Today we may not have an episode of Hard News for you but we'll be bringing you our interview with none other than Jack Thompson. Does he really hate video games as much as everyone thinks? Click the link and find out.
Submitted by Jjunior130 on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 2:52pm.
lol such friendly ppl :D i just posted cuz i was first by one second ;O i just didn't say "First" :P i got an A+ by being first though i told my teacher xD
Submitted by Kazekawa on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:30am.
I can't believe you guys actually "sat down" with him. I still do not trust a guy as crazy as him though. Some of the stuff he is says is really out there.
People only think he is crazy because he talks crazily. He was found guilty of multiple crimes, he has asked extremely inappropriate questions to Janet Reno and his recent judge and even went after Penny-Arcade claiming death threats. No matter how calm he talks now on the phone, the guy is a fruitloop.
Submitted by Kazekawa on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:34am.
When you are close to losing your lawyer license and could someday face charges in court, you start considering ways to not make you look crazy. What he said to ScrewAttack was fine and dandy, but before having a change of heart, have a peek http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney).
Submitted by jaspermyriad on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 1:13pm.
keep in mind that a topic as heated as jack thompson prolly has ppl who go on wiki daily to post exaggerated or false information to his wiki page and related pages, not defending him, i just like to see that all the information on the table is viable
Submitted by Rapturous on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 4:37am.
A nice little feature that makes Wikipedia more credible than people realize is that they often try to enforce as many footnotes and citations as possible. So, if you're reading something that hasn't been cited with a link at the bottom of the page, then it's questionable. If it has a citation and you're still skeptical, go to the citation and find out for yourself.
I'm actually quite suprised. I thought he'd be all "GET RID OF VIDEO GAMES NAO!" I guess I was wrong. Hell, a lot of us were wrong. That is, until he sees a certain top 10 list..... :D
BTW, I believe you made a mistake in uploading this, because above the vid, the time is 7:30 pm.
Submitted by saintzenn on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:37am.
He sounds like a really reasonable person in this. That is really scary. I'm glad that he acknowledges the fact that violence has been around before video games. What did people blame before video games? TV? What about before TV? Radio? Before that? Not books because only rich people knew how to read. People are violent, stop blaming things and accept that there's a monster inside of everyone.
They used to blame comic books and D&D, I assume in the olden days they blamed whatever the newest thing the kids were doing (I.E. that toy with the ball on a string and the cup)
Submitted by testobject on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:37am.
Lol, I find it hilarious that now we get a friendly Jack Thompson, yet not so long ago Destin suggested he shouldn't put his head up his ass so deeply.
Submitted by Zulu-Echo14 on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:42am.
He is still a... how can I describe him... a "wacko", one telephone interview isn't going to make up for a life time of stupidity, false statements and overall dickness.
With all of the videogame sites like screwattack and gametrailers focusing on and complaining about Jack Thompson, one often gets an extremely one sided opinion of the man. In all honesty, other lawyers make false statements and act a bit stupid all the time. It is just that because JT focuses on video games. The video game media likes to make him out as a bad guy, which he is to some degree. Watching this video i realize that most of his points were good. 12 year olds should not buy M rated games, and parents hold a high level of the blame.
Submitted by fitopito66 on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:43am.
im completely blown away, my perspective on jack thompson change lol, i thought he was all crazy and shit but after all he knows what hes talking about and has a good point, i bet destin feels bad for picking on him on hard news lol
Submitted by brockalicious on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:43am.
That wasn't the smoothest of transitions with Thompson explaining that the parents need to be involved, and then Destin asking if Thompson if he wanted to stop the production of video games all together. I am no journalist major, but that was a shitty question
Submitted by sepher105 on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:59am.
I once emailed JT asking him similar questions. He replied "returned unread" I emailed him again asking why he didnt read it..He then replied "because im a busy man, and you obviously are not." Even though he replied to both emails within an hour. Yeah, real nice guy.
Submitted by jello44 on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:18am.
Do you realize how many people actually e-mail him constantly with probably the same questions over and over? Not to mention the over zealous people sending him death threats or other various forms of "Y DO U HAET VIDYA GAEMS?!!!"
