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Another school shooting, another chance for Jack Thompson to slither onto Fox News with his "informed" opinion. In the above video, Thompson uses the Northern Illinois University rampage to provide his usual brand of conjecture and lies, which includes his continued linking of videogames to the Virginia Tech shooting, despite the fact that such a theory is already proven false.

Of particular note is how Jacky Boy uses this tragedy to try and hawk his book. Classy move there, Mr. Thompson. You really do tent your trousers every time you hear an ambulance siren, don't you? I've not read Thompson's book, by the way, but I know for a fact that it was what inspired Osama Bin Laden to orchestrate the 9/11 attack, and also caused the Stalinist purges.

The truth of the NIU shooting is that Stephen Kazmierczak was not taking his medication and was suffering some kind of mental condition. The 27-year-old grad student was unstable and unchecked. Once again, no proof of videogames "training" him before or after the fact, and once again, mainstream media allows games to be scrutinized before we even know what happened. Some people are pathetic.

Hal Halpin, president of the Electronic Consumers Association, had his own words to say on the tragedy and the early pitchfork gathering done by Mr. Thompson. His words can be caught after the jump.

Hal Halpin on the videogame connection to NIU:

We’d like to extend our condolences to the families, friends and classmates of those who were affected in the school shooting at Northern Illinois University.

Separately, we are disgusted, but no longer shocked, to find that anti-game activists are again rushing to conclusions about what drove Stephen Kazmierczak, the clearly disturbed 27-year-old who police say was responsible for this tragedy, to commit such an act.

Blaming video games for the behavior of the mentally-challenged is vile on many levels. And, as Generations X and Y mature, it is extremely likely that just about all of us have played at least one video game at some point in our lives.

Drawing a parallel between games and violence without any substantive proof is sensationalism for its own sake.  This is a sad event, made worse by the irresponsible actions of attention-seekers and the media that has given them a platform for their reckless venom.

Pretty much, is all I can say to that. Pretty much.


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123 comments | showing # 51 to 100

Aertyr's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:24
Aertyr
Video Games caused AIDS. True story.
thrillhouse's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:29
thrillhouse
I'm sorry but developers need to man up and start defending their craft. Otherwise the Fox News, Jack Thompsons, and Cooper Lawrences of the world will continue to slander this industry.
Orionsaint's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:33
Orionsaint
Developers are mindless untalented people. The games have no substance. Developers create violent games as training simulators for kids. Thompson said so, hehe. Wow it's amazing how many ignorant simple minded people still walk this Earth.
taumpytears's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:35
taumpytears
I do not care for this man.
Dennen's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:44
Dennen
I'm starting to think that Jack Thompson enjoys school shootings.

First he's appearing on the news about each and every single one of them that happen in America, as uncommon or rare as they are.. And now he's writing fictional stories depicting them?

These are the traits of a very sick man. I wouldn't doubt if he enacts one of these stories himself in the future. He is showing the ability to be enthralled and seduced by the death of students. Something he apparently enjoys to write about in his leisure time, also make stories of it seems. And he seems to chase to the latest scene of them whenever they happen.

So then there's my opinion on it. I think he's sick, he enjoys school shootings. I think he gets his jollies off just thinking about them, and so far the evidence proves otherwise. And going by his own logic, he is likely to become a mass murderer himself... And that will be brought forth by literature and media rather than gaming.
RAB's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:48
RAB
These situations never cease to make me sick to my stomach. I did a report on this stuff, and i found so much slanderous bullshit about violent videogames, but then at the same time, there is just as much, if not more evidence that all that research is completely inconcluesive.

If only Faux news only could put an expert on the air who actually knows what they are talking about.
power-glove's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:52
power-glove
MIOod, the community members sort of do their own thing. Over the amount of time that I have spent here, I have gotten a fair share of credit for introducing news to some the editors. Especially considering, there was no video and the story was in the process of developing. While appreciate the credit, it's not necessary to do that.
The aspect that bother me the most is the fact that he has received the title of "School Shootings Expert", this allows his opinion to go unquestioned because some people will think that he is legitimate expert
JohnnyWadd's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:56
JohnnyWadd
If you are already watching fox news, you prolly think alot of people are "experts".
yaisuah's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:56
yaisuah
This is a true story. When San Andreas came out I already happened to have the week off work and I sat and played San Andreas from beginning to the end in a week and I didn't leave the house once. The next time I got in my car, driving felt really weird, I wanted to be lower to the ground and go real fast, and I almost hit my neighbors car because I didn't think about the consequences. Video games really did fuck me up for about 30 seconds of driving in real life, and I thank Jack Thompson for trying to prevent me from ever having that happen again.
the GAMEGOBLIN's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/15/2008 23:59
the GAMEGOBLIN
Oh my, taking advantage of another's misfortune for his own goal. Jack's a terrible person.
broonor's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 00:01
broonor
As an NIU alumni, I am appalled at Mr. Thompson more than usual. He doesn't comment on the NIU case itself, just the "suspected" news before it was debunked about video games and V-Tech.

