Yeah, because council estate kids can afford computer games to become 'desensitised' to violence... what a tit.

From own experience, it's not like EVERYONE of them is stupid cunts, several is really intelligent in their own way. It's mostly that their family situation and such has ruined their trust for society.

Doesn't make them much less fuckheads though. Most of them.

For some reason I expected more from Noel. In hindsight I dont really know why.

Jim, you hit the nail on the head.

I hated Oasis before, now the rage has hit a new level I didn't even realise existed.

Go fuck yourself Noel.

Dude, Jim.

Stop holding back.

Tell us how you really feel.

Noel has proven time and time again that he is an ignorant tit.

People still listen to Oasis, let alone care what their lead singer thinks? Hmm. You learn something new every day.

How Noel, remember when your own musical genre was blamed for all you problems of the day?

All those kids listening to those fast beats with their bodies twisting and cavorting and TOUCHING while they danced? Disgraceful!

Go back to pretending you're a Beatle, mate.

Wonderwall inspired me to murder an old woman

Nobody ever blames the parents. Ever. If someone were to write a book chastising the parents of the world for the apparently crappy job most of them have been doing, I would purchase 12 copies and eat five of them.

Dick.

I think he might have a point. I've been known to smoke super skunk, play violent video games, and go on killing sprees and have baby punching parties.

@Finsbury

Your argument would have substance in it if the crime in question was motivated by money. But when the crime is plain and simply motivated by causing suffering to other human beings, then I can agree with Jim's "Nazi attitude".

Just now I read about a murder case in the UK where a 17 year old boy was tied to a tree, then forced to drink fluid before they set him in flames. Try to defend that one, will you?

Oasis sucks. Noel is just mad that he's seeing his popularity fade away into nothingness as a hack who's contribution to society is a bunch of albums where he and his brother play-pretend The Beatles, only if the Beatles were deaf kids stuffed in a sack and beaten with bricks before recording. He's jealous that videogames are still relevant and that he's not, end of story.

anyway. I'm totally obsessed with seeking out irresponsible social commentary. I do play videogames as well.

"It seems like Jim has some serious issues. That's some extreme hatred for the less fortunate members of our society."

That's a typically out-of-touch assessment of some of society's scumbags. Although a lot of chavs and the like have poor backgrounds, not all of them do. Citing "bad luck" as a reason for the types of horrific crime that happens in London is a cop-out, and goes even further to take accountability away from criminals. It's that kind of attitude that has seen political correctness give criminals a ridiculous amount of "human" rights.

"If he feels equipped to talk about the social impact of video gaming, perhaps he could also take some time to understand what society is and how it works."

I feel more than adequately equipped to discuss my country's society, thank you very much. I'll tell you a little about my background in a moment.

"It might help shape his frankly disgusting attitude if he was able to understand how it is that people end up in poverty, living in areas abandoned by the government, with no chance for education, employment, or a chance to pull themselves up. A good place to start might be Googling the word 'socioeconomics'."

Don't need to -- I've lived it. Your points would hold water if I was the privileged and rich middle classer that you seem to think I am, but sadly I'm not. I live in South East London and work as a cab firm operator, I grew up in a single-parent family in some of the poorest areas of the nation, including various places in London and the Midlands. I've been homeless, and spent a lot of my childhood so poor I couldn't eat.

I didn't want to be like the filth that grew up around me though. I taught myself how to be a civilized and productive. I worked hard to the point where I now have two jobs and do what I can to provide for my family. And all around me I see people who refuse to do it. It disgusts me, and I'm sorry if you think I should be more sympathetic to people who had as many disadvantages as I had.

"Jim sounds like nothing short of a Nazi."

Achtung, baby!

"I've been reading videogame journalism for twenty years, and I'm disturbed and saddened to see this ignorant sub-tabloid horsesh*t being peddled in the name of playing video games."

I am not ignorant, sir. I live on a street where a 15 year old girl had her face burnt off by a 19 yr old girl who thought her boyfriend had been kissed. That's not "sensationalism," that is what happened on my doorstep. Further down the road someone was recently stabbed, and just across town a kid had his throat slit. Before the pub across from where I work was closed, we used to sit and watch vicious head-stamping fights go on every week.

Don't assume that I'm some ignorant writer in an ivory tower who doesn't understand reality. I've seen it with my own two eyes. You can say what you like, I'm not about to have my own life experiences challenged by some guy.

Not point it bothering with the opinion of this chap, who also shamelessly uses drinks, while selling loads of music.

This will be his view til he gets his Rock Band/Guitar Hero royalties, or gets more music into those games. An irony indeed.

That caption is wrong because do not, in fact, rock at all.

Yep, I grew up relatively poor myself until my mother remarried. We were on WIC/food stamps for awhile. Lived in some not-so-great areas of town. I also have a few friends who went to less-than-great schools. They're also some of the most intelligent people I know.

That's because they actually picked up books of their own accord, because they wanted to learn, because they desired to have better but knew they couldn't wait for it to just be handed to them. If ALL poor people ended up completely destitute their whole lives, comprised ALL of the criminal element, one might have an argument.

But the truth is, if you WANT to do better, have better, and be better, you can. There ARE the opportunities. You simply have to want to work for them, and have a desire to be a decent person. Fewer and fewer do.

And that's not even taking into account the amount of absolutely hooligans who come from very privileged backgrounds. So less whining about "socioeconomics", plz.

I'm not so sure that Noel truly believes what he's saying. To me it sounds like Noel was asked whether he thought violent video games and drugs had something to do with the rise in knife crime and he simply shrugged his shoulders and said "yeah I guess so."

That being said it isn't exactly uncommon for one of the Gallagher brothers to make a short sighted comment only to retract it later when he starts to look like a prick. You only have to see his comments about Jay-Z at Glastonbury as proof.

@Jim Sterling

Hello Jim. I wasn't questioning how tough you've had it, and certainly don't want to enter into a pissing contest about who lives in the roughest area. I'm sorry you had it so hard, but that's a huge amount of anger and hatred you've got, and you're tarring a fairly broad area of society with your rage.

Your ignorance is only that you seem unaware that the language you are using is targeting a specific demographic and de-humanizing / reviling its members using incredibly violent language, simply because of their social status ( ie "uneducated scum"). I find it hard to believe that you aren't aware what the words 'chav' and 'pikie' mean within the media, yet you're trying to now say that you're only hating on murderers. And their parents (and their parents? Where does the chain begin?). How is "The problem that we now face in the UK is a mass of uneducated scum opening their legs and squirting out more uneducated scum" anything but a twisted personal agenda? You can't seriously be saying that you have a 'right' to spout this kind of hatred on a video games website because you had it rough as a kid?

And, I'd like to point out to our American cousins that the UK and London are not actually bursting with monstrous sub-human savages. Just like everywhere else in the world, it's just people, not matter how fucked up they may get. Hopefully, through a careful plan of media demonization, daytime TV humiliation, and vigilante justice, we can somehow make everything okay again.

I'll stop saying totally. And go. Try and keep it together, Jim.

Everyone stopped giving a shit what anyone in Oasis thinks about 12 years ago. I'm pretty sure the only place to hear Oasis anymore is over the PA at the local supermarket. (I guess the BBC calls this the "Silver Clef music awards in London" which seems a little odd but they also call trucks 'lorries' so wtf do I know.) I must say though, it is nice to hear a little Wonderwall while I'm comparing prices on canned peaches.