Submitted by connor37 on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 9:15am.
He seems so rational here, and not as I have seen him before, but he's still wrong, and he often doesn't even know what he's talking about and as such shouldn't be doing what he is.
He always sounds sane in his interviews. And then you hear about the stupid crap he pulls and getting slapped with breaking the law or whatever, those 17 counts he was charged with.. and then you, wait.. which one of these guys is real?
I think he's a smart guy. But I think he puts way too much of his time and passion into this, and it's getting him into serious trouble.
This guy's persona that you all see is just an image. He is a lawyer, and 99.9% of all lawyers only care about money. Jack does not give a piss about some kid murdering someone "because of GTA". He found one of the biggest cash cow industries to take on, which leads me to believe he might not be as moronic as I once thought he was
He does have a point that parents should be more responcible, but he does take this way to far. Well that is the understatment, he doesnt take it way to far, it takes it so far, he finds the border to the universe.
-He who controls the past, conquers the future. He who contols the future, conquered the past. -Kane, Command and Conquer.
I think I'll take this with a grain of salt. If he was outright cookoo bananas from the get go I'm pretty sure that his courier as a lawyer wouldn't have lasted as long as it is. I actually think that some of the stuff that he says (at least in this interview) makes sense, like the whole age restriction thing. I wonder what the world would be like with a not crazy, reasonable Jack T.....
I wouldn't want to be J.t's kid because no GTA and no 18+ omg...Life would suck as his kid:P And Destin doesn't shove something up his ass in the interview because he has some respect for the guy like everybody should...I mean he is like 75...
Submitted by Vhannoy on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:33am.
You dont need mature rated games to have fun, you know.
I had parents who did the same thing: no GTA and no 18+. They were making sure that I didn't get content that wasnt designed for me, which is a hell of a lot more than quite a few fuckwit parents do.
Submitted by DarthBrady on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 10:04am.
Jack catches a lot of flak, but that's because Jack has made some big mistakes in his efforts.
Bottom Line: Jack claims he just wants adult games NOT to end up in the hands of children, and thinks game companies and retailers alike should be held responsible.
I cant disagree with that. I have been gaming for over 20 years, and kids today are rotten enough, and sometimes their parents. SOMEBODY has to do SOMETHING.
Submitted by Indutrial on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 5:02pm.
...with your last point.
I'm a 27 year old gamer who could give two shits about Jack Thompson and all of the stupid issues that have cropped up about video games in the past 10 years. All the attempts to politicize this are kind of ridiculous and, as with movies and comic books, it's entirely the parents' job to keep on their kids' asses.
On a personal level, I really f**king hate the attitude kids under the age of 18 have these days, and especially gamers in that age group. A combination of shitty parenting, milquetoast schooling, and the effects of Internet freedoms have really turned them into a generation of nasty little mutants who have zero imagination and an attitude of desensitization towards pretty much everything ranging from bad language to sex to violence. Growing up in the 80s, I didn't see an R-rated movie until I was like 12 years old, and it was completely by accident...whereas now parents are such pussies that they go on IMDB forums to ask people whether or not they should let their grade-school kids watch Saw III or whatever when they have a sleepover party. I can also recall numerous recent experiences in Gamestop and Target where shitty little kids would bitch their parents into buying them games like Resident Evil 4, Manhunt, and JT's favorite GTA III. Even after the clerk lets them know about the rating, it doesn't matter. The mom or dad just wants the little bastard to shut the hell up so they can get some much-needed relaxation at home.
Again, I don't believe in self-promoting crusaders who make a big public stink about this shit as much as I do believe that parents need to regain their balls and start kicking the piss out of their bratty kids a little more, mentally, physically, and morally.
Submitted by DarthBrady on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 9:35am.
I am 25 and feel the same. My parents never let me see sh*t like that until I was a teenager. And You would THINK game ratings today would be just as serious to a parent as movie ratings were when I was a kid to my parents.
Because Back then all there was, was My NES, and a VCR. And I still remember my first R movie. "Bird on a wire" and I was 12. And I didnt get to see another one until I was 13.
Maybe some of you would say that's strict. But not me. Not when I see the bratty spoiled and stupid Kids that walk into my store every day.
