I can't wait to see Jack Thompson on tv blaming video games for ruining his career. At least he won't be making up bulls**t lies when he makes that announcement.
This goes out to all the politicians with your fake words and fake issues. This goes out to that one half-assed ambulance chasing, attention whoring assclown who tries to pretend to be a lawyer. This goes to the chrome-dome halfwit "psychiatrist" Dr. Phil. This goes out to the news media who pretends to care. Read very carefully. It's time to get a few things very clear: Video games do not cause people to go on murderous rampages! Our American society has constantly sought a scapegoat for the horrible things that happen in this world. Let's see a few examples, shall we?# In the early 50's, TV was going to rot people's brains.# In the late 50's, comic books were going to turn children gay.# In the late 50's and early 60's, Elvis' gyrating hips were going to turn people into sexual deviants.# From the late 60's to the early 80's it was rock and roll that was going to poison the children's minds.# In the late 80's and early 90's it was primarily rap music that took the heat. Today's most prolific scapegoat, however, is video games. Sure, rock & rap music and movies still face frequent criticism. However, that pales in comparison to the amount of false science, lies, rhetoric, political grandstanding, posturing and money wasting that revolves around the "damaging effects" of violent video games. The reality is far far different. Millions of people play video games these days. The average age of someone who plays video games on a regular basis is 29. Nearly 60% of Americans play games on a semi-regular basis. Of that percentage, nearly half are women. No longer are video games the realm of the shy, socially inept kid who never leaves his parent's basement. Today, video games are a part of mainstream society. The video game industry's annual income is nearly $10 billion, far eclipsing the declining market for music cds and movies at the theater. Video games compete neck and neck with tv and movies for the share of both people's ever shrinking "entertainment budget" and their free time. Nowhere will you see me dispute that video games have become more violent. This is a natural progression of the media. Music has had content that was geared towards adults for decades. Comic books started growing up and becoming darker and more violent in the 80's and 90's. It's only logical that games would do so as well as their target audience grows older. Remember, the average age of someone who plays games is 29. Is someone who is in their late 20's going to want to play some pastel colored kid's game? No, not primarily. They are going to want games that are similar in tone to their other forms of entertainment. Think of it this way; if you're in your late 20's and have an hour of time to watch TV by yourself: are you going to watch Blue's Clues or The Sopranos? Obviously, The Sopranos. Playing a violent video game instead of one geared towards children is just as obvious. Remember also that millions of people play violent video games daily. Millions of people do not then go out and commit horrible violent acts as a result. These games are created for, geared towards, and marketed to adults. There are ratings on games that should be observed. For more info on that, please check out the ESRB's website (www.esrb.org) There is no scientific proof that these games cause any sort of long lasting violent behaviour in either children or adults. Sure, there are people out there who will exaggerate the truth and trot out as evidence. In truth, as of yet, these have done nothing to prove their point. The only facts out there so far are that just like anything else that inspires competitiveness, there is a short term effect. Let me take a moment to illustrate some examples:# You watch a Jet Li movie, you feel like you can kick someone's ass, dont you? The feeling wears off in a short while when reality sets in.# You watch The Fast and the Furious, (or Nascar if it's more your speed) and you want to go 120 down the interstate. The feeling wears off in a short while, doesnt it?# You watch or play football or another team sport. You want to kick the other team's ass dont you? Again, the feeling wears off. Would you believe that since the introduction of the original Playstation game system, that the rate of youth and young adult violence have both dropped consistently year over year? Don't believe me? Look it up, you'll see it's true. Could it be that the most outspoken critics are actually wrong? Could it be that playing violent video games is actually cathartic for well-balanced, mentally stable, well-adjusted individuals? Could it be that these games are an outlet that actually prevent said people from going off the deep end? Possibly. That too has yet to be scientifically proven. Just an alternate theory, feel free to do your own research and form your own opinion. We must stop shifting blame from those who are truly responsible to whatever the scapegoat of the decade may be. The fact remains that there are very ill people amongst us. If they play violent games, watch violent movies, or listen to violent music, something bad could happen. It's happened before and it will likely happen again. I'd like to hope that it wouldnt, but let's remain realistic, shall we? Tragedies like those that Columbine, Paducah, Red Lake, University of Texas, Dawson College, & Virginia Tech are not caused by the games, movies or music experienced by the perpetrators. They are caused by very sick individuals, sometimes with a little help society not seeing or not acting on obvious red flags. Video games did not exist in 1966 when Charles Whitman climbed up the University of Texas clocktower and proceeded to embark on a shooting spree in excess of 2 hours. Seventeen year old Brenda Spencer shot into an elementary school across the street from her house in 1979 "because she didnt like Mondays". Twelve year old Nathan Ferris was tired of being picked on in 1987, so he brought a gun to school and killed the bully before taking his own life. Numerous other examples exist that took place before the current age of violent video games. Every single one is, without a doubt, an unimaginable tragedy. However, the fact remains that these things happened before violent games and they will, sadly, continue to happen in the age of violent games. