14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, a top-secret panel being planned for this August's Penny Arcade Expo 2007 was revealed by Jack Thompson (one of the panel's participants), who was severely offended by a Penny Arcade request saying that it would be better if he kept a low profile. These facts were presented under the form of a press release:
"Penny Arcade required, however, that Thompson not be allowed to tell anyone that he was participating. Thompson thought this was a joke, in light of Penny Arcade's 'free speech' posture," posts 1UP. "...When Thompson insisted that he be allowed, given the real meaning of the First Amendment, to tell folks he would be in Seattle to participate in this news-worthy event, Penny Arcade pulled the plug and reneged on the offer, with no further explanation."
Thompson of course got to his computer and started emailing as GamePolitics reports, accusing Penny Arcade of conspiracy and hypocrisy. A rather behaved attitude if we're to consider Thompson's email to the FBI in regards to Kotaku's posting some of his statements wrong.
"If you want me to come to Seattle and address 6000 hostile people as to why the United States is the only backward nation in the world when it comes to the distribution of adult video games to children, then I will be happy to do it. But your position that only Penny-Arcade gets to tell the world about this event and in the way that only you all get to decide is patently ridiculous."
Another email of Thompson's said: "I believe what happened is that they thought I would never accept the debate offer, and they planned to use that for p.r. purposes." What do you think Penny Arcade said at the sound of this? "We prefer to work with adults," told Jerry "Tycho" Holkins of Penny Arcade to 1UP.
Again, Thompson is left out in the cold and only because he wanted to warn people of the dangers involving video games today. What would he have done if Penny Arcade hadn't said no, get up on stage and yell "burn your copy of GTA Vice City Stories and read police novels?"