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

Say What?

[Cinnibar CP]

Worried that PA would receive publicity over this incident, Jack Thompson provided... er.. free publicity.

Re:Say What?

[doombringerltx]

Does JT ever do anything that doesn't make him look like a douche? There was that one time.... oh wait, no

You got it!

[nege]

" 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."

And then you didn't. And now they will. GG Jack!

STFUJT

[guspasho]

"I believe what happened is that they thought I would never accept the debate offer"

Since you didn't, the world will never know...

Uh, what?

[ack154]

So typically, if PAX wanted to use him as a publicity stunt, wouldn't they make his invite, oh, I don't know... public??

Nice try Jack.

Fun

[MeanderingMind]

If I were attempting to make as unbiased an environment as possible for such a debate, as held at a games expo, keeping it secret would be the first idea coming to mind. Announcing months before hand is just asked people passionately for/against Thompson to buy up tickets and otherwise destroy the levelheadedness of the crowds. Waiting until the last minute is perfectly understandable.

Unless you're Jack Thompson apparently.

Re:Fun

[eln]

Except the attendees at a games expo (especially one hosted by the guys who write a comic that has been merciless in their criticism of Jack Thompson) are going to be overwhelmingly and passionately against Jack Thompson anyway.

PA wanted to get Jack Thompson in front of their crowd so they could knock him down and make themselves look like heroes in front of their adoring fans. The correct action for Thompson to take would have been to either privately (and politely) turn down the request, or simply ignore it. However, Thompson is apparently not capable of doing anything privately, so he turns them down publicly, hence giving them exactly the publicity he criticizes them for seeking.

The debate was a trap, Thompson was right about that, but the way he handled it was just stupid.

Re:Fun

[SatanicPuppy]

I don't know about "trap"...I mean, sure, it's going to be a hostile crowd...No question of that. But he couldn't intelligently expect anything else, and I'd be extremely surprised if it was represented as anything but an opportunity for him to make his case to the people he is supposedly trying to save from the evils of gaming.

I don't know why they bothered to ask him...He's notoriously unable to deal with people disagreeing with him, and it wouldn't make much of a debate to have him screaming at whoever he was supposed to be debating.

Re:Fun

[Captain Splendid]

PA wanted to get Jack Thompson in front of their crowd so they could knock him down and make themselves look like heroes in front of their adoring fans.

I call Shenanigans. Sure, Tycho and Gabe can be sarky bastards, but I think the real intent was to have Thompson be debated by people who actually have a clue about videogames, something that doesn't happen every time he pops up on network news. That's also the reason he declined. His past tactics and behaviour bear this out. He's a guerrilla figher, sniping from a distance, doing hit-and-run smear pieces, never getting engaged in anything but the slightest and tritest discussions.

One day, somebody will eventually get the chance to poke him hard, and he'll crumble like the house of cards that he is. Looks like he managed a dodge on this one, but it won't be long now.

Re:Fun

[kv9]

One day, somebody will eventually get the chance to poke him hard, and he'll crumble like the house of cards that he is.

how many points is a Jack-Thompson-Splatter in Carmageddon?

Can't blame him...

[Crasty]

The guy is a nutjob (oh damn, I just got sued) but even a total assclown (gah, restraining order!) knows he shouldn't enter a place where everyone there wouldn't mind if he disappeared of the face of the Earth! (No that's not a threat.. Jeez!)

He obviously brought it to media attention because any attention is good attention. The guy has to be the center of controversy whenever possible. (He's a closet gamer, don't let him fool you. He only started throwing lawsuits when Rockstar released GTAIII on PS2 as a temporary exclusive. He only had an X-box, and the rest is history)

Possible Reasons - Free of Charge

[Johnny_Law]

I assume there are a few reasons PAX wanted to hold off the announcement.

The first reason would be security, Jack Thompson is a "polarizing" individual, to put it mildly. It would only take one crazy gamer to take any kind of shot at Thompson to make him a martyr. Making the announcement onsite would allow the PAX crew to avoid anyone planning in advance to engage Thompson either with hostility or protest.

Secondly, this would be the huge surprise for the audience. PAX has made it sort of a staple to have some kind of surprise for the show.

Thirdly, pick a smaller reason, but with Jack any reason could balloon overnight. Between now and PAX Jack could go further off the deep end with some of his crusages. Perhaps he would decide to sue PA for something outside the scope of his PAX committments. In either case, PAX would lose the ability to quietly remove Jack.

Any of the three would be enough for me to want to keep Jack on a short lease. However, this could still happen, but I would expect PAX to have greater security at the actual venue.

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.

consummate pro

[syle]

You can tell he's a skilled litigator by the way he manages to look less professional than two dudes who draw a webcomic featuring dirty jokes about video games.

Morisettan irony at its finest...

[spiffyman]

Is it just me, or does the sight of Jack Thompson accusing others of PR stunts set one all a-giggle?

This man can't be serious.

Use it against him

[Turn-X Alphonse]

PA gave him a chance to talk directly to this "evil" generation he seems to hate so much. SO if he truely wants to help people wouldn't be speak to this generation and attempt to get us away fromt hese evil games we play?

The guy could rationally talk and get on the front page of every game site in 1 switch shocking hour or so. Yet instead he declined and proves he doesn't care what we do, just cares for the money and/or fame.

Re:Use it against him

[Sunburnt]

SO if he truely wants to help people wouldn't be speak to this generation and attempt to get us away fromt hese evil games we play?