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Jeffrey Weise, Kimveer Gill, Michael Carneal and now Cho Seung-Hui; all of these people showed warning signs of impending dangerous behaviour long before they snapped. Nothing was done. Did they play violent video games? Sure, some of them did. Was this the genesis, their breaking point? Very doubtful. The real problems here are not music, movies and video games. Here are the real problems: Number one is piss poor parenting. Either they choose to devote their lives to their career, they have to to make ends meet, or they simply dont care. These days a large number of parents simply dont pay the proper amount of attention to their children. It's always "my child would never do that" or "I cant believe this happened, he's such a nice kid." When I as growing up I was educated very clearly by my parents that if I did something bad at school, I would be punished for it. These days parents are more likely to believe their children and blame or sue the school than to punish their child when he or she does something wrong. Secondly, lack of concern or ignorance by school officials. This is a direct result of number one really, and one cannot blame the officials too much. Anymore, teachers, counselors, principals and other school officials are too scared of a parent filing a lawsuit to mete out proper punishment for serious offenses. Because of this too often small incidental infractions are blown way way out of proportion while serious problems are overlooked. Thirdly, at least in America, our reliance on a cornucopia of pharmacueticals. Children as young as 8 are now being diagnosed and prescribed anti-depressants. The problem with these drugs is that just like Ritalin is an upper for someone with regular brain chemistry and a downer for someone with ADHD, anti-depressants can cause massive paralyzing bouts of depression, suicidal thoughts and violent tendencies if your brain chemistry is actually normal. Fourthly, an overbearing hypersensationalized ratings driven news media. Look at how much news coverage the Virginia Tech tragedy has already gotten? The same happens with any such event. Look how much time was spent discussing the private and realistically boring minutia of Anna Nicole Smith's personal life? The news media throws a sheen of glitz and glamour on tragedy, and they do it willingly in the name of "reporting the news" when what they are really doing is trying to win a ratings war that should not be being fought. Lastly, the very act of placing blame on something other than those at fault completes the circle. n. By shifting blame from those who are responsible for such atrocities and pointing the finger at movies, video games, comic books and music, we are only causing yet another generation to grow up neglected, ignored, and bullied. When they finally go off the deep end and kill themselves and/or others, we simply react with shock and horror and then resume our normal course. If the perpetrator lives through their crime and they are put on trial, numerous "experts" and "lawyers" try to push the blame off on the media rather than on the real issues. This only inspires other sick people to see how much fame they can get and how easily they may be able to get away with it. Stop shifting blame. As I've illustrated, these problems started before video games even existed, yet alone violent, so we must be realistic in placing blame on what has actually caused the problem. For everyone's sake, please if you have children, start paying more attention to them. If you buy them video games, remember they are age rated. Violent video games, just like R rated movies, are for adults. Your children have no business playing them irregardless of if they cause harm or not. If you are an involved in the education system, start paying more attention to ALL the children you interact with. I'm a 29 year old male who's played video games almost all of my life. I have no interest in doing physical harm to anyone, the very thought repulses me. I am saddened by the tragic and pointless loss of life that we have born witness to this week. I have no interest in seeing anyone else's life is extinguished pointlessly. Seeing these tragedies happen sickens me to my core. Let's all do our best to spot the warning signs before something like this happens yet again.
......How will ignoring him help anyone? If we ignore him, he'll end up getting what he wants! We'll sit there pissed off, while some bill is passed, thats really our fault. We can at least try to inform the mainstream people/media, hopefully that can at least slow him down but ignoring him will just make it worse.
I completely concur. It's just too bad this guy can't see past the fact that much of what he's basing his arguments off of are either speculative or purely figments of his own deranged imagination. I mean if you think about it, everyone at one point in time has had varying degrees of violent thoughts about life. I see videogames as an actual deter ant for the materialization of these violent urges, since they let gamers blow off steam that otherwise would have had to find a more potent and potentially dangerous outlet.
Yeah well I'm trained in the fine art of calling in bunker buster bomb air strikes on unsuspecting North Korean asswhipes! Oh, and I can fly a black hawk! (Mercenaries reference)
iamtheprofessorApr 17, 2007
You're no exception, the majority of kids don't shoot people. That is a fact.
tb0n3rApr 17, 2007
Dance Dance Revolution causes murder! That's all Koreans ever play!( I'm joking. )( They also play WoW. )
irvin666Apr 18, 2007
<a class="user" href="http://jackthompsonisadouche.ytmnd.com/">http://jackthompsonisadouche.ytmnd.com/</a>
joser916Apr 18, 2007
HEY JACK, F**K YOU!
