The Escapist reports that notorious anti-gaming advocate Jack Thompson is personally going after Valve Software boss Gabe Newell over a controversial mod for Half-Life 2.
Although Thompson has been disbarred for life, it hasn't stopped him from sending Newell a threatening letter over the infamous School Shooter: North American Tour 2012 mod. He's also reportedly sent copies of the letter to the mod's developer Checkerboarded Studios, FHE-ASAP [the Florida Higher Education Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention], the United States Secretary of Education and "significant others."
According to Thompson, Newell bares a responsibility to nuke the "Columbine massacre simulator" because the mod can't function without its parent game and "murder simulator," Half-Life 2. The former lawyer has thus given Newell until five o'clock pm Eastern standard time (three hours from the time of this writing) to shut down "this public safety hazard." He didn't indicate what would happen if Newell failed to succumb to his demands, but the letter indicates that the FHE-ASAP and others won't let it go.
Here's the actual Thompson 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
And so more Jack Thompson drama begins. We're not exactly sure what Gabe Newell can do about the Half-Life 2 mod other than preventing its listing on Steam. We're actually rather interested to see what the Valve boss has to say about the letter-- a retaliation should rear its head soon. Until then, return to your murder simulators and we'll keep you posted.
Someone get some popcorn...
