Probably noticing the amount of hits it got from the ridiculous Mass Effect "SeXbox" controversy, Fox News has gone on the attack again, this time blaming games for the death of nature.
Digging from a National Academy of Sciences report, Fox says visits to parks and the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses declined between 18 and 25 percent in the 1980s and 90s, about "the period of rapid growth of video games". Coincidence? We think not!
"The replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children," says the report.
"Videophilia has been shown to be a cause of obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance."
Japan suffered similar declines, says the article, as visits to national parks there dropped by 18 percent between 1991 and 2005.
"Fishing peaked in 1981 and had declined 25 percent by 2005, the researchers found. Visits to national parks peaked in 1987 and dropped 23 percent by 2006," the Fox article reads.
Although park visits and fishing declined, hunting held onto most of its market, says the report - probably because games have turned everyone into trigger-happy mentalists.
You can check out the crazy for yourselfhere. But don't say we didn't warn you.
Feb 12, 2008
