JT is a douchebag.

Screw inventing new mediums, new cultures, or new gizmos so that people can divert the blame away from video games. We need to invent our way out of blaming serious problems on inventions!!

"Do you think the NIU shooter started playing these murder simulation games last week? You do know how long ago Doom came out, right? His friends say he was into this crap for years".

Once again Jack Thompson shows us how much he twists wha he reads as "proof" for his cause even when his conclusions are far from what was said. First, his dormates said he played CS in 2003 so that's 5 years, he was an adult and well within his right to play a M-rated game. Second, they were not his friends, they were his dormmates but those facts do not matter to Thompson. He still values the words of Cho's high school aquaintances over the words of his family and dormates when it comes to CS.

"He started on them years ago. They retarded him. Are you retarded too? apparently"

Since he fails to grasp very simple statements I think something "retarted" Jack Thompson. Apparently.

Omg, I really hope he actually said that to you. There's got to be some way to sue him over that. He loves to sue people. Give him a little of his own medicine.

@GP

Don't hold your breath for that response. At least any response that's coherent, anyway

I don't know what's more depressing. The fact that Jack was on TV so soon after the incident (despite the lack of any involvement from a minor) or the fact that we all knew it was going to happen.

I'd imagine something in the fashion of...

"If this is what video games did to an adult, imagine what it'll do to a child!"

I wouldn't hold my breath for a reasonable response. You know that as well as I do, brother. He's just going to go on a foolish tirade of I'm right and you're an apologist or something.

Is Thompson even really still relevant? I'm just not sure anymore.

"If a response is forthcoming, I’ll update this entry"

Oh, there will be a response. It just wont have anything to do with the question. We all know Thompson's far too cowardly to even attempt using actual logic to back up his arguements.

In regards to my own past comments, I'm sure one might say that my "agenda" has been against abuse or dealing with mental health issues.

But, in fact, it has merely been an issue for a desire of hearing The Truth, The WHOLE Truth, And Nothing But The Truth.

One might hear various familiar names and attach them to violent acts, including murder, both in and out of school. They may merely say the individual is a school shooter or killed their family.

The fact is, whether games, or particular types of music or TV shows or movies or religious beliefs or any other form exposure one can name, there were far more direct reasons that these individuals committed the acts for which they, and others, are attributed to. The exposure of various media and such are, at best, peripheral. There is NO factual evidence that removing such exposures would have prevented the acts from still occuring.

It doesn't mean that having mental illness, or having been abused, or just being pissed off in general, is an excuse for what was done. But we, as a society, need to fully understand (no matter how irrational the act may seem to us) what set these individuals off. To do that, we need to know The Truth, The WHOLE Truth, And Nothing But The Truth.

You won't get that with John Bruce or FOX News (or the other outlets owned by the same individual apparently) or other agenda seekers or tabloid trash news media.

But there are plenty out there that DO try to find out as much of that WHOLE Truth as they can and share it. And we should put more faith in those sources.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Examples:

Cody Posey. Killed his father and step- mother and sister.
John Bruce says: video games made him kill them.
I say: Look up various articles. They include how Cody's mom was given custody after his abusive father gave up Parental Rights. Mom killed in car accident. Father granted custody by the state. Father continued verbal, mental, physical, and Cody was almost sexually abused by step mother at the behest of his father. Do the research to get as many details as possible.

Joshua Robida, got into bar fight with homosexual man, kidnapped woman he may have had relationship with, ended up in police chase, killed the woman, committed suicide.
John Bruce says: Had contact with investigators and DA and games were involved. Committed suicide by cop.
I say: Look up the information. Robida's room was splattered with Nazi materials including books. Robida, according to old MySpace page, may have had a relationship with a woman he stayed with and still had feelings for. DA says John Bruce could not have had contact with investigators because it would have been illegal and did not have contact with DA. DA says there were far more important issues in the case to deal with. Medical examiner says Robida killed himself. Look up other information to get as much of the whole picture as possible.

