Penny Arcade’s Tycho talks about canned Jack Thompson debate at PAX

Penny Arcade‘s Jerry “Tycho” Holkins has finally responded to Jack Thompson‘s statements regarding the canned PAX debate in which the outspoken lawyer was supposed to participate.

Thompson declined to show up for the debate due to Penny Arcade not wanting him to say anything about it to the media. In a recent interview by video game news site 1UP, Tycho revealed that the whole debate was a last-minute addition to PAX.

“PAX is almost entirely laid out by now, schedule-wise, but we’ve got wiggle room here and there,” said Tycho. “We thought we could put some of this wiggle room to use in the form of a debate panel.”

The moderator for the debate was supposed to be the administrator of GamePolitics.com. No opponent had been decided on yet, but within twenty-four hours, the PAX team had already communicated with Thompson.

As for the reason why Penny Arcade didn’t want Thompson talking about the debate, here’s Tycho’s explanation:

Before any other concern, it is our deep desire that no person be trampled to death at PAX. Given the human density of last year’s show, it seemed as though a Jack Thompson panel would create some dicey situations from a safety perspective.

We asked that Jack not discuss the event for these reasons. When he began to do so, publicly, with all major gaming news organizations, we determined that even an explosive, exciting debate wasn’t worth trying to work with him.

Tycho also took the opportunity to respond to Thompson’s statements regarding the situation:

I think he is lumping us in with his other opponents, some of whom are almost certainly imaginary. I’m not aware of any machinations that are currently ongoing.

As for the sale of “adult materials,” by which I assume he means games rated M by the ESRB, we currently think that the best bet is retail enforcement and parent education. As parents ourselves, his assertion is scurrilous and insulting.

Via 1UP

Penny Arcade‘s Jerry “Tycho” Holkins has finally responded to Jack Thompson‘s statements regarding the canned PAX debate in which the outspoken lawyer was supposed to participate.

Thompson declined to show up for the debate due to Penny Arcade not wanting him to say anything about it to the media. In a recent interview by video game news site 1UP, Tycho revealed that the whole debate was a last-minute addition to PAX.

“PAX is almost entirely laid out by now, schedule-wise, but we’ve got wiggle room here and there,” said Tycho. “We thought we could put some of this wiggle room to use in the form of a debate panel.”

The moderator for the debate was supposed to be the administrator of GamePolitics.com. No opponent had been decided on yet, but within twenty-four hours, the PAX team had already communicated with Thompson.

As for the reason why Penny Arcade didn’t want Thompson talking about the debate, here’s Tycho’s explanation:

Before any other concern, it is our deep desire that no person be trampled to death at PAX. Given the human density of last year’s show, it seemed as though a Jack Thompson panel would create some dicey situations from a safety perspective.

We asked that Jack not discuss the event for these reasons. When he began to do so, publicly, with all major gaming news organizations, we determined that even an explosive, exciting debate wasn’t worth trying to work with him.

Tycho also took the opportunity to respond to Thompson’s statements regarding the situation:

I think he is lumping us in with his other opponents, some of whom are almost certainly imaginary. I’m not aware of any machinations that are currently ongoing.

As for the sale of “adult materials,” by which I assume he means games rated M by the ESRB, we currently think that the best bet is retail enforcement and parent education. As parents ourselves, his assertion is scurrilous and insulting.

Via 1UP