Thompson accuses British newspapers of fabricating Buzz quotes

By Tom Bramwell Published 18 January, 2008

Claims he never said them things.

US attorney Jack Thompson has claimed that quotes attributed to him by British newspapers are "a total fabrication".

"I was never interviewed about Buzz. I had never heard about it until I was quoted having allegedly said this about it," Thompson claimed in an email to Eurogamer.

In articles apparently attempting to stoke concern about Relentless Software and Sony's Buzz!: The Schools Quiz for PS2, Thompson was reported to have said, "Videogames have hurt far more people than they have helped."

Thompson refutes this. "I would never say what I am quoted as saying in any context, as the quotation, regardless of what it is applied to, is absurd on its face. How in the world could anyone prove and/or quantify that games have hurt more people than they have ever helped?

"It is a total fabrication by a reporter who needed a quotation from an anti-gamer person and simply made this up," Thompson alleged. "I am very upset about this."

Thompson said he had contacted the newspapers to complain.

Having rung around Associated Newspapers (which publishes the Standard and the Mail) and Telegraph Media Group, we've been told that the quote originated in the Standard, but the writer in question has not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Thompson said that while he was happy to accept criticism for things he did say, he drew the line at what he described as "fabrication". He added that he got a lot of nasty emails from people about his campaigns, and revealed that he had even received a death threat just before we called to confirm his identity.

Buzz!: The Schools Quiz uses Key Stage 2 National Curriculum questions as the basis for its interactive quiz-show. As Relentless Software's Andrew Eades explained in an interview with Eurogamer last Friday, the game was created in conjunction with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), with development self-funded by the Brighton-based software company.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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