Thompson hits back at family organisation
Renegade attorney Jack Thompson has struck another blow aimed directly at the games industry in response to the National Institute on Media and the Family's request that he cease using their name in his tireless campaign against violent videogames.
Censorship advocate Jack Thompson has launched an attack on the National Institute on Media and the Family and its president, David Walsh, in response to the institute's request that he cease using their name in his campaign against violent videogames.
NIMF president Walsh, cited many times by Thompson as an expert on the negative affects of violent videogames, had attempted to distance himself and his organisation from Thompson's controversial public criticism of the industry - which has gone so far as to compare ESA president Doug Lowenstein to Adolf Hitler - in an open letter to the Florida attorney.
Thompson responded with a vitriolic open letter, which he sent to videogames websites including Gamespot as well as Target chairman Robert Ullrich and Best Buy director Elliot Kaplan. The attorney claims that a funding relationship between the retail chains and their legal teams and NIMF is the cause of the rebuttal.
"Dr. Walsh's efforts are funded by Target and by a foundation run by Best Buy lawyer and Best Buy Director Elliot Kaplan," Thompson wrote.
"I am suing Target and Best Buy over the Bully game, which both Target and Best Buy are pre-selling. You connect the dots," he added.
Claiming that he never actually spoke of having endorsement from NIMF, Thompson wrote: "The fact is, I have never suggested that Dr. Walsh approves of what I do. I have countless times told people that I believe he is an expert about the dangers of video games. The mistake I made, apparently naively, is in thinking that a person of his expertise would use it actually to help some bereaved families rather than choose to protect his relationship with portions of the video game industry and its reckless retail network."
Thompson's ceaseless campaign against Take Two, who he believes to be the main instigator of videogame crimes against the public, took a more surreal turn recently after he wrote an open letter, this time to a range of US journalists, detailing his own idea for a videogame. The 'plot' involved brutally murdering thinly veiled fictional characters based on current Take Two chairman Paul Eibeler, his family and a wide range of industry figures.
The writers of weblog Old Grandma Hardcore have responded by creating the game - a text adventure based on Zork, using Thompson's original script ideas. Zork Thompson v1.0 is available in the internet, but, in spite of numerous attempts to contact Mr Thompson, its creators are still awaiting the promised charity donation detailed in the attorney's 'I dare you' letter to journalists.