Submitted by KingRanger on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:04pm.
Parents need to do something not SOMEBODY. Tell you what, when you allow the government or SOMEBODY to go into your house daily, to over see what you do and tell you if you are wrong or right, then you will have a basis for your claim.
Ok, let's wrap our brain's around one big thing first: Jack Thompson the Man is different from Jack Thompson the lawyer. I've seen other interviews like this one, I have friends who've actually met the man (One got him to autograph his copy of Grand Theft Auto 3!) and they all say he's an actual nice guy. I don't disagree with this, and I've had my share of email correspondence with him being a jerkhead too.
But there's still Jack Thompson the lawyer. This is the man we know as Wacko Jacko aside from the obvious. And this isn't just a one sided look from the game media, oh no. Mr. Thompson has been turning court rooms into 3 ring circuses long before he ever turned his attention to video games. I don't understand it myself, but that seems to be his strategy as a lawyer, a man whose job it is to win: To be absolutely batshit nuts.
But Thompson doesn't stop with court room banter, he goes on shows that are not Screwattack or game related and decides the best course of action is to defame video games and the people who play them as much as possible in his style that exists outside of what we see in this video. Watch those interviews, and you'll see a man who gets over excited as he loses himself scapegoating, self contradicting and outrageous claims to make any media mongers heart race with excitement about their next big feature on how little timmy's gonna re-enact call of duty in his cafeteria.
Can we BLAME Thompson for this? Not really. When you have a job, you're expected to go all out for it, and Jack is a lawyer. It's his job to make the public think his way is right, and I suppose acting as the virtuous crusader come to save us all from catastrophe on a snow white horse is as good of a strategy as any. We can, however, critique his form, but maybe that would be asinine at this point. We've already made elaborate drinking games out of every time Jack twists his words or changes his mind when giving more formal interviews or appearing in the media in some way, after all.
I appreciate this interview and I'm glad Thompson takes SOME time to break away from his job persona to show us he's not really as insane as he appears. However, there is a point I've been driving at here so let me sum it up the best I can: It's well and good to SAY you're not what the media makes it out to be, but when you're trying to redeem yourself after sending gay porn to a federal official as a part of your job routine, it might be too little and too late.
Submitted by Nilsenator on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 10:29am.
So now we're NOT hating Jackie all of a sudden? Gosh darn it!
Well, he seems like a calm and collected guy, compared to the intollerant troll I see in his TV interviews (not spoofs, actual interviews)...He may be right on some points, but I still think he's wrong on some other.
Boy, I feel sorry for that kid, he must get bullied at school for being Jack Thompsons kid.
But, seriously though, this is extremely good PR for Jack. The caricature of him wanting to ban video games all-together was clearly something just made up by the internet. So for him to do an interview with a game site, free for prejudices and Destin making fun of him, really helps for his image.
I can't believe I'm saying this but he made some good points. Although the blame should not just be put on the parents either. Yes they should moniter what their children are doing (I hate it when parents say "Oh where did my child go wrong." and they never pay attention to their kids.) Also the blame should be put on the retailers for allowing kids to buy M rated games. Recently I was in a Gamestop and a woman came in to buy GTA Liberty City Stories for her 14 year old son. Thankfully the clerk explained that the game was rated M and she left without buying the game. But where I differ in my opinion from certain other people is that I believe that no matter what compelled them to commit a crime (unless they are mentally challenged already.) they should be punised just like anyone else who doesn't have a good excuse. If you are compelled to kill or steal after playing a game then (in my opinion) you already have mental problems and all the game did was put an idea into your head.
Submitted by KingRanger on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:00pm.
Bullshit. IF a person has issues they can get anything from their head from any source. Don't start saying video games or anything else put ideas into peoples heads. That is a line of totally false logic.
Submitted by fakeangel on Sun, 08/31/2008 - 10:29am.
some researchers already make a research about this and concluded that video gamers were 0.01% more violent.
the variation it's so little that was considered unreleated to video games and if a video gamers was more violent than a person who is not, it's because this person is more propense to this stuff or have mental problems
I remember when the rating just started up. I remember selling games like golden Eye and such to young kids. Didnt think much about it because we were not informed or educated by our management, who probably were not informed either.
