If you’ve not seen the clip from Alan Titchmarsh’s ITV chat show, in which games were pretty much shouted down by two morons as an industry expert tried to put across valid points, prepare to rage.

I did, and felt that I needed to express said rage in complaint email form.

To whom it may concern,

As a writer and editor of a gaming website, host of a videogames podcast and a seventeen year old, I found the so-called debate on gaming featured on Alan Titchmarsh’s show to be deeply insulting to gamers and teenagers alike. Watching Tim Ingham’s valid and well thought out points drowned out by the two other vastly uninformed guests left me with a stack of rage far greater than that of any violent videogame.

With some points flat-out ignored by everyone present, such as the fact games are subject to the same stringent ratings system as films, the ‘debate’ turned into a mockery, with two loud, wrong people allowed to shout themselves over the voice of reason. Leaving uninformed viewers with the sense that games are not a legitimate form of entertainment, and are more harmful than any other violent media. TV seems incapable of ‘doing’ games properly, stuck with the arcane stereotype that videogames are only of interest to basement-dwelling, neckbearded sociopaths, and this “debate” only served to exacerbate this.

I’ve been playing videogames the public would probably deem violent for many years, and whilst a little socially-awkward (Hell, that’s more to do with the internet than gaming, but don’t go and try to debate it on your channel, you might invite the geniuses behind the Chinese firewall or something) I’ve turned out just fine. Infact I’m anti-war, non-violent and about as likely to steal a car thanks to GTA as I am to thwart a terrorist plot thanks to Die Hard, which is unlikely. Years of sitting at a PC or console have left my bones withered and weak, and I would certainly not fare as well as Bruce Willis in such a situation because of this. Curses!

I’m also irritated at the implication that teenagers cannot think for themselves, because I’ve yet to kill someone with a plastic bag, overthrow the leader of an underwater city, eat mushrooms in order to extend my life or contain animals in tiny cages, occasionally forcing them to fight each other, despite having done all of these in the lovely, pixelly word of videogames. I don’t see it and suddenly jump to the conclusion that “Oh my, I simply must imitate this bad example”. No, and the thought that most teens would be swayed by games is silly. So please stop implying as such.

This continued sterotyping of gamers and the scapegoating of games in the media is one of the reasons I no longer watch your channel, and this video (which I saw illegally uploaded to Youtube, I bet the uploader was a gamer, I bet it was GTA what made him do it) has reaffirmed my decision to stay well away from your programming.

- Thomas Gibbard, disgruntled teenage gamer

If you too would like to complain, the email address is viewerservices@itv.com.

(Bought to my attention by @nickstone333 and TheSixAxis)

UPDATE: I received a reply telling me to instead complain to feedback@channeltvlondon.co.uk, I’ve done so, and would urge you to do the same.