Jack Thompson is A Moron

Now anyone who has a remote interest in video games has heard the name Jack Thompson. For those not in the know Mr. Thompson is a Florida lawyer who has taken it upon himself to become the champion against video game violence, now I can see where he is coming from on some things but there's a problem. Mr. Thompson is wholly un-informed on what he is talking about. Now I consider myself a stable human being. I am also a gamer. I have been playing video games since my childhood and I have yet to go on a killing spree. Now games nowdays are a whole lot more realistic than they were when I was growing up but the base concepts are the same. What Mr. Thompson fails to realize is that its not the industry's responsibility to ensure that their product is played by its intended audience. When Rockstar releases Grand Theft Auto IV with a Mature rating, they are telling you this game is meant to be played by adults. Now I will agree that game stores need to be more responsible when selling the games, as it is possible for someone who is not 18 to walk in and buy a copy of GTA IV. But if said child purchases the game and brings it home and plays it, is it not also the responsibility of the parent or guardian to be aware of what is being played by their child? This is the point that Mr. Thompson misses. Recently any act of violence that occurs, Mr. Thompson has been right there to blame video games. Take the Virginia Tech shootings for example, moments after the tragedy Mr. Thompson was front and center saying that the person that did this must be a video gamer because only video gamers are capable of such things. He even blamed Bill Gates because Microsoft has an association with the game "Counter-Strike". (Microsoft's only relation is as a publisher for the Xbox version, they had nothing to do with making the game), now when it was reveled that the VT shooter hadn't been interested in violent video games since high school, Mr. Thompson dismissed it saying that you just don't forget what the games have taught you. Thompson's crusade against the game Bully is another example of him just not knowing what he is talking about, He led a crusade to have the game banned before even knowing any of the actual game content he based his crusade on the title alone. If a game is called Bully it must be about being a bully and therefore must be bad. As it turned out the character you play is the one being bullied and not the other way around. He also sparked an outrage when he learned that you could kiss another boy in the game claiming it was teaching our kids to be gay. But again he was misinformed as you have to physically seek it out the action for it to take place.

For a great breakdown of how off target he can be check ou this link that breaksdown and interview he did shortly after the Virginia Tech shooting http://kotaku.com/gaming/feature/feature-dissecting-jacks-lies-252914.php
For the record Jack attempted to file suit against this site for what he claimed where attacks against him. Who knows maybe Mr. Thompson will stumble across my little blog (being read by all of one or two people LOL) and try to sue me...LOL

Now as I said before I consider myself a well adjusted adult, I can sit and play GTA IV for a few hours, realize its a game, and then go back to my normal life, which I do have. (another famous claim by Jack is that any adult who wants to sit and play Grand Theft Auto needs to go out and get a life) People who commit heinous acts of violence are not well adjusted normal people. There is something wrong with anyone who is capable of such acts to begin with. While they may enjoy violent games, The games do not create the violence its already there to begin with.

It was recently announced that a Florida judge is recommending that Jack Thompson be found Guilty on 27 of 31 counts of misconduct. Hopefully he will be disbarred and will no longer be able to stick his nose into anything and everything remotely concerned with video game violence.

ERROR: The blog you are viewing is boring

Well not much to post about lately thus the lack of posts, I want to do so more top 10's and bring back the Random Mame Review but just haven't been motivated. As Sam and I like to say...Ive had a series case of the "blahs". This was supposed to be a very exciting time coming up with moving into the house and our one year anniversary but since the house got pushed back to June it has kind of sapped me. Not to mention work has been crazy lately I worked almost 2 hours extra tonight because the severe weather we had here in Georgia wreaked some havoc on our refrigeration and I had to stay and help try and save our product. Work has been getting better it seems like they really want to promote me and are trying to get me as prepared as possible, the finalist list should be out in a month or two and hopefully I make it this time. Though if I don't I learned that it doesn't mean I cant be promoted so I wont get to down if I'm not on it. My managers know that I am one of the top performers and have been told more than once that they breath easier when I am there because they know they don't have to worry about things being taken care of properly, if that doesn't get me promoted I don't know what will.

On the sports front sadly all my teams are either done or playing like schlock. The Jazz put up a game effort against the Kobe's but it just wasn't meant to be, had the refs actually called fouls properly the series might have been different but life goes on. I will say this if the Jazz can keep the core they have built and add a piece here and there (mostly a more low post type of center to compliment Okur better) I think they can make a serious run for the title. The Stars got ousted by Detroit in the Western finals though they made a series out of it after going down 3-0. Add the Grizzlies rode an upset wave all the way to the conference finals but came up just a little short against the best team in the conference. As for my Mets...they are so hit and miss this year that I just don't know how I feel about their chances. They can look great one day and like they team that made the epic collapse last year the next. Take this weekend for example they go into Yankee Stadium and throttle the Yankee's for 2 games, then come to Atlanta and lose both games of a double header quite soundly. You just cant play 500 ball all year and expect to make the playoffs. I think that they are on the verge of turning the corner if they can just show up and play every day like they are capable of playing, it will help getting Pedro back in June and it seems like Wright, Reyes and Delgado seem to be breaking out of their respective slumps....perhaps they stole Jason Giambi's thong while they were at Yankee Stadium.