The day i took notice was when a family wanted to buy a South PArk game for their grade 2-3 child. I actually explained the concepts and they were shocked.
I started to open my eyes too. Read the box. Arm yourself with knowledge.
:O
i didn't see the video but i can't cuz im posting this comment from school xD they block the site and stuff >:O
why???
if you havent seen the video then why are you even posting thats alomost as bad as posting..... the thing that comes before second
What the fuck, why post
What the fuck, why post then. Dumbass.
Indeed.
Give this man the achievement.
[IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l95/Wilson_Jose1392/Funny/epicpicx2222.jpg[/IMG]
hahaha
YES!
nicely done
What's the name of your elementary school?
xD
lol such friendly ppl :D i just posted cuz i was first by one second ;O i just didn't say "First" :P i got an A+ by being first though i told my teacher xD
you sir are an idiot. why so
you sir are an idiot. why so many goddamn smileys too? It makes you look like a 12 year old. Oh wait...
smileys ftw
and yes im like 7 years old that's y i do that xD lol :D
Dude....
Youre giving us younger people a bad name
Dance with the devil
I can't believe you guys actually "sat down" with him. I still do not trust a guy as crazy as him though. Some of the stuff he is says is really out there.
People only think he is crazy because he talks crazily. He was found guilty of multiple crimes, he has asked extremely inappropriate questions to Janet Reno and his recent judge and even went after Penny-Arcade claiming death threats. No matter how calm he talks now on the phone, the guy is a fruitloop.
WHAT
Wow, I got a whole other picture of him now. It didn't sound like the Jack Thomspon I've heard about.
For sweet remixes of video games go here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MkOnyx
When you may...
When you are close to losing your lawyer license and could someday face charges in court, you start considering ways to not make you look crazy. What he said to ScrewAttack was fine and dandy, but before having a change of heart, have a peek http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney).
keep in mind that a topic as
keep in mind that a topic as heated as jack thompson prolly has ppl who go on wiki daily to post exaggerated or false information to his wiki page and related pages, not defending him, i just like to see that all the information on the table is viable
Yeah wikipedia has never
Yeah wikipedia has never been a real reliable source, last time I checked, it said Craig killed a bear with his bear hands, though that might be true.
They said
I taught some DBZ char some move, when its clearly not true...i taught it to Dante...
A double dose of the X chromosome equals a double dose of Pwnage! Visit AlisonPrime for a few good laughs!
Bare necessities
If Craig killed a bear with his bear hands, that would make him a bear, and there have been countless videos on SA that refute this claim.
A nice little feature that
A nice little feature that makes Wikipedia more credible than people realize is that they often try to enforce as many footnotes and citations as possible. So, if you're reading something that hasn't been cited with a link at the bottom of the page, then it's questionable. If it has a citation and you're still skeptical, go to the citation and find out for yourself.
Kinda weird
Is it me or does he have 2 personalities? Today, sane and rational (to a biased degree) Jack came out. Most other times we see a complete loon.
This video is broadcasting
This video is broadcasting from the future!
- Not The FBI
Woah you're Right
I never noticed that... that's weird.
Jack Thompson seemed normal, nothing like what you guys say on hard news
---
When it comes to megaman, there is nothing better than 8-bit music and graphics. Not that 16-bit crap.
Woah you're Right
I never noticed that... that's weird.
Jack Thompson seemed normal, nothing like what you guys say on hard news
---
When it comes to megaman, there is nothing better than 8-bit music and graphics. Not that 16-bit crap.
Wow, just wow.
I'm actually quite suprised. I thought he'd be all "GET RID OF VIDEO GAMES NAO!" I guess I was wrong. Hell, a lot of us were wrong. That is, until he sees a certain top 10 list..... :D
BTW, I believe you made a mistake in uploading this, because above the vid, the time is 7:30 pm.
i know
i was wondering if he'd seen it and i was waiting for him to bring it up
That's scary
He sounds like a really reasonable person in this. That is really scary. I'm glad that he acknowledges the fact that violence has been around before video games. What did people blame before video games? TV? What about before TV? Radio? Before that? Not books because only rich people knew how to read. People are violent, stop blaming things and accept that there's a monster inside of everyone.
