British Army head commends 'PlayStation generation'

26 Comments by James Ransom-Wiley Nov 28th 2007 4:15PM
Filed under: Culture

Speaking to an assembly of business leasers, British Army Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt praised the efforts of the country's young gamers as they continue to battle in Afghanistan and Iraq. General Dannatt recalled, "There was a time when commentators and some more experienced members of the Army expressed concern as to whether the 'PlayStation generation' were up to dealing with the gritty bloody conflict," before he dismissed the fear. "Our young soldiers, drawn from across British society, are more than a match for what is required of them and I salute every one of them," Dannatt lauded.

The general's morale boost comes just seven weeks after ~~English~~ Barclays Premier League (soccer) manager Harry Redknapp blamed "X-Box" and "video game passion" for the country's lack of homegrown athletic talent. Look again Redknapp, all of your would-be footie stars are simply going off to war.

Tags: army, playstation-generation, richard-dannatt, uk

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Gregory: Nov 28th 2007; 4:35PM

is that really the army chief cuz i think i know somebody that looks just like that guy

Dan: Nov 28th 2007; 5:53PM

Harry Redknapp blamed "X-Box" and "video game passion" for the country's lack of homegrown athletic talent.

Or maybe its because we don't want british players, managers seem quite happy to just buy 11 foreign players.

mike_p: Nov 28th 2007; 6:57PM

Dan has a point. It's quite the issue over here especially with England just having got knocked out of Euro 2008 by Croatia.

I think Harry was more making the point that kids nowadays don't go outside to play as much footie for entertainment. They stay inside and play PES or FIFA on their console instead...

ColossalHat: Nov 28th 2007; 4:36PM

What?! Someone in a political position not saying video games are bad?! It's the end of the world!

Oh wait, British Army. I wish the US had people who didn't use scare tactics against video games.

LaughingTarget: Nov 28th 2007; 5:05PM

Nah, the BBFC just has the monopoly on that over there.

Chris: Nov 28th 2007; 5:41PM

Gordon Brown said that there isnt a big problem with games and its the parents. and hes teh PM ! (prime minister the dude in charge of the UK)

Matt: Nov 28th 2007; 4:37PM

This doesn't surprise me... The millennial generation is suppose to be the next great generation. According to the book Millennials Rising. Most of them are optimistic individualist, which is a stark difference from the pessimistic collectivist the baby boomers are.

Banners: Nov 28th 2007; 4:46PM

Don't believe anything Harry Redknapp says - he's been arrested today...

BBC

mike_p: Nov 30th 2007; 7:33AM

... and that means fuck all.

Leobebes: Nov 28th 2007; 4:47PM

I feel kind of left out. I have never owned a playstation product. Probably didn't miss out on much.

Atari
NES
Genesis
GameGear
SNES
N64
Dreamcast
Xbox Gamecube
Xbox 360
Wii

ColossalHat: Nov 28th 2007; 5:01PM

You mostly missed RPGs FF7-12, Kingdom Hearts 1&2, and Star Ocean 2 & 3 for starters.

You also missed Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, two of the greatest PS2 games ever made. Ratchet & Clank if you're into platformer/action games and a (very) few worthwhile shooters.

That's about all I can think of for games I'm interested in that were exclusives.

gonk: Nov 28th 2007; 5:05PM

god of war
gta3

couple of big ones there. also the jak/daxter series was decent enough

LaughingTarget: Nov 28th 2007; 5:07PM

GTA3 made its way to the Xbox. If you're not an RPG fan, the PS2 didn't offer up much worth talking about. RPG fan, you really have to own one at one point or another.

License to ill: Nov 28th 2007; 5:15PM

You missed out on a lot of great games, there's a reason PS1 and PS2 sold over a 100 million sku's...

KHCloud: Nov 28th 2007; 5:56PM

I want an X-Box Gamecube, how about you guys?

Catdogburger: Nov 28th 2007; 9:53PM

@ KHcloud

http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/4,2686.htm

Van Faulk: Nov 28th 2007; 4:49PM

Finally someone who agrees that we shoud be using playstation fans as cannon fodder. I thought I was alone in the world.

And for those that like to get offended, I'm joking.

NATO_Duke: Nov 28th 2007; 5:07PM

+1 It made me laugh.

Judd: Nov 28th 2007; 4:51PM

It's a no-win situation. If the argument is being made that gamers can take after the action seen in video games, than the public may think that gamers may end up being good soldiers, but then games will also be accused of training people to engage in school shootings.

If the argument is being made that gamers don't take after the action seen in video games, than they are viewed as lazy bums who are unathletic losers, and will get their asses kicked in a fight.

The hypocrisy of government is really evident here. If a kid who plays games shoots someone in their own country, than video games are to blame. But if a kid who plays games becomes better at shooting someone in other countries, than the 'Playstation generation should be commended.

The truth is somewhere in between. I have never held a gun, and I'm sure many of you who have will argue that shooting in a game is nothing like firing a rifle in real life. I do not disagree that they are completely different. And I totally disagree with the notion that playing a violent game will cause someone to act it out in real life.

However, if someone is being instructed to kill anyway, perhaps their are some aspects of games that would make people more accurate soldiers. Think about a game like Call of Duty. I know that if I am holding a pistol, I can shoot at medium range, and if I'm holding a shotgun I should be close up. If I am using a sniper, I know that I need to keep steady. I have a sense of aim, and the fast-paced style of games have taught me hand-eye coordination.

Take driving for example. 99% of how to drive can only be explained if you're actually in the driver's seat. However, games taught me good hand-eye coordination so I had a sense of pressing the right and left trigger, as I was pressing the gas and brake.

Once again, I am not suggesting that knowing how to use a weapon in a game means that you can use a weapon in real life. But it couldn't hurt.

reppy: Nov 28th 2007; 5:07PM

Stop the presses! An army chief just praised the army!

gonk: Nov 28th 2007; 5:13PM

it's no surprise, most videogames are comprised of mundane tasks but also condition you to be more observant and quick-witted, which are good traits for soldiers

Sidepocket: Nov 28th 2007; 5:50PM

"Conservatives do not care about you until you reach military age! Then you are just all right. Just what they were looking for. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise dead soldiers!"

-- George Carlin

Leo: Nov 28th 2007; 6:00PM

Like omfg! Britten is teh biased aginst t3h Xb0x!

Gamertag: SUPERPWNZERIZER123456789

dvnt: Nov 28th 2007; 7:50PM

It seems every generation is good at dying! Imagine that!

Justin: Nov 28th 2007; 7:55PM

I've owned a lot of video game consoles, but never a playstation:

Commodore 64
Atari 2600
NES
Sega Game Gear
SNES
Sega Genesis
Sega CD
Sega Saturn
Gameboy
Xbox
N64
Wii

eatrice: Nov 28th 2007; 8:05PM

Joystiq, joystiq, joystiq...

It isn't the English Premier League anymore....

It's the Barclay's Premier League.

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