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Enough and more has been said about Jack Thompson and how he is wangling his way onto public television by giving people fodder on videogames and how they’re supposedly to blame for all the violence that happens in the world. But still, when you are an attorney, you don’t really expect that someone would go on television without any facts backing him up and blabber anything and everything that pops into his head.
Yet, that’s exactly what’s happened. Jerkwad Jack went on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews to talk about how the VATech massacre is all the fault of Counter-Strike, but one thing he wasn’t expecting was getting his ass kicked all over the place and being made a complete idiot on national TV! While Jack claims over 80% of the male population at VATech plays computer games, Chris refutes him by saying how the students are actually into healthy sports like basketball and that there’s no evidence of a violent videogame subculture on campus. However, when Jack drags Counter-Strike into the mix and how it helps prepare mass murderers for their massacre by “training” them to keep them heartrate down and stay calm, he gets more than he bargained for, which was a couple of soundbites that he could paste all over his website. Chris, armed with real evidence, brains and a sharp tongue takes the “School Shooting Expert” to task, claiming instead that Cho was actually working on his English essays instead of playing the “murder simulator” on his PC and how Jack was making stuff up and forcing his theories on the masses without proof. Basically, Jack goes down the toilet the moment he opens his mouth, continuously blithering on about the FBI, the Secret Service and about “hyper-reality situations in virtual reality”, whatever that means.
It appears that in a bizarre turn of events – the VTech killer Cho Seung-Hui was, after all, NOT inspired by violent video games to do what he did. The so called “EXPERTS” were quick to jump onto the blame game, instead of actually focusing their energy on the families of the victims. And to think that these idiots get publicity AND money to talk trash!
To lay all their theories to rest, Cho was emulating NOT a video game, but a Korean movie, when he killed those innocent people. He had probably seen the ultra violent Korean film “Old Boy” way too many times. Probably because he knew that emulating pixellated killers wasn’t as much fun as emulating someone on a 16mm reel! Cho had emailed videos of him striking poses resembling popular scenes from the movie, to NBC in between the shootings.
Cho was on a completely different ‘mission’ when he stepped out of his house and from what you’d read about his agenda, its clear that he wasn’t trying to emulate anything he’d ever seen in any video game.
People like Jack Thompson need to get one thing straight – the facts outweigh the fiction. Get your facts right and don’t be hasty to give us your so called “expert opinion”. Before you jump up to make a quick buck and get your 15 second slot on national TV, do a little thing that we’ve done here – it’s called “RESEARCH”!
It seems another viral site from our friends at Ubisoft has just sprung up,this time it’s for the once-dubbed “Crysis killer”, HAZE. The website www.mantelglobalindustries.com has a video of the person we see in the trailer (now identified as Mr. David Bloomfield) speaking about how Mantel Corp. has changed the way of life and a lot of PR bullplop how the company is making a difference. On the left hand side we see various clickeys, and while the product page is restricted, you can take a look at what Mantel is all about. One interesting information I got was about “NECTAR”.
Excerpts from the site:
A zoom on Mantel’s best: the Nectar. From the groundbreaking researchers who brought you the Endone (200,000,000 pills sold each month) and the Aracmen revolution, comes Mantel Health’s latest medical innovation: the Nova-Keto-Thyrazine – also called NECTAR. The result of more than ten years of the most advanced research in both human therapeutic antibodies and neuronal genetic engineering, the Nectar was originally conceived as a support treatment for Mantel Military’s field employees: “Join the team!” A closely kept secret, its formula allows better recovery from both physical and mental efforts on the field. In addition, it regulates the adrenaline rush that has previously led to tragic accidents (amongst which the infamous “Blue on Blue”), thus ensuring our boys stay 200 percent focused on their mission and objective. The military-grade version of NECTAR is of course strictly regulated and only used on-field after a thorough medical exam of each field operative. At Mantel, we are aware that life can be a daily battle. Feeling depressed, overwhelmed by having to juggle your job, the kids, errands, your social life? We have the solution: direct from Mantel Health, we are proud to introduce the public version of NECTAR. Already more than 150 million people around the world use it everyday. You too can regain control of your life, starting today! Simply contact your nearest local Mantel Health or Mantel Care retailer, who will be more than happy to guide you.
Mantel Health has also created a brand new vitamin- and protein-rich beverage in order for kids to take full advantage of NECTAR’s benefits in complete safety. Ask for Nectar-In at your nearest retailer to make your children both happier and saner! Nectar-In is also delivered free to all participating schools as part of the Children Priority Mission Nutrition Program. Ask your children’s school’s parental committee or your nearest Mantel Care or Mantel Health retailer directly, who will be more than happy to guide you.
Hmm, theraputic antibodies and neuronal genetic enginnering. Oh yeah. some real bad shit is gonna hit the fan here!!
