"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll"
About this Quote
The subtext is strategic. Miyamoto isn’t arguing that games are inherently virtuous; he’s attacking the credibility of the accusation. Rock was once framed as corrupting, sexually dangerous, and socially destabilizing - claims that now read as comic overreach. By invoking that cycle, he suggests the “games are bad” narrative will age just as poorly, not because games are harmless, but because the panic is lazily repetitive. It’s a reputational judo move: he makes the critic sound outdated before the debate even starts.
Context matters: Miyamoto is not a pundit but Nintendo’s most influential architect, a designer whose work helped move games from niche hobby to living-room staple. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, games were blamed for violence, isolation, and shortened attention spans while simultaneously becoming a dominant entertainment industry. The quote functions as soft advocacy: defend the medium by reframing it as a familiar cultural pattern, then let history do the rest.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Miyamoto, Shigeru. (2026, January 14). Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/video-games-are-bad-for-you-thats-what-they-said-128310/
Chicago Style
Miyamoto, Shigeru. "Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/video-games-are-bad-for-you-thats-what-they-said-128310/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/video-games-are-bad-for-you-thats-what-they-said-128310/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.