No, I think he'd rather make your parents paranoid, just like these villainous fuckers tried years ago with a different medium.

Nobody ever went broke by banking on stupid parents.

It is worth noticing that...

[Anonymous Coward]

...not of word of this can be found on Penny Arcade's site. This tells volumes about the real media whore in this story, i.e Thompson.

I always found PA to be upright about things and there again. Besides these guys are involved in more than just games thru the likes of their annual toy drive.

Re:It is worth noticing that...

[amuro98]

The PA folks posted they refuse to talk about "him" anymore and encourage the rest of the media to do the same.

Without the national media attention, hopefully "he" will just shut up and go away.

Re:It is worth noticing that...

[Purity Of Essence]

I do think that it is a shame he won't be debating a real gaming lawyer, that's something I've been wanting for years, that's something that really needs to happen. But otherwise, I can't really agree with you. The gaming press basically doesn't matter. If he gets on CNN, how is the gaming press going to make a difference. Is Adam Sessler going to counter his points on national TV? God, I hope not. The truth is, the majority of the gaming press do more harm than good. These "journalists" are bloggers with woefully vocal sycophantic nitwit commentators that do everything to reinforce the image that gamers are unstable geeks. Fortunately, the only people who read these blogs are other gamers.

JT's worst enemy is himself. Anytime he shows up in the mainstream press (which is actually extremely rare) he makes a fool of himself. That's good, that is something that I approve of. His arguments, if you can call them that, are patently absurd. I think the most recent time he hit the mainstream press was right after the VTech shootings. He and Dr. Phil both tried to play the odds and pin the killer down as a gamer, something that was unsubstantiated and shown not to be true. That might not phase JT, but Dr. Phil won't be making that mistake again. And even if it was true, guess what, most people play videogames. Correlation does not equal causation, and people are more than willing to entertain the idea that a seriously unstable person might enjoy playing a game were you kill people, knowing full well that it wasn't the game that made them unstable. Yeah, the media will continue to talk to JT when something extreme like this happens because he's an entertaining asshat. That doesn't make him relevant.

People aren't as dumb as you seem to think, they see right through JT. And even if they don't, it doesn't matter, because people don't decide policy. However, any time he shills a new law, and that law gets passed because some populist governor wants to make the news doing something "for the children", what happens? The ESA smacks that law right down. It's only then that JT has any semblance of relevance, the only time anyone needs to pay attention to him. Unfortunately, it looks like that needs to continue for a little longer so that other governments will finally wise up to his antics and stop costing their tax-paying constituents hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. When one of these laws fails it is an embarrassment to all those involved in its passage. Whatever public policy you are referring to doesn't exist, or at least not for more than a couple of days. We have the ESA to thank for that, not the fringe press. JT will never be able to overturn the constitution, and there is no constitutional way he can hurt gaming. He is not as big a threat as everyone seems to think.

There goes my PAX booth

[Anonymous Coward]

I was going to set up a FREE BRICKS booth at PAX. but I guess that's down the crapper now

Jack Thompson == genius tactician

[Chris Burke]

Yes, he's playing directly into their plans! He knew PA would expect him to decline the offer, and thus he declined. He knew they would expect him to make a hystrionic claim that PA was once again conspiring against him, and thus he did. The goal is to make PA think that they completely understand Thompson and can predict his every move. Thompson will continue to play into this belief until they invite him to a private chat at their home to discuss the issues of violence in media. Again, exactly as they will be expecting, Thompson will suggest a game of his own to "break the ice". Two cups of tea, one spiked with iocane powder, which is tasteless, odorless, dissolves instantly in water, and is one of the deadlier poisons known to man. The PA crew must pick a cup and both drink from it, while Thompson drinks from the other. Then while they debate which to drink from, Thompson plays his card and does the unexpected -- he cries "what's that?!" and points, and while they aren't looking, he switches the cups. As they drink, he cackles and reveals his nefarious scheme!

Except before it is revealed who will fall victim to the poison, ninjas attack and behead all three of them. The last one to leave steals the Pac-Man watch.

At least, that's what the comic I drew while I was high said.

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...

Re:I hate Jack Thompson... but

[Rallion]

Why would you say that? They haven't even mentioned it. Anywhere. Not a single word. All information about this occurrence is from JT.

There is no Jack Thompson

[roystgnr]

I'm surprised nobody's figured it out yet - the whole character of "Jack Thompson" is a Penny Arcade publicity stunt. The "John Smith" style name and the bitingly satirical parody of "think of the children" paranoia should have been enough to make everyone suspicious, but even if that wasn't enough, the whole scam should have been obvious after they hired that ranting homeless guy to play "Jack" on TV. I guess all you have to do is dress a crazy guy up in a suit and the news media figures he must deserve a microphone too.

Tycho's Response

[sandwichtron]

1up has more information on this deal including a small interview with Tycho regarding it.

Gem from Tycho:

We prefer to work with adults.

One Room...

[7Prime]

All I want is to put a video camera in a room with Jack Thompson, John Dvorak, Bob Cringely, and George W. Bush, and see which one makes the most amount of sense.

Jack "video games will rape your kids" Thompson
John "I support John McCain because he likes Steve Ballmer" Dvorak
Robert "self-proclaimed sex-symbol dorkus" Cringely
George W. "God put sand on this earth so we could nuke it into glass" Bush

Tough call...