They used to blame comic
They used to blame comic books and D&D, I assume in the olden days they blamed whatever the newest thing the kids were doing (I.E. that toy with the ball on a string and the cup)
Yup
Most of my friends are comic readers and/or D&D players. I had to fight with my mum to get her to realize that the whole Dark Dungeons was just a lie.
Jacky T.
Lol, I find it hilarious that now we get a friendly Jack Thompson, yet not so long ago Destin suggested he shouldn't put his head up his ass so deeply.
Douche
Man his kids must get the shit beat out of them at school.
Yeah
And the children who beat up Jack's kids just say, "I learn it from playing Bully."
:0
I tried to listen to the interview but all i could hear was that sweet megaman music in the background
i was a victim of this
i was a victim of this aswell...
Lol, I actually didn't
Lol, I actually didn't notice the Megaman music the first time, cuz I wanted to hear what Jack had to say.
i was actually playing
i was actually playing megaman 2 when this came on, that was so awesome
I don't care how calm he seemed.
He is still a... how can I describe him... a "wacko", one telephone interview isn't going to make up for a life time of stupidity, false statements and overall dickness.
There is more to it than that.
With all of the videogame sites like screwattack and gametrailers focusing on and complaining about Jack Thompson, one often gets an extremely one sided opinion of the man. In all honesty, other lawyers make false statements and act a bit stupid all the time. It is just that because JT focuses on video games. The video game media likes to make him out as a bad guy, which he is to some degree. Watching this video i realize that most of his points were good. 12 year olds should not buy M rated games, and parents hold a high level of the blame.
I agree with you 100%, I may
I agree with you 100%, I may not agree with him on may things, but I don't think he's the main villain to video games, that goes to another "group".
wow
im completely blown away, my perspective on jack thompson change lol, i thought he was all crazy and shit but after all he knows what hes talking about and has a good point, i bet destin feels bad for picking on him on hard news lol
Nice Question
That wasn't the smoothest of transitions with Thompson explaining that the parents need to be involved, and then Destin asking if Thompson if he wanted to stop the production of video games all together. I am no journalist major, but that was a shitty question
Destin asked him the
Destin asked him the question about parents being involved in the first place, what else did he need to ask?
And I thought his question about video games being banned was something I've never heard Jack asked before.
So.. I disagree with you to say the least.
*GASP*
:O.................................................................................. *soils self* this opens a whole new door i guess
...He is not a nice guy
I once emailed JT asking him similar questions. He replied "returned unread" I emailed him again asking why he didnt read it..He then replied "because im a busy man, and you obviously are not." Even though he replied to both emails within an hour. Yeah, real nice guy.
Do you realize how many
Do you realize how many people actually e-mail him constantly with probably the same questions over and over? Not to mention the over zealous people sending him death threats or other various forms of "Y DO U HAET VIDYA GAEMS?!!!"
He seems so rational here,
He seems so rational here, and not as I have seen him before, but he's still wrong, and he often doesn't even know what he's talking about and as such shouldn't be doing what he is.
He always sounds sane in his
He always sounds sane in his interviews. And then you hear about the stupid crap he pulls and getting slapped with breaking the law or whatever, those 17 counts he was charged with.. and then you, wait.. which one of these guys is real?
I think he's a smart guy. But I think he puts way too much of his time and passion into this, and it's getting him into serious trouble.
..plus he might be crazy. lol.
cool interview and
cool interview and crashman's stage is the best 8-bit song ever !
This guy's persona that you
This guy's persona that you all see is just an image. He is a lawyer, and 99.9% of all lawyers only care about money. Jack does not give a piss about some kid murdering someone "because of GTA". He found one of the biggest cash cow industries to take on, which leads me to believe he might not be as moronic as I once thought he was
I agree with his motivs, but
I agree with his motivs, but I think he took the fight WAAAAY too far.
Yeah
Yeah, with this I do agree to.
He does have a point that parents should be more responcible, but he does take this way to far. Well that is the understatment, he doesnt take it way to far, it takes it so far, he finds the border to the universe.
