Playing Mario Kart with your significant other could be a good thing for your relationship.
Nintendo
Who knew throwing banana peels at your significant other during a car race could keep passion going strong? According to a new survey conducted by internet service CenturyLink, gaming — and especially playing Nintendo’s Mario Kart — has a positive impact on love lives.
CenturyLink surveyed over 1,000 people to see if PC and console gaming has had a positive or negative impact on their romantic relationships. One in three people between 18 and 24 said games help their relationships. That favorable view trended downward with older survey respondents.
CenturyLink
“Romantic partners from the millennial generation grew up with video games as a large part of their lives,” said James Gaskin, a game developer and professor of business at Brigham Young University. “Therefore, gaming is simply more natural and accepted. Whereas with older generations, a partner who played video games was perceived as juvenile and irresponsible.”
The game couples said most positively affected their relationships was Mario Kart. First-person shooter game Call of Duty and role-playing game Skyrim round out the top three for keeping the romance alive among players.
Conversely, of the 1,000 respondents, only 42 said gaming led to a breakup.
In 2018, video game addiction (mostly notably to Fortnite) was cited as cause for divorce in the UK. But it also makes sense that shared interests and a little fun, friendly competition could bring couples closer.
Just remember to take breaks and snuggle without a controller in your hand once in a while.
