Recently, GamersHell op-ed writer Shaun McCormack tried to secure an email interview with lawyer Jack Thompson - Thompson is currently suing four major companies for making the games Grand Theft Auto III and GTA: Vice City available to minors, which he claims drove then-underage client Devin Thompson to murder two police officers and a dispatcher.
Thompson sees video games as 'literally "murder simulators" teaching our kids how to kill'; McCormack's questions challenged his positions somewhat, and he replied with obnoxious non-answers:
McCormack: Jack, I'm working on an article about video game violence. I've read alot about your crusades against video games and the Devin Thompson trial and wanted to get you to clarify your position for me. With Thompson, do you believe that he would not have committed these murders had he not played these games? Is there a law in Alabamma that forbids retailers from selling M-rated games to minors? Do you have as much of a problem with less realistic violence, like with games from the 1980s?
What about Dungeons and Dragons, which was demonized in the 80s and blamed for several youth murders and suicides? What about violent sports game simulations; hockey, football, boxing, wrestling? How much consideration do you give to the idea that the responsibility for shielding kids from violence should lie with the parents instead of game developers or retailers? I need to get this story in over the next few days, so please email me back soon. Feel free to call me at 201-239-0449 if you need more details. Thanks,Shaun McCormack
Thompson: kiss the game industry good-bye
[...]
McCormack: why do you have a web site urging people to contact you if you don't want to talk about this stuff?
Thompson: read again whom I want to have contact me. have the games so disabled your frontal lobes that you can't understand the site?
Read on | McCormack's GamersHell Article
More info:
Thompson's StopKill.com
Answers.com Background info on Jack Thompson
GamersHell Article: Violence in Video Games
kotaku - Mad Dog Jack Thompson, attack-lawyer extraordinaire, is at it again.
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