Jack Thompson really is still alive...

[Dark Jaguar]

And he's completely insane.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/18/jack-t...-take-two/

It's like he just sends an update of his latest insane thoughts to all our favorite news sources.

Here's a gem.

Amen, and Praise be to God Almighty, maker of Heaven, Earth, and yes, the maker even video games.

Um... by this logic this god fellow must have created Manhunt and GTA as well. And you say you are fighting against it FOR god? Generally, an authority figure running around setting two subordinates against each other is generally a plot device in Star Trek, wherein Kirk says "don't you see, this is exactly what he wants!" and then later they destroy the overlord.

Well this little rant of his is just extra nuttiness.

[Great Rumbler]

This lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is, without a doubt, the single dumbest thing I have ever seen any lawyers do in my thirty years of practicing law

Oh, Jack, if only you knew.

[Sacred Jellybean]

Dear Gamers and Gamer Publications on the Internet and Elsewhere:

"Dear"? Be honest, Jacky-boy - you despise us pigs, us participants and purveyors of depravity and sin.

I have been praying, literally, that Take-Two and its lawyers would do something so stupid, so arrogant, so dumb, even dumber than what they have to date done, that such a misstep would enable me to destroy Take-Two.

My, oh my, are you in for a surprise, Jack. The fact that you're so excited for this turn-of-events will make your downfall all the more satisfying.

With the filing of this SLAPP lawsuit last week, my prayers are finally answered.

I don't know if anyone else here as seen Con Air, a terrible action movie, but a scene from it popped in my head: Nicholas Cage, playing a good ol' vigilante country boy with a mullet, says to a dying diabetes patient, "I'mo show you that Gawd DOES exist..." which follows into cheesy electric guitar riffs as he proceeds to do something cool and actiony. Thank Gawd that you'll deliver us from our suffering of this social epidemic, Thompson!

This lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is, without a doubt, the single dumbest thing I have ever seen any lawyers do in my thirty years of practicing law

-- while in continuous good standing to do so with The Florida Bar, I might add,

Then why is the Florida Bar Association currently seeking sanctions for your inappropriate conduct?

the shock radio and video game industry's efforts notwithstanding.

It's not their fault you set yourself up for ridicule so regularly, Jacky ol' boy.

I encourage folks to read Psalm 35, a Psalm of David,

The Bible isn't relevant to EVERYONE, you know.

which is brilliant in its entirety (since God Himself wrote it),

GOD HIMSELF WROTE IT?! Golly, how could have I been so apprehensive?!

7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit,
which without cause they have digged for my soul.

8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares;
and let his net that he hath hid catch himself:
into that very destruction let him fall.

This is so ironic, nothing I can possibly say can add to its humor.

9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD:
it shall rejoice in his salvation.

Anyone with the leverage to influence laws makes me uncomfortable when they claim that they're carrying out God's will, especially if those religious beliefs don't run with mine (or my own lack thereof). Some of the most dangerously influential people in this world will justify their actions this way. He has a right to think and state this, but it speaks lengths about his personality.

The pit Take-Two has dug for itself will be patently clear next week when I strike back.

If anyone is preparing themselves for burial, it sure isn't them!

Oh, and by the way, the entire Take-Two management and board will be gone on March 23, so this pit-digging comes at a very bad time indeed.

Dum dum DUMMMM!!! Well, you certainly have the upper-hand then, Jack! Surely your history of professional misconduct will be canceled out by this.

Amen, and Praise be to God Almighty, maker of Heaven, Earth, and yes, the maker even video games.

Not everything he made was good, though... (if ya dig those sorta beliefs) He also made

-Jack Thompson

[A Black Falcon]

Oh, I'm sure he knows, he just doesn't care to admit it...

[EdenMaster]

Why doesn't he just change into his final form so the hero can attack his weak point for MASSIVE DAMAGE??

The hero, you ask?

<img src="http://randomnintendo.com/screens/e32k4/miyamoto.jpg">

[Sacred Jellybean]

Oh, I'm sure he knows, he just doesn't care to admit it...

He's sure setting himself up for a lot of humiliation for someone who knows it... :)

[Dark Jaguar]

March 23rd. Let's mark the following day for mass emailing for massive damage to his pride. If his threats don't come to pass, we should ask him what went wrong. Perhaps even the very courts, ALL of them, are out to get Jack personally? We shall see.

[Dark Jaguar]

I think what we actually need to do is pull a bunch of pranks on the guy, using the ENTIRE INTERNET.

For example, let's set up a web page that makes him do this:

<img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/keyboards_are_disgusting.png">

Because keyboards are filled with the entire contents of a decades old toaster, and also mounds of human skin cells. Covering Jack with remnants of his own disgarded food and skin would be like the best insult.

[A Black Falcon]

Dum dum DUMMMM!!! Well, you certainly have the upper-hand then, Jack! Surely your history of professional misconduct will be canceled out by this.

Take-Two's board might indeed be replaced, but it has nothing to do with Jack Thompson and everything to do with the company's horrible management...

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, the Take-Two board is about to be replaced. But it has more to do with rampant mismanagement, losses quarter after quarter despite huge selling franchise, and dubious accounting practices.

