December 17, 2007 -
There is this lawyer in Miami. Maybe you've heard of him...In his latest column for Electronic Gaming Monthly, Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin offers his perspective on Jack Thompson:
For the nine years that I ran the [game retailers association], I subscribed to the same thinking as my counterparts at other game-biz groups: Ignore Jack Thompson and he’ll go away. It was the biggest mistake that the industry has ever made... we left Thompson... as the only person at the mic when the media came calling.
Doug Lowenstein... in many respects, my mentor – gave a historic farewell speech last year... In part, he blamed the enthusiast media who covered Thompson as the reason for his popularity and advised them to stop covering him. Many did...
Turns out that the “ignore him and he’ll go away” strategy backfired... [Thompson]... is intelligent, articulate, passionate, and camera-ready.
You may not subscribe to his philosophies or appreciate his liberal interpretation of the facts, but you should respect him... And while you may know that his version of the facts isn’t the same as yours, your parents, grandparents, teachers... don’t.
One of the major strategic changes we at the ECA undertook was to stop ignoring Thompson. We all just need to be smart about it to avoid enabling him. Don’t avoid the discussion; engage it head-on. Don’t jump on a forum thread and flame the man; doing so demeans your argument and empowers your detractors. Instead, voice your opinion, become involved, and speak out.
It’s time to fight back!
Full Disclosure Dept: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.
Comments
Re: ECA's Halpin: Don't Let Jack Thompson Be the Only Voice
Re: ECA's Halpin: Don't Let Jack Thompson Be the Only Voice
Re: ECA's Halpin: Don't Let Jack Thompson Be the Only Voice
A little leak will sink a great ship.
A little neglect may breed great mischief.
张家界旅游
in the lack of real leadership, people listen to anything.
Strangley worded. His version of the facts are lies. Why not just say he lies about the truth.
For example DJ Dr Fox said
"Did you know that paedophiles are genetically closer to crabs than human. Thats scientific fact. Theres no scientific proof of this, but its a fact."
Thats very closely related to the "Cho played games before Virginia Tech, theres no proof he did, but we all know he did" theory he spouts.
But I will NOT, now or ever, RESPECT him. Nor do I WANT -HIS- respect. There have been enough reasons over the last 2+ years for me to make such a comment, and I have illiterated quite a bit in the past as to why.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Sorry Hal, but I can't have respect for someone who routinely lies to the public in order to push his own agenda and gets in name-calling matches with teenagers over the internet, regardless of how intelligent or articulate he may be.
Actually, he reminds me more of Mrs. Carmody from Stephen King's "The Mist." At first she appeared to be just another religious nut and early on, people tended to be kind of dismissive towards her. But once the mist came and people started dying and people started looking for answers, there she was spouting quotes from the bible about the end times and getting people even more scared until it got to the point where a good portion of the people in the grocery store believed her. The sad part was that because the main characters either would dismiss her or ignore her hoping she'd shut up, but as the body count mounted the more influential she became and she wasn't dealt with until it was too late.
(By the way, see the movie. It's an excellent adaptation and Marcia Gay Harden nails that character perfectly.)
Thompson is the same way. At the risk of sounding like Pandralisk, he's a religious zealot and it's tempting to write him off as a kook and a loon. But when a tragedy strikes, he stands up and shouts, "I have the answers!" He's not quite as blatant about it as Carmody, but he still couches is reasoning in his faith. He just stops short of calling video games sinful. And as these tragedies continue to happen and we look for reasons why, some scared people will look to him and take him seriously. And like Hal said, we need to get out there and counter him before it's too late.
Fortunately, something is. The Florida Bar has already taken action against him and hopefully he'll be disbarred before long. But I have to wonder, had we here at GP and elsewhere not called attention to his behavior and pointed out the flaws in his logic, would the Bar have been as motivated to do anything if they didn't consider him to be a big enough embarassment? Somehow I don't think so.
So in a sense, when Thompson blames us for his problems, he is right up to a point. Though we only did it because no one else was speaking out against him, and he doesn't like that.
*Brain fails*
Satan may be the devil but it dose not mean we shouldn't be impolite.
*followed by*
Yyyyeeessssssssssssss.....:Megatron(Beast wars)
god....voices so early in the morning >
Ummmmm...I've not seen ANYONE ignore Jack Thompson. News coverage both for and against Thompson is probably higher than ever.
