Prince Harry kills Taliban; thanks practice on video games

[Moth_Monk]

Prince Harry has spoken for the first time about killing Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, saying his role was to ?take a life to save a life?.

The 28-year-old Apache helicopter co-pilot said had taken insurgents ?out of the game? during his 20-week tour of duty, which ended today.
As the crew member in charge of the aircraft?s weapons system, the Prince had his finger on the trigger of its rockets, Hellfire missiles and 30mm cannon, flying scores of missions to destroy Taliban targets and protect British servicemen on the ground.
He said his job as co-pilot gunner was ?a joy?because I?m one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think that I?m probably quite useful?.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9816905/Prince-Harry-confirms-he-killed-Taliban-as-he-returns-from-Afghanistan-saying-Take-a-life-to-save-a-life.html

This is going to go down well...

All those gamers on Halo are going to be awesome at bombing the Taliban!!

 

[Thaluikhain]

Right...so a guy whose family lives off government money has learnt to kill people by playing video games.

Yeah, this'll end well.

 

[Hazy992]

The only thing I gathered from that quote is that he feels games have helped his hand-eye coordination.

Of course people will blow this way out of proportion.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

The only thing I gathered from that quote is that he feels games have helped his hand-eye coordination.

Of course people will blow this way out of proportion.

Yeah, it's a fairly innocuous statement. Especially when you realize he's the gunner on a helicopter -- aren't those things controlled with joysticks? Unlike the idea that gaming makes people better at handling guns, the idea that gaming makes you better at using a joystick and a button may have some merit to it.

And hell, he probably grew up on flight sims. He's the right age -- if he was into PC gaming at all growing up, he probably played some.

 

[mad825]

If I remember correctly, you need an above average BARB score (56+?) with additional qualifications...He's either dumber than he looks or he just doesn't give a fuck.

 

[janjotat]

If I remember correctly, you need an above average BARB score (56+?) with additional qualifications...He's either dumber than he looks or he just doesn't give a fuck.

What is a BARB score?
Since this thread is only on what he did and not the reaction means more mainstream press hasn't exploded yet. I am hoping his comment will soon be forgoten

 

[bananafishtoday]

It's pretty clear he mentioned video games because of hand-eye coordination, not because of their content. It's the kind of statement that would be pretty easy to sensationalize, though.

But there's something else about this that bothers me... he calls his job, which consisted of killing people by dumping explosives on them, "a joy?" Prince Harry, man, fuck you. Seriously. Regardless of one's feelings on whether the war is justified or not, doing what a soldier does is some heavy shit. Not a single person I know who's been deployed would describe what they had to do abroad as "a joy."

(My first thought upon reading that was, "Oh, I bet this one was the dumb bastard who thought it was cool to dress up like a Nazi." So I googled it, and hey, whadaya know.)

 

[mad825]

If I remember correctly, you need an above average BARB score (56+?) with additional qualifications...He's either dumber than he looks or he just doesn't give a fuck.

What is a BARB score?

It's the Army's way of telling if you're a dumb shit or a genius[footnote]you're either dumb or you can processes maths and English with reasonable standards[/footnote] ; IQ test.

 

[janjotat]

It's the Army's way of telling if you're a dumb shit or a genius; IQ test.

Why not just call it an IQ test, or is that too easy?

 

[Shock and Awe]

While I gotta give props to the Prince for actually doing something in his career when he really doesn't have to, but hes not exactly a master of the interview.

 

[Baneat]

The shitstorm's going to be incredible.

Don't make light of killing other men.

Plus the video games angle

And the nazi thing he did + the other thing I can't remember

Brace yourselves, brits.

 

[Sixcess]

I like Harry. He's really taking after his Uncle Andrew, all he needs to do now is start dating some 'unsuitable' girl and he's all set. Must be a second son thing - "the heir and the spare" and all that. It's like William has to toe the line so Harry gets to act up for both of them.

I don't see this causing a fuss. Harry's always doing stupid things, so they pack him back off to Afghanistan to make up for it by shooting people. We're not quite as in awe of our military as the USA is but a few shots of HRH in uniform toting a gun and 'doing his bit', 'being one of the lads' and all that works wonders.

Besides, the tabloids that would be most likely to go on any anti-game crusade love the royal family.

 

[mad825]

It's the Army's way of telling if you're a dumb shit or a genius; IQ test.

Why not just call it an IQ test, or is that too easy?

Too nice.

The questions are so easy that it comes down how fast you can do it.

 

[barbzilla]

It's pretty clear he mentioned video games because of hand-eye coordination, not because of their content. It's the kind of statement that would be pretty easy to sensationalize, though.

But there's something else about this that bothers me... he calls his job, which consisted of killing people by dumping explosives on them, "a joy?" Prince Harry, man, fuck you. Seriously. Regardless of one's feelings on whether the war is justified or not, doing what a soldier does is some heavy shit. Not a single person I know who's been deployed would describe what they had to do abroad as "a joy."

(My first thought upon reading that was, "Oh, I bet this one was the dumb bastard who thought it was cool to dress up like a Nazi." So I googled it, and hey, whadaya know.)

It has been pretty well established that people in aircraft or control rooms tend to be fairly well separated from the horrors of war. This isn't to say that some of them don't feel the weight on their shoulders, but many of them tend to feel like it is a game. The number of reports of aircraft gunners and pilots that have been grounded behind enemy lines and had to fight in ground combat show that many of them return with PTSD from being suddenly immersed in the "horrors of war" as you put it.

P.S. I still agree with you on fuck off Prince Harry. It is a rather insensitive thing to say, and just makes him sound like a douche bag.

 

[Lawyer105]

a guy whose family lives off government money

Ignorant comment is ignorant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw

 

[Thaluikhain]

a guy whose family lives off government money

Ignorant comment is ignorant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw

Joking comment is, you know, joking.

 

[awesomeClaw]

I see nothing wrong with this statement.

Videogames help eye-to-hand coordination? Yup, that might be true.

And unlike some other people, I see nothing wrong with him describing the act of killing another person "a joy". Let´s be honest here: It isn´t like the people he was killing didn´t know that them dying was a possible outcome of their chosen profession. Killing is a part of the human condition, no matter how we try to suppress that instinct. Someone taking pleasure in the death of their enemy is a perfectly normal, and perfectly acceptable thing.

 

[Yokillernick]

Firstly of course this could go down in two ways. Either games will be seen as training machines for killing terrorists or they will regarded as violent things which influence boogie men.

Secondly, I might be missing the point of this, being a thread most likely related to gaming and attitudes towards it but why is it so publicised that Prince Harry killed someone when the regular soldier does that every day. Why does he deserve this kind of special attention ?

Also the fact that he is some sort of rich kid brings me back to Yahtzee's Condemned 2 review showing a rich kid killing off poor people.