Closed AccountApr 18, 2007
I can't wait to see Jack Thompson on tv blaming video games for ruining his career. At least he won't be making up bulls**t lies when he makes that announcement.
orlandogeekApr 18, 2007
This goes out to all the politicians with your fake words and fake issues. This goes out to that one half-assed ambulance chasing, attention whoring assclown who tries to pretend to be a lawyer. This goes to the chrome-dome halfwit "psychiatrist" Dr. Phil. This goes out to the news media who pretends to care. Read very carefully. It's time to get a few things very clear: Video games do not cause people to go on murderous rampages! Our American society has constantly sought a scapegoat for the horrible things that happen in this world. Let's see a few examples, shall we?# In the early 50's, TV was going to rot people's brains.# In the late 50's, comic books were going to turn children gay.# In the late 50's and early 60's, Elvis' gyrating hips were going to turn people into sexual deviants.# From the late 60's to the early 80's it was rock and roll that was going to poison the children's minds.# In the late 80's and early 90's it was primarily rap music that took the heat. Today's most prolific scapegoat, however, is video games. Sure, rock & rap music and movies still face frequent criticism. However, that pales in comparison to the amount of false science, lies, rhetoric, political grandstanding, posturing and money wasting that revolves around the "damaging effects" of violent video games. The reality is far far different. Millions of people play video games these days. The average age of someone who plays video games on a regular basis is 29. Nearly 60% of Americans play games on a semi-regular basis. Of that percentage, nearly half are women. No longer are video games the realm of the shy, socially inept kid who never leaves his parent's basement. Today, video games are a part of mainstream society. The video game industry's annual income is nearly $10 billion, far eclipsing the declining market for music cds and movies at the theater. Video games compete neck and neck with tv and movies for the share of both people's ever shrinking "entertainment budget" and their free time. Nowhere will you see me dispute that video games have become more violent. This is a natural progression of the media. Music has had content that was geared towards adults for decades. Comic books started growing up and becoming darker and more violent in the 80's and 90's. It's only logical that games would do so as well as their target audience grows older. Remember, the average age of someone who plays games is 29. Is someone who is in their late 20's going to want to play some pastel colored kid's game? No, not primarily. They are going to want games that are similar in tone to their other forms of entertainment. Think of it this way; if you're in your late 20's and have an hour of time to watch TV by yourself: are you going to watch Blue's Clues or The Sopranos? Obviously, The Sopranos. Playing a violent video game instead of one geared towards children is just as obvious. Remember also that millions of people play violent video games daily. Millions of people do not then go out and commit horrible violent acts as a result. These games are created for, geared towards, and marketed to adults. There are ratings on games that should be observed. For more info on that, please check out the ESRB's website (www.esrb.org) There is no scientific proof that these games cause any sort of long lasting violent behaviour in either children or adults. Sure, there are people out there who will exaggerate the truth and trot out as evidence. In truth, as of yet, these have done nothing to prove their point. The only facts out there so far are that just like anything else that inspires competitiveness, there is a short term effect. Let me take a moment to illustrate some examples:# You watch a Jet Li movie, you feel like you can kick someone's ass, dont you? The feeling wears off in a short while when reality sets in.# You watch The Fast and the Furious, (or Nascar if it's more your speed) and you want to go 120 down the interstate. The feeling wears off in a short while, doesnt it?# You watch or play football or another team sport. You want to kick the other team's ass dont you? Again, the feeling wears off. Would you believe that since the introduction of the original Playstation game system, that the rate of youth and young adult violence have both dropped consistently year over year? Don't believe me? Look it up, you'll see it's true. Could it be that the most outspoken critics are actually wrong? Could it be that playing violent video games is actually cathartic for well-balanced, mentally stable, well-adjusted individuals? Could it be that these games are an outlet that actually prevent said people from going off the deep end? Possibly. That too has yet to be scientifically proven. Just an alternate theory, feel free to do your own research and form your own opinion. We must stop shifting blame from those who are truly responsible to whatever the scapegoat of the decade may be. The fact remains that there are very ill people amongst us. If they play violent games, watch violent movies, or listen to violent music, something bad could happen. It's happened before and it will likely happen again. I'd like to hope that it wouldnt, but let's remain realistic, shall we? Tragedies like those that Columbine, Paducah, Red Lake, University of Texas, Dawson College, & Virginia Tech are not caused by the games, movies or music experienced by the perpetrators. They are caused by very sick individuals, sometimes with a little help society not seeing or not acting on obvious red flags. Video games did not exist in 1966 when Charles Whitman climbed up the University of Texas clocktower and proceeded to embark on a shooting spree in excess of 2 hours. Seventeen year old Brenda Spencer shot into an elementary school across the street from her house in 1979 "because she didnt like Mondays". Twelve year old Nathan Ferris was tired of being picked on in 1987, so he brought a gun to school and killed the bully before taking his own life. Numerous other examples exist that took place before the current age of violent video games. Every single one is, without a doubt, an unimaginable tragedy. However, the fact remains that these things happened before violent games and they will, sadly, continue to happen in the age of violent games. