What's a "chikdren"? I assume it's a typo.

---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.

While, as a libertarian, I disagree with the spending of government monies on research such as this, this would be a much better way to spend money than on illegal wars and bailing out companies that failed themselves. I'm curious as to why people shot down the bill, wouldn't, in their minds, it be a good thing to show teh "harmful" effects of gaming?

EDIT:

After reading the comment I posted, I don't wanna come off as trying to push my political opinions, I was just stating my opposition to "wasteful" spending, although this would be a lot less wasteful than other things.

-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-

Honestly, I don't think its as big a problem as they say.  A game controller is designed to be ergonomic, if it isn't comfortable people wont play with it.  If it is comfortable, then its not causing you to bend your fingers in any strange directions.

So basically, they say that using our hands for something its meant to do (use things) is harmful at a young age now?  Maybe, if it is used too much, but then again doing any one thing too much is bad.  Besides, if the controllers really did cause that kind of damage, then they must have been seriously gripping the thing to cause their fingers to bend like that.

Why is this guy talking about legislation though?  You don't need a bill passed to get something studied right?

Also, I would like to see some things involving a system that isnt a relic.  The N64 was crap, and so was its controller.  I find it ahrd to believe that an xbox or ps3 controller would cause that kind of damage, provided the kid itself isn't 1)gripping too hard, or 2)playing an unhealthy amount of time.

I bet most of the issue here can be resolved by addressing both those points.

Oh, final thought.  Maybe they're being forced to use their hands in strange ways because game controllers are not designed with 4 year olds in mind.  They are made to fit an adults\young adults hands, so the kids might have to do odd things like press shooulder buttons with the tips of fingers or stretch them to reach buttons or even just hold it correctly.  Do they make controllers designed for kids?

This is a new one.  I've been playing games since I was 4 years old, and my fingers are just fine (admittedly, I started with the 2600 joystick).  I know that there are huge numbers of people who have played games since they were younger than 8 years old, and I have never heard of hand deformities.  

I like the portrayal of the games industry as being akin to the stereotypes of Big Tobacco.  Amusing.

Does this man have any real credentials to make his case more credible? His website is full of spelling and gramatical mistakes.  In fact, the homepage almost seems Timecube-esque.  It could be a joke.

I find it funny is that this video is over a year old and the story is only being posted now. That, and it's 100% false.

When Jack Thompson runs his mouth, does anyone really care what he has to say anymore?

 And his qualification is ??? crazy old grandfather ???  I'm sorry but a he-said she-said I-think argument holds about much water as a bucket with no bottom (using a phrase that an old person can understand).

Has someone told him that you can play games on computers... unless he thinks that keyboards and mouses can damage children's fingers too.

Now, I remember that when I started playing with a console pad, I was already 9-10. Previously, I used to play in video arcades, or at home with my MSX computer.

My fingers get sure from playing videogames, same thing from reading books and also playing the Trombone.

Yet this old guy only focuses on videogames and crayons all because he see's kids use them.

Pathetic way of getting attention to be honest.

...I call bullshit on this claim. They showed one kid with messed up fingers and claim that every kid has hand problems now. When I first herad this, it made a bit of sense to me, since I have a young brother and isster who have been gaming since they were very young... But their hands are fine.

The reason I'm most skeptical is that the girl they showed has an odd deformity. Her fingers bend outward for one. Her thumbs bend all the way back, but I've met people who have that feature due to genetics, not pressing their thumbs flat against a N64 controller. It doesn't add up, since game controllers have you curl your fingers around them, hence the ergonormic design. I can't foresee a person being able to hold an n64 controller so tightly with just the tips of their fingers to the point where it would cause them to bend outwards... Which doesn't actually make any sense. Even if using a mouse and keyboard, your fingers are arched, not pressed flat against them.

I'm willing to admit that extensive videogame play can lead to hand pains, because I've experienced it, but the bone deformities this guy is talking about just aren't real. Children at the age of 4 don't have muscles strong enough to press so hard, for so long, that their bones would get damaged. Additionally, games that would require constant button mashing are easier to play with a looser grip.. In fact most games don't really play well at all when you have a vice-grip around the controller.

It just doesn't make any logical sense to me.

Children need to use their hands to build up their dexterity, their muscles aren't strong enough to grip a controller and deform their bones... lol

http://www.eliteownage.com/nice

Why don't we just ban children from playing period? Lock them away in a special chamber until they're 18 and protect them from all the bad pedophiles and dangerous playgrounds and nasty germs and vile, vile, evil video games?

Will that make these people happy?

I've been playing video games longer than I can remember.  My mom says that there was a controller in my hand as soon as I could manage to keep it there and play Sega Genesis games with my dad.  Strangely enough, my fingers are straight...

My left hand's fingers are longer than the right's, but that's from playing guitar, not video games.

You know, too much coloring can lead to other forms of art-making.  Crayons "deform" young hands, and a good many paints are toxic.  See what we're doing to the children!  They're making pretty things at the expense of their health!  Coloring is a gateway drug.

... Either that or this guy is insane.  You know, whichever you think is most likely.

I've been gaming since at least the days of the NES, and NES controllers hurt if you played too long, and my hands are just fine.

shouldn't playing a musical instrament at a young age cause the same effect?

-- Currently doing a research project on the short-short term effects SWBF:2 has on peoples abilities to focus.

I've been playing video games since I was 6, I'm now 22 and my fingers are prefectly straight.

This guy is a fucking moron.

The bones of a child ARE softer than an adults, but not enough that tapping buttons will deform them. Secondly, they're SUPPOSED to be softer (especially in the epiphyseal plate) because if they calcify (as in adulthood) the child wouldn't be able to grow. The epiphyseal plates only harden at age 18-22 so that bone growth ceases. If he thinks that tapping buttons will deform bones, than things like running (which places much larger strain on bones than tapping a button) will create a legion of legless toddlers. This obviously isn't the case.

Dear Mr. Tomich,

Swinging a hammer 8 hours a day will also deform your hands. Should we stop building houses as well? Why not promote KNOWLEDGE instead of abstinance and suggest a way to mitigate the potential for hand injury related to repetitive motion injury?