Daily Mail: DS a "small but toxic drug"

[Shrygue]

via Computer and Video Games


With The Guardian's sudden acceptance of video games, we thought we could soon be out of a job. Thank god for The Daily Mail, which continues to publish biased games editorials.

In an article entitled "Ninten-Don't... How I watched my children turn into monsters the minute I bought them a computer game," columnist Rosie Millard documents her "selfish desire to be Mother of the Year" by buying a DS for her four kids to share. One each would have been a good start.

After importing it straight in from Hong-Kong and "crammed with a 'bundle' of 20 games including Brain Trainer, Fifa 08, and Nintendogs" (*cough* flashcart * cough), she found that leaving four children unsupervised led to arguments about who would use it next.

"It was eight in the morning," she writes. "No one had eaten breakfast. The curtains had not been opened. The beds had not been made. The dog had not been walked. Our habitual regime of a ten-minute morning music practice had been abandoned."

Never mind the problems with the DS; call the NSPCC. That's not a happy home - it sounds more like a workhouse.

"Gabriel", she adds, "became obsessed with playing the football game Fifa 08: over meals, on the loo, in bed at midnight." Whilst we realise that anyone whose parents had named them Gabriel would resort to escapism, we can't help but wonder how the little angel was able to do all this. Surely Millard realised that she might need to use some control over when the DS could be played?

Apparently not. According to her, it's all Nintendo's fault. "Our Nintendo had taken the guise of a small but toxic drug which, little by little, was poisoning my children."

The story does have a happy ending, though. At least for Millard. "At the same time that all the children started crying and yelling before breakfast, I spotted Phoebe's cello and I realised that she had not got it out of its case all week."

Shock-horror! A child has enjoyed something not imposed upon them? Call the police!

"Yet she had notched up probably around eight hours on the Nintendo. There and then, I made my mind up. The Nintendo had to go."

[robman84]

As a responsible parent, I control when my kids play our various consoles. There are no arguments. We have an active and varied life. No-one throws strops. My kids enjoy going to music lessons and scouts etc. They get lots of fresh air.

As a good citizen I will help this poor woman out by taking the evil DS away from her family and freeing her from its tyranny. Even better I will do this without charge.

Then we can do 3 player mario kart DS at home.

[pas]

As a responsible parent, I control when my kids play our various consoles. There are no arguments. We have an active and varied life. No-one throws strops. My kids enjoy going to music lessons and scouts etc. They get lots of fresh air.

As a good citizen I will help this poor woman out by taking the evil DS away from her family and freeing her from its tyranny. Even better I will do this without charge.

Then we can do 3 player mario kart DS at home.

Nice one ! The women was just another attention-thriving "monster"... PPL really should change, unlike the case up there which is ununderstandable... the description " they should play music instruments" really puts me off and puts the story in a conservative light, probably like the women ?

[mikebeaver]

Well, I for one think that Nintendo need's to be informed of this, she is blatently and happily saying she bought her gmaes from Hing Kong and it included pirate material, surely she could be investigated for that should they wish for herto feel the force, lol.

All together I think she is a moron, who buys a single player device for 4, yes FOUR children to share??? When I was a child I hated sharing anything, but when it came to video games I loved all things two player/ multi-player, it wa a chance for competition, if anything she i a bad parent!

Mike..

[wiggy fuzz]

right, that's two numbskulls this week who've bought a DS hoping to share it amoung 3 or 4 kids...

next to people saying "GTA 4 is the most violent game around" (everyone forgotten about manhunt already?) this is easily the stupidest thing i've heard (and next to the "wii fit called me fat")

[trugamer]

i just wrote a comment (on the daily Mail website) and got this mesage
"Your comment will be reviewed shortly. Comments may be edited and not all will be published." i get a suspicious feeling that might be aimed at me

[limming]

Of course the kids will fight over it! You can't share 1 DS between 4 people! They probably have been deprived of video games their entire lives. The mother should go to jail.

[davidcrew]

sounds like another idiotic homeschooling parent who is maliciously forcing her children to do everything, and when they finally find an escape in a glorious device such as the nintendo ds, children can't help but focus solely on the ds and ignore their "cellos" lawl

[koh-kun]

Wow the idiot can't controll her kids, some news.

Throwing in one awesome toy in a group of four kids; what the hell did she thing was gonna happen??

And she seems to have purchased illegal copies of games for her kids, some 'mother of the year' she is.

[theotherfreakyguy]

This woman can't blame Nintendo for this. She needs to set some rules and take control; not complain to a magazine that she can't take care of her kids effeciently (spelling?). Some mother of the year she is.