-He who controls the past, conquers the future. He who contols the future, conquered the past. -Kane, Command and Conquer.
I am pretty surprised by
I am pretty surprised by this. He doesn't seem that bad.
Salt
I think I'll take this with a grain of salt. If he was outright cookoo bananas from the get go I'm pretty sure that his courier as a lawyer wouldn't have lasted as long as it is. I actually think that some of the stuff that he says (at least in this interview) makes sense, like the whole age restriction thing. I wonder what the world would be like with a not crazy, reasonable Jack T.....
so he's fine with video
so he's fine with video games..good.
he's still convinced that video games cause crazy murderers...bad...
I wouldn't want to be J.t's
I wouldn't want to be J.t's kid because no GTA and no 18+ omg...Life would suck as his kid:P And Destin doesn't shove something up his ass in the interview because he has some respect for the guy like everybody should...I mean he is like 75...
You dont need mature rated
You dont need mature rated games to have fun, you know.
I had parents who did the same thing: no GTA and no 18+. They were making sure that I didn't get content that wasnt designed for me, which is a hell of a lot more than quite a few fuckwit parents do.
they aren't physically
they aren't physically together, so shoving isn't possible lol (he might have thought about it... :D)
The gods don't seem to favor me, but I kinda like it better that way.-Final Fantasy XII
About Jack
Jack catches a lot of flak, but that's because Jack has made some big mistakes in his efforts.
Bottom Line: Jack claims he just wants adult games NOT to end up in the hands of children, and thinks game companies and retailers alike should be held responsible.
I cant disagree with that. I have been gaming for over 20 years, and kids today are rotten enough, and sometimes their parents. SOMEBODY has to do SOMETHING.
Agreed...
...with your last point.
I'm a 27 year old gamer who could give two shits about Jack Thompson and all of the stupid issues that have cropped up about video games in the past 10 years. All the attempts to politicize this are kind of ridiculous and, as with movies and comic books, it's entirely the parents' job to keep on their kids' asses.
On a personal level, I really f**king hate the attitude kids under the age of 18 have these days, and especially gamers in that age group. A combination of shitty parenting, milquetoast schooling, and the effects of Internet freedoms have really turned them into a generation of nasty little mutants who have zero imagination and an attitude of desensitization towards pretty much everything ranging from bad language to sex to violence. Growing up in the 80s, I didn't see an R-rated movie until I was like 12 years old, and it was completely by accident...whereas now parents are such pussies that they go on IMDB forums to ask people whether or not they should let their grade-school kids watch Saw III or whatever when they have a sleepover party. I can also recall numerous recent experiences in Gamestop and Target where shitty little kids would bitch their parents into buying them games like Resident Evil 4, Manhunt, and JT's favorite GTA III. Even after the clerk lets them know about the rating, it doesn't matter. The mom or dad just wants the little bastard to shut the hell up so they can get some much-needed relaxation at home.
Again, I don't believe in self-promoting crusaders who make a big public stink about this shit as much as I do believe that parents need to regain their balls and start kicking the piss out of their bratty kids a little more, mentally, physically, and morally.
lol...
I loved the comment about IMDB.
I still remember going to the South Park movie and sitting next to a 7 year old girl and her parents...really?
Well said.
I am 25 and feel the same. My parents never let me see sh*t like that until I was a teenager. And You would THINK game ratings today would be just as serious to a parent as movie ratings were when I was a kid to my parents.
Because Back then all there was, was My NES, and a VCR. And I still remember my first R movie. "Bird on a wire" and I was 12. And I didnt get to see another one until I was 13.
Maybe some of you would say that's strict. But not me. Not when I see the bratty spoiled and stupid Kids that walk into my store every day.
Parents need to do something
Parents need to do something not SOMEBODY. Tell you what, when you allow the government or SOMEBODY to go into your house daily, to over see what you do and tell you if you are wrong or right, then you will have a basis for your claim.
Split personality
Ok, let's wrap our brain's around one big thing first: Jack Thompson the Man is different from Jack Thompson the lawyer. I've seen other interviews like this one, I have friends who've actually met the man (One got him to autograph his copy of Grand Theft Auto 3!) and they all say he's an actual nice guy. I don't disagree with this, and I've had my share of email correspondence with him being a jerkhead too.
