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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

180 replies

JohnMcCainsDeathStare · 05/05/2020 07:55

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.

OP posts:
ChewChewIsMySpiritAnimal · 06/05/2020 12:34

Not all gamers are the knuckle dragging, basement dwelling, sleep all day and awake all night socially rejected weirdos that people assume we are. Some of us use gaming as a tool to unwind at the end of the day, much the same as "normal" people would read, knit, or watch television.

Gaming is a lovely bit of escapism. Red dead redemption 2, for example, is a stunningly beautiful game and the storyline haunted me for weeks after finishing it. It was like playing an extremely well acted film. I am currently playing assassins creed odyssey. Also a beautiful game with a strong female protagonist, set in ancient Greece. I play or for an hour or so maybe 3 or 4 evenings a week to de-stress.

Plenty of other people on Mumsnet reach for a glass of wine (or a bottle. Some people most nights, judging by recent threads on here). Somehow, drinking wine and gin excessively is seen to be aspirational and middle class but gaming is for knuckle dragging weirdos. Which hobby do you think is more damaging to one's health though?

ReadilyAvailable · 06/05/2020 12:46

Why on earth are people posting on MN about how video games are a waste of time?

Currently DH is playing a game of FIFA (he’s losing 5-2) on his lunch break and I’m MNing. I don’t see any moral superiority in the latter.

Theeighthelephant · 06/05/2020 13:06

@Devlesko

You're entitled to your opinion, I'm entitled to think it makes you an immature idiot.

PineappleDanish · 06/05/2020 13:08

Red Dead 2 is stunning. The landscapes and attention to detail are amazing. And yes, Arthur is a great character too :-)

Devlesko · 06/05/2020 13:09

Hey elephant

DFOD. I can tell you have a useless dh, too. Grin You are very obvious.

MarieQueenofScots · 06/05/2020 13:15

My gamer isn’t useless. He’s thriving during lockdown earning massive amounts of money for what is essential their hobby Grin

MarieQueenofScots · 06/05/2020 13:15

*gamer ex that should say Smile

StCharlotte · 06/05/2020 13:15

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

You see OP you might well have a point but I'm losing a lot of what you're saying thanks to the somewhat opaque terminology.

Anyway, let's flip the question: why don't gamers go into politics if they're so mentally and emotionally well equipped?

ReadilyAvailable · 06/05/2020 13:23

I’m sure increasing numbers of gamers will go into politics (and every other field) simply because it’s really not a niche activity at all any more. Nor is it ‘just for kids’.

They probably don’t and won’t bang on about their gaming though because it’s not relevant.

The consultant you see for a hospital appointment might well spend a lot of their spare time playing fortnite. How would you know? They’re not going to mention it to you any more than they’d tell you about their mamil tendencies or what they had for dinner last night. It’s just not relevant.

Theeighthelephant · 06/05/2020 13:25

@Devlesko

I don't have a DH useless or otherwise, but of you are making bullshit assumptions about billions of people you might as well make bullshit assumptions about me.

TooGood2BeTrue · 06/05/2020 13:27

What a batshit theory.

Sonichu · 06/05/2020 15:03

"Why on earth are people posting on MN about how video games are a waste of time?"

The irony of being "existing in virtual worlds, interacting with strangers online" really is lost on them.

chickenblc · 06/05/2020 19:29

Maybe if Trump played more Angry Birds he'd spend less time tweeting.

Nanny0gg · 06/05/2020 21:27

Maybe if Trump played more Angry Birds he'd spend less time tweeting

Someone needs to take his tech away and stand him in the corner.

For all our sake.

JohnMcCainsDeathStare · 06/05/2020 23:14

Video games are like any other pasttime - dangerous in excess. I too have seen people jack their degrees with video games - including an ex of mine (I STILL REFUSED TO BELIEVE HE WASN'T MARRIAGE MATERIAL UNTIL HE DUMPT ME!). But if there weren't video games it would have been something else.

Thing is, we do it as a family and have virtual hang-outs now with friends. DH and I have 7 consoles and 4 generations between us.
And it does help me keep fit - I pretend to be Mario when doing obstacle courses. Also seen myself eyeballing Man vs Lakes in 2021 (if I have a job that is...) so I can pretend to be Link in BOTW..

Perhaps if we put Trump in the corner with Tetris he would do a lot less damage...

OP posts:
JohnMcCainsDeathStare · 07/05/2020 00:23

Weird thing is, I HAVE drifted into politics but since I never do anything to be popular it makes me something of an oxymoron. Especially the recent discussions I have had with other party members about nuclear power as I take a pro-nuclear stance, putting the cat amongst the pigeons

OP posts:
DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 07/05/2020 01:19

In general, politicians lack playfulness. Certainly the post-2020 intake seem to have no hinterland. Churchill laid bricks, Heath was a yachtsman and musician, quite a few MPs wrote, some of them well. This lot...you can just imagine them plugging into a charging station at night, like so many Roombas.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 07/05/2020 01:20

Post-2010, fatfinger.

JohnMcCainsDeathStare · 07/05/2020 07:54

Yes, I think if a job is so all-consuming that you cannot have any respite during working time then it is a failure of management, not the job itself. Even soldiers on active duty are supposed to be on a rotation from the front line.

OP posts:
Chickenblc · 07/05/2020 15:46

Trump is too thick to play Tetris.

lazylinguist · 07/05/2020 15:52

Video games are great, but you do know that you can learn to interact with people and learn problem-solving through real life as well, right? Grin

serialtester · 07/05/2020 16:23

OP - I'm reading your posts in the voice of Dobby from peep show.

Bernarnold · 07/05/2020 18:06

@Devlesko

Speak for yourself....

PineappleDanish · 07/05/2020 18:07

Trump is too thick to play Tetris.

Sadly true. He's probably like the Fallout series though as China is the bad guy.

JohnMcCainsDeathStare · 08/05/2020 07:32

@serialtester

You might not be that far off - only a bit more RP.
NOW I realise why I creep so many people out - they think I'm 3 people! One teenage weirdo, one apparent much older wierdo in the body of a (now) middle aged women

Other PP - you are probably right about Trump and Tetris. Having said that, did you know its actually been used as a type of EMDR therapy amongst trauma victims?

OP posts:
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