And I don't respect anyone who uses fear-mongering and hate-speech to further his goals while claiming to help people.
You'd have to respect Hitler as well.
I know this isn't overly related, but have we ever thought of giving Hal his own column? Maybe a link, something he could throw up once a month or whenever it floats his boat. Maybe a copy/paste of his EGM article, maybe just whatever he felt like saying at the time. I guess I can understand the need to cover the boss; but one column about Jack doesn't seem like news to me. If Hal had his column he could express this sort of thing without distracting Dennis from other stories. Could perhaps expand the focus of said column and make it writeable by ECA staffers. That way, that fellow from Game Culture could add to it to. I'm just tossing an idea out there. It seems like that way it would be easier to cover ECA events without pulling Dennis off things that are more serious.
Hal is talking about the Game industry not entertainment news media sharks.
I call Godwin!
Seriously, although Jack is a figure of ridicule for us, it doesn't mean that he's a figure of ridicule anywhere else. Unfortunately a large proportion of people think that anybody who is on the news spouting soundbites about this, that and the other are automagically 'experts'. JT provides the best soundbites so as far as 'news' channels like Fox are concerned he's the best expert there is, even if what he says is exaggeration at best and fabrication at worst.
So I agree - gamers in the US have to start speaking up (well, as long as Jack is still in a job after Christmas).
My accountant has told me that for years, but until Johnny Bruce Thompson started his massacre chasing quest against the video game industry, I never took my accountant's advice seriously...
It's like all the Leland Yee supporters, who don't believe that video games are protected under the first amendment and think that the MPAA movie rating system is a law.
Darn it, you beat me to the Godwin call!
Hmmmm...new to the posting/forum thing, so I had to look up the Godwin thing. I admit I'm guilty of it...but at the same time, this guy really has been going through the walkthrough.
@ZippyDSMlee
Not 100% true...Rockstar seems to be poking at sharks with their GTAIV mission that's been revealed...which prompted another one of JT's tirades. And I really thought he was talking about the media with the line: "In part, [Lowenstein] blamed the enthusiast media who covered Thompson as the reason for his popularity and advised them to stop covering him. Many did…" Don't know if it was bad grammar or just my misunderstanding, but that's what I was going by.
Note the sarcasm.
----
Papa Midnight
"You may not subscribe to his philosophies or appreciate his liberal interpretation of the facts, but you should respect him…"
We don't subscribe to his philosophies and his interpretation of facts and have attempted to enter in polite discussion with the man about these things. We counter his claims with logic, reason, facts in a polite manner, but all we recieve in return is insults and childish behaviour.
I can understand and acknowledge that people have different viewpoints. However, I cannot respect a person who cannot defend those viewpoints without resorting to personal insults and vague legal threats (however baseless).
In this case for JT:
I respect you as an opponent for you are formidable in some areas, but you are still a jerk and are incopetent in other areas.
[Author's note: This doesn't make him a good guy, or make what he did right, but he came pretty close to ruling everything. If only he hadn't started that war with Russia. So respect is appropriate. Besides, I'm pretty sure Sun Tzu had some things to say about respecting your enemies, lest they whoop yo' ass later on.]
As for JT, I've always had a respect for the man and his arguments. Partly because I'm in the UK and we already have 'don't sell 18+ rated games to minors' laws (so I at least have some frame of reference as to where he's coming from), but also because being a dick doesn't solve anyone's problems. Just because he might come out and say nasty things about gamers, it doesn't give us carte blanche to be douchebags back. Unfortunately, this is the internet, and the inevitability of anonymity plus a forum for speech equalling total fuckwad (as per John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory) is ever-present.
What Hal is saying just makes sense. It amazes me that it took this long for someone to actually say it. In fact, it's worrying that it's the kind of thinking that NEEDS to be stated. It should be obvious.
So talking like a mad fool in public is better than respecting location and being polite?
=^^=
When Hal says "respect" he means avoid making connections between John Bruce and Hitler.
When Hal say "respect" he means to stop posting death threats, wishes of death, maiming, or pain.