On the gaming front I have way to many new things to play since my birthday. Sam (the most awesomest wife in the world) bought me a Nintendo DS, and I got a bunch of games for it (Legend of Zelda, New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart, Advance Wars, Mr. Driller, Nintendogs, True Swing Golf) and I am loving all of them mostly hooked on True Swing and Mario Kart at the moment. She also (despite her vocal protests of the game) got me Grand Theft Auto IV I haven't delved all that deep into it yet but from what I have played this is truly a break thru game there is so much more to it than people think, it really isn't all about the violence. for instance early on in the story you are tasked with picking up a girl your cousin works with. When you pick her up she has one of her friends with her, and you and the friend hit it off and you wind up going on a date with her and going bowling, Now I don't think to many people would expect to find that in a GTA game and that's what makes it so good....it surprises you more than you would expect.

sorry if this post lacked my usual flair (with pictures and such) I just dont have it in me tonight....LOL.....well I probably should attempt to get some sleep as I have got another long work day ahead tomorrow.....

The Top 3 Revealed

#3 NCAA Football 06/07

This one is a no brainer for me. Those who know me know I am a diehard Nebraska fan, so nothing is greater for me than getting to play with my favorite team. I have always thought that NCAA is better than Madden but I am more of a college fan anyway. 06 added the Race for the Heisman mode where you create your player and try to turn them into a legend. 07 tweaked the mode and made it a little better. The on field action has always been top notch and with 06 they finally added online play wich was awesome though gets frustrating at times as most online players try to take advantage of glitches in the games. Overall this is one of the games that I have probably spent the most amount of time Playing.




#2 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
I have mentioned this game before at it still stands to this day as a favorite of mine. Now I am not normally one to like RPG's they have always just felt slow to me but this one feels different. I think its the fact that your not stuck playing the story if you dont want to. You can just go and be a freelance adventurer. It is very free-roam and allows you to be whatever you want to be. The only drawback was the expansion packs, you basically had to rebuy the game to get the added content and that was a drawback for me.




and the #1 Orginal Xbox game is.......................








Halo 1/2
As if there was ever much doubt....Halo stands alone as the greatest xbox game(s) the fact that I played this game literrally thousands of hours and never got bored is testament to its greatness. The multiplayer is truly where the game shines and the game is virtually limitless in the game options allowing you to create new game times anytime you get bored with whats already there. Halo 2 added online multiplayer and this added to an already great formula...the only problem is as with anygame people are going to take advantage of the system and at one point cheating became quite rampant, but the developers took strides to elimnate it and the game remains one of the most played games ever.





so there ya go my first top ten list...Please leave feedback and let me know what you think and wther I should do another one or not...LOL

Top 10 Xbox Games pt 2

#7 Tony Hawk Series

I couldn't narrow this one down to one game in the series so I included the whole set. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has become the Madden of extreme sports games, but the one thing they do really well is add something fresh with each new game that comes out. One of my fondest memories of the early Xbox days was playing Tony Hawk multiplayer hours on end, and the funny thing was it never got old. The series got truly reinvented with Tony Hawk's Underground where the game become story driven, as you created your own skater and started out as a nobody in your own neighborhood and rose to stardom in the skate scene crossing paths with all the known pros in the process. In the earlier games you just went to each location and hit all the goals...there was no cohesion. Other extreme games have come and gone but Tony Hawk has managed to stay fresh enough to keep people coming back for more.





#6 The Burnout Series

Again this one cant be narrowed down to just one game, and again its all about the multiplayer on this one. Nothing compares to getting a bunch of friends together and playing the Crash mode, to see who can create the most carnage. While my wife may disagree there is nothing better than watching massive automobile pileups in video game form. While the multiplayer/crash mode is what lands Burnout on my list it does feature a very solid single player experience.








#5 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Never has a game series been so known for controversy as has Grand Theft Auto. While it may be best known for the fact that there is basically no limit to what you can do in the game, I think that is what makes the game great. Most mature adults can separate video games from reality, and games like GTA give us the chance to do things that we would never do in real life. GTA is made for adults and should be treated as such. And when you look at it from an adult perspective, you realize that deep down the game is a little tongue in cheek. The pure scope of San Andreas is insane it truly is a living breathing city. While the game has been attacked for its violence it really is the parents that allow their kids to play the game that should be attacked, not the game itself.




#4 Lego Star Wars

I don't think any game has ever came out of nowhere quite like Lego Star Wars did, who knew that the greatest console Star Wars game would feature Legos. I remember when I first heard about, I was like "I like Legos...I like Star Wars...This could be really cool" and oh how cool it was. The Star Wars universe has never been brought to life quite like it is here, none of the characters speak everything is brought to life through clever pantomiming and it is laugh out loud funny. And it really is something that everyone can enjoy (at times I have had to fight Sam over the Xbox because she is playing it), it also gave me one of the best moments ever...coming home from work one night I walked into to the sounds of a techno version of the Star Wars theme, I found Sam on the couch playing and she had just completed a puzzle and the Kamino Cloners were disco dancing to the Star Wars theme.....Im not sure I have ever laughed harder.




Stay tuned to find out the top 3....