Current News on Jack Thompson

[Larry_OHF]

I did not even know who this fool was until I read a joke about him on CTRL+ALT+DEL today. I did a little googling to learn that he is a lawyer that has become the biggest threat to gamers' rights. He is opposed to all video game violence and swears that it corrupts our brains. For the past couple years, people have been making jokes about him in our online communities, and not taking him seriously. He went on TV last year it appears to announce that if anyone would make a game that was based on killing the CEO of whatever gaming industry he was trying to ruin, he'd make a $10,000 donation to a charity. Well, some people actually made a mod that did as he asked and then said, so where's that donation now? Jack of course said that his offer was satire and that it did not count. Therefore, the people of pennyarcade made a $10k check out in his name and donated it to somebody, I forget who, but they donated it in Jack Thompson's behalf. He thus filed a formal complaint with a police dept. accusing pennyarcade of harrassment and who knows what else.

All this can be found on the first page of hits for Jack's name.

The reason I bring this forth today is because just in the past day or two it was reported a Louisiana court ruling threw out Jack's proposal to make selling mature-rated videos a serious crime, if I read it correctly. I did not read it thoroughly, so you can go look if you want to make sure. But the cool thing is that they use the words, "permanantly barred" as pertaining to this law proposal, citing it as unconstitutional.

Our community of gamers rejoices!

[Yorick]

I think there are two issues combined here.

One is a matter of censorship (which I am against), the other, the effect of violence in communicated cultural expression on a younger values-learning generation.

Though I'm against censorship, I think video game designers, as well as film makers and rappers should be made aware of the cycle of violence they're perpetuating through desensitization and glorification of violence.

The case of James Bulger was evidence of learned violent behaviour through imitation (the young kids had good parents etc). We as a society need to take more responsibility for the values we extoll.

Secondly, as I'm against censorship, I believe it's up to individuals whether they buy games that fund future games of the genre. We as consumers have all the power to dictate what get's thrust before our noses.

Good games do not have to be violent to be fun, addictive, dramatic, challenging or escapist.

Nor does war need to be used to solve problems. Nor does 51 bullets need to be fired into unarmed black men.

[ 12-01-2006, 06:25 PM: Message edited by: Yorick ]

[Yorick]

Anyway what's wrong with Jack Thompson?

[Mellagar]

What does war have to do with video games? This sounds a lot like the prohibition days. Instead of a bottle of blinding booze, its a CD with very baaad things on it. Its the ole battle of morality again, which will ultimately go nowhere. What's saddening, if not rather pathetic, is that younger people just don't seem to know how to think for themselves. To be able to discern reality from a game is just too difficult for some I suppose. Perhaps this is the next phase of human evolution, those who can adapt and seperate themselves from the fantasies of technological entertainment, and those who'll be seen zipped up in a body bag for thinking they could leap from a building and land on their feet.

[Havock]

This guy is a joke. He is just another voice in the "lets blame everyone except the absentee parents for our kids being screwed up" brigade. Little Jimmy brought a machine gun to school, it must be because he plays Halo. Whatever ,I hope he gets mouth cancer so we wont have hear his excuses why it is everyone elses fault anymore. Personal responsibility realy needs to make a come back.

[Bozos of Bones]

Don't be daft, Havock! Little Jimmy is playing CoD2, there are no Machine Guns in Halo [img]tongue.gif[/img]
So, the guy's at it again, eh? He's a zealot, that one. Just doesn't know when to quit.

[ 12-01-2006, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: Bozos of Bones ]

[Luvian]

The way I see it, game can be as violent and depraved as they want, as long as they're labelled as should be. Just don't let your kid buy something he shouldn't. You don't let your kid buy porn movies do you? Why do you let him buy mature rated video games?

[Leonis]

Originally posted by Yorick: Anyway what's wrong with Jack Thompson?

He's bloody legend mate!

And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand,
No better horseman ever held the reins;
For never horse could throw him while the saddle-girths would stand,
He learnt to ride while droving on the plains.

- A.B.Paterson

[Larry_OHF]

Just for those that would wonder why I was picking on an Aussie...I give you, the US version of Jack T.





[ 12-02-2006, 12:25 AM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Rikard T'Aranaxz]

Games dont kill people, people who play games kill people.

On a more serious note, when you intend on finding connections between violence in movies/games and people commiting crimes then obviously you are going to find cases in which this connection can be made, without going into detail to whether the connection actually exists, but then it begs the question, would these crimes not have happened without violence in games and more importantly would these crimes not have happened if it wasnt so relatively easy to get weapons to commit these crimes with. The adult human mind isnt so easily shaken from its morals. When from childhood on a person is taught again and again that lying stealing and murdering is morally wrong, a simple video game is not going to undo that. It is only when a mind is already in an amorale state to begin with, that violent games/movies can influence it into crime. Then again it is the question whether or not this amoral mind would have been able to commit the crimes commited if it had no easy access to weapons, and if it did, then would it not have commited it regardless of whatever violence it was exposed to from any source. There will always be people who have a mindset in which it is ok to take something from someone without realising the consequences for either person but trying to protect these people from ever discovering the existence of violence is futile, it is much more viable to prevent these people from ever getting the means to do harm and let the commen folk like you and me have their fun.

Also Yorick I expect an "i miss the old days when Rikard..." post from you