Actually the VT shootings are now the biggest mass shooting in US history with 31 dead, not just school shooting.

Jack should be shot for taking the opportunity to leech off a tragedy to push his own agenda

He hasnt wasted a second after what is a massive tragedy in attributing it to video-gaming, this is nothing but political oppurtunism at it's worst and the blame should really be laid at the feet of ridiculously archaic american gun-laws.

wtf?

no news agent got the background story on the shooting yet...

no names were given out either...

where the hell does he come up with this "exclusive" info?

You know he is going to write you again now. At least he can't try and get you fired from Rocky Mountain News anymore.

He is a worthless piece of shit. They haven't even said who did the crime or if it was even a student yet he is the only person that knows the motive and why it happened?

I'm surprised Fox let him on the air. He's got to be, by far, the dumberest person I've ever heard of. Can't believe he hasn't given up on...well, just life altogether. Too bad he wasn't at Virginia Tech...

i figured this would get connected to gaming somehow!!! damn, my bro goes there and this $hit is soooo wack!!!!

That man is evil incarnate. He's probably happen that this occured, seeing it as ammunition.

sad day made sadder by thompsons attention whoring.

Let's play a game and try to guess how long it will take Jack Thompson to either post a message here in the comments or write our fearless leader Brian Crecente a threatening email.

I say 33 minutes.

Ok, I hate Jack Thompson as much as anybody, but something doesn't sit right about the fact that 31 people (at least) died today, and the story on Kotaku is about how Jack Thompson is "exploiting" the deaths for his own personal gain.

So what exactly is it that Kotaku is doing?

It seems to me, and it's not just Kotaku, it's the entire video game press culture, that *any* excuse to put Jack Thompson into a scathing blog post is taken with revelry. That's really just as wrong as what he's doing.

Already? Way to make accusations without any substantiating evidence. Bravo, sir.

I simply can't believe anyone even listens to Jack Thompson anymore. The man is an ambulance chaser, pure and simple. He capitalizes on any opportunity to spread his agenda of the moment, which has been anti-video game slander for far too long.

I'm infuriated by his actions. He didn't even have any idea what he was talking about. He was simply saying things for his personal profit. There was not a single piece of evidence to back up what he said.

Honestly, what did anybody expect?

(a) It's JT.
(b) It's FoxNews.

You put them together and they'll blame everything on anything.

I was lucky enough to oversleep this morning, as my first class begins at 9 am in Norris Hall. I don't expect any less from Jack, he'll pervert any tragedy for his gain, but it's really repulsive that news channels would begin to try to place blame on anyone or anything while this is still happening. Names haven't been released, I don't can't reach my friends to see if anybody didn't make it out. There are 30 people in hospitals being treated. Things aren't over, it's unimaginable that broadcasters, even ones as questionable as Fox News, are trying to move into blame.

Make that 32 dead, as of this post...
Honestly, the fact that Jack Thompson gets even remotely close to on-air with his psychotic agenda without any even remote evidence on the link between video games and violence.

"IT WAS ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS! IT MUST HAVE BEEN THAT 'HOLLOW' VIDEO GAME ON THE X-CUBE!"

Really, I hope that no one else dies, and I also hope that Jack Thompson pays for this plain stupidity.

When I heard about the shooting fifteen minutes ago, I knew that this post would be greeting me when I checked Kotaku.

What a piece of garbage this man is. You know, I used to think of Jack Thompson at best as a man who stands up for what he believes in and at worst some senile old coot who's always good for a laugh.

But this.... No. This is by far the second worst display of humanity concerning this shooting.

Jack, I know you don't give half a damn about what some pimple faced gaming heathens think of you, but just for once, think about what G-d, what Jesus Christ would think about you.

Remember, even Popes can burn in Hell.

JackASS Thompson!

Seriously, if this doesn't show to everyone that this guy is an ass then nothing will. This whole thing went down not even four hours ago and he's already using it for his own agenda. Seriously.

Boy, I'm sure that none of us saw that coming.

