Sunday, September 17, 2000

LAWYER: I'LL SUE SPIELBERG OVER VIOLENT GAMES

By BRIAN BLOMQUIST

WASHINGTON - A lawyer for families of victims of a 1997 Kentucky mass school shooting said yesterday he'll sue moviemaker Steven Spielberg if he doesn't pull violent video games from his arcade chain.

Jack Thompson, who represents the families of three girls killed in the Paducah, Ky., shootings, also called on Democratic presidential wannabe Al Gore to pressure Spielberg to remove games such as "Time Crisis 2" from his GameWorks arcades, where kids of all ages are free to play them.

In "Time Crisis 2," which is made by NAMCO and distributed by Sony, the object of the game is to shoot as many humans as possible. The American Amusement Machine Association rates the game: "Animated Violence - Strong."

GameWorks are multi-entertainment centers, with video games, bars and restaurants, founded by Spielberg. They're located in 11 cities, including Littleton, Colo., hometown of Columbine HS.

Thompson has sued the makers of the film, "The Basketball Diaries," and video-game makers, contending that they incited the 1997 shooting rampage by 14-year-old Michael Corneal, who killed three teenagers and wounded five.

Thompson has been retained by the families of the three girls who were slain: Jessica James, 17, Kayce Steger, 15, and Nicole Hadley, 14. He lost the first round of his suit in federal court in Kentucky but is appealing it.

Now he is threatening to sue Spielberg under Florida's nuisance law unless Spielberg has the violence-simulating shooting games removed from his outlets by Sept. 21. Under the state law, one can be sued for being a public nuisance and a danger to public health and safety.

Thompson charges that the games provoke violence in children. "I have seen kids as young as 10, their eyes glazed, playing this game ... They are learning that killing is fun, and that doing so is without consequence," Thompson wrote to Spielberg, referring to another shooting game, "House of the Dead."