Prince Harry has said that he thinks Fortnite should be banned from the UK. Yeah, jog on mate.
The remarks came during an appearance in London where he participated in a discussion with mental health experts on the dangers of video games and social media. During a speech in which he claimed that social media was more addictive than drugs and alcohol (no it isn’t), he touched on Fortnite, saying:
“The game shouldn’t be allowed. Where is the benefit of having it in your household? It’s created to addict, an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. It’s so irresponsible.”
Yeah, thanks for that Harry. It sounds like you’ve really got a tight grasp of what Fortnite is. My bet is that he doesn’t actually have the faintest idea of what he’s talking about and is instead parroting the last chat he had with a concerned mum worried that her kid enjoys video games a bit too much. Sadly, this “they should all be banned” routine is a tune that’s persisted over the entirety of gaming history. For example, here’s a quote from a snooty British politician:
“They play truant, miss meals, and give up other normal activity to play the game. They become crazed, with eyes glazed, oblivious to everything around them, as they play. It is difficult to appreciate unless one has seen it for oneself.”
What nightmarish horror of addiction is this guy talking about? Space Invaders.Â
That said, if British youth are looking for a model to base their own lives on, they could do far worse than Prince Harry. After all, he had a great time dressing up like a Nazi for a costume party, often gets drunk and makes a tit of himself, has shot people from the safety of a helicopter and was sent to rehab by his dad after being caught smoking cannabis. So, y’know, before this guy starts blabbering on about what “irresponsible behaviour” is, maybe he should take a long, hard look in the mirror.
Fortunately, Prince Harry possesses no power to ban anything at all in the UK, and if he ever did start seriously throwing his weight around, some French guy invented a device a while back that’s traditionally put a stop to that sort of thing pretty quickly.