Electronic Arts has picked some awesome players to grace the covers of their upcoming NCAA Football 09 (Playstation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Nintendo Wii, and DS). A recent press release from the company revealed the players who will be fronting the PSP and PS2 packs. To find out who they are and get a glimpse of the packshots, head on over to the full article.

Some people would point the finger at video games as the cause of the violent school shootings that have taken place in the US in recent years. Gun control advocate Paul Helmke, however, begs to differ. According to him, video games aren't to blame for school killings - guns are. More on his alternative perspective after the jump.

With all the concerns circulating violent video games, horror author Stephen King joins in on the discussion. Writing novels for more than four decades, he's one of those credible enough to speak about the matter. Instead of writing down what he believes in, King chooses to speak up his mind. Find out what he said in the full article.

Jack Thompson is at it again, and this time he has his eye on the recent shoot out that occurred at North Illinois University earlier today. In an interview with Fox News, he presented the same arguments as with previous campus massacres and other violent incidents, pinning the blame once again on violent video games. You can read more about what Jack Thompson had to say, as well as the video interview in the full article after the jump.

(Editor's Note: The tenth issue's rolled out, and you can bet on it this won't be the last! Far from it. So far, you guys have done a great job sticking by us with our little weekly attempts at recapping the highlights in the industry, and for that, we really are grateful. Yeah, yeah. We've said thanks a hundred thousand gazillion times. But for as long as you guys are around, then there isn't any reason for us to stop, right? We hope you continue to take in your fill of our weekly dose of the QuickJump QuickPeek. So, with that said, on to the meaty stuff of this tenth serving! Enjoy!)

To take from our comments section, we open this edition with a: READ THIS AND YOU WILL BE EXCITED. Ha! Talk about spammage. Antics aside, we've reached the big one-oh for QuickJump QuickPeek and with it, you better get ready for all the beef in today's Issue 10. The world of gaming is not one to sit idle after all. At every turn, there is action to be had, lessons to be learned, insights to be gained. There is something that makes certain things standout in history, be it a contribution in the PSP coding scene, or in the outlook of the raging next-gen console wars. So what's been hot this week? On with the Peeking, boy-o!

The rest of the issue is waiting right behind the Full Article link!

 

While the world was still reeling from the shock of the horrible tragedy that is the V-Tech shootings, a formal investigation into the murderer's background - as well as what could have been done, and what should be done to prevent anything like this from happening again - was launched, and has recently concluded. Its findings, which should provide at the very least, solace to the bereaved, also provide an answer to a question that the videogame community (as well as the rest of the world) had been asking: was violence in videogames a factor in Seung Hui Cho's outburst?

The answer is a resounding 'no'.

This comes directly from the full report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel, spearheaded by none other than Governor of Virginia, Tim Kaine, with the actual material hosted on his official website. Excerpts that best convey this affirmation presented as is:

Sun and her parents recall that Cho seemed to be doing better. He was enrolled in a Tae Kwon Do program for awhile, watched TV, and played video games like Sonic the Hedgehog. None of the video games were war games or had violent themes. He liked basketball and had a collection of figurines and remote controlled cars.

Years later when he was in high school, Cho was asked to write about his hobbies and interests. He wrote:

I like to listen to talk shows and alternative stations, and I like action movies…My favorite movie is X-Men, favorite actor is Nicolas Cage, favorite book is Night Over Water, favorite band is U2, favorite sport is basketball, favorite team is Portland Trailblazers, favorite food is pizza, and favorite color is green.

Cho’s roommate never saw him play video games. He would get movies from the library and watch them on his laptop. The roommate never saw what they were, but they always seemed dark.

With various critics of videogames such as Dr. Phil and Jack Thompson pointing to videogames as a major influence in the V-tech killings before the findings themselves were published, it's certainly interesting to find out just what the reaction of the masses will be, now that these results have come to the public light. We'll be here to update you on developments as they happen, and you can let us know what you think by your comments below.

