Manhunt 2: Thompson rears his ugly head again

In an otherwise bleak third-party Wii lineup, Manhunt 2 has been my shining star for some time. Good thing I'm not a Floridian. Jack Thompson rears his ugly head again this week, pressing Florida's attorney general to stall the release of Manhunt 2 in that state. He's even appealed to the governor to declare the game a public nuisance. The irony should not be lost on you if you've been following Thompson's illustrious career.

What makes the Wii version worthy of special attention? Well, for one, it's fair to assume that the game will have you swinging your motion-sensitive Wiimote in unsavory directions. Imagine yourself brandishing a virtual bat, using striking motions to pummel your opponent into unconsciousness—with force-feedback! Or sneaking up behind the enemy and using the Wiimote and Nunchuk to strangle him. Or smothering him with a grocery bag (the sounds of crumpling plastic coming from the Wiimote speaker) and plunging a knife into his side, then twisting the Wiimote, slowly... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

What's funny is that this is probably the first game in Thompson's crusade that actually is a "murder simulator."

Virginia Tech connection

Following the Virginia Tech massacre, the old argument that videogames induce violence is once again marched out and beaten into the ground.

Ars Technica has a report on how the media are looking in vain for a violent gaming connection. Major news outlets are reporting that the gunman was a fan of CounterStrike (I don't doubt it; the pictures he mailed to NBC between his two rampages show him decked out in full terrorist gear), but you know what? All Koreans play CounterStrike.

And of course, everyone's favorite teddy bear Jack Thompson wasted no time in capitalizing on the tragedy, calling Fox News to provide expert testimony while the attack was still underway. He then wormed his way onto the pundit circuit as a "school shooting expert" on MSNBC, reminding us that shooters literally train on murder simulating FPS games. I can't buy that theory—I consider myself a master at Duck Hunt, but that doesn't make me a marksman.

If this guy laughs at me one more time though, I will seriously cap a bitch.