V-Tech and Cho: Largest massacre to date.
John Bruce: Counter Strike made him do it.
I say: Look up as much information as you can. Cho had difficulty with speaking very early in life. Apparently some sort of social disorder that made things difficult for him to associate with others. Cho's life was filled with difficulties socially and even some family difficulties. Cho attempted to fit in for a short time at V-Tech, but may have faced additional difficulties in overcoming prior social problems. Cho had other mental issues that were supposed to have been taken care off by the order of a court order, but never was. There are a great deal of other details which one can find if one does proper research.

Steven at NIU, killed 5 students and self.
John Bruce: Counter Strike made him do it.
I say: There are plenty of decent sources to look information on Steven. In short, one might say two sides. The side many saw as a high intelligent and respectful individual. The other suffered mental illness for which he was taking medication for. Off his medication, he became erratic. He is even reportedly to have a relationship with a girl, who is missing, that was abusive. There is a great deal of information about Steven on and off his meds that people should do very thorough research on. A lot has come out in the past few days, and it shouldn't be ignored.

I'm not sure how my signature ended up half way up the post, but and EDIT BUTTON would let me fix it. Ahem!

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

what disturbs me is thompsons priority logic, its literally backwards. lets just say even if games are linked to real world violence, and even if they do "train" people, legislation against the games will not do anything. games would be just tools. violence, and all the evils in the world for that matter are not caused by the tools, they are caused by the motives, judgement and reasoning these types of people possess. taking away the tools will not take away their desire to hurt themselves or others. tools dont create violence and hate, motives do. and you cannot combat violence like this unless the motives and thinking become the primary focus.

As a saying goes: when the only tool you know how to use is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail.

@brian crawford: The thought had occurred to me as well - it's theoretically possible that, if games have a desensitizing effect on minors, he could have been desensitized more than a decade before the shooting occurred, at a time when he was a minor. But science has yet to prove that games even can have such an effect. Forget about proving the possibility that someone can be so affected as a minor, live nine years as an apparently normal and functional adult, and then go on a shooting rampage solely because of the influence video games had on him as a kid.
We can't rule out the possibility that this is in fact what happens. But I think Occam's Razor says that "Corrupted by games as a child, homicidal tendencies laid dormant for nine years" is less likely than "Off his meds."

Why are we discussing it? Well, I thought it was because Jack Thompson wanted to go get his white whale.

People in their 20’s and 30’s right now will surely do the same when they reach old age & increasing irrelevance. It comes with getting old.

I'd like to hope we learn something from this, so that when the time comes that Barack Obama High School is shot up by some bullied kid in 2050 we remember our own experiences in our 20s and 30s and don't blame Holo-simulators for all society's ills.

@point09micron:

Considering Jack Thompson's from the generation that had comic book and rock n roll witch hunts, you shouldn't get your hopes up.

@brian crawford

ESRB already does it, heavily, and employees typically get terminated for it.

@GP

As other's said, JT will either make an overly abusive self reighteous response or none at all.

@ZippyDSMlee

If he were sheltered form violence all that time he wouldn't have been able to deal with the real world and likely would have snapped sooner.

Apparently Thompson wants a world like that.

Double post:

It seems like he enjoys doing this crap.

@Michael: Then would you care to explain why this same crap happens every single time a new medium comes around?

@ Cattleprod

Because it's new, and people who aren't fans of the new thing don't really get it.

He WILL respond. He's too egocentric to not. But he won't respond in a civil manner.

He doesn't hold any ground on that Counterstrike theory since Kazmierczak was an adult when the game (or mod) came out.

Either way, I wonder what if he'll say something consistent to prove his theory so I'll just wait and observe.

[...] Source: NIU Shooting: Why Are Games Even Under Discussion? Bookmark it: [...]

This is why we can't have nice things -_-.

@JT

And you tout yourselves for being Christians.

