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Monday, June 6th, 2005
Did outspoken video game critic and frequent litigator Jack Thompson really say that?
Time
Event
1:54p
Apparently, yes. In an interview posted on Ziff-Davis' 1up site, journalist Marc Saltzman mentioned to Thompson, "You once compared Doug Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, to Saddam Hussein."
Never one to pull his punches, Thompson replied, "If I did, I want to apologize to Saddam Hussein. Doug is a propagandist to whom the facts don't matter. He's paid to lie and he does it very well."
It's not the first time Thompson has linked Lowenstein and the deposed Iraqi dictator. In 2004 Thompson was quoted to the effect that "Doug Lowenstein makes Saddam Hussein look like a post-reformed Pinocchio." Pardon us, but what the hell is a "post-reformed Pinocchio?" Thompson has also, apparently, likened the ESA head to other disreputable historical figures in interviews.
So, is there a slander suit coming? So far GamePolitics has received no reaction from Doug Lowenstein or the ESA. There is a troubling report floating around, however, that the ESA successfully pressured at least one very large news organization to chop Thompson's more outrageous characterizations of Lowenstein from their coverage. Why shoot the messenger?
In any case, the 1up interview is worth checking out. There are, of course, Thompson's usual tough guy rants, things like, "You wise guys who think you're so clever about saying what kids ought to play and then putting [Mature] games in the hands of those kids, you will wish you listened to me." But there is also plenty of reasoned commentary on game issues from Dr. Henry Jenkins, Director of Comparative Media Studies at M.I.T., and co-editor of From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games.5:16p
It just might be the most embarrassing piece of video game legislation ever introduced.
If passed, North Carolina Senate Bill 221 would have mandated the removal of Windows Solitaire from all state-owned PC's. As reported in the Christian Science Monitor earlier this year, Catawba County Republican Senator Austin Allran (seen above, in ceremonial garb) was outraged because some state workers were apparently playing computer Solitaire on company time. In fact, GamePolitics covered the introduction of the bill in our very first report, wondering how many staff hours of North Carolina's tech support personnel would be wasted uninstalling a program that ships with every single Windows PC?
At the time we also made plans to move to North Carolina. After all, the place must be some kind of Utopian paradise, since health care, poverty, and crime were apparently no longer of concern if Senator Allran and Republican co-sponsor Senator Andrew Brock had time to worry about legislating Solitaire.
Naturally, GamePolitics can't resist following up on a good story, or even a silly one. A representative of Senator Allran's office told us today that SB 221 was "dead in committee." The person we spoke to also seemed to be backing away furiously from the bill, pointing out that Senator Brock was actually the sponsor, and referring us to that office. But wasn't Senator Allran the co-sponsor? "Well, yes..."
For his part, Senator Brock did return our call personally, a fact that even a jaded observer like GamePolitics salutes. Senator Brock told us, "It (SB221) is really to bring attention to the fact that here at state government we have too many employees with not enough to do." According to the Senator, North Carolina has more state employees per capita than New York State. "Nothing against games or Solitaire," he added.
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