Jack Thompson Claims Military “In Collusion” With Videogame Industry
- Scribbled on December 29th, 2007 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Humor, Industry News, Press Release, Shooter, WTF
Jack Thompson has finally gone to the apex of paranoia: grand conspiracy theories. He now claims that the Department of Defense is in collusion with the video game industry.
Game Politics has fun with Thompson’s rambling press release and picks it apart piece by piece. A sampling:
Virginia Tech’s Cho was an obsessive high school player of the military-themed CounterStrike, according to the Washington Post.
GP: Gov. Kaine’s blue ribbon Virginia Tech Review Panel reported that there was no evidence that Cho played anything more sinister than Sonic the Hedgehog. The Washington Post deleted its initial reference to any supposed Counter-strike play on Cho’s part. Thompson is well aware of that, but continues to cite the initial - apparently erroneous - report.
Researchers have proven the long-term effect of immersion in interactive violence…
Perhaps. But Thompson doesn’t say what those researchers may have proven. There’s certainly no study which draws a link between game violence and actual violence, although that’s the implication in his press release.
When Thompson uses America’s Army as evidence (as if one game, rated Teen, no less, were ample evidence), Game Politics scoffs:
Aside from that, the small universe of games with a DoD connection doesn’t seem like especially fertile ground for a Thompson-style jihad. There are no crazed axe murderers, no hookers to rob, no carjacking, no simulated drug usage.
December 30th, 2007 at 12:06 am
uggh.. no more articles of this man please… he’s just an imbecile.
March 9th, 2008 at 1:36 am
[...] the newsworthy way of saying “deranged moron”) Jack Thompson, whether it’s a Department of Defense video game conspiracy or sending condescending picture books to the Florida Supreme Court. Just when you think he [...]