Xbox

Blamed for... British Army recruits sucking

The British Army has recently introduced a trial regime of pre-military training at one of its camps because recruits from the "PlayStation generation" are so unfit. "A lot of recruits have never really achieved anything in physical sports, and they’ve never been in a team," said Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Jennings, who's obviously unaware of Wii Sports and the concept of team deathmatches.

In fairness, the finger that's blaming videogames for the new breed of super-unhealthy soldier seems to be pointed by the author of the article in UK newspaper The Sunday Times, Peter Almond, rather than the British Army itself. Nowhere in the piece is any army representative quoted as saying a bad word against gaming, and the eye-catching "PlayStation squaddies sent on fitness course" headline seems to be based solely on Almond's own dim view of game-playing sofa squatters.

Above: With these guys to look up to, how can gamers be unfit for combat?

He writes: "Many recruits accepted into the army have done little sport at school and are likely to have spent more time playing computer games than exercising." Likely to have spent? His assessments are half-baked and completely baseless.

Verdict: Videogames - guilty or not guilty?
Not guilty. You could replace the word "PlayStation" in the headline of the Sunday Times article with a variety of different words depending on your own biases. How about "Beer-drinking squaddies," "Fast food squaddies" or "TV addict squaddies?" They'd all suffice and with more vindication.