Digging from a National Academy of Sciences report, Fox says visits to parks and the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses declined between 18 and 25 percent in the 1980s and 90s, about “the period of rapid growth of video games”. Coincidence? We think not!”The replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children,” says the report

“Videophilia has been shown to be a cause of obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance.”

Japan suffered similar declines, says the article, as visits to national parks there dropped by 18 percent between 1991 and 2005… right about the time Mario 3 came out!

“Fishing peaked in 1981 and had declined 25 percent by 2005, the researchers found. Visits to national parks peaked in 1987 and dropped 23 percent by 2006,” the Fox article reads.

Hmm! I thought that industrialization and poor resource management, was the cause for the destruction of nature. Hey, if Fox news said it, it must be true, they have never stated false truths about the gaming world before.

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