[EdenMaster]

http://jackthompsonisadouche.ytmnd.com/

[Great Rumbler]

He was on Fox News yesterday, talking about how the VA Tech guy trained using videogames. Urgh.

[Dark Jaguar]

You mean Jack Thompson knows who the killer is, AND what that person does in their spare time? Alert the internet!

[A Black Falcon]

Yup! Jack Thompson is an idiot...

He wasn't the only one though. I saw some right-wing woman on CNN Headline News also tying videogames to school violence. Even if games aren't blamed, the idea that school violence is worse now is common... but not really true. Overall school violence from 1995 to the present is actually LOWER than it was before that.

[Great Rumbler]

It was on NPR as well and Dr. Phil said similar things too on Larry King Live.

[A Black Falcon]

Well, I guess we were all wrong about videogames and violence after all!

http://kotaku.com/gaming/andrew-rosenblu...253335.php

[Geno]

I take it this guy bases his claims on, um... nothing?

[EdenMaster]

Yep. That does seem to be his "angle".

Then if the person really <i>did</i> plya games, then he'd say "Ah-HAA!! You see!?".

[Dark Jaguar]

Turns out he's played Counter Strike. Woot... Though statistically speaking, is it really a surprise?

[Geno]

If the guy had played Pong, Jack Thompson would have used that case against video games. After all, that ball that you bounce back and forth is kinda like a bullet!

[A Black Falcon]

Turns out he's played Counter Strike. Woot... Though statistically speaking, is it really a surprise?

In high school. There was no sign that he ever played games in college (none of his roommates mention it, etc), and he was a senior, so it seems he stopped some years back, most likely...

But yes, making unsubstantiated claims is the media's specialty! For instance...

Cho has one picture where he's holding a hammer, right? He's South Korean, right? Well, in the South Korean film "Oldboy" (which I never saw, but I know some people here did), there's a scene where the guy kills some people with a hammer... so that was his reference, of course!

Proof? None. Not that it's needed for it to be reported.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04...verywhere/

One such observation, posted on The Lede last night, compared a photo sent to NBC by Mr. Cho with a poster from a South Korean movie. While we were trying to identify what may have been the inspiration for a single image — of Mr. Cho wielding a hammer — one reader saw an “underlying message” that “Koreans make weird and violent movies which inspire other Koreans like Cho to fly off the handle.” (Other comments can be found below).

Of course, we don’t know yet if Mr. Cho ever saw the film “Oldboy,” and even if he did, the film “is not real,” as another reader points out. With Mr. Cho expressing so many other reasons for his shooting spree, it is hardly time to start blaming movies.

One thing is sure: it’s pretty easy to find other men with hammers, using a quick Google image search.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04...inia-tech/

The inspiration for perhaps the most inexplicable image in the set that Cho Seung-Hui mailed to NBC news on Monday may be a movie from South Korea that won the Gran Prix prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2004.

The poses in the two images are similar, and the plot of the movie, “Oldboy,” seems dark enough to merit at least some further study. Following is The Times’s plot summary:

The film centers on a seemingly ordinary businessman, Dae-su (the terrific Choi Min-sik), who, after being mysteriously imprisoned, goes on an extensive, exhausting rampage, seeking answers and all manner of bloody revenge.

In a Times review, Manohla Dargis wrote that the film’s “body count and sadistic violence” mostly appealed to “cult-film aficionados for whom distinctions between high art and low are unknown, unrecognized and certainly unwelcome.”

A Virginia Tech professor, Paul Harrill, alerted us of the similarity between images in the hope that it would shed some light on what led Mr. Cho to kill 32 on Monday before turning the gun on himself.

[Dark Jaguar]

So now it's weird movies that are doing it?

Where is their evidence? And I swear, if I hear "it's just common sense" one more time... Even "common sense" must be questioned and examined to see if it's logical or not.

[Great Rumbler]

The thing with Oldboy however, is that it exposes just how pointless and violent [to one's self] revenge is.

[A Black Falcon]

GR, I don't think that matters. Do you really think that any of the people making that connection have actually seen the film, or had even heard of it before today or yesterday? I don't...

[Great Rumbler]

No, people are simply going to look at synposis and simply assume that it's some kind of gore-fest that glorifies violence and revenge.

[A Black Falcon]

Right. That it isn't doesn't matter.

[Dark Jaguar]

Sad that it takes an event like this to bring a movie like Oldboy (which I haven't seen but many consider a masterpiece) to the attention of the public of our country. I think there actually is such a thing as bad publicity.

[EdenMaster]

In high school. There was no sign that he ever played games in college (none of his roommates mention it, etc), and he was a senior, so it seems he stopped some years back, most likely...

You think a petty thing like facts will get in Jack Thompsons way?

[A Black Falcon]

Jack and Take-Two settled their little suit-countersuit thing...

http://gamepolitics.com/2007/04/19/break...-thompson/

In the settlement, filed with Federal District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga, Thompson has agreed that he:

1.) will not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take Two or its subsidiaries (i.e., Rockstar).