Halo fans rejoice! After the success of the amazing Halo Graphic Novel, Marvel promised to bring us more graphic novel goodness based on the exploits of the Master Chief and the other principal characters in the Halo mythos. And now, it looks like the first details on the comic have finally emerged at Marvel.com. Updating their catalog, Marvel has posted details on the new comic, titled Uprising, which is being penned by Marvel genius Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spiderman/Daredevil/The Avengers/House of M) and drawn by the supremely divine Alex Maleev (Daredevil/Civil Wars/What If…?/New Avengers).According to Marvel, this 40 page graphic novel starts at the end of Halo 2 and ties in nicely with the beginning of the hugely anticipated Halo 3:
The Eisner Award-winning team of superscribe Brian Michael Bendis and artist extraordinaire Alex Maleev unleash an epic story of mankind’s struggle against the alien threat of the Covenant. Picking up from the conclusion of blockbuster video game Halo 2, the must-read issue reveals how the Master Chief, while onboard a hostile ship headed towards Earth, is battling against Covenant forces! Intertwined with Master Chief’s interstellar one-man-war is the saga of a great American city’s rebellion and downfall, two disparate lives’ collision and shared fate, and the Convenant’s hunt for an ancient relic of untold power and value. With hope dwindling and the fate of humanity hanging by a thread, is there any chance for a future?
Selling for $3.99, Uprising promises to be the first in the line of some truly amazing comics that will be set in the epic Halo universe and will be available for the rabid masses on July 18, 2007, which should tie in nicely with the time people start going crazy outside the Bungie offices for Halo 3 and Halo: Wars. Looks like the fight is finally starting to finish…
It took the police almost a full 24 hours to ID the Virginia Tech shooter, but all it took was a couple of hours for “School Shooting Expert” and crackpot ambulance chaser-cum-attorney Jack Thompson to get himself an audience with the nation on Fox, citing videogames as a cause for such violent events. As if post-9/11 terrorism and and radical fundamentalism wasn’t getting enough attention in the ratings-hungry world of modern day media, such comments on major news channels just serve to add fuel to the fire, with one news channel’s opinion being paraded around as hard facts on another.
With the unholy politico-legal-media complex driving American society in general, it is not unusual for major news channels and obviously biased TV anchors to run with the story, callously ignoring the sentiments and the anguish of the people who had suffered the real loss in such a tragedy in return for some snappy soundbites. So who cares if the story is cooked up by an attention whore? No one cares about the ethics of journalism and how the media actually has to serve a purpose beyond furthering its monetary interests. How is it that we let people like Jack Thompson and Dr. Phil McGraw get away by touting opinion as fact whereas I can’t walk into a crowded theater and yell “There’s a bomb in here!” How is it different? In both cases, isn’t a lie being perpetuated by people who have absolutely no right to do what they are doing? But no, they praise such people and call them “experts” despite the fact that the lawyers and psychotherapists have little to no real world experience on the things they claim to be experts on, even as they desperately try to make people believe that breast implants and cellphones cause cancer or in this case, how videogames turn people violent. Hit up the jump to read more on this…
It looks like Microsoft may well be on their way to turning over a new leaf. After launching the Disc Replacement Program and enhancing the Xbox 360’s warranty to include free shipping and a post-service warranty of 1 year on the console, it looks like they are also now admitting that they have a problem with the Xbox 360 borking game discs and promise to look into the same.
For those of you that didn’t know, it looks like a good number of consoles manufactured around the end of last year shipped without a retaining part on the drive assembly, causing the console to badly scratch up any game discs if it was placed horizontally instead of vertically. Obviously, since the discs were scratched, Microsoft kept denying replacements even under the 90-day replacement warranty saying that it wasn’t their fault that the discs ended up dead. That is, until a Dutch television show called Kassa put the Microsoft guys into a steam cooker by conducting an extensive series of tests and capturing the whole thing on video, hitting Microsoft right in the face with evidence that claimed that the new disc drives did more than just run quiet.
Not one to back down with a million users breathing down their necks, especially with the Guitar Hero 2 update bricking consoles worldwide, Microsoft rushed to the PR mic to shout out that if anyone is having such problems with their console, they should contact Microsoft to have the console repaired and have their damaged discs replaced. I just love it when they stick a major conglomerate into a corner and force them into admitting their mistakes. Wonder how long this information will take to trickle down the pipes to the stuck-up Xbox Customer Service team here in India. If you have a console manufactured around December 2006, then call up Microsoft and have the console returned, if not, at least make sure the 360 stands tall and safe.
via [QJ.net]
So we’ve said enough and more about God of War 2 and the Island of Rhodes fiasco. To make matters worse, it looks like Sony is yet again stiffing their PAL region customers. First it was the PS3 minus the Emotion Engine, and now, it’s God of War 2’s HD mode as well.