Hot off the heels of Jack Thompson's request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to do something about Kotaku, Jack Thompson amended an earlier lawsuit filed against the Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court dated March 13th and April 11th respectively. The amendment seeks the inclusion of game blog Kotaku and parent company Gawker Media in the case.

The suit is in relation to an article published by the blog on its site which blasted away at Thompson for commenting on national television that the tragic events at Virginia Tech were related to violent video games.

Thompson also seems to have taken offense in one comment posted by a reader that accused the activist lawyer of using the Virginia Tech tragedy to feed off his cause and run his own agendas.

Now that evidence shows that Cho Seung Hui didn't own a single video game at the time of the Tragic shooting, a new article over at MSNBC questions Thompson's fervent accusations. This is in light of his recent interview wherein he responded to IGDA criticism.

The MSNBC article notes that contrary to Thompson's claims of counterstrike being a "killing simulator" for youths, Cho didn't need much skill to shoot as many people as he did. Eye witness accounts indicate that many of the victims were shot at point blank range.

Moreover the article notes that Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern California and author of the book "Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth" points out that before this week's Virginia Tech massacre, the most deadly school shooting in history took place at the University of Texas in Austin way back in 1966, before the days of pong.

The article says that nobody realises that since the advent of videogames, violence rates in the US have declined "precipitously." Sternheimer even notes that it is likely that any 23-year-old man living in America has already played a videogame. How many 23-year-old men go out on a killing spree?

The MSNBC article goes on to note this nice gem:

For those who didn't grow up playing video games, the appeal of a game like "Counter-Strike" can be hard to comprehend. It can be difficult to understand that the game promotes communication and team work. It can be hard fathom how players who love to run around gunning down their virtual enemies do not have even the slightest desire to shoot a person in real life.

As a commenter on Digg noted, the truth is that massive multiplayer killing fests are really just slightly more complex and themed versions of cops-and-robbers. An online and engaging visual form of "tag" wherein players "tag" one another in the form of virtual kills, in a world where there are no real consequences. A game of tag in a world where death isn't really malicious or evil, or "desensitising" - death only means waiting for the next play round or respawn.

It is a competitive environment where sportsmanship is still the norm; where it is expected that after all the boasting and chest-thumping is done, the winning party will get up and shake the losing party's hand and say "good game."

Last week, Jack Thompson had spoken on FOXNews about the Virginia Tech shooting, saying that video games were somehow linked to the worst shootout in U.S. history. Later on, upon catching a video of ace attorney's said stint on the new channel, Brian Crecente of Kotaku did a bit of analysis and dissected Jack Thompson's statements on TV.

And with that article, Crecente seemed to have gotten the attention of Jack Thompson himself. It goes that Thompson asked Kotaku to pull down Crecente's "dissection" article, but Kotaku declined to do so. The following note was then faxed by Thompson to the FBI in Colorado:

Dear FBI:

This web site at the below url is targeting me:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/virginia-tech/

breaking-idiot-thompson-blames-va-shooting-on-games-252702.php

I ask that something be done by the FBI to stop this or prosecute it:

Kyle81 says: Actually the VT shootings are now the biggest mass shooting in US history with 31 dead, not just school shooting. Jack should be shot for taking the opportunity to leech off a tragedy to push his own agenda 04/16/07 03:25 PM

Regards, Jack Thompson

Crecente has contacted the said agency and was told that "it was unlikely they would handle such an investigation, if one was even needed, but that the local police might look into it."

Photo from Kotaku reader Torokun.

It seems that Jack Thompson has said another mouthful about the Virginia Tech Massacre in a recent interview on MSNBC. He has singled out Counterstrike in this specific interview and went on about how it should not have been released to the public. Yup, it's more of the same.

What should interest most people is the fact that Jack Thompson actually called Jason Della Rocca, the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), an "idiot" and a "jackass". This was because of a statement Della Rocca gave: "It’s so sad. These massacre chasers — they're worse than ambulance chasers — they're waiting for these things to happen so they can jump on their soapbox."

Those are pretty strong words coming from Mr. Thompson who has recently settled with Take-Two Interactive. Check out the full interview and listen in on what Thompson had to say.