Jack Thompson, Spore porn, and more.

For those of you living the lives of busy, important people, here is a rundown of the biggest gaming-related stories of the past week.

Monday: Jack Thompson got a visit from a couple US Marshals in regards to a letter he wrote to a federal judge.  In the letter, he compared himself to detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, and stated, “I guess my ‘mistake’ was not killing 3000 people to make my point.”  The ever-tactful attorney is now furious that the judge sent the Marshals to explain to him the impropriety of such correspondence, and is even complaining to the House Judiciary Committee.  The Thompson saga is becoming like a bad VH1 Saturday afternoon reality show marathon.  I know it’s mindless, and I know it caters to the lowest common denominator…  but I can’t stop watching.

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While it may be fun to design rude creatures, EA doesn’t want them on their servers.

The Spore Creature Creator came out on June 14, give or take a day, and the first thing people did was start designing genital monsters of their very own. Ambulatory penises are the most common, but more creative beasties ranging from Goatse-saurus to creatures that look like copulating people, animals, or a bizarre combination of the two (and probably plants as well) have been popping up all over. Spore Creature Creator is completely freeform, an unrestricted toy to design just about anything your twisted, pervy mind can come up with. It was only a matter of time before the wonderful anything-goes anarchy began to be reigned in.

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Hori will soon release the Real Arcade Pro EX for the Xbox 360.

Just in time for the many fighters coming the 360’s way, Hori is offering (finally!) a quality joystick. Sure many of us have made due with cheaper sticks, but this is the real deal. Next to custom, the Real Arcade sticks are your best bet for arcade quality components at a decent price. Ok, so usually you can get an HRAP for around $100 or a little higher. Well it turns out that this particular stick is exclusive and will be pretty darn rare. National Console Support is selling them for a whopping 218 bucks. Ouch.

Tentative release date is early July. Nice looking stick: http://www.hori.jp/products/xbox360/controller/realarc_pro_ex/ . Not sure if it is worth the price tag, especially when you can get a really nice custom for that, such as my custom (shameless plug but had to give my bro props for making me such a nice stick):

If you’re interested in more about the Hori Real Arcade Pro series of sticks, there’s an excellent FAQ over at SRK: http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=95713

Geeks and otaku and nunchucks… oh my.

It’s been quite an eventful week for Nintendo. First on the docket is an exciting piece of litigation: Nintendo of America Inc. v. Nyko Technologies Inc. Apparently, Nintendo is none too happy with Nyko’s release of their wireless nunchuck apparatus. They are so displeased, in fact, that they are asking a judge to order that the device stop being sold immediately. Oh, and they also want any profits generated from its sale.

But why? After all, third parties have been making controller knock-offs forever. So what makes this different? Perhaps they have their own wireless nunchuck in the works. Perhaps this is meant to be a warning shot for Sony and Microsoft, both of whom have been rumored to have input devices similar to the Wiimote in development. Or perhaps it’s none of the above. Either way, it will be most interesting to see how this pans out.

Now let’s move to some lighter fare.

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Or, Don King releases a boxing game.

It’s been while since EA’s Fight Night Round 3 blew us away as an Xbox 360 near-launch title. For awhile, it seemed like that franchise was going to remain the only real contender in what used to be a crowded field. No more, though, as no less than three new boxing games are on the horizon, including the Fight Night followup, Facebreaker and now Don King’s Prizefighter.

On the eve of Prizefighter’s release as a 360-exclusive, I got a chance to participate in a conference call with a few of the gang behind 2K’s newest brawler, including Executive Producer Matthew Seymour and Mr. Don King himself. Turns out that Prizefighter isn’t aiming to be just another good-looking fighter, but also toss in a couple of new ideas that’ll separate it from the pack.

First and foremost, the single player career mode is presented as a documentary, replete with full-motion video featuring news reporters, fellow boxers, and maybe even a few celebrities. These folks help narrate the tale of your created pugilist, based upon his successes and failures. Turns out the ring isn’t the only place you need to excel either, as some of the trappings of the celebrity life offer themselves to you. At times, you’ll need to make some choices that’ll directly affect your fighter – even if you won’t know exactly how at the time.

The online aspect of Prizefighter gets some special attention, too. In addition to the standard take-your-boxer-online mode, you get to play the part of a virtual Don King and build a stable of up to five fighters in various weight classes to battle foes for bragging rights. A sizable cache of current and historic boxers are also present to play as and against, including some of today’s brightest stars like Kelly Pavlik and Shannon Briggs and legends from yesteryear such as Max Baer and Joe Louis (among many others).

Any time a developer builds a new engine for a fighting game, it’s bound to be controversial. 2K Sports is claiming that Prizefighter sports true-to-life boxing tactics, including the ability to spot openings and sidestep opponent attacks. There’s always a delicate balance to be had, of course, since real-life boxing is almost always 100% less interesting than the video game kind. After all, who wants to clutch and grab for 12 rounds?

Between 2K’s strong sports track record and the promise of some innovative modes and controls, I’m looking forward to lacing up my gloves in Prizefighter this month. Look for a complete review soon.