Gamers respond to NZ Xbox bust-up

Gamers have responded in droves to the report last week that a 17-year-old Christchurch youth phoned the police after his father took away his gaming console.

The Xbox in question was taken after the high-school student brought home a bad report.

The gamer's father, who was not named in last week's Stuff report, received a phone call from the cops after his son filed a complaint about the confiscation.

"I would have thought the police would say: 'Sort it out with your father', but they didn't; they gave me a call," he said.

Although the story went live last week, it has since been posted on N4G.com to a stream of comments which range in terms of hilarity and legibility.

"The father should be executed at dawn," one poster says.

Described as "obsessed" with gaming, the youth plays for up to three hours most days and up to eight hours straight in the school holidays.

Although this seems excessive for a high-school student, I have absolutely no doubt some people reading this would clock up more hours.

Some of the comments agree with that sentiment, one pereson saying, "bad grades and only 3 hours of gaming a day? Hardly a gamer…

The police did not launch a full investigation, although they did acknowledge that a 17-year-old had filed a theft complaint.

They also said it was unlikely the case would meet the public interest threshold for criminal proceedings.

Is two to three hours of gaming excessive, or do you guys have more impressive (or sad) statistics for us? If you're a parent, are you concerned about the amount of time your kids spend gaming? Post your opinions below and let us know.