[Opinión] I try to play every day. Sometimes I don’t get it, other times I have to settle for five or ten minutes of normal mobile gaming, and some days (at least) I can give myself a proper bow. Counting my digital collection for PC from GOG Galaxy, I have over 1,150 games, plus the ones I’ve been physically buying for decades, the ones from consoles that passed through my hands, the ones I bought. in the App Store and Google Play… well, I have more games than I will probably be able to enjoy in my entire life.

Play like virtually any other recreational-leisure activity It is a healthy and wholesome habit which, practiced with reason and head, brings a lot to people physically and mentally.. And I’m not the only one saying this, there are many studies that prove this, dispelling the silly theories that equate gaming with drug use and other addictions. It’s not that gaming is compatible with leading a healthy and fulfilling life, but in many cases it is part of the equation to achieve such an outcome.

That same week we told you that Willis Gibson, a 13-year-old boy managed to “finish” the original NES Tetris, released in 1985. You can watch the full video about this paragraph (it’s almost 42 minutes long, with the game and his reaction to achieving it starting at minute 38.25) and the mixture of exhaustion, disbelief and joy he displays seems to me, without a doubt, completely understandable . And if we add to that that he dedicated this feat to his father, who passed away last December, the result is a truly touching story. I don’t know about you, but I am very happy for young Willis, for his success and for being able to dedicate it to his late father.

This should be one of the few consensus generating stories where the unanimous opinion should be something like “Good for Willis, I’m so happy for him, I saw the ending and it’s amazing!” It should, but it isn’t. Sky News presenter Jayne Secker on a news program on the network and After reporting this success, he did not want to share his opinion. I recommend having a bag handy because you might want to throw up:

«Just like a mother [te] I would say step away from the screen, go outside and get some fresh air. Beating Tetris is not a life goal.»

What I would respond to:

«As an adult who has been playing for decades, just me [te] I would say stay away from the demagoguery, go out and learn a little. Being an idiot and having a mind more closed than a bank office on a Sunday night is not the goal in life.»

🎮📰Jayne Secker from Sky News goes off script to tell a 13 year old who achieved WR Lvl. 157 in the NES #Tetris

“Beating Tetris is not a life goal. Go outside and get some fresh air »

This pathetic, ignorant belittling of Willis Gibson’s achievement shows that gaming stigma is unfortunately alive and well pic.twitter.com/KRix9g6A32

— Nintendo South Wales (@Nintendo_SW) January 4, 2024

There are very toxic stereotypes that are perpetuated. Back in the eighties, I remember hearing more than once that the Matartians would melt my brain, that I should go out on the street, which was much healthier. And it affected my morale a lot because I was already doing it, because gaming was and still is completely compatible with practicing many other activities. Yes, we agree, there are people who can be obsessive and that’s why moderation is important, but I can’t help but imagine Secker thinking about how brilliant she was at home after that day at work. that comment while drinking a second glass of good Chardonnay.

I don’t know if he did it in relation to this controversy or if he just did it to create his own, always irreverent and absolutely brilliant Andrés Trasado (he influencer definitively Cultural) posted a tweet yesterday which, as usual, Many people were outraged by this. (obviously unaware of the nature of this Twitter account) who felt directly attacked by a statement closely related to what concerns us:

If you are over thirty and continue to play video games, you don’t have a hobby, you have a problem. https://t.co/hn4KmnTawo

— Andrés Trasado (@andres_trasado) January 5, 2024

Master Trasado is a provocateur in his purest form, a piranha in a pond of small, harmless and adorable goldfish, an expert in the dissociation of meaning and signifier, expressing an opinion in a text that seems to say the opposite (You have to know to understand, yes). Because Trasado plays, Trasado likes to play and it is common to find his publications talking about current and past games.

However, this message from Trasado is very well done because it draws on a current of opinion that still exists and is more common than one might think. A school of thought that believes that any entertainment format invented after the Second Industrial Revolution is harmful, that the only way to enjoy life and leisure in a healthy way is to “go outside”. Yes, although there is an M-30 on one side to breathe carbon dioxide as if you were taking in an exhaust pipe.

To those people, to all those people, to those who don’t realize that spending time playing games is perfectly compatible with spending time in the countryside, reading, watching movies and series, cooking, learning another language… and of course, to those people who in 2024 they continue to say “the little Martians will melt your brains”, the only answer I can think of without failing them in this regard (and not for lack of desire, I must clarify) is the one with which I started this reflection: Let’s play in the room!