Fox News needs to not put JT Douchebag on the air. If no one pays attention to him, he'll fade away.

R.I.P. to the people that were murdered. :(

I saw that in school, it's horrible news... :/
Gotta be the WORST Monday in school history, too :(

Also, the guy that says all this shit, is really ticking me off... He should be prosecuted for misleading the public and lying.

@possiblymalignant: Fox News Live was calling him a "School Shooting Specialist", or that's what he's calling himself now. All he talked about though was linking video games and "murder simulators" to school shootings. I guess we can look forward to a new Jack Thompson crusade now.

Pardon my French, but fuck this douchebag. Who the hell does he think he is, leeching off of this tragedy to push his own agenda? Jackass needs to lose his license, pronto.

People taking advantage of tragedy to push their own political agendas!? UNHEARD OF

I'm surprised people still give half a shit of what this man (man being a polite term in this context) has to say.

What sickens me more is the fact that Fox News will actually put this on the air. Sure, Jack Thompson is highly devoid of credibility and tact (quite possibly devoid of conscience as well), but when you decide to put a specimen such as this one on the air, it questions your sanity as a true news channel. Instead, I wonder just how many sharks Fox News has figuratively jumped in trying to boost their ratings.

I am aghast at the fact that these incidents must provide horror on two fronts: one being the actual massacre itself, the other being the parade it becomes on television as every person able to step in front of a camera has to make themselves more important than the deaths of the victims. I almost wish somebody would sue the major news corporations (or at least the more heinous ones) for indecency. Unfortunately, that would only breed more problems for the future.

The only thing we can take solace in is the fact that Jack Thompson has lost much of his media appeal, hopefully resulting in less attention from this outburst. Perhaps most of middle America is just as sickened by this worthless sack of flesh as we are.

I knew the second I heard about this that it would be blamed on video games. I knew Jacko would pounce on it like a fat girl on cake, but THIS FAST? Thats disgusting. Its irresponsibility on both his and Fox News' parts for that. Its bad journalism plain and simple but thats what Fox News is for, and Jacko is just the wacko to give them their attention.

Condolences from the UK on such a sad day - if there's one good thing that comes out of this, I hope it's that greater attention is paid to the troubled individuals that commit atrocities like this before they carry out such terrible crimes.

It's easy to pick games as a convenient scapegoat (not so long ago it was pen and paper RPGs) but doing so won't prevent tragedies like this from reoccuring.

@CobaltBlue: Well, Jack certainly can't call himself a Lawyer now, considering how many states have barred him from praticing law these days...

However, to continue what I said in my earlier post... this is just depressing. I'm watching Fox News right now, and I just can't help but wonder what could have been done to prevent it overall.
It's also worth noting that we barely even know what actually happened during the events. The fact that Jack Thompson could claim himself some sort of expert on school shootings makes me feel ill in a way.

Honestly, I pray that no one else dies today. It just wouldn't be right.

Oh come on. No one should be surprised by this at all. The outrage is overplayed and heavy handed. You're not all that pissed, admit it. Again, I'm glad he's so dumb as to be making this sort of manuveur so quickly. Let the idiot take the stage and be lauded as the voice of the enemy of video games. He's easy to beat.

As for the tragedy that's happened, my condolences go out to those poor folks. They've just endured something so horrible I can't begin to imagine the effect it's going to have on them for the rest of their lives.

To those that didn't survive: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Select, Start.

@badasscat

Kotaku reports game news, JT blames games, hence it is game news. I think Kotaku calling out JT and JT calling out video games as the cause of something that JUST HAPPENED are entirely different. Is Kotaku not supposed to report when this idiot does thing like this?

I posted earlier in the kotaku t-shirt section this was bound to happen. Not surprised here. And also, wtf is wrong with people? I can't imagine what goes on in anyone's head that would do that.

Well, to be fair, the kid WAS asian, so obviously he liked video games. He probably went a few rounds on a murder simulator to psyche himself up before moseying on down to unload his magazines into 60 people. yeah, that's the ticket!

