Hazza's secret weapon: thumbs

As if we needed more reasons for nutty old white men to think that videogames are responsible for mass shootings, Prince Harry reckons playing FIFA makes him good at killing people.

Or as Gawker put it: “yesterday, Prince Harry opened his mouth to speak and only nonsense words came out”.

The ‘tell-all’ interview (shot in December, released earlier this week) had a ridiculously staged nature, in which no tough questions were asked, and Hazza (or Captain Kill, as Hadley Freeman calls him) was allowed to repeat over and over and over and over again that he’s “just one of the guys”.

But he pinpoints a frankly bizarre reason for his hotshot flying skills.

Playing Playstation.

“It's a joy for me because I'm one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox,” he says, “so with my thumbs I like to think that I'm probably quite useful.”

Aside from his being a mega case of Royal TMI (those same thumbs helped protect the world from pictures of his ginger knackers just a few months ago), is anyone else slightly perturbed by his exhortation?

From what I can tell, people who like to fondle, stroke, and finger guns in their spare time point towards violent videogames as the reason behind the recent round of mass shootings and other related gun crimes in the US; the same people who insist the availability of military weapons is not a problem.

Now, Hazza might’ve been kidding – in which case he has a sadistic sense of humour –but looking at the nonchalant way in which describes obliterating Taliban with his chopper cannons makes me think he’s deadly serious.

I’m all for killing vile Islamofacists, but I’d hate to think that Hazza’s comments have added more weight to the idea that violent videogames are the sole driver of gun crime, or that, perversely, playing these games would makes someone better at committing violent acts with a firearm.

They’re nonsense words indeed, and hardly the pinnacle of self-control and respectability we’re led to believe the Royals represent. (One does wonder just what Hazza’s landmine-inspecting mum might think about the whole affair)

Maybe I’m being idealistic here, but perhaps Mr Prince should have used his stage and platform to help us understand the real threat the Taliban face, and why gunning them down is good thing (however somber), instead of starring in an improvised advert for Electronic Arts, Heckler & Koch, and nutty conservatives.