Why can't crazy motherfuckers just be considered crazy anymore? Something always has to be the cause, instead of just that they were nuts
joeisremy's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 00:34
joeisremy
Wasn't it proven that Cho only played Sonic?
-Blank-'s Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 00:41
-Blank-
what a dick

i'll still stand by this:
does playing madden make you any better at playing football?
does playing guitar hero make you any better at playing a guitar?
does singing in rock band make you sound any better?
does playing harvest moon make you know a thing about farming?

no.
-Blank-'s Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 00:46
-Blank-
btw, i thought his law license was suspended...

doesnt that... unmake him an expert?
Segasonicdude's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 00:53
Segasonicdude
@joeisremy

Dear Lord Im a Ticking Time Bomb Then!!!!!!!!
Phoenix0783's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 00:57
Phoenix0783
what a pole smoker.
Nubc4kes's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 01:18
Nubc4kes
My initial reaction was anger, but as he kept talking, I just felt kind of sorry for him. Not because he went onto Fox News just to say there might be a link between this shooting and video games, not because he throws around "evidence" about "simulations" that he just made up, but because he chose to make a plug about his book during the news coverage of a tragedy. Nice one, Jack.
DynamicSheep's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 01:22
DynamicSheep
@MechaMonkey:

No "they" don't... noone goes to Fox News for news. People that watch FN do it so that they don't feel like the only right-wing sensationalist in the world. Or they watch it for the lulz. Noone watches FN for the "news" though... there are "reputable" and "fair" sources for that kind of thing.
EternalDeathSlayer's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 01:33
EternalDeathSlayer
wow. what a fucking dick head. Fox News is actually the number one cable news channel, so he's getting the maximum exposure here. Life sucks I guess.
BA Chieftain's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 02:39
BA Chieftain
I put animals inside of balls

You can blame Pokemon
Nordstorm's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 02:44
Nordstorm
What! The! Fuck! He just leaped IMMEDIATELY to blaming games!
Didn't the man on the telly say that Thompson was supposedly someone who had studied shootings? It seems he has only studied these "murder simulators"... Well. I guess everything true if he says so. Now I'm going to rehearse proffesional murders and killing sprees in Bioshock and Portal.
Nordstorm's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 02:46
Nordstorm
Damn... everything *is* true. Typo.
tkyy's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 02:57
tkyy
They say Jack Thompson is a "campus shooting expert" at 00:34.
Billowman's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 03:34
Billowman
SO DOES THIS MEAN I ROCK AT HAND TO HAND FIGHTING....cuz i play DOA3 ????

SWEETT!!!
atheistium's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 04:02
atheistium
fail
slapme7times's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 04:32
slapme7times
'yea i wish i weren't here'

....

such bullshit he chases these tragedies :)

Jackiboy, stop whoring around after these shootings... what exactly do you do for a living, do they pay you for this? go back to your job, or kill yourself and help clean up the gene pool :)
Samit Sarkar's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 04:38
Samit Sarkar
@Jim: Thanks for the link; it’s now been bookmarked!
iateyourhorse's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 04:40
iateyourhorse
I love Jack Thompson.
BS3 Owner's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 04:54
BS3 Owner
Who's got the BlowDart gun again?
Snoopbob2006's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 05:52
Snoopbob2006
Fuck... i tried to watch it a second time hes a fucking cock sucker

I bet he gets butt shafted all the time
mikeohara's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 05:58
mikeohara
I wonder if there will be as big of a backlash in the media this time. Of course, if anyone remembers right, he got his ass stomped in the media after the Virginia Tech shooting by Chris Matthews.
WillyFourEyes's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 06:29
WillyFourEyes
Wait a minute...wasn't this dope on Fox News weeks ago decrying the controversy over the Mass Effect case? Guess he's only a "fair weather" anti-video game advocate...only really against them when he has something to sell.
realyst's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 06:58
realyst
Sounds like JT stopped taking his meds too.
BlackSunEmpire's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 07:03
BlackSunEmpire
I dislike Jack, and his pathetic crusade.

