The Salt Lake Tribune's Rebecca Walsh used her column to examine Salt Lake City mall shooter, Sulejman Talovic's motives for executing such a violent act. Walsh writes:

Others speculate that Talovic played violent video games. Attorney Jack Thompson, who is lobbying Utah lawmakers to punish those who provide games that make child’s play out of murder and mayhem, sent an e-mail to reporters with the headline: "Salt Lake City Teen Probably Trained on Grand Theft Auto Video Game." That rumor was stated as fact Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

Unfortunately, the ace-attorney's assertions prove to be false for this particular case. GamePolitics alerts all of us that a later February 15th report on Salt Lake tribune says:

Salt Lake City police... have not discerned a motive... With the permission of Talovic's parents, detectives searched their home but did not take any computers or video games...

There's more confirmation on this as Salt Lake City's Desert News reports that Police Chief Chris Burbank officially rules out video games. The report says:

For instance, detectives as of Friday had found no evidence that violent video games may have influenced Talovic. In fact, Talovic did not even own a computer or a video-game system, Burbank said.

Having said all this to you folks, we'd like to ask: Why is it that with every high-profile youth-involved act of violence, videogames are always looked at? Nevermind the ace-attorney that a lot of you would love to despise. Let's keep him out of this. Let's just look at the rest of the elements in the equation. Why is it that when something like this happens, videogames are always considered?

Is this telling us anything about how the gaming community conducts itself? Is this indicative of how the rest of society sees things? We'd love to hear your take on this. But, as always, please keep things civil.

Oh, and before we leave this to you folks, kudos to the SLCPD for their superb job at handling the situation.

GameDaily is apparently done with its selection process for person of the Year. Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price and Bethesda Softworks' Todd Howard come in at a tie for slot number 5. Cliffy B gets fourth place. WoW Wizard Rob Pardo gets number 3 Slot. Satoru Iwata comes in at second.

So who gets top honor this year? It's ESA president Douglas Lowenstein.

If you're wondering why he deserves top spot, just try to recall how many times the guy went to Capitol Hill. Too bad he's making an exit.

Anyhow, you could also check out QJ's 2006 Community Awards and let your voices be heard.

If there's one thing Capitol Hill taught us, it's destroy all traces of evidence before someone else gets to them. Remember the Watergate tapes and Monica Lewinsky's stained dress? If dirty laundry can launch full-blast presidential investigations, think what a DVD full of incriminating stuff can do! This is where the Plextor PX-760 DVD-ReWriters (a.k.a. PlexEraser) comes in. PlexEraser internal DVD-ReWriter drive destroys all info recorded on CD-R or DVD disc making it unreadable. Right now, it supports DVD+/-R and CD-R media but upcoming firmware upgrades will add support for DVD+/-R DL media. The PX-760 series is said to be world's fastest DVD-ReWriters, wiping out data in six minutes - almost as fast as an average police officer's reciting of the Miranda Rights.

It appears Take-Two Interactive's woes have only just begun. Apparently Jack Thompson is now attempting to influence Edward Johnson, chairman of Fidelity Investment (which, FYI, owns more than 20% of Take-Two) - that is, if this letter he supposedly sent Johnson is for real.

In his purported letter, Thompson reveals his knowledge of information concerning Take-Two - stuff that he claims even Fidelity doesn't know - and says that someone at Fidelity urgently needs to talk to him as soon as possible.

Take a gander at the letter and tell us what you think.

July 13, 2006

Edward C. Johnson, III
Chairman
Fidelity Investments (FMR)

Re: Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO on NASDAQ)

Dear Mr. Johnson:

As you know, Fidelity reportedly owns more than 20% of the above company's stock. In one year that stock has fallen in value from $28 to $9, primarily because of the "Hot Coffee" scandal which broke because of Senator Hillary Clinton's July 2005 press conference. I prepared Senator Clinton for that news conference, and here is a graphic depiction of the subsequent stock price tumble:

I was on CBS's 60 Minutes twice last year regarding Take-Two, and the August 2005 issue of Reader's Digest reported my efforts against this company. They didn't report a tenth of what I know.

Mr. Johnson, I know some facts about Take-Two that your company apparently does not know. The latest SEC investigation of Take-Two, announced Monday, comes as no surprise to me. It may come as a surprise to you and your analysts, however, that there may be some very significant problems with certain information in Take-Two's 10-K filed with the SEC months ago. I identified those potential problems immediately and shared them with the SEC. I also shared them with the lawyers who are seeking class action status for shareholders suing Take-Two.

One of the potential problems we have here (more accurately, that Fidelity has here, in my opinion) is the fact that the outside general counsel to Take-Two is the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome, which is also Take-Two's registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill. What I can tell you about Blank Rome and other aspects of Take-Two's problems might help explain why Take-Two's audit chair, Barbara Kaczynski, quit the Take-Two board, hired a top-notch criminal attorney, and wrote the SEC about Take-Two's alleged cover-up by senior management.

In short, without herein divulging all I know, I'll say this: Somebody at Fidelity needs to talk to me immediately if not sooner. You all owe that to your investors.

Regards, Jack Thompson

Jack Thompson, Attorney

Our favorite video game hero has been making appearances throughout Seattle, Washington, and his appearances are getting national attention as a result. Link, whose real name is not known, is found casually walking the streets of the Capitol Hill area of Seattle with an "old man." The old man's relation with the young hero is unknown, leaving even more mystery around these appearances. Some say it's the same guy who gave him his metal baseball bat that he has equipped as his sword, but that too is a mystery. According to several reports, the young adventurer has been seen on the train, swinging around his shovel in search of rupees from people! I don't think you'll find any in these parts of the world Link, but I guess it never hurts trying.

Link has earned notice from a Seattle paper called The Stranger, in which they go on to describe his social encounters with people. Link has been described as a good character, of good nature like his video game counterpart, and to be a sign of good luck for the citizens of the city. So, if you live in the Seattle area of Washington and have happened to encounter our hero, drop us some lines in the comments! Some have already shared their comments over the web, some of which can be found after the jump!