Regardless of where your position is with regard to the effect video games have on society, if you care at all, you should know who Jack Thompson is.
This link below takes you to a Wikipedia section which is current up through November of this year (2005).
My post here is not to assert a position either way although I certainly do have a position, but to give you a chance to find out about his mission and how his actions have been received so far by gamers, the rest of the public and the game developers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jac...(attorney)
"Get a Life!"
Ron Jaffe AKA Diggo McDiggity
OLGA Admin and Member since 2001
eMail: ronjaffe@cfl.rr.com
—
Co-Founder of OLGA and member since 2002
The "encyclopedia" appears to be bashing Thomson, a little too biased for my taste. Especially when it comes to a freakin encyclopedia.
Matt
Game free since 12/05/05
Ron,
Please go get his book and read it, so you can hear both sides.
I did read what that encylopedia said about Shawn. That was pretty accurate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Woolley
Liz
Liz Woolley
Alright, I'll see if my library has a copy.
Wikipedia is a 'community' project in which everyone can contribute to the content. Liz, you could write some articles about online gaming addiction and have them included.
Ron
"Get a Life!"
Ron Jaffe AKA Diggo McDiggity
OLGA Admin and Member since 2001
eMail: ronjaffe@cfl.rr.com
Co-Founder of OLGA and member since 2002
Jack Thompson appears to be mentally unstable. Accusing Janet Reno of being homosexual and of having ties to the mafia after losing an election to her isn't a sane thing to do.
You need to read his book!
On some of these things, he is ON THE MARK.
Why do you think Janet Reno is not a lesbian?
Liz Woolley
People always accuse prominent liberal and single women of being lesbians. It's just a bad reaction to women's liberation.
Personally, I think Thompson did it out of spite.
How is Wikipedia being biased if they are just listing things that Thompson has actually done?
You need to read his book, too. So you can see what he has been through.
Liz Woolley
I dont understand why he has so much stuff on him on wiki. Thomas Edison has less information on him. I personally find that most people that have a political problem with the way video game manufacturers make games specifically to addict the people playing their game, they typically have many other socialistic views about other ways of controlling what we are allowed to do. It would be nice to see some reasonable people against these games.
Matt
Game free since 12/05/05
Some people feel that because they can't or don't want to control their own lives or families, they want the government to do it for them. This is short-sighted and these people don't always consider the long term ramifications of their actions.
It's easy to push legislation through in the heat of the moment - But when the dust settles, it's almost impossible to motivate people to change it when suddenly they realize it wasn't such a good idea.
People adapt and adjust to uncomfortable situations, but apathy and complacency are "really" the devil's tools.
I checked the Orlando Public Library System, they don't have Jack's book. I guess a one-star average rating for 290 reader reviews on Amazon doesn't make it a must-have - I'll keep trying though.
Ron
"Get a Life!"
Ron Jaffe AKA Diggo McDiggity
OLGA Admin and Member since 2001
eMail: ronjaffe@cfl.rr.com
Edited by: Diggo McDiggity at: 12/11/05 12:20
Co-Founder of OLGA and member since 2002
Ron,
I BOUGHT one.
Liz
Liz Woolley
Well, I figured you did, Liz, because I know you support his position and probably wish you had kept him as your council to go after Sony.
But local governments, family groups and media groups are disassociating themselves from him for a reason. Just because someone is on a noble cause, it doesn't mean that he can mow down whomever he wishes to achieve his goals. In some ways, he has acted as bad as the gamers he has criticized. That's what our present administration has done and why the world and people in this country are growing increasingly more aggravated with how our country is being run.
But you might think, "well look at how he has been attacked by the gaming community." But if you go up to a nest of hornets and bang it with a stick and start getting stung, do you blame the hornets?
He could have chosen to ignore the gamers, but he attacks back consistently questioning their intelligence and integrity, calling them names - Anyone who has been reading our boards for a while knows that doesn't work. But his mistake is in not considering (or perhaps, no caring) that those gamers he is criticizing are often the adults and parents that could potentially be his allies. Not only that, but he goes after public officials as well.
The result? He is viewed as a loudmouth, individualist fighting a noble cause against the great Goliaths of the gaming companies. Probably not a good analogy as that implies his 'mission' is wholly just and I'm not convinced that the potential results of his actions will be worth any small gains he gets in terms of dollars or possibly censorship legislation.
To draw another similarity to Iraq, if you don't win the hearts and minds of the people you are trying to help, then you can never succeed. And you don't win the hearts and minds of these people by attacking and criticizing them.
IMHO as always.
Ron
"Get a Life!"
Ron Jaffe AKA Diggo McDiggity
OLGA Admin and Member since 2001
eMail: ronjaffe@cfl.rr.com
Co-Founder of OLGA and member since 2002