Jack Thompson Threatens Gabe Newell Over School Shooter Mod

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Jack Thompson Threatens Gabe Newell Over School Shooter Mod


Certifiably sane videogame critic Jack Thompson has a warning for Valve boss Gabe Newell: shut down the School Shooter mod for Half-Life 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Half-Life-2-Pc/dp/B00006I02Z/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1300305570&sr=8-2] or face the consequences!

Jack Thompson may have been disbarred for life but that's not stopping him from keeping up the fight against the videogame industry and what he sees as the "murder simulators" it produces. Thompson's latest target is none other than School Shooter: North American Tour 2012 [http://www.valvesoftware.com] mod.

Thompson's letter in full:

"Dear Mr. Newell:

You either know or should know that the more moral midgets who run Checkerboarded Studios have created a mod for your company's Half-Life which they call School Shooter: North American Tour 2012. This mod is a full-blown Columbine massacre simulator which cannot function without your company's assistance and acquiescence.

Attached herewith is a letter from FHE-ASAP that expresses their, my, and others' concerns about this Columbine massacre mod. As you either know or should know, your Half-Life murder simulator was obsessively played, and thus became a training aid, for a) teenaged Robert Steinhauser, who authored at Erfurt, Germany, the worst school shooting massacre in European history, and b) Seung-Hi Cho, who authored at Virginia Tech University the worst school shooting massacre in world history. As to the latter, the sources of this information are the Washington Post and the New York Times. Now some sociopaths have made reprises of Erfurt and Virginia Tech far more likely.

Given the fact that your company has the technological ability to stop the operation of School Shooter, you must undertake steps immediately to do so.

Speaking for myself alone (for now), you have until five o'clock pm Eastern standard time this Friday, March 18, 2011, to shut down this public safety hazard I predicted years ago this school massacre game would arrive. I hate being right all the time.

GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.

Regards, Jack Thompson"

Thompson claimed that copies of the letter were also sent to Checkerboarded Studios, FHE-ASAP [the Florida Higher Education Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention], the United States Secretary of Education and "significant others."

It's a bit tricky to fathom what role Newell has to play in all of this, aside from heading the company that created Half-Life 2 back in 2004. Moral obligations notwithstanding, I'm not so sure Valve can just wave its magic wand and make mods disappear, nor that, if it can, it should. As to the implied "or else" in his message, Thompson gave no indication as to what sort of punitive measures he intends to bring to bear should Newell fail to heed his warning. Based on his history, I expect it will involve further threats, but we'll keep you posted just in case.

Contrary to Thompson's assertions, the official U.S. government report on the murders of 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007 made no mention of videogames [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/73166-Virginia-Tech-Report-Makes-No-Mention-of-Videogames] whatsoever.


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Oilerfan92

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Mar 5, 2010
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There are 2 people I hate with such a passion that even when they are (somewhat) on my side on an issue I still despise them. Jacko and Garry Bettman.

"I hate being right all the time".

It's sad to watch a failure grasping at straws to save any sort of dignity.
 

RanD00M

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Oct 26, 2008
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Didn't Jacky lose his lawyer rights in '09? Or something like that which made it so he can't attack the video gaming industry publicly. So isn't he breaking the law by doing this?

EDIT: I have been quoted on this matter three times now, and have been fully informed of the matter. If you were thinking of quoting me, then thanks in advanced, but it will be unnecessary.
 

TheDoctor455

Friendly Neighborhood Time Lord
Apr 1, 2009
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Fai57 said:
Here we go again...
Indeed...
and of course, Thompson has no clue how the modding community works.
I don't see how Newell or anyone else at Valve is responsible for this mod.
There is no way they could have predicted that someone would make something this stupid.
 

Kmadden2004

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Feb 13, 2010
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Y'know what? It's idiots like this that bring out my violent tendencies, not video games...
 

KalosCast

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Dec 11, 2010
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This should be hilarious. Valve isn't publicly traded, so they don't have easily-spooked investors to force them to cave... let's see if the company has a backbone.
 

JourneyThroughHell

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Sep 21, 2009
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Or, to paraphrase:

"Fuck you, Gabe Newell. Hahahaha.

Love, Jack."

I mean, this guy is just fucking hysterical now. "I hate being right all the time", "your Half-Life murder simulator", "GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY".

I'm not the one to advocate for that horrid mod, but, Jack... hahahaha.
 

MarsProbe

Circuitboard Seahorse
Dec 13, 2008
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He must be really bored these days.

How exactly is Mr. Thompson paying his bills these days anyway?
 

DSK-

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May 13, 2010
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Wonders never cease...

He should stop doing this kind of thing, he's pretty bad at it.
 

OldRat

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Dec 9, 2009
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Oh look, the fucker is still alive! I thought he died or something, because for a moment I couldn't hear his abyssal whining anymore. Ah well, no good thing lasts forever.
 

LavaLampBamboo

King of Okay
Jun 27, 2008
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Yeah, Jack, Half Life was played obsessively, by thousands upon millions of people. And then they all when out after being trained to use gravity guns and all killed people. Or you know two people, who probably didn't play the game anyway.

Just stop it, Thompson, you are embarrassing yourself. This is just sad.
 

Blind0bserver

Blatant Narcissist
Mar 31, 2008
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You know, for someone who was allegedly a goddamn lawyer Jack Thompson seem to be pathetically ignorant of how the law works. Gabe and, by extension, Valve can't just push a magic button and scrub the Shooter mod from existence, regardless of whether or not that piece of tripe is built off of their technology. If the world worked that way Square would have erased from existence all of the filthy slash fiction make based off of the Final Fantasy games ages ago.
 

Athol

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Sep 15, 2010
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Heres the big problem with freedom of speech, even the crazy disbared, discredited nutjobs can spread thier crazy...and we cant stop them.
 

icyneesan

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Feb 28, 2010
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I thought Jack Thompson retired!? WHY GOD! Why do you keep making me relive the horrors of video game past!!

*Turns around and sees N-gage*

WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHY!?