November 29, 2007
While West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green whines about the effect of the PlayStation and other video game consoles on the quality of England's football play, the top general in the British Army has only praise for the "PlayStation Generation".As reported by icWales, British Army Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt (left) praise the efforts of his nation's young soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq:
There is no doubt in my mind that our people, whether from the specialist Air Assault and Commando Brigades, or from the Ground Manoeuvre Brigades are all up to the job.
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. 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.
The courage, steadfastness and professionalism of our soldiers has been exemplary.
Dannatt made his remarks during an address to the Cardiff Business Club.
Via: Joystiq
Comments
Re: British Army Chief Commends "PlayStation Generation"
exactly, he only thought the less offensive stereotype that gamers are lazy wastrels, but stands corrected when proven wrong
now if only the nutjobs like larouche and thompson could comprehend the idea of 'being wrong' about everything and realise their mistakes. But alas, I fear it wont happen.
LaRouche "I told you so!" in 5, 4, 3...
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Now if only we could get him back to the UK and let him have a wack at manhunt.
if your sports team screws up a match, you blame it on video games
makes perfect sense
Basically, the army were concerned that this generation that were bought up 'on their butts' playing video games wouldn't be able to match the physical demands of the army.
They aren't saying the Playstation makes people good soldiers, they're saying they are surprised that it didn't make people into bad soldiers.
The man isn't saying that playing on a console had anything to do with how suitable they are to be soldiers. The latest generation (as many others have been I imagine) are often seen as softer or weaker than generations past ("Things were tough back in my day, you don't know how easy you have it...").
All he is saying is that despite concerns that today's youth may not care as much, or be brave enough or talented enough to be members of the armed forces, many of them have proven that they are up to the task, and he salutes them for that.
We are considered a softer generation than our forebearers. We are also seen as lazy, apathetic, and , in extreme cases, inept. However, a General is going out there and dropping the hammer saying these young men and women are just as capable, just as professional, just as willing as those first frogmen to scale the cliffs outside of Normandy 63 years ago. Well, maybe not the frogmen per se but the drive and discipline is there.
I'll take a complement where I can get them.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
He's talking about God's Own, not you Americans.
What's that? He's not talking about games at all? He's just saying that a particular generation, having grown up in the 90s, has turned out to be quite good when it comes to army-type things despite other claims that they're worthless layabouts and yobs?
That is a very good point. Most games on the market star a very heroic character. Very few games are about criminals.
So let them train me to be a one man army in defense of the world from invading zombie aliens.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
His comment is nothing to do with games in general, but one important piece of information is implied here.
He is imlying that beforehand he (or the commenters etc) thought the playstation generation would not cope as well as previous generations in combat, it was their professional opinion that games would lead to worse performance in combat.
SO he thought the opposite of what people like the Larouche cult and Thompson shove in people's faces, but was pleasantly surprised.
Well, video games do encourage thinking on your toes and quick decision making