Prince Harry kills Taliban; thanks practice on video games

[DigitalSushi]

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.

rumour is he's dyslexic, he dropped out of college, but there was a law put in place that the media couldn't hassle Lady Diana's children... of which he happens to be one of.

think about it this way everyguys, next time your teabagging someone on Halo 4 it just might be Prince Harry!

 

[Risingblade]

So if you're against violent video games...then you support terrorism!

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Of all people, I'm surprised the Escapist community is getting pissed about this.

He simply said he's good at his job because he already had great hand eye coordination from playing video games (hence why he was talking about his thumbs). I'd recon that someone who's familiar with gaming controllers would be able to get the hang of a gunner's seat of an Apache helicopter much quicker than someone who's barely ever touched a controller.

I think the rather sensationalist title is causing people to read this article in a bad light.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Of all people, I'm surprised the Escapist community is getting pissed about this.

He simply said he's good at his job because he already had great hand eye coordination from playing video games (hence why he was talking about his thumbs). I'd recon that someone who's familiar with gaming controllers would be able to get the hang of a gunner's seat of an Apache helicopter much quicker than someone who's barely ever touched a controller.

I think the rather sensationalist title is causing people to read this article in a bad light.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Reaction to this has actually been relatively reasonable.

Surprisingly so, really.

I watched the whole interview (It's about 30 minutes, it's an interesting watch.) He honestly just seems like the average guy who's just trying to serve the military, he seems completely disinterested in the crown and what-not.

Saying video games "Aided his ability" in war actually makes some sense (Also, I'd hasten to add, he is not talking about 'Violent Video Games' He's talking about Fifa.) the control system for a helicopter requires manual dexterity and hand-eye coordinate, something which games do actually aid in.

He's referring entirely to the ability to control the helicopter he's flying. Which, involves looking at a screen, using a joystick to align a reticle to a target, and pulling a trigger.

Sound familiar?

What he said does sound reasonable and plausible, however the newspapers in this country are neither of those things. All they see are the words "Prince Harry" "kill" "Taliban" and "Videogames" then fill in the blanks themselves. So I am quite surprised that the response seems to be quite mild, although I think that they may be due to his royal status. The media and others hardly stupid enough to say that someone who is third in line to the throne has been turned into an amoral killer thanks to videogames.

 

[Fasckira]

What a spin some people are putting on this.... even this thread title has managed to imply something that hasn't actually been said.

The Taliban have already gone off on one, saying hes mentally unstable because of this viewpoint in a bit of propaganda.

 

[Robot Number V]

To be honest, I don't really give a shit about the "videogame" aspect of this, I'm more concerned that he's so freakin' nonchalant about all the killing he was just doing. I mean, some people get PTSD and suffer for the rest of their lives after becoming veterans, but I guess "joy" works too.

 

[Loop Stricken]

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?.

Yaaaaaaay! Hooray for murder!

 

[Lt._nefarious]

Ah, I saw this in the papers earlier and was going to make a thread when I got back from Gangster Squad but looks like I was beaten to it...

OT: Well given I'm a royalist, a gamer and think Prince Harry is awesome this just made me grin. I knew there'd be a back lash but I don't care, he's a prince, he can say what he wants and the fact he's saying he, a prince, likes video games... I just loved it... He's a prince. A prince! He shares a hobby with me and is a prince. Royalty. Prince.

 

[arkwright]

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

Yeah, this'll end well.

LOL sounds a lot like council estate, unemployed scumbag chavs.

Of course im not painting all council estate people with the same shell suits.

 

[major_chaos]

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?.

Yaaaaaaay! Hooray for murder!

Really? you think those people would have hesitated for a second given the chance to kill him? This wasn't him joy riding around shooting people for giggles, this was the elimination of enemy combatants in a war in the name of protecting innocents from violent extremists, so if that counts as "murder" you have a very strange definition of the word. And I just defended the royal family on an internet forum, it seems the Mayans were off by one year.

OT: I like this guy, seems like a royal who actually does something, not to mention being a gamer. Shame that if they so desire the media will blow this way out of proportion.

 

[Loop Stricken]

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?.

Yaaaaaaay! Hooray for murder!

Really? you think those people would have hesitated for a second given the chance to kill him?

No I don't.

Still doesn't mean I have to agree with people calling shooting people 'a joy'.

 

[Legion]

As usual a comment is taken out of context to try and cause controversy where there is none.

In the press to try and criticise our military (the Telegraph frequently does this) and in the OP to get a whole "gamer controversy" discussion going.

To be honest, I don't really give a shit about the "videogame" aspect of this, I'm more concerned that he's so freakin' nonchalant about all the killing he was just doing. I mean, some people get PTSD and suffer for the rest of their lives after becoming veterans, but I guess "joy" works too.

I may be wrong about this but pilots tend to suffer from it less than other soldiers due to being so detached from it all. They are not (often) in a situation where bullets are flying past their heads or being woken up in the middle of the night due to an assault. Flying in the air, they don't really see the more gorier and horrific aspects of combat. In a similar way that snipers tend to be more emotionally detached due to the way they operate, they do not have the same kind of pressure as other soldiers on the frontline as they are often a good mile away from their target and not under fire when they make their kills.

 

[Private Custard]

rumour is he's dyslexic, he dropped out of college, but there was a law put in place that the media couldn't hassle Lady Diana's children... of which he happens to be one of.

think about it this way everyguys, next time your teabagging someone on Halo 4 it just might be Prince Harry!

Everyone knows he's not the brightest penny in the pot. If rules had been exercised as they would have been for normal people, he'd never have even got into the cockpit to clean it, let alone fly.

But this shows us two things,

1)"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others"

2)Most people can be trained for most tasks, even something as complex as piloting a helicopter.

 

[adamsaccount]

What were forgetting is that its ok to kill the taliban because theyre the enemy at the moment. Why the escapist is blowing this up into a bigger deal than anyone else i wont know, im starting to think were all a lot more reactionary than i thought

edit: unless hes teabagging them afterwards that is

 

[JudgeGame]

Lol. Harry legend. This tops the time he went as a nazi to a fancy dress party.

 

[Twilight_guy]

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".

Sounds like he meant that playing games used your thumbs and hands a lot, like like using a joystick and was simply making a connection.

OP, you lied to me about your thread. You should feel ashamed. Make your thread titles more accurate (and less sensationalist) next time.