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.

A play entitled "First Person Shooter", written by Aaron Loeb, is debuting at the San Francisco Playhouse. Those expecting a play defending our favorite pastime may be disappointed though.

Loeb spoke about this play saying that "It would have been easy for me to write a screed defending video games" he then added that "That would have been a very dull play. Instead, I tried to chronicle what I'd seen, heard and experienced — and imagine how a conflict like this would play out."

The story involves a company named JetPack Games which produced an FPS called Megaton. Some time later, news regarding a shooting at an Illinois school comes out stating that 14 students are dead at the hands of a gunman - a Megaton expert. The main characters of the play are JetPak’s CEO and a local farmer whose son was among the 14 victims.

This is a very sensitive topic because a lot of the affected families and communities are still, and perhaps will forever be hurting over the losses these school shootings have caused. There is no excuse for the deaths of the individuals in school shootings. You can put the blame on video games or on something else, but the fact of the matter is, the victims will never get their lives back. Perhaps the play will give some of those who are actively speaking against video games to re-asses the situation and give some more thought on their arguments. Remember for every finger you point, you'll have three pointing right back at you.

Unfazed by the incidents that occurred in Illinois and, most recently, in Utah, North Carolina Senator Julia Boseman proposed a video game bill designed to restrict the access of minors to violent video games.

This move was not a surprise, since before the bill was introduced, political tongues had already been wagging that the Senator was keen on re-introducing video game legislation. She first proposed video game legislation in 2005. The bill passed the Senate, but failed to move in the House.

Senate Bill 87 (SB87), the Boseman-introduced bill, aims to add violent games to an already existing NC stature which defines what materials are harmful to minors. Reading through the filed bill, video game violence is defined in the same terms used to restrict minors' access to porn.

It mentions that video games with graphic violence, which is harmful to minors, should be located in an area not open to view by minors. Video game retailers must also inform their customers about the ESRB ratings. Graphic violence here was defined as:

The realistic visual depiction of serious injury to human beings, actual or virtual, including aggravated assault, decapitation, dismemberment, or death.

The law is also applicable to video arcades. If this is passed, the bill would become a law by the end of the year.

Benjamin Franklin once said the only certainties in the world were death and taxes. And for gamers in the Chicago state">Illinois">Chicago area, this should give you an idea of where a bit of that money will be going.

Why Chicago? For the most guys who haven't been updated on this, we're talking about the legal battle that popped up some months ago.

The case was filed against the the state of Illinois by representatives of gaming-related organization in the area regarding the state's attempt to pass the The Safe Games Illinois Act, which would, among other things, require additional warning labels to be plastered on games being released. Failure to do so resulted in a heavy fine.

Fast-forwarding things a little, Illinois lost the case, and aside from having the law scrapped, District Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered the office of Gov. Rod Blagojevich to pay the gaming industry USD$ 520,000 in attorney's fees.

Now, it seems that the state has yet to pay the hefty sum was order by court, with attorneys for the governor's office and Attorney General Lisa Madigan telling Judge Kennelly in a recent hearing that the payment will be in by next month. Like we said - it's reassuring to know our money's going to a *ahem* worthwhile cause.