Trust me, Jack, THERE IS NOTHING CHRISTIAN ABOUT WHAT YOU DID.

BLAMING THE SHOOTINGS ON VIDEO GAMES WITHOUT ANY BASIS IS EXACTLY LIKE THE TIME NERO BLAMED THE FIRE IN ROME ON THE EARLY CHRISTIANS.

"What did we do to you, Jack? WHAT!?"

We started reporting on his pathetic ways and now he thinks that the free publicity we're giving him is doing him some good.

As far as the response, I wouldn't hold my breath on a decent response from Thompson, as others have said. It's doubtful he knows how to respond to a simple request for logic without throwing a temper tantrum about video games.

Someone...ANYONE...with a reputable name, please get your ass on TV and counter these points about NIU and video games.

It's obvious that he must have played games in the past. I mean, he was crazy and on medication. The only people who are crazy are those that play video games. Just like the only people who shoot someone in the face are gamers and hitmen. Crazy people didn't exist in the Garden of Eden, and neither did video games. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! There is the obvious link.

The only thing that can save our society now is the complete banning of ALL video games. Also guns, pornography, alcohol, movies, magazines, books, and any form of sex.

Thompson's response:
Fails to answer question-check
Insults as many as possible-check
Makes him look like an ass-check
Avoids truth-check
Makes an NIU student even angrier-check

Even if we can demonstrate that Kazmierczak started playing violent videogames when he was 19 years, our critics won't consider that legislation to prevent sales to minors is not the way to go. They will state "You see? They can even influence an adult! We should ban them all so adults cannot have access to videogames either!"
I wouldn't be surprised.

It just makes you wonder about people sometimes... Glad to see that there are at least some sane people left in the world, rather than all of these failures at life.

Well, you know Jack, last time he made a complete fool of himself he called everyone who saw it 'e-tards' so there's obviously a habit forming there...

I would very much like to ask Mr. Thompson if he can tell me the difference between his mouth and his asshole, because, dammit, I sure can't tell which is which.

Thankfully the Media seems thus far to be focusing on the problems of individuals suddenly ceasing use of psychiatric drugs. I often worry that people in this country have gotten so used to these drugs that they fail to recognize how powerful such drugs are. Now, I am not in any way one of those people who think that these drugs aren't needed and are only dangerous. I myself have benefited tremendously from taking low levels of these drugs daily (after they were prescribed and my doctor periodically checks to make sure I am not exhibiting any sudden mood changes).

But i think people forget that these drugs can profoundly impact your brain chemistry and that suddenly going off of them can produce dramatic chemical instability in the brain which can encourage dramatic behavioral changes. What we really need to be asking ourselves is whether incidents such as these tell us anything about our culture or whether they are aberrant events that, while tragic, are not systemic.

I would very much like to ask Mr. Thompson if he can tell me the difference between his mouth and his asshole, because, dammit, I sure can’t tell which is which.

It's a subtle difference, but a real one. His rectum is where the human excrement comes out. His mouth is where the bullshit comes out.

And yet I've been playing video games since I was six, many of them violent.

Mortal Kombat, and various sequels of the chain
Alien Vs Predator 1, 2, and expansion
Grand Theft Auto
BioShock
Timeshift
Halo 1, 2 and 3
Call of Juarez
Condemned
Resident Evil:CV
Doom

The list goes on. And yet I am as mentally stable as a University Professor.

Although I may be inclined to put into practice everything I've learned if JT wins any of his ridiculous cases.

OK Jack, let's take this 'retarding' effect of games one step further...

Given the staggering number of people who play these games, it's safe to assume that at least some of the victims in these shootings have also been 'retarded' by these games. Are you prepared to say that those particular victims were retarded into believing they would simply re-spawn upon being killed (just like they would in the game)? I'm sure their families would want to know their children died due to their retarding by video games.

*sniff*sniff* I smell another lawsuit against game makers. Can I get a percentage of the settlement for showing you another direction to take Jack?

