Topic: Thursday is Judgement Day

[kirby_killer_dedede]

http://gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=6039

If Jack Thompson loses this, it's all over for him.  If Take Two loses this, it's all over for them.

Either way, good news for us Nintendo gamers.  

[Arbok]

"...and that Thompson was "officially certified sane" by the Florida Bar..."

I love the fact that they actually felt the need to throw that in there.

Quote
Originally posted by: kirby_killer_dedede

Either way, good news for us Nintendo gamers.  

As evil as it may seem, that was the first thing that went through my mind.

[couchmonkey]

Ha ha ha.  You know, I don't generally have a problem with Take Two, except that it seems like they killed DMA.  All the company does anymore are these dumb violent games.  Where's my Space Station Silicon Valley sequel?  Answer: right next to the Jet Force Gemini sequel that nobody will buy.  Still, it seems like DMA has been forced into a niche of controversial, violent games by its partnership with Take Two.

[vudu]

What's DMA?

[Bill Aurion]

DMA Design was a dev that was acquired by Rockstar way back when...They have SSSV, Body Harvest, and Lemmings under their belt...

[nickmitch]

If Thompson wins, then who will he go after next?

Just something that's been in my head for a while.

[TMW]

He'll go after Nintendo for promoting drug use in Mario Brothers.  

More likley, considering his...ability to get worked up over hearsay and idiotic assumptions, he'll probably turn his attention to anime.  

You know, the evil porn cartoons!  

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Yeah, the mushrooms in Super Mario Bros. that made Mario bigger is why baseball players use steroids.

EDIT: Typo.

[BlackNMild2k1]

What about Pac Man?  

If it wasn't for that game yesterdays youth would have never got the idea to run around in dark rooms listening to repetative sounds while popping pills & chasing ghost?

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Anyone know what's going on with this?

[wandering]

This is scary....not because of the implications for videogames, but because of the implications for the future of criminal justice. While whackos like Thompsan worry about the loss of morality, I worry about the loss of personal responability. We're already living in a world where, if a child doesn't do well in school, it's not his, his parent's, or even the school's fault.... but rather the fault of a mysterious 'physical' illness with no physical symptoms that nevertheless needs to be treated with drugs. And now we're facing the possibilty of people getting away with murder because VIDEOGAMES can somehow be responsable for people's actions. And if that happens, you can bet that crime will rise because people will know that they can blame their actions on outside forces and get out scot free. And it'll be the fault of people like Jack Thompson, who are apparently working to reduce crime, by waging a war on something that studies suggest doesn't correlate with crime at all. Sigh.

[TMW]

Dude, seriously, do a little research before you naysay the "myth" of ADD.  Yes, its wildly misdiagnosed, but that doesn't mean it does not exist.

As for this, I would like some sort of update.  Like...if the Judge threw it out, or what?

[wandering]

I didn't say that ADD was a myth, just that it's not physical (which is true) and it's mysterious (also true - most disorders of the mind are still fairly mysterious to us) But, yeah, I tripped over myself a bit there. The main point I was trying to make was that videogames are used as a scapegoat explanation of violence in the same way that ADD is used as a scapegoat explanation for poor parenting/schooling, and both issues are tied into a decling sense of personal responsability in this country, and yadda yadda yadda.

I derive my point about Add being a scapegoat explanation from the fact that doctors give out mind-altering drugs to kids like candy these days, something that isn't too debatable. Something that is more debateable is whether drugs are ever appropriate for conditions like ADD, or if it's even appropriate to diagnose kids with mental disorders before their brains have even finished developing - and I was trying to make a point about that too with my comment, and I shouldn't have, because it distracted from my main point.  Actually, I probably shouldn't have brought up the ADD issue at all. Sorry.

edit: As for the trial, apparently it began on thursday, the defense asked that the case be dismissed for first ammendment reasons, and that Jack Thompson should be removed from the trial because he'd turn it into "a circus". Apparently, the defense produced a folder full of Thompson's colorful pronouncements about videogames and whatnot. The judge has asked both sides to provide full arguments in writing. And that's it. No future court date has been set. Link uno, Link dos, Link tres.

[BlackNMild2k1]

UPDATE:  Jack Thompson No Longer On The Case

Quote
Last week the defense put forth a pair of motions that Fayette County Circuit Judge James Moore had yet to rule on: one asking for the case to be thrown out entirely, and another asking that Thompson be dismissed from the case for violations of legal ethics. The defense in particular pointed to Thompson's numerous press releases and open letters on the subject of violence in games.

One such instance occurred just days before the defense filed those motions. In a press release, Thompson characterized Japanese electronics giant Sony's willingness to allow a game as violent as Grand Theft Auto III to be distributed in the US as "Pearl Harbor 2."

"He can’t proceed with the civility the rules require," attorney for the defense Jim Smith said. "All lawyers have to conduct themselves with honesty, integrity and civility. This isn’t a street fight."

But before the judge could decide one way or the other, Thompson stepped aside, telling Game Politics, "The other side wants to make me the issue. The important thing is that the clients be served." Thompson also said it was his idea to step down, and that he wasn't being pressured to do so by the judge.

SUMMARY:

The other lawyers found Thompson to be a jackass and act like one too, so they requested that he be removed from the case.  So he(thompson) stepped down himself, but I think he may have been removed if he didn't.

In other words he bowed down gracefully with hopes to still be involved in the case somehow(called to the stand for some reason or another).
 

[King of Twitch]

"All lawyers have to conduct themselves with honesty, integrity and civility."

What???

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

OBJEKSHUN!!
"You're lying, DAMMIT!  And I can prove it!"