Adam Sessler V Jack Thompson

PsychicHeart · Fri 22/09/2006 07:00:44

Adam Sessler V Jack Thompson
X-Play's Adam Sessler debates videogaming with anti-videogameing lawyer/attorney/activist Jack Thompson. Oh, and there's some guy in the middle.Ã,Â

Enjoyable, I think Sessler's comments were truthful.
Truth be told, i'm getting a little sick and tired of Thompson's escapades.
At any length, enjoy.

Nikolas · Fri 22/09/2006 07:15:16

Thanks fluke...

My take?

BORING! Boring show! Boring marketing, Boring game!

Thank you

jetxl · Fri 22/09/2006 09:55:01

This was on VGCats home page a while ago.
Jack and his selfabsorbed, intolerant kin pestered rockstar into changing the name of 'Bully', their upcomming game. Oh, the irony.

R4L · Fri 22/09/2006 18:37:55

This is old news, like really old news.

Domino · Sat 23/09/2006 00:33:38

The one thing that really pisses me off is that people to this day still blame DOOM for their children's violent behavior. Jackass Thompson had mentioned something about some young punks training with DOOM to go on a killing spree. C'mon give me a break, that is total horse****. Out of the millions of people that have played DOOM, only a handful decided it would be fun to just go on a killing spree. I guess that is enough evidence to blame the game, and also the same for GTA. It is just a scapegoat for people with violent tendencies just if they are caught.

I read or heard somewhere about some guy out shooting people for fun and then blamed GTA because he had been playing it too much.

Blame the parents for an unproper upbringing. Please don't blame video games. I've played enough violent video games in my time, but when i'm done, i just turn the power off. Maybe these psycho teens should do the same.

Thank you.

also props to Adam Sessler for sticking up for the game industry. I'm totally with him on this one.

PsychicHeart · Sat 23/09/2006 01:34:14

Heh, "Takestar".

R4L · Sat 23/09/2006 01:38:41

I think that games are just a way for people to get themselves out of a lot of trouble.

For example: I was playing Halo, you know, just playin, and my cousin happened to have a BB gun, and he shot me and after getting mad, he says:

"Well if it wasn't for Halo!!"

I just said, yeah, I bet criminals say that too when they shoot people. I want to know how a person trains with a game. Seriously. A game doesn't teach you how to hold a weapon, shoot it and stand the recoil, if anything, it teaches you how to aim and thats it. You don't see people going on killing sprees with plasma guns now do you?

voh · Sat 23/09/2006 14:09:07

Quote from: R4L on Sat 23/09/2006 01:38:41
You don't see people going on killing sprees with plasma guns now do you?

If they weren't restricted from being purchased by civilians, you might see a change in that

Darth Mandarb · Sat 23/09/2006 16:39:22

I don't have this substantiated ... but I have heard strong rumors that the Japanese pilots that bombed Pearl Harbor trained on an early version of Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

Also ... Brutus learned how to stab Ceasar by playing Metal Gear Snake Eater.

I love the part where he says, "the shooter trained by playing Doom". If the event he was referring to wasn't so sickening, I'd actually find that REALLY funny.

By my way of thinking ... violent video games are an 'outlet' for violent tendencies. Not the cause. I can't count the number of times I'd get pissed at something in the real world and take it out in a video game. I used to play (religiously) Golden Eye on the N64. If I were in a bad mood (real world) I'd go in there and shoot some civilians. Would I ever do this in real life? Of course not, but the game gave me an outlet for anger.

I don't know ... I think some whack job little kid that goes on a shooting spree in his school was caused more by the heartlessness of his peers, social anxiety, and bad/absent parents than any video game.

How many times do you hear the parents of these kids say something like this, "We didn't even realize ..." well duh!!!! THERE'S the frickin' problem.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sat 23/09/2006 17:50:07

I dunno, I don't play games BECAUSE I'm angry, though sometimes they make me so due to pisspoor controls or story. I size up Jack Thompson in one word: muckraker. I don't think he personally believes as strongly in videogame violence as he claims, but it's a hell of a way to get him tons of publicity. It made him a celebrity almost overnight.

jetxl · Sat 23/09/2006 20:17:10

Ten minutes of quail hunting will train people to be a killer more then moving a mouse cursor over moving pixels ever will.
And Doom hadÃ,Â an aimbot.

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Sat 23/09/2006 16:39:22
...
How many times do you hear the parents of these kids say something like this, "We didn't even realize ..." well duh!!!!Ã,Â THERE'S the frickin' problem.

I disagree. Most people who go postal are adults, not teenagers. Is a parent of a 45 year old daughter really responsible for her actions?

The problem is a lack of intolerance on one side. Oh, and GUNS!

Teenage crime waves are old news, but complaining about teenagers never goes out of style.

Darth Mandarb · Sun 24/09/2006 17:19:03

Quote from: ProgZmax on Sat 23/09/2006 17:50:07I size up Jack Thompson in one word: muckraker. I don't think he personally believes as strongly in videogame violence as he claims, but it's a hell of a way to get him tons of publicity. It made him a celebrity almost overnight.

Totally agree.

Quote from: jet on Sat 23/09/2006 20:17:10I disagree. Most people who go postal are adults, not teenagers. Is a parent of a 45 year old daughter really responsible for her actions?

