Sky News presenter Jayne Secker has been criticised for her negative reaction to a 13-year-old boy setting an historic Tetris record.
Earlier this week, Willis Gibson from Oklahoma became the first known person to “beat” the original NES version of the game, reaching such a high level that it caused it freeze.
For the first time since Tetris was released in 1985, the game crashed at level 157, after Willis cleared 1,511 lines in just 38 minutes.
You can watch him achieve the feat and his subsequent reaction below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUYt6Zp8a04
Willis decicated the achievement to his father, who passed away in December. However, Secker’s response to Willis beating the game didn’t sit well with viewers.
The host told the 13-year-old to “go outside and get some fresh air” as she reported the story.
“As a mother I would just say step away from the screen, go outside, get some fresh air. Beating Tetris is not a life goal.”
🎮📰Sky News’s Jayne Secker breaks script to tell 13yo who reached a WR Lvl. 157 in NES #Tetris
“Beating Tetris is not a life goal. Go outside and get some fresh air”
This priggish, ignorant belittlement of Willis Gibson’s achievement shows gaming stigma is sadly alive & well pic.twitter.com/KRix9g6A32
— Nintendo South Wales (@Nintendo_SW) January 4, 2024
Her comments were heavily criticised on social media, with game journalist Chris Scullion writing on X: “It is the Year of Our Lord 2024 and @SkyNews is still telling people who play video games to go outside and get some fresh air, notably on the same day they’re praising a 16-year-old darts player [referring to Luke Littler, who competed in the final of the PDC Darts World Championship].”
Another X user added: “The smugness just makes my blood boil. Not understanding it is one thing, but to undermine a a 13 year old for achieving a world record on a video game and present it in that way on national TV is just downright embarrassing.”
“Willis Gibson should absolutely be proud of what he achieved. The act of “beating” Tetris by forcing a kill screen had only been done by AI bots before. He also dedicated his win to his late father, who passed away last month. For @SkyNews to belittle him is just pathetic,” said a third user.
Another replied: “My jaw hit the floor when that needlessly venomous statement aired. Absolutely uncalled for. Nauseating.”
In a YouTube interview, Willis said that if anyone beats his record, he’ll be ready to claim it back straight away, having played Tetris since the age of 11, and coming third a competition in October.
The NES version of Tetris was the first version to have been developed and published by Nintendo. It was preceded by Tetris for Family Computer and Tetris by Atari.