2.) will not communicate to Take Two or anyone doing business with T2 (like, say Wal-Mart) any accusation that the company committed any wrongdoing by selling its games. Thompson is not restricted from criticizing the content of T2 games, nor is he prevented from acting as counsel in lawsuits brought against Take Two by other parties

3.) will make any future contacts with T2 through its attorneys

For its part Take Two has agreed to dismiss the federal lawsuit and Thompson will drop his counterclaim. T2 has also agreed to drop the Bully contempt of court matter. There was to have been a hearing on the case tomorrow morning, and Thompson could potentially have been jailed if he were found to be in contempt by a Miami-Dade County judge.

You think a petty thing like facts will get in Jack Thompsons way?

Ah... no. Not even remotely. :)

[Dark Jaguar]

I wish they had kept up the pressure with the contempt of court issue... Well I'm sure the judge could press it if not Take Two.

[Dark Jaguar]

Do the people have to be FREEDOM BEEF!?

Maybe this lawyer guy WILL save the day. We'll finally have freedom, and all we need give up is our hopes, dreams, rights, and individuality.

[Geno]

"Anyone who is willing to give up a little liberty for a little security loses both and deserves neither." ~Benjamin Franklin

Did it even occur to anyone who doesn't post on a messageboard (seriously, why does all the common sense exist exclusively on messageboards?) that the root of Cho's problems are psychological? You know, mental illness? I mean, whether he was influenced by some form of media or not, you have to be a fucking looney to wanna kill people. Anyone who can't distinguish between reality and fantasy has a few screws loose and they shouldn't be used as a case to ruin everyone else's fun and freedom. So you found some form of media that contains similarity to something that happened in real life--that alone doesn't make a case against the aforementioned media. If someone is inspired by the story of Cain and Abel to kill their brother, is the FCC going to try and ban the Bible? That'd be hilarious.

[A Black Falcon]

seriously, why does all the common sense exist exclusively on messageboards?)

Well, that's not quite true. Depending on where you go, stupid stuff is at least as common as sensible stuff is. There just aren't enough people here for there to be as much of the stupid stuff... :) I don't know that I'd say that common sense is more common on messageboards than elsewhere. :)

that the root of Cho's problems are psychological? You know, mental illness? I mean, whether he was influenced by some form of media or not, you have to be a fucking looney to wanna kill people. Anyone who can't distinguish between reality and fantasy has a few screws loose and they shouldn't be used as a case to ruin everyone else's fun and freedom. So you found some form of media that contains similarity to something that happened in real life--that alone doesn't make a case against the aforementioned media. If someone is inspired by the story of Cain and Abel to kill their brother, is the FCC going to try and ban the Bible? That'd be hilarious.

Well, I'd say that the media is saying that his problems were primarily psychological, and that he definitely had some significant problems... not everybody is blaming it on videogames or the media or whatever. Still though, you're right, the media definitely focuses on the sensational and not strictly on the facts, so things like that often get lost under the weight of them looking for whatever will get them the best ratings... and careful, reasoned statements are less likely to do that.

[Geno]

Well, that's not quite true. Depending on where you go, stupid stuff is at least as common as sensible stuff is. There just aren't enough people here for there to be as much of the stupid stuff... :) I don't know that I'd say that common sense is more common on messageboards than elsewhere. :)

I didn't mean to suggest that stupidity doesn't exist on popular messageboards because it most certainly does. My argument was that the most intelligent discussions I've seen on any issue are on messageboards rather than on television, but as you said, it's all one big quest for ratings: extremism and sensationalism sell. Common sense doesn't.

[A Black Falcon]

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/04/jack...son_s.html

Ahahaha... Jack Thompson... sues Kotaku... :D (read!)

[Dark Jaguar]

I read it on a few gaming sites already. Yeah, a very stupid move. The guy just doesn't like criticism. It doensn't even really make sense either.

Perhaps the guy so completely doubts that there could actually be a "gaming news network" online (after all, they are JUST GAMES :D) that he assumes ALL these sites are the creation, in some back alley way, of major game companies to sell the line. If that's his conspiracy his actions make sense if you assume the premise.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2...refer=home

Mind you, EVERY SINGLE PREMISE THE GUY OPERATES UNDER IS FALSE.

For example, that article shows that yet again, not a single video game was found in this guy's dorm room. They DID find that rather than Counter Strike training this guy to fire a gun (which by the way is crazy in it's own right, my own aim is terrible with the real thing), actually he trained using, well, a REAL GUN, on a shooting range. If this guy has any integrity (integrity meaning he is consistent with his own beliefs and those beliefs don't internally conflict), he should instead be requesting the banning of shooting ranges. I wonder, will he?

[alien space marine]

The moment he threaten penny arcade with legal action is the day he proved definitively in my eyes that he is just as Insane as Cho. IF the VT teaches us anything Jack should be forcibly medicated under and psychiatric treatment.

[Geno]

Jack Thompson is as much of an attention seeker as Cho Seung-Hui, although at least he hasn't killed anyone--he's just carrying on a hopeless crusade against video games. He won't accomplish much besides making an ass of himself. I laugh at his futile attempts.