Kikizo.com reports that the HD mode of the game is available exclusively to NTSC users and that all PAL region owners have no option but to shut up and bitch about how they aren’t getting as much of the graphic gorefest that they are entitled to. According to Sony’s Hugo Bustillos, they had to leave the HD mode out of the PAL versions of the game thanks to all the extra European languages that had to be added in, leaving no space on the disc for the HD video mode. Explaining the movie at the Island of Rhodes site, Director of Technology Tim Moss says that the final decision to not include the HD mode was made late into development, which is why the feature was hidden as an extra and not made a standard. However, if you are playing the game on a PS3 and connect to an HDTV via HDMI or Component cables, the game automatically scales itself to a mucho-weird 576p resolution.
If you still want more God of War 2 goodness, turns out that LevelUp sat down with the Main Man Barlog and talked at length about the game, including God of War 3 on the PS3, how the decision was made to make Kratos the ultimate bad-ass anti-hero, about how RAD is handling the PSP port and how and why they decided to cut the much-publicized God-sized Kratos taking on the Colossus in a fully destructible Rhodes.
Just give me the PSP version already, that’s all I ask for.
Read LevelUp’s interview with Cory Barlog >>
God of War fans worldwide were pretty pissed on April 11th. Especially people like me who literally stared at the countdown timer religiously for atleast 10 minutes everyday. There were rumours and speculations of the PSP game announcement or maybe the PS3 God of War 3 or maybe a full blown expansion pack for God of War 2 on the PS2 to actually give a satisfying treat to those who were put off by the cliffhanger at the end of God of War 2…
But things didn’t go as expected…no announcement was made that shook the heavens or anything close to that. All we got was a crappy video of Kratos’ fight with the Colossus of Rhodes along with some commentary from the developers. And of course, the secret HD mode (which they say slows down the game a bit when activated…WTF?!?). I was there when the countdowntimer hit zero and boy, I was pissed …extremely pissed. The Island of Rhodes was officially a piece of over hyped crap.
But I’d like to take back what i just said. It seems that all is not lost, we may just have our big announcement. To make things easier for readers I’ll just give a step by step procedure so that you can join in on the hype. Let’s just hope it doesn’t kick us in the balls like the last time.
1.) Go to www.islandofrhodes.org
2.) Skip past the crappy video commentary by hitting PROCEED. This will bring you to a page with information about the island of Rhodes.
3.) Now hidden away in this page are the letters that will form KRATOS…you will have to click the letters in order to form the name of everyone’s favourite bald killer. Given below is a picture to help you find out where the hidden letters are.
4.) This will bring you to another video, this one being about the Kratos on Pegasus scenario. Hit PROCEED to reach a page that will reveal a sliding puzzle that you have to solve before the timer runs out. Trust me, its TOUGH…DAMN TOUGH…and irritating too…atleast it was for me.
How low does a person go to capitalize on someone else’s tragedy? Apparently not low enough. In line with being the complete asshole that he is, Jack Thompson has cracked down on today’s Virginia Tech shootings and blamed it on, guess what, videogames! Going on Fox News, this “School Shooting Expert” (BAH!) talked at length about videogames being “murder simulators” and linked them to the rise in school shootings. And the sad joke is that, as of now, no one really knows what really happened up there in VATech. But obviously Jerkbag Jack doesn’t care about all of that!
What pisses us most about this douchebag and his idiotic rants on national television is how his comments will be gobbled up the mindless masses who would like nothing more than make videogames the sacrificial scapegoat in one of America’s worst tragedies. So the shooter was apparently an Asian, and may or may not have been a student, which means that the chances of the police actually finding a violent videogame in his room are extremely high. Heck, my friend’s 16-year old sister likes Gears of War, so hey, show me one average teen in today’s world without a violent videogame on their shelf!
Like VJ said quite sarcastically in a conversation soon after, after all, videogames did create violence in the world and the Nintendo DS is used to secretly molest children. Baseless accusations seem to be the latest media craze these days, with anything and everything being said in the name of soundbites. More on this breaking news as it develops, even as our heartfelt condolences go out to those who lost their friends / family in this atrocity.
There are very, very few games that I have a completely incurable love affair with – Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of them. So I lost count of how many times I’ve played the game almost two years ago, but the fact remains that The Sands of Time is one of the most brilliant pieces of art the gaming industry has seen in decades. Heck, I still play it to this day whenever I need great fun, even as I curse developers for not bringing it to the PSP – a privilege that both sequels to the original enjoyed.
When a game is as big as Prince of Persia, it is inevitable that someone tries to make a movie out of it, especially someone as big as Disney, now that Pirates of the Caribbean is stumbling around. With Jordan Mechner, creator of the Prince legacy himself penning the script, it is something that most of us have been looking forward to, especially after Disney released mouth-watering concept art for the movie last month. While it was only revealed at the time of the press release that Jerry Bruckheimer would be producing the movie, it’s now been confirmed that Michael Bay, currently working on the Transformers movie, will be directing the movie for a Summer 2009 release.