, whereas a game goes on for quite a bit longer."

Round of applause for you.

"Aye, and they pay peanuts!"

My ex's friend works for Rockstar North and he is definitely not short of a few quid...

Depends on the game and how much time you spend on mumsnet.

But I'm sure the billions of people who play video games don't have real lives. Just fake lives, whatever they are.

Maybe elections should be decided by Smash Brothers from now on. BoJo could be Wario.

How do you know that Dominic Raab doesn’t go home and play several games of FIFA after doing the briefing?

It would probably be FIFA - an annular franchise crapped out cheaply and with enough dubious DLC to fleam you bank account!

I think I read that Cameron was a big Angry Birds fan?

Don't forget that Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey's character in House of Cards) was a big Monument Valley player. I know he's fictional but still...

I'll tell why I'm adverse to video games

My ex was addicted to his xbox and hed sit there for hours on it, checked out of family life, used to feed our babies holding an xbox pad and not eat meals with us because he couldn't pause the game when he was gaming on line with others. Hed play it when he came home from work and until 4 or 5 in the morning. In fact he bought himself a sofa bed and moved himself into the front room so he could game more. We weren't allowed to watch tv in there.

Most of the mental load falls to women and so does childcare, a lot of men seem to take advantage of that and just use gaming as an excuse to get away from life.

Gaming affected my exes health and his relationship and he never did anything with us nor took pleasure in the house or outdoors

I'm now with a man who doesn't game..apart from a poker app on his phone and he only plays that when hes got a spare 10 mins or two..its everyday but doesn't impact at all

Its lovely being with a man who doesn't stare at a screen for hours, is active and takes pride and pleasure in the house.

I hate games consoles. It's always men that get addicted.

/waves to all the fellow gamers, particularly the other night elf restoration druid . I also love a bit of age of empires 2 and Civ 4/5.

I do think games can be great. They certainly can teach teamwork, creativity, strategy, and more. But so can other hobbies. I do think politicians should have outside interests to get them out of the bubble they all seem to inhabit, but whether they have time for anything like that (or be allowed by the media) is another matter.

We are a family of gamers (3 teenagers plus me and DH). It's great that we can all sit down together and do something we all enjoy, be that a 5 man instance in classic WoW, or a board game like settlers or pandemic. When not in lockdown we all have other group hobbies like sports and music, but as we can't do those things at the moment, the games have been a great family activity.

Where’s the award for the daftest post today?

ghostmouse3

I'm sorry you had a bad time, but you must understand you had an ex issue rather than a games issue.

Cross posted with @ghostmous3 above. Taking any activity to extremes is bad, and gaming from getting in from work till 5am is certainly extreme. I'm not at all surprised that he's an ex. Any hobby that takes over someones life and means they effectively abandon their family is wrong, but this sort of behaviour isn't limited to gaming. We see it all the time on here with things like cycling/golfing/model train making etc (well, maybe not so much the last one). Gaming is like those other hobbies in that although its possible to go overboard, it is perfectly possible, and indeed enjoyable, to play them in moderation too.

I bet Ed Miliband is a Super Mario fan.

I love computer games. And I'm in my late 60s.

But I think your premise is rubbish. Sorry. How did we manage in the days before video games? Just fine.

So they aren't men children playing with their toys.
I'm glad my generation didn't have them tbh, it would be a real turn off for me.
little boys with little toys and of course little dicks, lol.

@Devlesko

Surprise surprise, you're ignorant in this way too.

No, just my opinion of which I'm entitled.

Nothing wrong with video games, but I don't love the attitude that one person's hobby is the only way to become a decent person.

"So they aren't men children playing with their toys.
I'm glad my generation didn't have them tbh, it would be a real turn off for me.
little boys with little toys and of course little dicks, lol. grin"

Did somebody say something about an award for the most stupid post?

Just wondering - who do you think was first in line playing, programming (usually from multiple pages of code printed in magazines), buying and developing computer games? Generation Xers aren't old enough.

And computer games are built on a foundation of thousands of years of other games, which all MPs would have played as children at the very least - plus any working in defence would have direct experience of using simulation software, for example, long before Asteroid and Galaxian were released by Atari and Namco and put into student union bars.