I reckon you're right, but I was only referring to the kids shooting kids at schools. Everytime some kind of shit goes down with a youngster the parents inevitably say the same thing, "we didn't even know there was a problem". I wasn't making a comment on the adults that go postal.

But even if it I were talking about adults ... I'd still put my money on the fact that there were far more influential elements that contribute to their actions OTHER than video games.

LimpingFish · Sun 24/09/2006 19:34:38

Place: Local game shop.
Time: The...other day.

Game: Timesplitters 3 (PS2)

Players: Salesperson, Mother, Son.

Salesperson: "Um...you know this is certified 18?"

(Mother shrugs)

Salesperson: "Okay...it isn't one of the bad ones anyway."

(Mother shrugs)

The kid is about 11. The mother clearly doesn't care as long as the game keeps him quiet.
The salesperson isn't required, or hasn't got the balls, to point out that the law says the kid shouldn't have the game and that he's only getting it on a legal technicality.

Standing behind them in the queue, I could've said something, but...f*ck it, it's not my job.

Btw, I fully blame parents for the problems the videogame industry has. FULLY.

Pay attention to the law. Pay attention to what your kids have access to, and not what just keeps them quiet. Do your f*cking job and stop blaming the world and its dog. And before anybody comes on and "But..but raising kids is hard!", I know it's hard. It's hard, draining, wearying, both mentally and physically.

That's why I don't plan to have any.

And if you're not prepared to do it properly, then you shouldn't have any either.

Tuomas · Sun 24/09/2006 20:02:30

heh. They wouldn't sell my friend the new GTA when he was one month younger than 18. It's was K-18 and he was 17. well, he got it from another store anyway. But seriously, had he bought that from the first place, it wouldn't have mattered. it's not like the seller is responsible. Well, legally he was, but still, I don't kill people because I play games like Call of Duty. I kill them becasue I'm messed up young boy and I get the kicks from having a lethal weapon. (or at least that's what my psychiatrist says)

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sun 24/09/2006 22:53:25

Quotestanding behind them in the queue, I could've said something, but...f*ck it, it's not my job.

I find this sort of apathy annoying, particularly when you are complaining about the apathy of others. If you won't say anything outside of some forum then why mention it here?

Just like it's a crime in some countries for watching someone kill someone else and not trying to do anything about it, it's also a crime to witness someone breaking the law and do/say nothing.

LimpingFish · Sun 24/09/2006 23:39:12

Quote from: ProgZmax on Sun 24/09/2006 22:53:25
Quotestanding behind them in the queue, I could've said something, but...f*ck it, it's not my job.
I find this sort of apathy annoying, particularly when you are complaining about the apathy of others. If you won't say anything outside of some forum then why mention it here?

Would it have done any good? I doubt it. And isn't it still a case of the parent not taking the right steps, and a stranger stepping in to show them the correct way to monitor their childrens viewing habits?

Should I have to point out that a game with a big red "18" on the cover isn't for children?

It wouldn't have made me feel any better about the situation.

Parents obviously don't notice the media outcry against 18 rated games corrupting children, or they'd stop buying them.

Or else they just don't care.

Both reasons depress me.

ManicMatt · Mon 25/09/2006 00:03:09

Timesplitters 3 was an 18 rated game in Ireland???

They more sensitive over there with the ratings? It was a 15 in the UK.

I still understand your main point however.

My mum bought GTA 1 for me on the PSone when I was 15 or 16 I think, but then she knew that I was mature enough and knew the difference between a game and real life.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Mon 25/09/2006 00:14:10

QuoteWould it have done any good? I doubt it.

Is that really the point? What if the mom thinks that if she doesn't buy the game her kid will just play it at a friend's house anyway and not tell her? It's apathy any way you slice it. And yes, I think that if you had said something instead of just stewed about it (enough to mention here, anyway) you would've at least felt that you did the right thing by saying something--though as you mentioned the employee made a half-hearted attempt at least (he probably should've stressed the legality issue, but he's an employee there whose job it is to sell the crap).

LimpingFish · Mon 25/09/2006 00:43:08

I don't think me feeling good about myself is the issue here

, and unless I can do the same for every other braindead parent, I'm not going to take upon myself to preach the bloody obvious to a total stranger. The salesperson shouldn't have had to say anything beyond "This game is rated 18" to terminate the transaction. There should be no discussion. My interference should not have been needed.

No "But is it REALLY that bad?".
No "Oh, it's only a game".
No "Yeah, but what's the worse that could happen?"

I feel my pointing out the faults in her judgement to a grown woman isn't going to suddenly sway her opinion. The 18 on the box couldn't do it, the salesperson couldn't do it. "Excuse me, mam, but I don't think that game would be suitable for your son" would have likely had the same result.

I was apathetic, sure, but it's an apathy brought about by a seemingly losing battle to educate stupid parents. You just stop caring.

But then I can afford to stop caring. I'm not raising children.

Adamski · Mon 25/09/2006 00:46:52

QuoteBtw, I fully blame parents for the problems the videogame industry has. FULLY.

This is clearly the main point though. It's easier to make a scapegoat out of Doom and "Video Nasties" and Maralyn Manson than it is to come to terms with the fact that if your child does something terrible, it's more likely down to your own failure as a parent.