But there's still Jack Thompson the lawyer. This is the man we know as Wacko Jacko aside from the obvious. And this isn't just a one sided look from the game media, oh no. Mr. Thompson has been turning court rooms into 3 ring circuses long before he ever turned his attention to video games. I don't understand it myself, but that seems to be his strategy as a lawyer, a man whose job it is to win: To be absolutely batshit nuts.
But Thompson doesn't stop with court room banter, he goes on shows that are not Screwattack or game related and decides the best course of action is to defame video games and the people who play them as much as possible in his style that exists outside of what we see in this video. Watch those interviews, and you'll see a man who gets over excited as he loses himself scapegoating, self contradicting and outrageous claims to make any media mongers heart race with excitement about their next big feature on how little timmy's gonna re-enact call of duty in his cafeteria.
Can we BLAME Thompson for this? Not really. When you have a job, you're expected to go all out for it, and Jack is a lawyer. It's his job to make the public think his way is right, and I suppose acting as the virtuous crusader come to save us all from catastrophe on a snow white horse is as good of a strategy as any. We can, however, critique his form, but maybe that would be asinine at this point. We've already made elaborate drinking games out of every time Jack twists his words or changes his mind when giving more formal interviews or appearing in the media in some way, after all.
I appreciate this interview and I'm glad Thompson takes SOME time to break away from his job persona to show us he's not really as insane as he appears. However, there is a point I've been driving at here so let me sum it up the best I can: It's well and good to SAY you're not what the media makes it out to be, but when you're trying to redeem yourself after sending gay porn to a federal official as a part of your job routine, it might be too little and too late.
Wait a minute....
So now we're NOT hating Jackie all of a sudden? Gosh darn it!
Well, he seems like a calm and collected guy, compared to the intollerant troll I see in his TV interviews (not spoofs, actual interviews)...He may be right on some points, but I still think he's wrong on some other.
Make games, not war.
OK.
Like what?
hmmmmmm
good shit. not much to say that already hasn't been said.
DARREN RULES!
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"I'm a father of a fifteen year old..."
Boy, I feel sorry for that kid, he must get bullied at school for being Jack Thompsons kid.
But, seriously though, this is extremely good PR for Jack. The caricature of him wanting to ban video games all-together was clearly something just made up by the internet. So for him to do an interview with a game site, free for prejudices and Destin making fun of him, really helps for his image.
I can't believe I'm saying this
I can't believe I'm saying this but he made some good points. Although the blame should not just be put on the parents either. Yes they should moniter what their children are doing (I hate it when parents say "Oh where did my child go wrong." and they never pay attention to their kids.) Also the blame should be put on the retailers for allowing kids to buy M rated games. Recently I was in a Gamestop and a woman came in to buy GTA Liberty City Stories for her 14 year old son. Thankfully the clerk explained that the game was rated M and she left without buying the game. But where I differ in my opinion from certain other people is that I believe that no matter what compelled them to commit a crime (unless they are mentally challenged already.) they should be punised just like anyone else who doesn't have a good excuse. If you are compelled to kill or steal after playing a game then (in my opinion) you already have mental problems and all the game did was put an idea into your head.
Really?
Did the retailer really did that? Usually they don't care as long as they can get 50 bucks out of it.
Bullshit. IF a person has
Bullshit. IF a person has issues they can get anything from their head from any source. Don't start saying video games or anything else put ideas into peoples heads. That is a line of totally false logic.
actually...
some researchers already make a research about this and concluded that video gamers were 0.01% more violent.
the variation it's so little that was considered unreleated to video games and if a video gamers was more violent than a person who is not, it's because this person is more propense to this stuff or have mental problems
I used to work for Toys R Us
I remember when the rating just started up. I remember selling games like golden Eye and such to young kids. Didnt think much about it because we were not informed or educated by our management, who probably were not informed either.
The day i took notice was when a family wanted to buy a South PArk game for their grade 2-3 child. I actually explained the concepts and they were shocked.
I started to open my eyes too. Read the box. Arm yourself with knowledge.