When Hal says "respect" he means to respond to John Bruce with an actually counterpoint and not "You're and idiot"
That is what is meant by respect. We can completely rip John Bruce's arguments to shreds without reverting to the same tactics used by John Bruce.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
QFGT
"So talking like a mad fool in public is better than respecting location and being polite?"
I have to admit, I don't have the faintest idea what you mean...
"QFGT"
Quoted For Gorgeous Truth? :P
I fully agree.
Every last gamer who posts or speaks about physical violence, or who curses and swears at Jack Thompson and others who don't understand our hobby, is as responsible for the state of public opinion as Thompson himself.
The appropriate reaction is to be intelligent and well spoken, if posting on forums or blogs it is to ensure that words are spelled correctly, grammar is reasonable and you do not react in an emotional manner.
Not only are those gamers who cannot approach things in an adult and sensible manner making themselves look stupid, but more importantly they are giving people like Thompson ammunition. They are our version of the football hooligan, and like the supporters of that game, it is up to us to combat them.
Its simple do you act like a moron in public to be disrespectful and drive home the bile for someone you do not respect or merely respect the location and be polite?
Quoted For Greater Truth
=^^=
Well, I'm very much a proponent of 'I don't like what you say but I'll defend to the death your right to say it'. Not quite Voltaire but very close, and I do think that runs dry when what you say is a lie.
So I guess no, I don't believe in acting like a moron in public, but I do believe in letting people look like morons in public.
If it were only so anymore.
LOL
Without morons there would be no one to laugh at. :P
its funny to..I laugh at myself all the time! :P
LOL
agreed. Anyone that ignorant, arrogant, idiotic, moronic, and obviously brainless enough to say the things he has said doesn't deserve respect
That's not ignoring Thompson, that's ignoring the media frenzy.
The "ignore Thompson" involves not giving undue interest towards him - for example, not posting every single of his crystal-ball claims of victory (covering the defeat is fair game), and not adding to the 500+ replies to a single troll posting.
"Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance. "
This is something I would love to have seen Hal Halpin do on here when JT was on with his ranting and raving in the past, get on here and help fight the fight. Especially with 9 years in the business to do it. It kind of irks me now that after JT's ban and news of the trial, he comes out to point out his suggestions of handling JT. Too little too late....where were you motnhs ago with this guy lambasting the Gamepolitics and ECA crowd with insults, accusations and flat out lies.
I'm a loyal member of ECA, but this commentary was a bit insulting to me.
Just my two cents.
1. I'm a guy
2. "Around here" is a five story corporate building.
... but I get asked about videogames and am considered the local source of info. The second most common questiong I've been asked this year is "What games should I get for my kid?" (Only beaten by "Where can I get a Wii?") I ask the kids age and game system, make a few suggestions, then explain the ESRB ratings, and the dangers of shovelware.
It helps to compare them to movie ratings, and explain that some parents have some things they are looser on then others. An R rated movie that was rated so because of violence may be permitted, but one rated thusly for nudity may not. Same goes for M rated games. Both Halo 3 and Leisure Suit Larry (censored) gets the same rating. It is important that people read the boxes, just as if they were getting a DVD for their kid they hadn't ever heard of ("Happy Tree Friends" as an example).
At least most of the mainstream media is now either ignoring or questioning his "facts".
However, respecting Thompson and not calling him names is a tall task given what he called all of us (Hitler youth anyone?). After all, he shown all of us NO RESPECT AT ALL.
We all know he's a nut, and that's why he gets on television in the first damn place. If you aren't an accredited expert on something, then you've got to be either crazy as squirrel shit or a complete asshole. JT's expertise credentials are centered squarely on the fact that all the nuts roll downhill and set up shop in fucking Florida.
Proposed here is a good, adult, public image for the game industry to take. It is producing one of those irrevocable factoids that'll orbit the media for a while, like JT's verbal shit.
Doesn't change the fact that he's a sycophant, a shitty student of human studies, and a bad writer. Like, O'Reilly bad.
Thompson isn't about right or wrong, not any more, even he doesn't care about that, he's about establishing himself a public persona in order to further his money-mkaing schemes regardless of whether he gets disbarred or not.
He knows, full well, that the more controversy he causes, the more people will look at him, and THAT is what his behaviour is all about. It's not about us, it's not about Video Games, it's all about Thompson as far as he is concerned.
In this context, respect is the opposite of complacency.