“Jack Thompson”: I’m a game violence expert and BioShock is in trouble

It seems Florida-based lawyer Jack Thompson‘s at it again, and apparently the latest item in his agenda is to appear in an upcoming episode of Dr. Phil as a “game violence expert” – with the host of the show himself, Dr. Phil, inviting the attorney over. This bit of news comes from a comment posted on a recent Game Politics article, with the poster bearing the name of none other than Jack Thompson himself. Here’s the statement, verbatim:

You all can relax. Dr. PhilÂ’s people called me last week, and at that point they were going to take the show in the direction of video game violence. They indicated they wanted me on the show. I got a call yesterday, and they decided to take the show in a different direction, with the focus on role-playing game addiction. They have a girl who has that problem.

Look, IÂ’m giving you the straight scoop here, so knock off the flaming at least in response to this. Dr. PhilÂ’s people were very nice, very professional, and quite enthusiastic. Of course, Dr. Phil was spot-on after V-Tech, given the link to video game play by Cho substantiated by the New York Times and the Washington Post (you wonÂ’t read about that here).

Of course, with Internet anonymity and GamePolitics’ commenting system not needing any sort of verification to post, it certainly does read like some of the past statements the attorney has made. It’s also worth noting that in a more recent article, the individual posting as Jack Thompson also made note of upcoming horror FPS Bioshock(Xbox 360, PC), promising quite a hard time for Take-Two. The comment itself:

By the way, since Dennis McCauley has proven once again, by this thread, his Jack Thompson obsession, please note that big trouble is on the way for Take-Two re Bioshock. Hooah!

Is BioShock going to be the next game in Mr. Jack Thompson’s sights? While the game certainly has violence – lots of it – it also supports a gameplay where you can use the environment (and your Plasmid abilities) to approach the game in a less violent and more stealthy, security-alarm-evading manner.

There’s also the decision of either killing or saving Little Girls – probably the only ones left “sane” in Rapture – after defeating the Big Daddies that travel with them. In my opinion, that certainly gives Bioshock an edge over the other, more violent titles out there, if we’re to nitpick violence in videogames itself.

Certainly a very interesting update in the case of Jack Thompson. What about you, dear readers? What’s your two cents in the matter? Let us know by your comments below.

Buy: [Bioshock (Games for Windows)]
Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]

It seems Florida-based lawyer Jack Thompson‘s at it again, and apparently the latest item in his agenda is to appear in an upcoming episode of Dr. Phil as a “game violence expert” – with the host of the show himself, Dr. Phil, inviting the attorney over. This bit of news comes from a comment posted on a recent Game Politics article, with the poster bearing the name of none other than Jack Thompson himself. Here’s the statement, verbatim:

You all can relax. Dr. PhilÂ’s people called me last week, and at that point they were going to take the show in the direction of video game violence. They indicated they wanted me on the show. I got a call yesterday, and they decided to take the show in a different direction, with the focus on role-playing game addiction. They have a girl who has that problem.

Look, IÂ’m giving you the straight scoop here, so knock off the flaming at least in response to this. Dr. PhilÂ’s people were very nice, very professional, and quite enthusiastic. Of course, Dr. Phil was spot-on after V-Tech, given the link to video game play by Cho substantiated by the New York Times and the Washington Post (you wonÂ’t read about that here).

Of course, with Internet anonymity and GamePolitics’ commenting system not needing any sort of verification to post, it certainly does read like some of the past statements the attorney has made. It’s also worth noting that in a more recent article, the individual posting as Jack Thompson also made note of upcoming horror FPS Bioshock(Xbox 360, PC), promising quite a hard time for Take-Two. The comment itself:

By the way, since Dennis McCauley has proven once again, by this thread, his Jack Thompson obsession, please note that big trouble is on the way for Take-Two re Bioshock. Hooah!

Is BioShock going to be the next game in Mr. Jack Thompson’s sights? While the game certainly has violence – lots of it – it also supports a gameplay where you can use the environment (and your Plasmid abilities) to approach the game in a less violent and more stealthy, security-alarm-evading manner.

There’s also the decision of either killing or saving Little Girls – probably the only ones left “sane” in Rapture – after defeating the Big Daddies that travel with them. In my opinion, that certainly gives Bioshock an edge over the other, more violent titles out there, if we’re to nitpick violence in videogames itself.

Certainly a very interesting update in the case of Jack Thompson. What about you, dear readers? What’s your two cents in the matter? Let us know by your comments below.

Buy: [Bioshock (Games for Windows)]
Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]