Wednesday, December 14, 2005
a quick blurb
"The Bible doesn't promote killing innocent people," Thompson said. "Grand Theft Auto does."
so the wiping out entire civilizations thing was all a misunderstaning I guess...
so the wiping out entire civilizations thing was all a misunderstaning I guess...
Friday, November 04, 2005
:-)
a charity group run by gamers donated 10 grand to charity in jack thompsons name
http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-17
make sure to read the whole thing, its good reading :-)
http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-17
make sure to read the whole thing, its good reading :-)
Thompson breaks his word
he said he'd donate 10k to charity if someone made his game. someone did. he didn't
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000743063662/
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000743063662/
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Jack Thompson
I've long put up with people looking at the games I play and saying how horrible they are and asking if I feel bad from contributing to a culture that minimizes violence. I started this to say that no I don't, in fact I don't feel that way at all about them. I've been playing them for years and I own weapons just like many other Americans and also like most other Americans I've never committed a single violent act against anyone. The person responsible for finally making me feel like saying something is Jack Thompson I'll post a quote from his website to make my point.
"ANOTHER THOMPSON PREDICTION CAME TRUE: Dateline NBC reported Friday, December 13, 2002, that the Beltway Sniper, John Lee Malvo, was compelled by John Muhammad to train on the sniper video game, Halo, switched to sniper-mode or God-mode, to suppress his inhibition to kill." Jack Thompson predicted, in an interview by Matt Lauer on NBC's Today show three weeks before the Beltway Snipers were apprehended, that one of the snipers "might very well be a video gamer as young as 15 trained on a game switched to sniper-mode or God-mode.""
There's a couple of very important flaws there, one halo isn't a sniper game, two halo has no god mode or any other cheats for that matter, and third it has no "sniper mode" you can use a sniper rifle on some of the levels if you choose but its almost always the least effective weapon and while your aiming it you'll get pasted by another enemy. Firing a rifle in a video game has no relation to reality either, Malvo was a good shot with a rifle, he didn't learn that from halo he learned that from practicing with a real weapon on targets. A Weapon that has a kick that jumps the muzzle up as it fires and pulls to one side when you pull the trigger, real guns aren't push button, learning to tap "A" really fast doesn't mean you will hit anything your aiming at in real life, I would go so far as to say video games are a handicap to learning to fire, they stuff your mind full of false impressions about what a gun does and how it acts.
On to the next quote from his site...
"I am trying to protect our freedoms. How so? When the next Columbine happens and the perpetrators are proven to be copycatters of adult-rated violent entertainment, then the government, driven by parental concern, really will contract freedom for all Americans. Safety will trump freedom."
Trying to protect our freedoms, how so indeed. I fail to see how getting the government to restrict a form of free expression and entertainment "protects" our freedoms, and as for this being driven by "parental concern" here's an idea, how about parents direct that concern at stopping their children from playing games that already can't be sold to them without someone over 17 present. If parents are really worried, don't let it into their home. Set rules, that's what parents are supposed to do.
For those wondering Jack Thompson's website can be found at http://www.stopkill.com/ and his email address is jackpeace@comcast.net
~end post
There's a couple of very important flaws there, one halo isn't a sniper game, two halo has no god mode or any other cheats for that matter, and third it has no "sniper mode" you can use a sniper rifle on some of the levels if you choose but its almost always the least effective weapon and while your aiming it you'll get pasted by another enemy. Firing a rifle in a video game has no relation to reality either, Malvo was a good shot with a rifle, he didn't learn that from halo he learned that from practicing with a real weapon on targets. A Weapon that has a kick that jumps the muzzle up as it fires and pulls to one side when you pull the trigger, real guns aren't push button, learning to tap "A" really fast doesn't mean you will hit anything your aiming at in real life, I would go so far as to say video games are a handicap to learning to fire, they stuff your mind full of false impressions about what a gun does and how it acts.
On to the next quote from his site...
"I am trying to protect our freedoms. How so? When the next Columbine happens and the perpetrators are proven to be copycatters of adult-rated violent entertainment, then the government, driven by parental concern, really will contract freedom for all Americans. Safety will trump freedom."
Trying to protect our freedoms, how so indeed. I fail to see how getting the government to restrict a form of free expression and entertainment "protects" our freedoms, and as for this being driven by "parental concern" here's an idea, how about parents direct that concern at stopping their children from playing games that already can't be sold to them without someone over 17 present. If parents are really worried, don't let it into their home. Set rules, that's what parents are supposed to do.
For those wondering Jack Thompson's website can be found at http://www.stopkill.com/ and his email address is jackpeace@comcast.net
~end post
