Columnist calls video games 'crack cocaine'

by Alexander Sliwinski on Dec 13th 2007 4:00PM

A columnist in Canada has called video games "crack cocaine," bluntly proposing to readers: "Don't play video games." Writing for the conservative National Post, Father Raymond J. de Souza (pictured) explained that he "learned the truth" about video games the hard way -- he hasn't touched one after deleting Tetris. De Souza went on to label video games as "dangerous," blaming them for fat kids and missed pockets in time. Just about what you'd expect from "the crack cocaine of the electronic world."

As if approaching Godwin's Law wasn't enough, Father de Souza also insisted that too many games celebrate graphic violence, multifarious delinquency and borderline pornography. We guess Father de Souza will be missing out on the joys of Peggle too, what with Tetris being "deadly enough" for him.

[Via GamePolitics]

Source

Tags: canada, conservative, desouza, national-post, souza, Tetris

Reader Comments (92)

Wow.

OH EXPLOITABLE

@Obie
Are you actually replying to RKN2K or did you just need to get you comment near the top of the page?

How dare the games industry produce something that people actually like doing.

They should produce something that people avoid doing, like going to church.

Remember kids: If it's fun the Catholic Church is against it.

Catholicism: If you don't feel guilty, you're doing it wrong.

I'd say he got it about right...
I'm going through some kind of withdrawal waiting for my crack coburnoutparadise to download.

Games make people fat. Crack cocaine makes people skinny and crazy like this guy. He does mention crack a lot. Must be on his mind.

Oh lawd...

Hmmm... which is worse: being addicted to video games or being addicted to crack?

Also, video games don't make kids fat. I think that has more to do with overeating and lack of exercise.

If anything, video-game "addiction" should result in underweight kids, not overweight kids. If you have one hand free to eat or drink, you're not an addict.

Also, you never catch the dragon.

It could be argued that the lack of exercise comes from a devotion to sitting in front of the television to play, but the same could be said for DVDs and TV broadcasts. It's just easy for the ignorant to rag on games because they watch TV and movies and they need to pick something they don't do. Its the same reason liberal shit hippies can be all for banning cigarette smoking in public because smoking is so bad for you, but also try to make a case for legalizing weed. Regardless of which you want to call worse, breathing in smoke is bad for you; people just get uppity about the one that doesn't require them to change their lifestyle. In this case, its videogames. If you sit on your ass and eat doritos in front of ESPN or sit on your ass and eat doritos in front of Halo, you're still on your ass eating doritos.

A pat on the back for you Trev, well played.

He indicated that TV is bad for you too. I think video games and TV alike suffer from being "passive entertainment" as described in the article -- but video games much LESS so than other forms of entertainment. In fact, I liken video games more to a form of intense meditation.

@Trev

Well to the hippies defense, they never said they wanted to smoke it in public.

...unless, of course, the kids are eating the games and/or snorting them up their noses.

they can just collect the dust after blending their copies of halo 3

I agree. He missed out on the similar wallet-reducing effect that crack and video games have. As well as the strain that constant use puts on a relationship. I need some Rehab-Hero right about now (not a crack head)...

This guy is basically God, he's got to be right!

Tetris is murder! Rows of blocks have feelings too.

Every row you clear brings you a bit closer to the bottom... of HELL.

Well played, I've never looked at Tetris that way. It's block genocide, pure and simple.

Those conservative catholic ___holes strike again! No wonder Clinton is a shoe-in for president.

Or it could backfire like Vote or Die resulting in all of them going to the polls to ly,.. err keep her out...

It's too bad that she is just as bad (or worse) of a game Nazi.

I don't think "shoe in" is as certain as you think it is.

When you say she is a shoe in, do you mean that Hilary Clinton isn't a shoe in (possible), or the Democratic Party's candidate isn't a shoe in (highly improbable)?

What you know priests don’t dig fat children. Another benefit of being obese Oh Crap heart attack!!!

I remember back in 2000 I was in such a bad way that I was blowing the guy at the arcade for tokens to play Tekken Tag Tournament. I was so bad that I would sneak off into the bathroom at work to feed my Tamagotchi.

Sign him up for a WoW account. Regular games are addictive, but I can and do walk away from them. Weeks and months of my life disappeared thanks to MMOs (which is why I don't play those anymore).

Of course, I'm also addicted to that dirty thing called reading books.

I actually find books way more addictive and more mind altering. People who say game effect people in a way completely different from anything else should consider that in books you literally think each word as you read it. Maybe I'm alone but if I read a particular author enough my thoughts start to match the writing style of the author. I love books but I have to be just as careful about when I pick up a book as I do about when I pick up a video game. You have to be prepared to drop a lot of hours either way.

GodIsAMyth?

Oh he would've shit himself with glee (or rage) about this

Taken in moderation, video games are fine. The problem is when they take over your life and family, health, relationships, work, study, etc suffer.

I dont think it is helpful at all to promote banning them. If anything, that approach would be counter productive to the message he is trying to send.

Well seriously yeah videogames are addictive but I believe that concerns more to the grown up people that have money to buy whatever they want than the kids or teenagers that receive money from their parents and that unable to buy lots of videogames like working adults but they can do whatever they want I mean hey have employees, is their fault if they can’t pay the rent of that month because they bought a PS3.

Now if you want to know something that is more addictive than crack try card games,10x more expensive than videogames. Hell once I met a guy that bought 5,000 in lord of the rings cards. I’m serious he bought like 10 boxes or something; the floor was filled by open booster packs.

Pwned by Tetris! Wow. Yeah, dude, stay away, Tetris is totally violent, delinquent porn.

sucker

Well, it's a fact that 3 out of the 7 Tetris pieces are quite phallic in appearance.
(5 out of 7 if you count mutants)

That guy looks like a pedophile to ya?,I would say yes.

Well, video games are a drug and priests are pedophiles. 15 all.

Hi,

My name is "Fenix" and my friends and I pull all nighter crack sessions....and I'm not ashamed about it damnit!!!

Tetris is deadly, children: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnwRio0VM30

Freeway EA Ross huh?

What's being "stepped on" to make video game crack-cocaine I wonder? 100% pure Columbian videos?

If Video games are so bad... then I MUST be going to hell.

If video games are so wrong, I don't wanna be right.

I was gonna write that first. heh. :)

In related news:

Blog Commenters Call Father Raymond J. de Souza 'Moron'

That man deserves to be fragged.

Haha, what a dick. Yes, some videogames are too addicting (I'm looking at you WoW), but to say something like that about ALL videogames just shows his ignorance. Some games end dipshit, do your research.

As for kids getting obese... I guess TV, internet, and fat food have nothing to do with that right? Noooo... it's the videogames. God damn scapegoating son of a whore.

Video games are to relax, and if you get hooked and play much more than you should, it says a lot more about your lack of self control than it does about video games.

You idiots obviously all missed the point

He means that junkies are crushing their DVD's, BRD's, UMD's, and NDS cartridges and smoking them to get high

duh :P

Sort out your own house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJNzkh5yd6M

No, video games are better than crack cocaine.

Pic of gamer:

http://rushthecourt.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/tyrone_biggums.jpg

Pic of crack addict:
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4997/a637173f668c1e1aa608bbatj2.jpg

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Columnist calls video games 'crack cocaine'

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