Why doesn't he get into the real story??

As Aertyr said, videogames caused AIDS. Get with the fucking program.
foxhound009's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 07:29
foxhound009
heh His Book Who wants to join the fun part of reviewing books xD ?
Pagster's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 07:38
Pagster
Wikipedia has a very imformative page about school shootings, on that page i found this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman

Went on a shooting rampage at his school, in 1966. Now unless he was a pong beta tester then videogames did'nt train him to do it. His was the 1st recorded school shooting of this type but there were more in the 60's 70's and 80's along side more recent ones.

Video games are not the link between them all, the only link is that they were all young people who had access to fire arms. The overwhelming amount of these shootings happen in the U.S where there is a strange love affair with guns,which i've never really understood.

Why is there such a want/need to own something designed to kill? Becuase the Constitution gives you the right to bear arms does'nt mean you have to.

Here in the UK we've had 1 shooting like this by a middle aged man who to my knoledge never played videogames. He burst into a school and killed 17 people, mainly children, this one act was enough to make the government change the laws on firearms and we have'nt had an avent like it since.

Why can't the U.S follow suit?


-Rant over
sleepbox80's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 08:00
sleepbox80
JT is using the same logic as though it's guns that kill people.
ShinSennju's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 08:49
ShinSennju
The internets should pull another crazy amount of negative reviews on Jack's book in all the sites possible.
BMaN32x's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 09:00
BMaN32x
This news story made me utterly sick to my stomach. As a student at Virginia Tech, our sorrows are felt right along side NIU's because if anyone, we know the pain and terror felt from someone losing their mind and killing people in the one institution in the United States where you are supposed to be safe from harm.

I do not agree with you all on here on the note that Jack Thompson should be ignored. This is unacceptable. He needs to be formally dealt with. He should be in jail because of his disgusting rants of how video games cause this violence. Video games had nothing to do with Cho and they definitely did not have anything to do with this nutjob who went off his meds, killed 6 innocent people then cowardly killed himself.

Someone needs to do something about this, and personally I'm tired of being one of the little people who's opinion just gets ignored because I'm not a "professional", a term which I now think is a joke thanks to MSNBC, CNN and Fox News. We need to act and we need to be heard.
Faith's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 09:05
Faith
Jack didn't even answer the first question. He went straight into his "videogames are murder simulators" speech.

That guy just makes me sick. Fox News makes me sick too. They really hate videogames.
copulatingduck's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 09:15
copulatingduck
God dammit. This just pisses me off. That cock-gobbling, poop-shoot.
JohnnyWadd's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 10:19
JohnnyWadd
" Fox News is actually the number one cable news channel,"

I suppose that says alot about the american public. Sad really. I guess that is what happens when you make cuts to the education system for 25 years and use the money on imprtant stuff, like tax breaks for corporations and war.
liam2015's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 10:21
liam2015
FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gyrael's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 10:26
Gyrael
When will he shut the hell up, this asshole.

Fox is a bullshit network too.

They should both dissapear.
electristan's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 10:59
electristan
this is ridiculous, i cant believe they can just show this kind of crap. It's just an opinion and they pass it off as fact from an expect. so glad I'm not in the states and have to see this shit everyday.
Andrew5329's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 11:16
Andrew5329
Wow Jacky boy musta played some fucked up games, I dont know of any that have you come out from behind the curtains onstage shooting a shotgun into a crowd.

Also I want some of the happy leaf hes smoking, it must be pretty potent.
ScottyG's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 12:03
ScottyG
Thompson needs his brain scanned.

So people train using video games to become good killers... Why hasn't the military picked up on this?!? :(
bad rider's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 12:04
bad rider
why cant he focus on the issue at hand and morn like the rest of us, but no he decides he will use it towards his own benefit, people like him should be imprisoned for being heartless and manipulative, its a shame that he cant be though.
bad rider's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 12:07
bad rider
to concentrate more on the issue at hand i wish condolences to all those affected by this horrific tragedy
catsithx's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/16/2008 12:38
catsithx
God does he have nothing better to do but be a asshole all the timeand fox news to suck his all the time man what a loser and screw you fox news by giving him a soapbox to stand on
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