Jack Thompson, in his typical flair, has denied having anything bad to say about Buzz! The Schools Quiz.

The US diva, I mean attorney, was quoted in British newspapers as saying:

Video games have hurt far more people than they have helped. I don’t see how they can be of any more benefit than normal teaching.

As I suggested, this was a pretty moronic and unsupported statement, where the self-funded Buzz! quiz was only a teaching addition for schools, not a replacement for traditional methods.

JT has now got in touch with The Daily Mail’s editor via an angry email, where he says:

I was NEVER contacted by anyone at your paper about this story, and I never said or wrote the below. I don’t think such a thing and thus would not have uttered it anywhere, anytime.

Fair enough, but being the diva he is, he likes to end his interlocutions with scorn:

Your writer lied about this, and he/she ought to be sacked for this utter fabrication.

Why not take them to court Mr. Jack? Then again, you don’t seem to fair too well there. DIVA!

Source: Play.TM.

Thanks go to MonkeyThumbs for the tip.

It appears to be beyond US attorney Jack Thompson to point blame at parents, demoralisng foreign policies, and unstable societies for youth violence.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Thompson was funded by the western governments to take the heat off of their questionable politics. What better way to move eyes off of what really matters than claiming that video games kill people?

Moreover, why not blame them for turning children into illiterate baboons. I’m sure they would if all children did was shoot aliens in first person shooters, but Jack likes to place the blame with the innocent Buzz! The Schools Quiz.

Thompson moronically suggests that teachers should concentrate on traditional teaching instead of more creative methods:

Video games have hurt far more people than they have helped. I don’t see how they can be of any more benefit than normal teaching.

Not only does he lack any evidence for “video games hurting more people than they help,” the man clearly misses the point. I wonder if the self funded Buzz! project by developer Relentless Software (based in Brighten, UK) was intended to replace all traditional teaching; that it was intended to burn school books and plop school kids in front of glowing screens.

Furthermore, Thompson’s vision of traditional teaching is most likely as old fashioned as his opinions on video games. Bring back the cane!

Sadly educational psychologist Jane Healy agrees with Thompson:

If you watch kids on a computer, most of them are just hitting keys or moving the mouse as fast as they can. It reminds me of rats running in a maze.

Thankfully her words are as uninspired as good ole Jacky boy’s. Her ideas of gaming seem to revolve around the Commodore 64.

Neither individual shows any sign of researched opinions, misleading the British newspapers The Telegraph and Daily Mail in the sins of Buzz! The Schools Quiz. This game contains 5000 questions based on the Key Stage 2 Curriculum, and acts as an additional aid for teachers to solidify their pupils schooled knowledge. The game has proved popular among pupils and teachers in schools around the UK.

This method of questioning is reminicent of quizes in school books, or even of televisual aids. Engaging children in a method of teaching that creatively employs audio and visuals not only helps them learn, but helps them enjoy learning.

Educational software is on the rise and enables children to learn quicker and younger than ever before. Thompson not only needs to research, but must learn to think before he speaks.

Source: Eurogamer

The recent story we reported about the kids supposedly using Mortal Kombat moves to kill a seven year old girl has got me thinking: How do people go about linking videogames to real-world violence?

I read today about a woman picked up for stealing videogame merchandise from a Wal-Mart in Cocoa, Florida. The article also mentions that the 23-year-old woman was previously in trouble with the law for neglecting her son to the point where he wandered off and was found dead in a ditch.

Obviously the woman was charged with manslaughter on top of the neglect, but the case was thrown out of court due to “insufficient evidence”.

So here we have one individual that was involved in two totally unrelated crimes spaced almost four years apart. How easy would it be to associate one behavior with the other?

People like Jack Thompson and Dr. Phil love to search the history of people involved in violent acts and automatically associate their videogame activities with their real-world actions.

Exhibit C: Douchebag

It is my opinion that the aforementioned “Mortal Kombat” killers are associated with the videogames for three reasons:

1. They’re young. Thirty years ago it would have been Black Sabbath instead of Mortal Kombat.

2. The young man used videogames as his alibi, stating he wasn’t involved.

3. Money. The gaming industry is larger than Hollywood, and lawyers want a piece of that pie.

At this point in my life, I’ve read significantly more stories about violent crimes not associated with anything than I have about violence associated with rap music, heavy metal, videogames, or cartoons.

The bottom line is that I do think videogames can be “inspirational” for deeply disturbed people to do deeply disturbed things. Violent people are naturally drawn to violence, even if it’s only digital.

I also submit to the idea that videogames increase aggression, but no more so than any other competitive activity like football or even bowling, and it’s not a permanent effect.

A Fine Example of Pleasant Conversation

A normal kid is not going to kill his parents because he spent 8 hours straight pushing buttons on a controller. If anything, I think it’s quite the opposite.

I personally find videogames to be therapeutic. Whenever I may get the urge to kill people, I can take out that aggression on digital characters without the real-world consequences of guilt, jail time, physical harm to myself, or blood on my new pants.

If someone happens to do something violent and happens to also play videogames, that does NOT mean that videogames actually cause any violence.

This is a clear case of simple stereotyping, and we all know that’s a no-no. So I say to all you stereotypers out there: stop being dicks, or I will kill you.