Dear Mr. Thompson,
I am Andrew Delorme, a 22 year old gamer, a gamer before the ESRB and other game rating systems. I found your recent comments a bit childish for a man of your stature.
In this open letter I would like you to know a bit about me, and a bit of the gamer community. When I was a child, I would play some of the most violent games of that era, Doom, Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem, etc. Yeah I got into fights at school and whatnot, but I never threw the first punch, I was bullied, I was picked on, teachers didn't care, it was brutal all through school. Even to this day, I am a well mannered, young adult who still plays video games of all genres, childish to violent, you name it, I have more than likely played it.
The gamer community is the same way, we are all best buds, we would not hurt each other in real life, but instead probably pop in a game and go MP on each others asses while laughing, bad mouthing, and placing small wagers. We would never end up killing each other or other people. Why? Because we are mature, we have jobs, more than likely a well paying job (don't know if you have been paying attention to game prices lately, but to sum it up, to keep up with gaming you have to sell a kidney and a left nut).
Now, your main debate in the gaming controversy is the alleged 'scientific evidence' that is out there. Well there are a few ways to put this, so I will walk you through a few of these. One of these is that there are so many conflicting studies done on this subject that it really comes down to personal opinion, so personal opinions do not really count, as you probably know in a court of law.
Another one of your main debates is the fact that video games are found in the residence of many males. Well... yeah, you are right, its a male dominated hobby, you could go into any male college students dorm, into any high school students place of residence and find a video game, most preteen males have at least some video games or have played video games, I am pretty sure even your own children have played them away from you and without your knowledge, at my school there was even Halo on the school servers, accessible to everyone, and I am pretty sure your offspring are well behaved, which brings me to the truth about video games. It's not video games, it's the way a child has been raised, not what they play. Bad parenting is the cause of violence in this world. Not a scapegoat like rock and roll, television, violent movies, pornography. Video games is just the newest in a series of hobbies and interests that parents have used to take the blame away from themselves. Again you maybe asking why? Well my good sir, it is because of the way the parents were brought up themselves, where the adult is always right, just putting themselves deeper into denial.
So, I ask you Mr. Thompson, man to man, adult to adult, human to human, what do you have against gamers and their entertainment? Is it because you are an elitist who feels anyone who plays games is a lower form of life? Well, that sounds an awful lot like Adolf Hitler, who murdered over six million innocent men, women, and children for what they believed in, or similar to the views of the Klu Klux Klan. Or maybe it is because you do not understand a different form of entertainment than what you were raised with, being taught what one does not understand is a sinful thing, Doesnt that sound like Catholics murdering countless humans, for believing in a different God, or having different views on The Bible.
I ask you Mr. Thompson, answer that, and once you do, I would love to continue this debate. I believe you are a smart man, just misguided in the ways of the art and discipline of Game-Fu.
And for all the readers, I would like you to bring this open letter to Mr. Thompson's attention and other gamers aswell.
Thank you for your time Mr. Thompson, I, aswell as countless other gamers, are looking forward to hearing from you, you can comment, or you can send me a personal message asking for my email if that is a more formal route for you.
Alright Auto. Let's try this again shall we?
"This pleases me."
Just a thought...
It's easy to write off most of his BS as an overreaction and a fear of the unknown. It may also be important to remember Jacks' take on this. He tries to portray himself as a moral crusader (obviously the way he views himself in his current role). That requires a sort of "saving the heathens from themselves" mindset.
As such, he'd experience validation from every victory no matter how small over "teh evil vidyogamez" and the subculture connected to it. That's why it's so hard to reason with him on the subject.
It's how he feeds his ego.
Out of interest have you sent it to him? His mind may explode when realising gamers are people too.
I think you're over-reacting, and the Hitler reference is pure overkill which makes you look dumb, I'm sorry to say.
Mr. Thompson does not have anything against videogamers or indeed videogames as a hobby. Rather his crusade centres on the inappropriate sale of mature rated games to minors in the U.S. and the apparent indifference shown by those responsible, namely retailers, publishers, developers and platform holders.
Yes, he's an egotist and a sensationalist, but it's a means to an end - it gets publicity for his cause.
If anyone actually listened to what he had to say, they'd find he oftentimes speaks a lot of sense. You wouldn't want to find out that your 10 year old daughter could walk into any high street store buy a copy of The Exorcist, the complete box-set of Saw, or perhaps Anal Intruders 17 without at least one member of staff intervening.
Jack's point is that extreme, adult orientated videogames should be treated no differently, and I can't really argue with that.
However this always seems to be lost in translation when he starts running his mouth and 'Teh Gamerz' throw in their two cents. He only has himself to blame for that I suppose but comparison to Hitler? Too far, buddy.
f*ck off
Unfortunately for you it's the LAW which dictates what is or isn't appropriate content for consumption by minors in the U.S., not the parents, and Mr. Thompson is merely trying to uphold that law. A law passed by others, agreed by your senate.
And just in case you didn't know Adolf Hitler not only "said some pretty bad things" but is also said to have been directly responsible for the deaths of up to 46 million people during the second world war, whilst Jack Thompson has bad-mouthed a game a few times to get his face on the telly. Do you have any idea just how ignorant your ridiculous comparison makes you come across?
Grow up you whiny little prick.