Gundam's Creator Thinks Video Games Are Evil
Yoshiyuki Tomino was a speaker at the CEDEC game conference this year, and according to this article from Gamasutra, the mind behind the Gundam franchise states that video games are evil and wasteful. Of course, there's a bigger context to all of this. Reading between the lines, he actually seems to be egging on younger developers to make gaming become more conducive to society.
"[Gaming] is not a type of activity that provides any support to our daily lives... Let's say we have about three billion people on this planet wasting their time, bringing no productivity at all. Add 10 billion more people, and what would happen to our planet? Video games are assisting the death of our planet!"
"... has there been anything better than Tetris since it first came out? How many years has it been? This is what I want to tell you: I want you to create a game that does not negatively affect our daily lives and is something that is considered more productive."
Many have dismissed the 70-somethings director as a troll, since he's made equally extreme statements about everything from his stance on strong female characters to the anime industry he's been such a part of. I've heard enough of the man's mad ramblings to realize he just fails at eloquence; it's a shame when he brings up valid points but basically ruins his arguments with grandiose, counterintuitive statements. Being really cynical about it, I could say that Tomino only half cared about what he was saying during his keynote speech and just wanted to use his influence to rouse. After all, Gundam is Japan's equivalent to Star Trek. For the nerds who get it, I think I know where Gihren Zabi took this aspect of his personality from; it wasn't Hitler. :P
Bald, mouthy old men aside, do you guys think that video games are unproductive and unbeneficial? If no, why? If yes, how could we change gaming to make it better?
P.S: Tomino is attending the New York Anime Fest this month, which I'm going to. If the panel allows for a Q&A section at the end, wish me luck. I'm going to see if I can ask him to explain himself.