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Jeffrey Weise, Kimveer Gill, Michael Carneal and now Cho Seung-Hui; all of these people showed warning signs of impending dangerous behaviour long before they snapped. Nothing was done. Did they play violent video games? Sure, some of them did. Was this the genesis, their breaking point? Very doubtful. The real problems here are not music, movies and video games. Here are the real problems: Number one is piss poor parenting. Either they choose to devote their lives to their career, they have to to make ends meet, or they simply dont care. These days a large number of parents simply dont pay the proper amount of attention to their children. It's always "my child would never do that" or "I cant believe this happened, he's such a nice kid." When I as growing up I was educated very clearly by my parents that if I did something bad at school, I would be punished for it. These days parents are more likely to believe their children and blame or sue the school than to punish their child when he or she does something wrong. Secondly, lack of concern or ignorance by school officials. This is a direct result of number one really, and one cannot blame the officials too much. Anymore, teachers, counselors, principals and other school officials are too scared of a parent filing a lawsuit to mete out proper punishment for serious offenses. Because of this too often small incidental infractions are blown way way out of proportion while serious problems are overlooked. Thirdly, at least in America, our reliance on a cornucopia of pharmacueticals. Children as young as 8 are now being diagnosed and prescribed anti-depressants. The problem with these drugs is that just like Ritalin is an upper for someone with regular brain chemistry and a downer for someone with ADHD, anti-depressants can cause massive paralyzing bouts of depression, suicidal thoughts and violent tendencies if your brain chemistry is actually normal. Fourthly, an overbearing hypersensationalized ratings driven news media. Look at how much news coverage the Virginia Tech tragedy has already gotten? The same happens with any such event. Look how much time was spent discussing the private and realistically boring minutia of Anna Nicole Smith's personal life? The news media throws a sheen of glitz and glamour on tragedy, and they do it willingly in the name of "reporting the news" when what they are really doing is trying to win a ratings war that should not be being fought. Lastly, the very act of placing blame on something other than those at fault completes the circle. n. By shifting blame from those who are responsible for such atrocities and pointing the finger at movies, video games, comic books and music, we are only causing yet another generation to grow up neglected, ignored, and bullied. When they finally go off the deep end and kill themselves and/or others, we simply react with shock and horror and then resume our normal course. If the perpetrator lives through their crime and they are put on trial, numerous "experts" and "lawyers" try to push the blame off on the media rather than on the real issues. This only inspires other sick people to see how much fame they can get and how easily they may be able to get away with it. Stop shifting blame. As I've illustrated, these problems started before video games even existed, yet alone violent, so we must be realistic in placing blame on what has actually caused the problem. For everyone's sake, please if you have children, start paying more attention to them. If you buy them video games, remember they are age rated. Violent video games, just like R rated movies, are for adults. Your children have no business playing them irregardless of if they cause harm or not. If you are an involved in the education system, start paying more attention to ALL the children you interact with. I'm a 29 year old male who's played video games almost all of my life. I have no interest in doing physical harm to anyone, the very thought repulses me. I am saddened by the tragic and pointless loss of life that we have born witness to this week. I have no interest in seeing anyone else's life is extinguished pointlessly. Seeing these tragedies happen sickens me to my core. Let's all do our best to spot the warning signs before something like this happens yet again.
rickjsApr 19, 2007
......How will ignoring him help anyone? If we ignore him, he'll end up getting what he wants! We'll sit there pissed off, while some bill is passed, thats really our fault. We can at least try to inform the mainstream people/media, hopefully that can at least slow him down but ignoring him will just make it worse.
dflynchimpMay 1, 2007
I completely concur. It's just too bad this guy can't see past the fact that much of what he's basing his arguments off of are either speculative or purely figments of his own deranged imagination. I mean if you think about it, everyone at one point in time has had varying degrees of violent thoughts about life. I see videogames as an actual deter ant for the materialization of these violent urges, since they let gamers blow off steam that otherwise would have had to find a more potent and potentially dangerous outlet.
brandonb1218Jun 9, 2007
Yeah well I'm trained in the fine art of calling in bunker buster bomb air strikes on unsuspecting North Korean asswhipes! Oh, and I can fly a black hawk! (Mercenaries reference)
Closed AccountDec 3, 2007
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