The games young people play

ONE of the video games industry's most respected figures has called for an end to the debate over whether the games are harmful to children.

Will Wright, (pictured right) the man behind the world's bestselling computer game, The Sims, said he believes that fears over the negative influence of video games are merely symptoms of a generation gap.

"I think there's always been a generational divide between people who play games and people who don't," he said. "I think the cultural acceptance of games is inevitable just because people are going to have grown up having this technology."

Mr Wright, 47, said that the opprobrium heaped on video games today was much like the drastic reactions meted out to cinema and literature in the past.

"It goes in fits and starts over time. If there's a school shooting, it's always a case of 'did they play games or not?'. You don't really hear much about what movies they watch or what books they read," he said.

"But 50 years ago that's exactly what you heard - 'did they read To Kill A Mockingbird?' or whatever it was. They would blame social ills on anything that was at hand."

l Have YOUR SAY about the internet and video games - what do you love about them, what do you think the risks might be and what are your ideas for the future? Email marieclaire@gulfweekly.com.