Mathew Ricci

I was the one who suggested this trip down memory lane. Sure it's not on par with today's eggs but it's the first known egg, and that makes it special in my heart. My favorite though is the Chris Houlihan (spelling?) room in Zelda:LTTP

"Marketplace is cool to get an HD movie rental of a title not current available in HD or only on Blu-ray like Ocean's 13"

Ocean's 13 was released on both formats and is available on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray so.... what?

"Video games did not cause Columbine but it help make it easier for the kids to do it."

Oh my god... did you just seriously say that GAMES made it easier for two mentally deranged, heavily teased and abused, anti-social people who called themselves the trenchcoat mafia and built bombs in their home feet away from their parents room to grab a gun and kill people?

You know what made it easier? Parents who didn't give a damn. And not just the parents of the shooters, ALL the parents of Columbine's students, and indeed America as a whole. These kids were being emotionally abused by their classmates, yet the parents of those bullies blame videogames. The parents of the shooters turned a blind eye to their childrens emotional state, what they were playing/watching, and their access to WEAPONS... do we blame the parents? No, videogames.

The fact is good parenting would have prevented Columbine. If these kids didn't have videogames what would they have had? Guns, bombs, and a grudge. Thats all they needed.

Woo!

What strikes me here Mr. Thompson is that you fail to see ANY good in the culture of video games and the people who support it. I hope for your sake that you do not fully intend to run for president in an upcoming election. As I'm sure you know there are a great number of gamers above the age of legal majority who are quite capable of voting yet for some personal reason or another do not usually do so. I assure you they won't sit back and be silent if you run and you will see the largest voter turn out the United States has ever seen, a vast majority of whom will vote against you.

While we're on the topic of violent murder simulators, perceptions of the public, and politics let us not forget Jack that the legally elected government of the United States is at present fighting wars overseas that are being televised around the world like never before. Does this in your mind make the American government liable for deaths as well as children have a far greater access to cable news services such as CNN then M rated games? In fact why stop there? The fact that you have indirectly raised awareness of such "murder simulators"as Grand Theft Auto to previously unheard of levels you too are now culpable in any homicide which occurs as a result. Better stop your campaign Jack lest some other lawyer decide you're as fair a target as Take 2 Interactive and the video game industry.