British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids

British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids

December 15, 2008

While the UK has been Ground Zero for much of the current societal debate over video games, a cabinet minister has unabashedly come out in support of the medium.

As reported by the Mirror, Minister for Transformational Government Tom Watson (left) encourages young people to play games, even the violent ones. Watson, whose job is to encourage the use of new tech in government bureaucracy, told the newspaper:

Basically, I think playing games is a good thing. I'd rather my boy be playing on his Wii than passively watching telly. Most games are educational. They make you think, focus, challenge and change - 500 years ago a medium that did this would be called art.

Via: Kotaku

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Comments

Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by Archgabe - December 15, 2008 at 7:48 am -0500

There has to be a catch here.  Otherwise I have to get my eyes checked.  Did I just see a politician speak favorably of kids playing videogames?  It is such a rare thing these days I have a hard time accepting when my eyes just told me.

Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by Larington - December 15, 2008 at 7:53 am -0500

Actually, its more likely increased sympathy due to being someone who (At least looks as though) hes grown up with this relatively new form of entertainment, rather than the vast majority who didn't and are therefor more likely to be afraid of something they don't quite understand. Fear of the unknown is powerful thing indeed.

Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by DarkSaber - December 15, 2008 at 8:02 am -0500

His job is to help intorduce new tech into the governement structure, so he'd have to be sort of person who both understands and embraces new technology. His comment about it being art is right on the money.

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Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by DeepThorn - December 15, 2008 at 9:48 am -0500

And art it is...  A truly great game is art on so many levels, it can only be qualified as a masterpiece.  Between the 3d models, the music, the sound effects, the story, the animation, some amazing programming features and more, the truly great games are something of it's own, but the elderly folk are lost and can't understand that.  I am sorry, but Final Fantasy 7 was absolutely amazing for it's time.  Hell, the original Final Fantasy is still amazing when you take into consideration that it is 8-bit.

Maybe that is the angle we really need to be attacking these guys with, and show to them where the art in these games are, then where the educational value is, then the rest of it.  Wait, I forgot, these guys don't even know how to work email...

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Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by shady8x - December 15, 2008 at 9:50 am -0500

This may be the first time I heard of a politician saying all games are good, play them...

The good ones usually stop at supporting age rating systems or standing up against censorship... can't seem to remember anyone just saying something like this...

Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by Bennett Beeny - December 15, 2008 at 10:52 am -0500

Sadly, if you read the full article, it ends with the common wisdom - some stupid old tart (Heather Welford, the Mirror's Childcare & Parenting Author) ridicules the idea behind the first two thirds of the article and basically says that gaming is turning young children into un-teachable morons.

The problem is, gaming does lower kids' attention spans - but that's not a bad thing.  A lowered attention span used to be called 'getting bored'.  The problem is not that games make children bored in school - the problem is that kids are getting bored because lessons are intensely boring.  Kids are still being taught using methods that are 50 years old, and modern kids, used to videogames which teach using methods developed in the last decade, are bored to tears by lesson programs that teach at a rate that basically feels like driving at 10mph down the freeway.

By the way, Tom Watson has a blog at http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/ .  I've been reading some of his stuff there and it seems he's truly one of the good guys.

Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by ZippyDSMlee - December 15, 2008 at 11:40 am -0500

Yes yes it is Art beit though in a abstract sense mind you I am talking about the skills of art gaming is akin to reading the classics more than gaining a skill and creating something...altho some of us get inspired and think we can create :P
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Re: British Cabinet Minister: Games Are Good For Kids
Submitted by Shadow D. Darkman - December 15, 2008 at 11:26 pm -0500

Tom, mah boi, you must strive for this peace, like the other warriors.

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