This is ridiculous. This was a tragedy and has absolutely nothing to do with video games of any sort. Jack Thompson is a scumbag.

@AnnonKaiesZi:

Fox would let anybody on their news service since Fair and Balanced is only a platitude for their less informed viewers. Studies have constantly shown that Fox news channel viewers are the most ignorant of US history, science, current affairs as well as world affairs.

Fox was the only channel to have that Gay Porno star/escort for gay males Marine spew his crap about being spat on by anti-war demonstraters. The other networks didn't have him since a simple fact check would have revealed the nonexistance of said anti-war demonstraters along with a few red flags about the Marine's past.

I'm going to open up a huge tangent here, so be ready.

It makes me sick that he props up God as the reason he can say and claim the things he does, as a Christian myself. He's too busy looking for the quick op piece, thinking he's saying something righteous and religious, not realizing any benefit to games (which there are) or any other possible reason that irrational people do irrational things.

My prayers and condolences to the families, classmates, and everyone at Virginia Tech. Not even our worst enemies deserve this kind of fate.

What I don't get is why video games, or any sort of tangential issue is being discussed this early on. Apparently another news channel was discussing video games and violence. They haven't even identified who was responsible yet.

This is an American tragedy, the people directly involved and many others need to deal with this before people start looking for scapegoats or even legitimate reasons.

It saddens me that filth like Jack can get on national television to gloat and revel in the deaths of so many and try to put it off as education.

I thought FOX ahem, News, was supposed to run a scrolling disclaimer alerting people to the fact that it is not actually news and could possibly cause brain damage.

Probably just a dream.

Weasel his way onto Fox News? Please, the only people on this earth who have lower morals than Jack Thompson are the cast & crew of Fox News. Getting him to appear is like inviting cheese to a quesadilla.

@badasscat:

Kotaku is acting as a forum for us gamers to come out and express our opinions on the subject. Opinions that will be overlooked by 99.9% of the media as they go to people like Thompson for shock value.

I don't know about you, but I'd love to hear Crecente's take on the situation. That is why I came here. I'm sure we'll be seeing some of the top video game journalists stepping forward to try to deflect unncessary finger pointing in the next few hours/days.

I'm curious if he will use this as the example he was referring to in the trailer for "Moral Kombat." He mentioned something about a shooting would occur worse than Columbine.

This messed up soul has validated (to an extent) a crazy man's ramblings.

Brace yourselves my friends for a shitstorm about to hit our industry.

Why do they even let him on the air. No one knows why this happened or if the shooter is even a kid or your adult. What is he going to say if its an adult?

Very sad. And a commentary on just how screwed up Fox 'News' is. No one knows who did the shotoings, why they did them, or any other details about ht tragedy, yet somehow Jack manages to get his face on the news as an expert. Lovely.

They have yet to release the shooters name and any information on the person. I am amazed at Jack's ability to so quickly deduce the cause. The man is a genius.

If the 'unconfirmed' report Im hearing of the gunman being a student becomes confirmed I get the feeling that this will no doubt impact on the games industry negatively no matter how its reported.

Absolutely despicable. What a self-righteous, arrogant fool.

@crecente: Indeed. The fact that Thompson could make such sweeping generalizations about a shooter whose gender isn't even made certain yet, to my knolwedge, is just plain shoddy yellow journalism.
Of course, Jack is no Journalist... but you get my point.

And I do think this does belong on Kotaku. This is a tragedy - and calling Thompson on trying to capitalize on this tragedy by pushing his affair is a must.
I used to think Thompson was mostly harmless, and now I think he's just a jerk.

Im here at Virginia Tech now. scary atmosphere here. thank you to those who have sent condolences. i, nor any of my direct friends, are hurt, but i know that my friends as well as myself are just as hurt inside as those directly involved.

we are scared

@badasscat: Its kotaku's job to report on gaming, as shocking and downright horrible as this whole situation is, journalists will report on what is relevant to them.

someone should shoot him in the face and blame it on videogames.

trying to ignore thompson is really hard when he's able to get on top of that soapbox again.