"Do you think the NIU shooter started playing these murder simulation games last week? You do know how long ago Doom came out, right? His friends say he was into this crap for years."

And Jack Thompson is in the same social circle, so he knows what the mans friends said? Hmmm. It's funny how he's all geared up to proclaim CS the bad guy for warping him and then it's pointed out how he was already an adult when it was released. Suddenly it's back to good old Doom. There's always an answer, isn't there Jack? And when there isn't (as in Cho having only played Sonic the Hedgehog) then you can just ignore the issue altogether and still call it a win!

"He started on them years ago. They retarded him. Are you retarded too? apparently"

For a man who has:

- tried to subpeona the president
- tried to get the IP addresses and names of people who make fun of his PUBLIC comments and appearances
- sent explicit gay porn as part of his defense in a court case
- been thrown off a court case for bizarre behaviour
- been made to take a psychiatric evaluation because of his lunatic obsession with Janet Reno
- has been proven to ignore any/all facts that oppose his agenda while making up facts that support it

Maybe he should really direct that question at himself. I would pay good monies to be a fly on the wall when he looks back and realises what he has done with his life and how he has behaved, then throws back his head and roars "I'VE BEEN THE RETARDED ONE ALL ALONG!"

@Nick: "What video game did Hitler play?"

It's a little known fact that the Final Solution was created over a game of Death Race.

I love Jack Thompson. Every time I see him on the news, I smile.

Why, you ask?

Because we COULD have someone respectable, intelligent, and well-spoken as an anti-game crusader. Instead, we have Jack, who does more to harm his "cause" than anything we could ever say in our beloved hobby's defense.

So... speak on, Jack. Speak on.

It saddens me how many imbiciles are out there who listen to John Bruce's kind of uninformed drivel.
I'm surprised that none of the companies involved hasn't started slammig him with libel actions on account of his grossly uninformed claims.

But I imagine that the US being the US, Thompson has some sort of legal entitlement to talk crap and bring unproven lawsuits against anyone he chooses, but is protected by some amendment or other.

Game Over.

@ Keith

Forget about what he was referring to, is 'They retarded him' even a sentence??

@DavCube: Yes, just not a very good one.

I'm really glad Mr. Thompson, in his position as a prominent attorney, is acting so maturely about this. What's next, is he going to call MSNBC "a bunch of stupid-heads"?

[...] Original post by GamePolitics Related Articles Fatal error: Call to undefined function: related_posts() in /home/freemu/public_html/gamerblast/wp-content/themes/SlickAdsense/single.php on line 26 [...]

Let's propose that all of the 'bad influences' were taken away - ie no television, no games, no music. Would there be a difference? I don't think there would be much difference. Even if the whole world went back to its primal roots, there is going to be someone who'd want to hurt a lot of people.

Jack talks about corrupting young minds and that things need to be done to stop it. However if we shield children from all the bad things, how will they learn to live with life after they leave home?

"Jack won’t respond to the issue of Kazmeirczak being an adult because he doesn’t have an answer for it. If he does respond, his answer will probably be along the lines that he probably had been playing these games since he was a teen (the same reasoning incidentally that he used to justify his argument that Seung-Hui Cho was influenced by Counter-Strike). To him, “once a gamer, always a gamer.” The bottom line to Jack is he’s a gamer and that’s all there is to it.

Also considering Jack’s history with Dennis, he’ll probably also fire off some responses along the lines of, “Are you a moron? The answer is obvious. I’ve been repeating the same thing to you and your braindead cronies for years! Duh.” You can almost anticipate like clockwork what he’s going to say. Like I’ve said before, he’s practically sounding like a broken record. Sad, really."

Almost to the letter. It's unbelievable how easy it was for you to predict Jack's childishness …

Thompson REALLY needs a hobby. He just goes around and blames almost anything he can on Violent video games.

Gas prices rising? Video Games
War with Iraq? Video Games!
People Sodimizing Giraffes? His hobby...I mean, Video Games