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Manhunt Violence Story Sees Updates, Threats
Thanks to Blue's News for covering the latest developments in a UK videogame violence story, in which the Rockstar North-created game Manhunt was very allegedly implicated in "a grisly murder" - it's revealed: "The game was present in the victim's home, not the killer's... This may present a problem for those looking to turn this case to their own ends." Nonetheless, previously mentioned attorney Jack Thompson is jumping straight on the case, even from an continent away, according to GameDaily, as he rages: "We are going to destroy Rockstar, you can count on that... [ESA head] Doug Lowenstein makes Saddam Hussein look like a post-reformed Pinocchio." Finally, Gamesindustry.biz injects a thoughtful note into the mayhem, arguing: "Rockstar do not emerge from this affair smelling of roses... game makers could help the case a lot by trying to push the boundaries in terms of gameplay, rather than gore."
Feel free to jump on the morality bandwagon (or create one if you can't find it). I for one will continue blithely on, cackling with glee at a world that lets me do everything I would never consider doing in my own.
If someone wants to play a game about killing Hell spawn demons (Doom 3 refrence : check), eating babies (Dunno :check) or stabbing old ladies then they should be able to. It's not their fault if some nutter goes off the rails and ends up killing someone.
I'm sick of hearing "GAMES DID IT!" because it's a cheap excuse for a fucked up society. You can't blame the car makers for a drunk driver so lets not blame the Playstation for the fucked up little kid.
Mod me troll if you wish, I don't overly care for karma compared to my opinions on this topic. I think the world is fucked up and blaming my hobby, I can earn Karma back but I can't earn back ignoring my opinions and staying silent in a discussion I feel important.
I like muppets.
I read the Gamebiz interview and I'm pretty surprised that Thompson is a lawyer. Any decently competent lawyer knows better than to say "we are going to destory the other side" and throw out name calling. Until the last half of the interview, I thought the article was a joke... At least he'll make this whole affair entertaining to follow.
At least they didn't show a breast! Now THAT would have been evil and would have corrupted the minds of everyone that saw it.
"Thompson: There have been dozens of murders that have been tied to their products throughout the world, so it's just a matter of piling on, and we will do that. "
IF their have been over 24 murders that can be linked to rockstar why doesn't he name ONE?
THis is just like the crap people like this pulled concerning D&D and Heavy Metal.
Guns don't kill people, videogames kill people.
A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
Aw MAN he disses Rock Star HARD! I mean like, some guy who murders tens of thousands of people with nerve gas and, like tortured ethnic minorities for fun is, like, way less evil than those fucker trying to make a game. DUUUUuuudDDe!
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
I'd like to make fun of this guy, really I would...but how? He already sounds like a stereotypical villain from an Ayn Rand novel.
English is easier said than done.
With that guy representing the other side, I don't think we have anything to worry about. Insinuating that Doug Lowenstein is even lower on the moral scale than Saddam Hussein is all but a dead giveaway that the man possesses no faculties for logic, reasoning, or intelligent discourse.
No comment.
I look at it this way: Jack Thompson further proved himself to be an opportunistic scumbag. I'm surprised he didn't take the first flight to London as soon as he heard about it. But then again, we are talking about a total loon who would slit his mother's throat and/or sell his soul to the devil just to prove his asinine theories. Not to mention that he originated hearse-chasing(just like ambulance-chasing, except the destination's the funeral home) and he may be a necrophilliac. Let's analyze this scumbag, shall we?:
1) Thompson may be considered a racist since he helped lead censorship attacks against 2 Live Crew and Ice-T.
2) Thompson was ordered to take a psychological evaluation as part of a restraining order filed by Miami DJ Neil Rogers(IIRC, The Florida State Bar Association called Jack Thompson's sanity into question TWICE). In fact, Thompson can't even mention Rogers by name as part of that order, which came about when Thompson tried to have Rogers arrested over something he said on his radio show that Thompson didn't like.
3) Thompson has lost every case he started up involving the video game industry(the Paducah school shootings come to mind). When he tried to become Dustin Lynch's attorney last year(the case in Ohio where Thompson tried to blame(GTA3 for the murder), Lynch refused his services, so the judge banned him from being involved in the case, saying that Thompson had no right to defend a client that didn't even want him as his attorney; Lynch would later plead guilty anyway and in blood-stained letters sent to his victim's family members, he claimed he did it for "his own personal enjoyment" and that the game didn't make him do it. The prosecution even scoffed at Thompson's claims, saying that they had an open and shut case.
4) Thompson even enjoys calling HIMSELF a wacko(If you remember, he called himself "Wacky Jack" in a newspaper article about him joining the Haitians' lawsuit aginst Vice City).
Now about this particular case, Police officials don't even believe Thompson, the victim's parents or the British tabloid media. Officials have stated that robbery was the motive(The 17 year-old murderer killed the 14 year-old to rob him to pay off drug debts), and that the game was found in the VICTIM'S OWN BEDROOM!! Sounds to me like somebody has some explaining to do.
Jack Thompson has no credibility left, whether because of his own actions or because the federal courts continue to reject his claims. Yet the only reasons he's still around is 'cause of an apathetic news media(i.e. Anderson Cooper 360) and because he's an psychotic attention whore who's in need of mental help. And until a modern-day Edward R. Murrow questions the tactics of Thompson and his ilk, he'll continue this crap.
== BearDogg-X ==
I am a parent of an 11 year old boy and a pair of young girls.
..
We have an XBOX, and have been playing PC games for years. Personally, I like violent games. My boy is not violent, nor have we had any problems with his Video game playing, so I don't mind if he plays games like halflife, Quake, Doom, etc.
I draw the line at games like Manhunt, GTA, Carmageddon, etc. I am simply exercising my right as a parent, similar to deciding what movies I want him watching.
The problem I have is that other parents don't do the same. These are decent parents of decent kids - but I think that they just don't realize what kind of games are out there (they are obviously not supervising their kids video game playing). My boy has played these games at friends houses.
Its very easy to blame the parents but the truth of the matter is that nowadays parents are very busy, both parents work in most families, and they don't realize that these types of games exist and that their kids are playing them.
Personally, I was quite surprised at manhunt. It is very violent, and doesn't seem to have much outside of that. Boring
I don't believe that banning violent video games is the answer (censorship is rarely the answer), however parents must be re-educated that the video games of today are very different from the ones that they remember.
And of course, another nice quote from the story posted on Blues News:
As for the link between Manhunt and the crime, the police are clear. Pooni said: "We haven't connected the game with the murder and we've already made that statement, but some sections of the media chose to ignore it...the motive was robbery."
The game has an 18 certificate... the kids weren't 18.. And the parents don't want to accept any small portion of responsibility? WTF?
.... once again, the computer is seen as a modern replacement for proper parenting...
"Oh, he's in his room on his computer"
Not to flame the US judicial system, but thank god Jack Thompson will find it a lot harder to peddle his nonsense in this country! Firstly British law does not allow a lawyer to take a share of damages recieved, which removes the profit motivation for this sort of ambulance chasing.
Secondly our judges are appointed, not elected, which reduces the chance that a judge will play this for the crowd, and support this boneheaded action to garner favour with the tabloid press.
What it does show is how poor the lobbying strength is of the videogames industry in the UK. Given that videogames make more money in this country than the music industry and the film industry times 2, Members of Parliament are still prepared to take cheap shots at it because this hasn't been made clear to them. If videogames don't put more money into schmoozing our policymakers they will continue to be seen as an unimportant minority interest, vulnerable to the vaguries of the tabloid press.