First of all I would like to send out my deepest sympathies for the families and friends of the victims and injured in Virginia.

Secondly, like many others I am sure, I feel that this is a despicable act of personal opportunism, taken by a man so utterly devoid of proffessionalism and respect.

However, what can we - the gaming community - do about it?

If we responded in any way to this latest outburst of Thompson's, then we run the risk of seriously trivialising this tragedy. Thompson has already started this ball rolling, and if we were to respond, then getting to the true nature of the killings could be in serious jeopardy via paranoid News 'Exclusives' as to how Video Games alter the minds of the young into killers.

I - for one - would like to see this on YouTube. It would be a rare opportunity to stare into the eyes of somebody who weilds so much media capital, and yet show no sympathy for the people who coldly and calously murdered.

Can we just leave this be? Should we sit back and let him have yet another 15 minutes of over-glorified, on-the-back-of-suffering fame? Or should somebody in our industry challenge the comments made?

At this point in the Police investigation, it is an unfortunate truth that those effected by this terrible event may indeed be looking for 'that' reason. Something tangiable to hold onto as to why their loved ones are gone. Again, an unfortunate truth is that Thompson may indeed provide 'that' reason, however unlikely, because after going through the heart-rendering process of bereavement, the families are going to want some closure.

However, I personally think it is important for the families of those effected should not be swayed by the intollerable ramblings of man on a personal crusade. He could not have chosed a more 'perfect' a moment to rally the call against Video Games.

Individuals should take responsibilty for their actions.

regarding the kotaku post itself. go to hell thompson.

As an additional note... school shootings predate public use of video games. 1966, Charles Whitman.

Unless Whitman was somehow a time traveler, I think that the problem is the human psyche, not the current state of America.

@badasscat:

Pardon me, but I don't see how accusing Jack Thomson: Ace Ambulance-Chasing Douchebag of using this tragedy to further his own petty agenda puts Kotaku in the same boat as the ambulance-chasing douchebag himself.

This isn't Kotaku trying to make themselves look more important in light of a tragic event. This is Kotaku pointing out that Jack Thompson is a douchebag opportunist with loose morals. A pretty common occurance on game blogs these days.

what a sad sick man...rather than talk about how much of a tragety this is he put his spin on it to forward his anti-gaming agenda...this just makes me sick.

This is just sickening.

@Brokenlynx: Agreed, 110%. He's totally capitalized on this and this further puts him in bad light. The bastard.

I can't wait till Jack becomes disbarred and leads the rest of his life in obscurity, pennyless in the gutter. He's such a fear mongering, worthless, bigoted, petty piece of trash.

what a sad sick man...rather than talk about how much of a tragedy this is he put his spin on it to forward his anti-gaming agenda...this just makes me sick.

Truly a sad day indeed and just despicable that Mr. Thompson would use such a tragic event to further his cause without any knowledge of what actually occurred.

Nothing is confirmed but alot of the info 'floating' around Blackburg/Christiansburg (the wife and I have family and friends there) is that terrible situation involved a boyfriend who was very upset at his girlfriend and took some inexcusable and drastic actions in his anger/grief. Of course no one knows for sure but so many peeps are hearing this around campus......

Regardless, shame on you Mr. Thompson.

Unfortunately video games get blamed for a lot of things, and unfortunately things will be like this for a while longer. Until those of us who grew up with video games (some of us are in our 30s now!) get into real power there will be this disconnect. It's the same thing that happened with Dungeons and Dragons, Rock and Roll, flapper girls, hell I bet even automobiles were blamed for society's ills until it became the norm.

We just gotta ride it out. One day the last of the Jack Thompsons will shuffle off this mortal coil and we can start blaming things on the next new trend that the kids are doing - my money's on hoverboards.

Not surprised at all. This kind of crap is typical of both JT and Fox