Thompson Declines PAX Debate, Blames Penny Arcade

GamePolitics is reporting that Jack Thompson, who was invited to debate at this year's Penny Arcade Expo is now blaming the PA gents because he turned down the debate. Essentially, PAX organizers were aiming to keep the debate a secret until the event actually happened. When Thompson declined the invitation, he did so in a public forum, revealing their intentions. He now claims that he turned it down because PAX wanted to use the event as a publicity stunt ... somehow. From Jack's letter to GP: "What GamePolitics or others need to do is get to the bottom of why they really wanted to announce the debate one hour before it occurs. Now THAT would cause a stampede that would not allow them to have passes in the hands of those who want to go. I'm surprised, Dennis, frankly, that you have so naively taking this dodge. I believe what happened is that they thought I would never accept the debate offer, and they planned to use that for p.r. purposes."

Comments

Run the debate anyway

[dmatos]

I'm sure this will be redundant by the time I actually finish it and get it posted, but Penny Arcade needs to call Jackie on this right now. "Okay, Mister Thomson. We'll allow publicity before the event. We'll do our best to provide adequate security for the debate. See you at PAX."

If there's one set of online comic writers whose fans will listen to them when they call for moderation, it's Tycho and Gabe. Anyone going to PAX is going to be well aware of how much furor any pie-in-the-face attempt is going to create, and none of them will want to provide more fuel for the anti-gaming fire.

Jack Thompson, making gamers look well-adjusted

[paladinwannabe2]

I'm actually slightly grateful to Jack Thompson. Someone competent could easily convince the majority of people that games like GTA are a bad influence on children. Thompson, on the other hand, is a walking PR disaster- he alienates people with even shreds of intelligence. He manages to consistently lose cases that even Darl McBride could win in court. Not to mention all the publicity he gives Rockstar...